Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

Kansas House Bill HB2554

Introduced
1/27/26  

Caption

Providing for the pheasants forever and quail forever distinctive license plates.

Summary

HB 2554 authorizes the Kansas Division of Vehicles, with approval from the director of vehicles and in coordination with Pheasants Forever, Inc., to establish two new distinctive license plates: one promoting Pheasants Forever and one promoting Quail Forever. Beginning July 1, 2026, Kansas residents who own or lease qualifying passenger vehicles or trucks weighing 20,000 pounds or less may apply for these plates, subject to standard registration requirements and payment of the regular vehicle registration fee plus a logo use royalty payment set by the organization. The bill sets out the application, renewal, transfer, and design rules for the plates. Applicants must pay an initial and annual royalty payment to the county treasurer, and the plates are not transferable to another person. The bill also requires applicants to consent to the release of certain motor vehicle record information to Pheasants Forever, Inc. and the state treasurer, and it directs that royalty collection and remittance follow existing statutory procedures for distinctive plates.

Impact

HB 2554 would amend Kansas motor vehicle law by adding two new special-interest license plate options under the state’s distinctive plate program. It would affect vehicle owners and lessees who choose to purchase the plates, county treasurers who collect the royalty payments, and the Division of Vehicles, which must approve, administer, and oversee the plate design and issuance process under K.S.A. 8-1,141 and related registration statutes.

Sentiment

The available context suggests the bill is a routine, noncontroversial transportation measure with a promotional or fundraising purpose for a wildlife conservation organization. There are no recorded committee transcripts or votes in the provided materials, so no direct evidence of opposition or support is available. Based on the bill text, the measure appears to be framed as an optional consumer choice rather than a mandate, which typically reduces controversy.

Contention

The main potential points of contention are the use of state-administered license plates to promote a private nonprofit organization, the required royalty payments on top of standard registration fees, and the release of motor vehicle record information to Pheasants Forever, Inc. and the state treasurer. Some observers may also question whether the state should authorize multiple organization-specific plates or whether the administrative burden on county treasurers and the Division of Vehicles is justified by the expected demand.

Companion Bills

No companion bills found.

Previously Filed As

KS SB6

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

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 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 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 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 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 HCR5002

Providing for the adjournment sine die of the 2024 special session of the Legislature.

KS HB2002

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

KS HR6002

Providing for assignment of seats in the House of Representatives for the 2024 special session of the Legislature.

Similar Bills

MI HB4401

Natural resources: hunting; pheasant hunting licensing; eliminate sunset. Amends sec. 43525c of 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.43525c).

MI SB0238

Natural resources: hunting; pheasant hunting licensing; extend sunset. Amends sec. 43525c of 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.43525c).

KS SB403

Providing for the pheasants forever, quail forever and delta waterfowl distinctive license plates, restricting the use of material or objects covering a license plate for motor vehicles and modifying the definition of conviction in the Kansas uniform commercial drivers' license act.

SD SB131

Revise the season in which a nonprofit organization may host a special pheasant hunt for disabled veterans and Purple Heart recipients.