Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

Kansas House Bill HB2439

Introduced
1/14/26  

Caption

Enacting the Kansas geoengineering and weather modification prohibition act, prohibiting geoengieering and weather modification activities, providing criminal penalties for violations of the act and assigning enforcement and reporting authority to the department of health and environment.

Impact

If enacted, HB 2439 would significantly alter existing regulatory frameworks related to environmental management and public health in Kansas. The bill assigns enforcement and reporting authority to the Department of Health and Environment, empowering the state to monitor compliance and impose penalties for unauthorized geoengineering practices. By explicitly prohibiting these activities, the legislation seeks to avert any potential hazardous impacts that could arise from private or corporate interests attempting to manipulate weather for gain. This action signifies a proactive approach to addressing environmental concerns in light of accelerating climate change and the associated need for regulatory oversight.

Summary

House Bill 2439, known as the Kansas Geoengineering and Weather Modification Prohibition Act, aims to prohibit all geoengineering and weather modification activities within the state. The bill establishes a clear legal framework that delineates these activities as illegal and provides for criminal penalties for any violations of the act. This legislation emerges from growing concerns about the potential risks and ethical implications associated with manipulating weather patterns and environmental conditions through artificial means. The act is directed towards safeguarding the natural climate and public health, while addressing the possible unintended consequences that such interventions might have on local ecosystems and communities.

Contention

There may be notable points of contention surrounding HB 2439, particularly regarding the balance between innovation and regulation in the field of environmental science. Proponents of the bill are likely to argue that it represents a necessary precaution against unregulated experimentation that could threaten public safety and environmental stability. Critics, on the other hand, may contend that the ban on geoengineering could hinder research and technological advancements that could offer solutions to climate change challenges. The discussions in the legislature could center around the implications of such restrictions on scientific inquiry and the potential benefits of responsible geoengineering practices.

Companion Bills

No companion bills found.

Previously Filed As

KS HB2002

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

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 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 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 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 SCR1602

Approving the creation of a port authority in Wyandotte County Kansas.

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 SR1702

A resolution honoring the life, career and trailblazing achievements of Kansas icon Ed Dwight.

Similar Bills

No similar bills found.