KS AFL-CIO Kansas Legislature Week 2 Update:  The Fights Are Here

📣 Property Tax Cap Advances — But It's Not What It Seems SCR 1616, the constitutional amendment to cap property tax increases, passed out of the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee. Proponents call it property tax relief, but make no mistake: this is a tax break for the wealthy disguised as help for working families. A 3% cap saves a little for a family with a modest home — but saves ten times as much for owners of million-dollar properties. Meanwhile, it would devastate local school funding. Real property tax relief targets those who need it most. This does the opposite.

🏫 Voucher Bills Are Live Two major threats to public education are advancing:

• HB 2468 would double the tax credit cap for private school scholarships from $10M to $20M and opt Kansas into a new federal voucher program. It was heard in House Education this week with strong opposition from KNEA, AFT, and public school advocates.
• SB 338 redefines homeschools as "private schools" — a setup for future voucher eligibility.

💰 Budget Battles Continue Legislative budget committees are recommending cuts across the board: lapsing funds, deleting new positions, and rejecting agency requests. The Governor's 2.5% pay plan for state employees is still on the table — but under pressure.

🗺️ Redistricting Fight Continues The Senate is likely to pass new congressional maps — SCR 1618 was just introduced. But we expect to hold the line in the House and have the Governor's veto as a backstop. Stay tuned.

👀 Also On Our Radar We're tracking RS 276 (school board membership rules — could be amended to affect unions) and HB 2451 (adds criminal penalties for public employees on ballot advocacy). 

✅ Some Good News

• KPERS is 75% funded, and legislators are discussing COLAs for retirees and a $500M boost to address unfunded liabilities
• The Chiefs stadium project promises 20,000+ construction jobs with commitments to union labor

📱 Stay Connected Text 785-329-9637 to join the Workers Action Line. When votes happen fast, we need to move fast.

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