Kansas Senate Bill SB77

Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/27/25
• Refer: 1/28/25
• Report Pass: 2/13/25
• Engrossed: 2/19/25
• Refer: 2/19/25
• Report Pass: 3/10/25
• Enrolled: 3/25/25
• Passed: 4/10/25

Caption

Requiring state agencies to provide notice of revocation of administrative rules and regulations to the public and removing abolished and inactive state agencies from the agency review requirement.

Summary

SB77 revises Kansas’s administrative rules and regulations process in two main ways. First, it creates a specific procedure for a state agency to revoke certain rules and regulations by filing a notice with the secretary of state, publishing that notice in the Kansas Register, and giving advance notice to affected businesses, local governments, and members of the public. The bill also requires an opportunity for a public hearing if requested, review and approval by the attorney general, and notice to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations before the revocation becomes effective 15 days after publication. Second, the bill updates the five-year review schedule for agency rules and regulations under the Rules and Regulations Filing Act. It reorganizes the list of agencies into year-based review groups from 2023 through 2027 and every fifth year thereafter, removes abolished or inactive agencies from the review requirement, and adds a general standard that rules may be adopted or maintained only if they serve an identifiable public purpose supporting state law and are no broader than necessary to achieve that purpose.

Impact

The bill amends K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 77-426 and 77-440 and repeals the existing versions of those statutes. Its practical effect is to streamline the revocation of certain administrative rules while adding procedural safeguards for notice, public input, and legislative oversight. It also changes which agencies must submit five-year review reports and clarifies that administrative rules must be tied to a public purpose and limited to what is necessary, affecting state agencies that promulgate regulations and the regulated public that may be subject to those rules.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial in the legislative process. It passed the Senate 40-0 and the House 123-0, indicating unanimous support in both chambers. The lack of recorded committee transcript discussion suggests there was little visible opposition or extended debate, and the bill’s framing as an administrative cleanup and transparency measure likely contributed to the strong consensus.

Contention

No major contention is evident in the available record. The only potentially sensitive issues are the balance between easing agency revocation of rules and preserving public notice, hearing rights, and legislative oversight, as well as the bill’s directive that rules not be broader than necessary to serve a public purpose. However, the unanimous votes suggest these provisions were not viewed as divisive, and no specific opposing stakeholders or objections are reflected in the provided materials.