Adopting the permanent rules of the Senate for the 2025-2028 term.
Senate Resolution 1704 adopts the permanent rules that will govern the Kansas Senate for the 2025-2028 term. The resolution largely restates and organizes the chamber’s internal procedures, including when the Senate meets, how quorum and roll calls are handled, the order of business, how bills and resolutions are introduced and referred, committee structure and membership, debate limits, motions, amendments, final action, and procedures for confirmations, executive reorganization orders, and impeachment. It also sets rules for decorum, floor access, electronic devices, lobbyist restrictions, staff duties, and the handling of committee minutes and public records.
A notable feature of the resolution is that it incorporates the Senate’s standing committee structure and assigns responsibilities to the Committee on Organization, Calendar and Rules, the President, the majority and minority leaders, and other officers. It also includes provisions on proportional party representation on committees, closed meetings for certain leadership and rules bodies, and special procedures for consent calendar items, special orders, and session pro forma business. The resolution is procedural rather than substantive legislation, but it has significant effect because it controls how the Senate will operate and how future legislation will move through the chamber.
SR 1704 does not amend the Kansas Statutes Annotated directly; instead, it establishes the Senate’s internal operating rules for the 2025-2028 legislative term. Those rules govern chamber procedure, committee jurisdiction and membership, voting requirements, debate and amendment limits, public access and decorum, and the handling of nominations, reorganization orders, and disciplinary matters. Because the rules are incorporated by reference into Senate procedure and related statutes/documents, they shape how all Senate business will be processed during the term.
The vote history indicates strong, unified support for the resolution, with the Senate adopting it on emergency final action by a unanimous or near-unanimous margin (38-0 in the recorded vote, with the summary noting 39-0). There were no committee transcripts provided showing opposition or extended debate, and the measure appears to have been treated as a routine organizational resolution necessary to begin the new legislative term. Overall sentiment was procedural and favorable rather than controversial.
No major substantive controversy is evident in the available record. The only likely points of interest are internal power and process provisions: the role of the Committee on Organization, Calendar and Rules, the authority of leadership to appoint committees, the ability of certain meetings to be closed, restrictions on lobbyists and floor access, and the rules governing party changes by senators and committee assignments. These provisions primarily affect Senate leadership, members, and legislative staff, but the unanimous vote suggests they were broadly accepted.