The House Judiciary Committee on Monday, Jan. 26, approved an expanded bill that would require anyone using a bathroom in government-owned buildings, including schools, to use the facility that matches their biological sex at birth.

Week three of the 2026 legislative session continues at a brisk pace with multiple education-related measures scheduled for committee action and budget discussions.

The second week of the 2026 Kansas Legislative Session ramped up in intensity.

While the week included the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, which closed the Statehouse, the remaining days were filled with written and oral testimony from the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) and others.

 A bill requiring school districts to obtain parental consent prior to providing certain school-based mental health services to a student is written too broadly and could delay supports students need to stay engaged in learning, opponents told lawmakers Thursday.

Public funds must remain dedicated to public schools – and they shouldn’t support private education without equivalent public accountability.

“Everything that happens in this building is impacting them or someone they know in some way,” said Sarah Byarlay, a Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) member who attended Equality Day at the Kansas Statehouse with 14 GSA students from Salina Central High School.

Week two of the 2026 legislative session is not slowing down.

The first week of the Kansas Legislative Session included Gov. Laura Kelly’s final State of the State address, a hearing on bipartisan legislation banning cell phone usage during the school day, the unveiling of “The People’s Budget” for fiscal year 2027, and two rallies that drew a dozen Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) members to the Statehouse.

Timothy R. Graham, Director of Government Relations at the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA), was one of four individuals who provided neutral testimony during a Senate Committee of Education hearing Thursday, Jan. 15, on Senate Bill 302, which prohibits the use of personal electronic communication devices during instructional time.

Gov. Laura Kelly unveiled her proposed FY 2027 budget Wednesday, Jan. 14, continuing her administration’s long-standing commitment to public education, fully funding Kansas K–12 public schools for the eighth consecutive year. If enacted, Kelly would be the first Kansas governor in a generation to fully fund public education every year of their term.

Hundreds of Kansans rallied at the Statehouse Wednesday to demand labor rights and legislation that puts people over politics. Among them were more than a dozen Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) members standing in solidarity.

After 14 years in the Kansas Senate and eight years as the governor of Kansas, Laura Kelly delivered her final State of the State address on Tuesday, Jan. 13, setting the tone for the 2026 legislative session.

The Kansas Legislature is back in session, and the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) is hitting the ground running.

As legislators and visitors entered the Statehouse on Monday, Jan. 12, they were greeted by KNEA-R members Ruthe Goff and Chris Huntsman at the first Ambassador Table of the 2026 Kansas Legislative Session.

Nearly 100 Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) members attended the 2026 KNEA Advocacy Retreat on Saturday, Jan. 10, in Topeka.

As the world processes the results of the 2024 election cycle, one thing we should all agree on is that elections have consequences. The 2024 elections will undoubtedly have consequences for our association and its members.

The legislature passed a responsible tax relief package with a strong bi-partisan vote that is likely to be signed by Governor Kelly. So-called flat tax schemes that we have testified against did NOT prevail.

“I am proud to sign House Substitute for Senate Bill 387, continuing my deep commitment to fully funding our schools and supporting our students”

The second half of the session is starting to gain momentum but moving like a train up a hill, which is probably a good thing. Hastily passed bills debated in the darkness of night seldom end in good policy, so slowly easing into the last half of the session is a welcomed dynamic. 

A mid-week update and discussion of bills and issues Kansas NEA is tracking in the Kansas Legislature.