Kansas House Bill HB2274

Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/5/25
• Refer: 2/5/25
• Report Pass: 2/13/25
• Engrossed: 2/25/25
• Refer: 2/26/25
• Refer: 3/21/25
• Refer: 3/24/25
• Report Pass: 3/26/25
• Refer: 1/12/26
• Report Pass: 2/10/26
• Enrolled: 3/3/26
• Passed: 3/13/26

Caption

Designating Kansas as a purple heart state and permitting homeless veterans to use alternative forms of proof of identity and residency when applying for nondriver identification cards.

Summary

HB 2274 revises Kansas law governing occupational licensing, certification, and registration for military servicemembers, military spouses, and other out-of-state applicants. The bill removes the requirement that a servicemember be on active duty to qualify for the military-related licensing provisions, broadening eligibility to current members of the armed forces, reserves, national guard, and certain former members with honorable discharge. It also expands and standardizes the process for obtaining Kansas credentials by endorsement, reciprocity, work experience, or private certification, and requires licensing bodies to issue paper and verified electronic credentials upon a complete application. The bill sets expedited timelines for licensing decisions, generally 15 days for military servicemembers and spouses and 45 days for other applicants, and allows probationary or temporary permits when an applicant’s out-of-state credentials do not fully match Kansas scope-of-practice requirements. It also creates fee exemptions for military spouses of active-duty servicemembers, requires a centralized electronic license verification portal, and directs licensing bodies to adopt rules and report annual data on applications, approvals, denials, and processing times. The measure applies broadly to most Kansas licensing bodies, with specific exclusions and special provisions for law, law enforcement certification, and certain engineering and healing arts applications.

Impact

HB 2274 amends K.S.A. 48-3406 and repeals the existing version of that statute, changing how Kansas licensing bodies must process occupational credential applications. It affects a wide range of boards and agencies by imposing uniform application standards, deadlines, electronic credentialing requirements, fee waivers for certain military spouses, and reporting obligations. The bill also authorizes temporary or probationary authorization in some cases and preserves agency authority to deny or limit credentials when public health and safety would be jeopardized.

Sentiment

The voting history indicates very strong bipartisan support for the bill. It passed the House 121-1, the Senate unanimously 40-0, and then the House concurred with Senate amendments 121-0. No committee transcript was provided, but the overwhelming margins suggest the bill was broadly viewed as a practical, pro-veteran and pro-military-family licensing reform with little recorded opposition.

Contention

The main policy tensions in the bill are limited and center on public safety and professional standards. Licensing bodies retain authority to deny applications or temporary permits when an applicant’s qualifications are not substantially equivalent, when criminal or disciplinary issues exist, or when granting a credential could jeopardize the public. Special carve-outs for the state board of healing arts and the state board of technical professions, especially for engineering licensure, indicate concern about maintaining rigorous standards in certain regulated professions. Another potential point of contention is the administrative burden of implementing electronic verification systems and reporting requirements across many licensing agencies, although the final votes suggest these concerns did not generate significant opposition.