Senate President Ty Masterson says he wants to limit any special legislative session to redrawing election boundaries for members of Congress and responding to a court ruling allowing transgender Kansans to change gender markers on their driver’s licenses.
“Sen. Masterson does not favor expanding the special session beyond clarifying SB 180 to make it ‘activist judge proof’ and the federal map issue,” a spokesperson said.
SB 180 – otherwise known as the “Women’s Bill of Rights” – is at the center of a legal dispute over whether Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration can allow transgender Kansans to change their gender markers on driver’s license.
A Shawnee County judge issued a temporary injunction stopping the gender marker changes, a ruling later reversed by an appeals court. The state Supreme Court upheld the appeals court ruling last week when it declined to hear the case.
Attorney General Kris Kobach has since urged the Legislature to call a special session to address the court ruling, a move that potentially stands to entice lawmakers to meet to redraw congressional maps at the same time.
But in recent days, there’s been some limited talk about opening up any special session – if there is one – to include other topics such as cutting property taxes. Republicans left the Capitol earlier this year unhappy that more wasn’t done to cut property taxes.
“Kansas is facing a property tax crisis, and I am fully committed to passing legislation that will bring meaningful relief to taxpayers,” said Republican state Sen. Caryn Tyson of Parker, chair of the Senate tax committee.
“This can be accomplished through a special session. It’s time for a Constitutional Amendment for Property Tax Relief – CAP Act – that puts a stop to runaway property tax increases,” she said in a Facebook post.
“Kansas can’t wait any longer – it’s time for action,” she said.
Tyson declined to comment further.
Meanwhile, Democratic state Sen. Patrick Schmidt of Topeka made a similar suggestion when he appeared on Fox 4 in Kansas City recently.
He lamented that more wasn’t done to cut property taxes beyond eliminating the state’s 1.5-mill property tax levy that funds maintenance and renovations of some state buildings.
“We didn’t solve the crushing property tax burden that millions of voters are suffering all across the state,” Schmidt said.
“I hope if we have a special session, we can do that,” Schmidt said.
However, Masterson said as much he wants to address property taxes, it’s too complex of a matter to address in a special session that so far has been planned to only last a day.
“As much as he has fought for property tax relief and will continue to, he understands that is politically complicated enough it could never be completed through both houses in such a brief time frame,” his spokesperson, Megan Stookey, said in a statement.
“It simply requires more time and consideration than a special session allows.
House Speaker Dan Hawkins declined to comment about the special session.
Last session, the House and Senate collided on how to best cap property appraisals.
A proposed constitutional amendment capping property appraisals at 4% died in the House. The House voted down the proposal 37-88. It passed the Senate on a 27-13 vote with Masterson’s support.
Meanwhile, the Kansas House approved a constitutional amendment placing a cap on property tax appraisals softer than one passed by the Senate.
The House voted 117-4 to approve an amendment proposing a system limiting appraisal increases for residential and commercial property to a rolling average of property values across the state or the current fair market value, whichever was less.
The Senate later gutted this bill and replaced it with the hard cap that died.
