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Listen online: Despite the House and Senate continuing work on property tax relief and the state budget, the 2026 Kansas legislative session is quickly nearing its end. Friday, March 20, marked the final day for non-exempt bills in either chamber, and Friday, March 27, is the scheduled First Adjournment for the session. Racing the clock, final committee hearings and last-minute negotiations were held this week before two days of floor action on bills later in the week. House and Senate Conference Committees, comprised of the committee’s Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Ranking Minority...

Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association (KARA) has joined a coalition letter to President Donald Trump regarding uncertainty around product availability, transportation constraints with heightened conflict in the Middle East. The letter, in-part, is below. Given the narrow and time-sensitive planting window now underway in many parts of the country, we encourage swift executive attention to help stabilize fertilizer supply chains and maintain the efficient movement of agricultural inputs. Many of these actions align with recommendations that have been raised by producer organizations and other agricultural stakeholders. We respectfully urge the Administration to...

Listen online: Continued debate over property tax proposals dominated Week Nine of the 2026 Kansas Legislative Session. One of the week’s most notable developments involved SCR 1616, the Senate-approved constitutional amendment that would limit annual increases in the assessed value of real property to three (3) percent. The measure previously passed the Senate with a bipartisan two-thirds majority vote, but it encountered difficulty in the House. During debate in the House late in the week, the resolution failed overwhelmingly to advance to final action on a voice vote, leaving its...

Listen online: Week Eight of the 2026 Kansas Legislative Session continued the steady pace of post-Turnaround activity as hearings on opposite-chamber bills occupied most of the week before the Legislature’s next set of deadlines the week of March 16. Fiscal policy and the state budget remain the central focus. During the week, the Kansas Senate passed its version of the state budget, with the minimum required number of votes, 21-19. With both chambers now having approved their separate budget bills, appropriators in the two chambers will now meet in a conference...

Listen to this week's report: Following the Turnaround, the Kansas Legislature’s seventh week quickly shifted to major policy and budget debates. While committees in both chambers began hearing bills from the opposite chamber, the House took up two of the session’s most closely watched issues: the state budget and property tax relief. With the Legislature now in the second half of the session, committees will work through bills that survived Turnaround, and negotiations will intensify on other high-profile measures. After several hours of debate, the House passed its version of the...

Listen to this week's report: Week Six of the 2026 Kansas Legislative Session brought one of the busiest stretches of the year as lawmakers worked to meet the Legislature’s Turnaround deadline. From Monday through Thursday, the House and Senate spent long days debating and advancing legislation. By the end of the week, nearly 200 bills had cleared their chamber of origin, sending a large volume of proposals to the opposite chamber for further consideration. As the pace accelerated, committees wrapped up hearings and leadership prioritized legislation that had gained traction during...

Listen to this week's report: Week Five of the 2026 Kansas Legislative Session marked a noticeable shift from early-session bill filings to more substantive committee work and initial floor debate. With most bill introductions complete, lawmakers spent the week refining proposals and moving priority measures forward ahead of Turnaround Day, next Thursday, Feb. 19, when most nonexempt bills must clear their chamber of origin in order to remain alive for this session. As the Legislature moves closer to key deadlines, the pace of activity is expected to accelerate, with more bills...

Listen to this week's report: The Kansas Legislature entered the fourth week of the 2026 session with activity at the Statehouse picking up quickly as lawmakers worked to meet bill introduction deadlines. Between Monday, Feb. 2, and Friday, Feb. 6, more than 210 bills were introduced in the House and Senate, a typical surge in production as legislators file proposals ahead of key procedural cutoffs. The increase in bill introductions marks a shift in the session’s pace, with committees beginning to move beyond informational briefings and into more substantive policy...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a time-limited registration allowing over-the-top (OTT) applications of dicamba on dicamba-tolerant cotton and soybean crops for the next two growing seasons. The decision includes a series of new and existing application requirements intended to address drift, volatility and environmental concerns associated with dicamba use. Dicamba products have been available for sale and use in U.S. agriculture; this action specifically addresses conditions and restrictions for OTT applications. EPA stated the decision followed a pesticide registration review process that included analysis of human health and...

Listen to this week's episode: The third week of the Kansas legislative session maintained momentum with committees and floor debate picking up, and several hot-button social policy issues drawing lengthy hearings. Alongside those debates, a few items of direct interest to the agriculture community moved forward. The House passed bills concerning theft of grain, livestock, and agricultural equipment, and a bill clarifying that federal pesticide warning or labeling requirements satisfy any state pesticide warning or labeling requirements. Both measures now head to the Senate for consideration. Lawmakers continued their discussions on other...

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