Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

Kansas Senate Bill SB499

Introduced
2/9/26  

Caption

Enacting the Kansas age-appropriate design code act to require businesses to assess and mitigate risks of compulsive use in minors, enacting the Kansas stopping likeness abuse by nonconsensual digital replicas act to create a private right of action for the unauthorized digital replication and distribution of individuals' digital likenesses and enacting the Kansas saving human connection act to prohibit deceptive practices and ensure transparency in chatbot interactions.

Impact

Furthermore, SB499 seeks to establish the Kansas Stopping Likeness Abuse by Nonconsensual Digital Replicas Act. This provision creates a private right of action for individuals whose digital likenesses have been replicated or distributed without their consent. This part of the bill is critical as it acknowledges the need for individuals to have control over their digital identities and provides legal recourse for breaches of that control. By instituting these protections, the bill aims to enhance privacy rights in the context of rapidly evolving digital landscapes.

Summary

SB499 aims to enact several significant measures in Kansas regarding the safety and rights of minors online, as well as the rights of individuals concerning their digital likenesses. Primarily, the bill introduces the Kansas Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, which mandates that businesses assess and mitigate the risks associated with the compulsive use of digital services by minors. This legislative move highlights growing concerns about the impact of technology on younger audiences and aligns with a broader national conversation about creating safer online environments for children.

Contention

While the bill is significant in promoting the interests of minors and protecting individual rights about digital likenesses, it may draw some contention regarding its implications for businesses and technology companies. There may be concerns about the practicality of implementing such measures, as companies will need to adapt their protocols to comply with the new regulations. Advocates for digital privacy and child safety support these initiatives as essential steps forward, but opponents could argue that they may lead to unintended consequences or regulatory burdens that stifle innovation in the tech industry.

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 SCR1602

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

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 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 SR1702

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

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.

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 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.

Similar Bills

No similar bills found.