Kansas Senate Bill SB316

Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Filed/Introduced: 8/8/26
• Introduced: 1/14/26
• Refer: 1/15/26

Caption

Authorizing the state bank commissioner to establish a nonprofit organization incorporated under the laws of Kansas to provide charitable consumer financial education initiatives in Kansas.

Summary

SB 316 authorizes the Kansas state bank commissioner to create a Kansas nonprofit corporation to carry out charitable consumer financial education initiatives. The nonprofit could provide direct outreach and education, fund other nonprofits doing consumer financial education, offer scholarships to Kansans attending Kansas postsecondary institutions, and invest idle funds for future education efforts. It may also accept public grants and donations, and in some cases a person subject to an enforcement action or examination may, with approval, donate to the nonprofit in lieu of paying a fine designated for consumer financial education. The bill also allows the commissioner to fund the nonprofit through initial and later transfers from the consumer education settlement fund. The organization would be tightly structured: it could not have paid employees, could not own most real or personal property beyond educational materials, and could contract with third parties such as accountants and investment professionals. It would be governed by a volunteer board of directors, with the initial board appointed by the commissioner and later appointments handled under the organization’s bylaws. The nonprofit would be barred from funding political activities and would not be treated as a state agency.

Impact

SB 316 would expand the state bank commissioner’s authority by creating a new nonprofit vehicle for consumer financial education and by linking that entity to the consumer education settlement fund and certain enforcement-related fines. It would not directly amend consumer protection statutes broadly, but it would establish a new state-authorized nonprofit structure that could receive public and private funding and distribute educational services, scholarships, and related support. The bill would affect the commissioner, regulated persons subject to enforcement actions, and nonprofit and educational recipients of the organization’s programs.

Sentiment

No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or partisan sentiment in the available materials. Based on the bill text, the measure appears generally supportive of consumer education and uses a limited, nonprofit-based structure with restrictions on compensation, property ownership, and political activity, suggesting an effort to keep the entity narrowly focused and nonpartisan.

Contention

The main potential points of contention are the commissioner’s authority to create and fund a nonprofit, the use of settlement-fund money and fine-related donations for that purpose, and the ability of persons under enforcement action to donate in lieu of paying certain fines with approval. Some observers may also question the appointment of the initial board by the commissioner, the lack of paid employees, and whether the nonprofit’s activities—especially scholarships and outside contracting—are an appropriate use of consumer education resources. No specific opposing or supporting groups were identified in the provided record.