Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

Kansas Senate Bill SB105

Introduced
1/29/25  
Refer
1/30/25  
Report Pass
2/13/25  
Engrossed
2/25/25  
Refer
2/25/25  
Report Pass
3/7/25  
Enrolled
3/21/25  

Caption

Requiring the governor to appoint a person to fill vacancies in the offices of United States senator, state treasurer and commissioner of insurance from a list of names approved by the legislature.

Summary

SB 105 changes how vacancies are filled in three Kansas offices: U.S. senator, state treasurer, and commissioner of insurance. For each office, the bill requires the governor to make a temporary appointment only from among three candidates recommended by the Legislature. It creates a 12-member joint committee on vacancy appointments to review candidates, hold public hearings, verify eligibility, and either submit a report to the governor or introduce a concurrent resolution naming three recommended persons, depending on whether the Legislature is in session. For U.S. Senate vacancies, the bill also sets a timeline for when the temporary appointee serves and when a special election must be held to fill the seat permanently. It requires the appointee to be a Kansas resident and, in most cases, to have been registered with the same political party as the prior officeholder for the preceding six years. Similar residency and party-registration rules are added for vacancies in the state treasurer and insurance commissioner offices. The bill also requires the secretary of state to certify only appointments made under these procedures, and it repeals existing vacancy-filling statutes to replace them with this new process.

Impact

The bill amends K.S.A. 25-101b and 40-106 and repeals K.S.A. 25-318, substantially revising the statutory framework for filling vacancies in the offices of U.S. senator, state treasurer, and commissioner of insurance. It shifts appointment power away from a governor-only choice toward a legislatively screened list of three nominees, adds procedural deadlines and public-hearing requirements, and imposes party-affiliation and residency qualifications on appointees. The bill also establishes a new joint committee structure and makes the new provisions severable.

Sentiment

The voting history shows the bill advanced with clear but not unanimous support in both chambers, passing the Senate 31-9 and the House 87-36, and then being adopted again in conference committee votes of 31-9 in the Senate and 84-36 in the House. That pattern suggests majority support for the bill’s approach, but with a meaningful minority opposed. No committee transcript was provided, so the available record indicates general legislative approval without detailed public debate in the supplied materials.

Contention

The main point of contention is the bill’s restriction on the governor’s discretion by requiring appointments from a legislative shortlist, which critics may view as a transfer of executive appointment authority to the Legislature. Another likely source of disagreement is the party-registration requirement, which effectively limits who may be appointed to vacancies in partisan offices and could be seen as entrenching party control. The bill’s application to statewide offices beyond the U.S. Senate, especially the treasurer and insurance commissioner, also appears to be a significant policy choice that may have drawn opposition from members concerned about separation of powers or the fairness of vacancy appointments.

Companion Bills

No companion bills found.

Previously Filed As

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 SB3

Clarifying the procedures and restrictions on accepting a nomination for an elected office.

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 SCR1601

Informing the Governor that the two houses of the Legislature are organized and ready to receive communications.

KS SB4

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

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 SCR1604

Proposing to amend section 1 of article 11 of the constitution of the state of Kansas to limit property tax valuation increases for real property and personal property mobile homes.

KS HB2002

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

KS SCR1603

Proposing to amend section 1 of article 11 of the constitution of the state of Kansas to limit property tax valuation increases for residential property.

Similar Bills

No similar bills found.