Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

Kansas House Bill HB2095

Introduced

1/27/25

Refer

1/27/25

Refer

1/29/25

Report Pass

2/18/25

Caption

Establishing a pump installation contractor license and requiring additional examination, qualification and record-keeping requirements for licensed pump installation contractor and water well contractors.

Summary

HB 2095 revises Kansas law governing water well contractors and creates a separate licensing framework for pump installation contractors. It authorizes the Department of Health and Environment to license, examine, renew, discipline, and regulate both types of contractors, and it allows licensing examinations to be taken online, in person, or in a combination of formats. The bill also adds experience and subject-matter qualifications for applicants, including specific familiarity with Kansas water law, drilling methods, pump systems, and related equipment. The bill also expands record-keeping and reporting requirements. Water well contractors would have to submit more detailed well logs, including location data, construction details, pump information, and other information the secretary requires, and they must provide a water quality analysis from a Kansas-certified laboratory upon request within 60 days of completion unless extended. Pump installation contractors would be required to keep a record of each pump installed and submit it within 30 days, with specified installation details. The bill changes license terms so they run on a two-year cycle beginning July 1 of even-numbered years, and it directs that penalties collected under the act be deposited into the water program fund rather than the general fund. In practical terms, HB 2095 would amend multiple sections of the Kansas Groundwater Exploration and Protection Act and related statutes to broaden oversight of well and pump work, strengthen documentation of groundwater-related activities, and increase the amount of information available to the state geological survey and the public. It also updates enforcement provisions, continuing to allow license revocation, civil penalties, and misdemeanor penalties for violations, while aligning the statutory scheme with the new pump installation contractor category. The overall sentiment in the available context appears neutral to supportive. The bill was requested by a representative on behalf of the Kansas Groundwater Association, which suggests it was developed with industry input and aimed at modernizing licensing and reporting rules. No committee transcript or vote record is provided, so there is no evidence of recorded opposition or debate in the supplied materials. The main points of contention, based on the bill text itself, would likely be the added regulatory burden on contractors, including new licensing qualifications, online examination requirements, expanded reporting deadlines, and more detailed water quality and installation records. Another possible issue is the shift of penalty revenue to the water program fund and the secretary’s broad discretion to require additional data, which could raise concerns among affected contractors about compliance costs and administrative oversight.

Impact

HB 2095 would amend Kansas statutes governing groundwater exploration and protection by creating a distinct pump installation contractor license, adding qualifications and examination requirements for both pump installation contractors and water well contractors, and expanding the Department of Health and Environment’s regulatory authority. It would also change license terms to a biennial cycle tied to even-numbered years, require more detailed well and pump records, mandate water quality analyses from Kansas-certified laboratories upon request, and direct penalty revenue into the water program fund instead of the general fund. The bill would affect licensed contractors, landowners using well services, the secretary of health and environment, and the state geological survey.

Sentiment

The available context suggests the bill is generally favorable and technical in nature, with no recorded votes or committee testimony indicating organized opposition. Its request by the Kansas Groundwater Association points to industry support for clarifying and modernizing licensing standards. Because no transcripts or vote history are provided, the record does not show any formal controversy beyond the policy tradeoffs inherent in increased regulation.

Contention

The likely areas of contention are the bill’s expanded compliance obligations for contractors, including a new license category, more detailed reporting, shorter submission deadlines, and additional qualification standards. Contractors may view the new pump installation license and record-keeping rules as burdensome, while regulators and groundwater advocates may see them as necessary for better oversight and data collection. The secretary’s authority to require additional information and the requirement that water quality analyses be performed by Kansas-certified laboratories could also be debated as to cost, feasibility, and administrative burden.

Latest KS HB2095 Activity

View All Events: KS 2025-2026 Regular Session HB2095

Companion Bills

No companion bills found.

Previously Filed As

KS SB7

Authorizing federally licensed firearm dealers, in addition to county sheriffs, to receive applications for concealed carry licenses and forward such applications to the attorney general, prohibiting sheriffs from assessing any fee related to application services and allowing dealers to assess a fee related to application services not to exceed $20.

KS HB2003

Establishing the veterans' valor property tax relief act providing for an income tax credit or refund for eligible individuals, modifying the definition of household income and increasing the appraised value threshold for eligibility of seniors and disabled veterans related to increased property tax claims and citing the section as the homeowners' property tax freeze program, providing property tax exemptions for certain personal property including watercraft, marine equipment, off-road vehicles, motorized bicycles and certain trailers, excluding internal revenue code section 1031 exchange transactions as indicators of fair market value, providing for certain exclusions from the prohibition of paying taxes under protest after a valuation notice appeal and providing four prior years' values on the annual valuation notice.

KS SB8

Exempting the sale of firearms, firearms accessories, ammunition, firearm safes and firearm safety devices from the retatilers' sales tax.

KS SB6

Providing a sales tax exemption for sales of electricity to residential premises by municipally owned or operated utilities.

KS SB2

Eliminating the income limit to qualify for the subtraction modification exempting social security benefits, increasing the income tax credit amount for household and dependent care expenses, establishing the veterans' valor property tax relief act providing for an income tax credit or refund for eligible individuals, citing the increased property tax homestead refund claim section as the homeowners' property tax freeze program, decreasing the normal privilege tax rate, increasing the extent of property tax exemption for residential property from the statewide school levy, decreasing the rate of ad valorem tax imposed by a school district; providing for certain transfers to the state school district finance fund, reducing the state rate of tax on sales of food and food ingredients and modifying the percent credited to the state highway fund from revenue collected.

KS HB2001

Authorizing the secretary of commerce to enter into agreements with major professional sports franchises to establish STAR bond projects for a major professional sports complex, providing for additional revenue sources, expanding the powers and discretion of the secretary and making other changes to the STAR bonds financing act to facilitate such projects, limiting the secretary’s authority to approve such projects to one year unless extended by the legislative coordinating council, authorizing the Kansas development finance authority to issue STAR bonds for such projects, transferring funds under certain circumstances from the state gaming revenues fund to the attracting professional sports to Kansas fund for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, and, if approved by the legislative coordinating council, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026.

KS HB2002

Expanding medical assistance eligibility and enacting the cutting healthcare costs for all Kansans act.

KS SB1

Modifying income tax rates for individuals, exempting all social security benefits from Kansas income tax, increasing the Kansas standard deduction and the Kansas personal exemption, increasing the income tax credit amount for household and dependent care expenses, decreasing the privilege tax normal tax, excluding internal revenue code section 1031 exchange transactions as indicators of fair market value for property tax valuation purposes, increasing the extent of property tax exemption for residential property from the statewide school levy, providing for certain transfers to the state school district finance fund and abolishing the local ad valorem tax reduction fund and the county and city revenue sharing fund.

KS SB4

Requiring all advance voting ballots be returned by 7:00 p.m. on election day.

KS HB2004

Authorizing counties to propose an earnings tax for ballot question.

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