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2021 Kansas legislative session

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2021 Kansas legislative session
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General information
Session start:    January 11, 2021

Session end:    May 26, 2021

Leadership
Senate President
Ty Masterson (R)

House Speaker
Ron Ryckman (R)
Majority Leader
Senate: Gene Suellentrop (R)
House: Daniel Hawkins (R)
Minority Leader
Senate: Dinah Sykes (D)
House: Tom Sawyer (D)

Elections
Next Election:    November 8, 2022

Last Election:    November 3, 2020

Previous legislative sessions
2020 • 2019 • 2018
Other 2021 legislative sessions


In 2021, the Kansas State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 11, 2021, and adjourn on May 26, 2021.

The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2020 elections. Republicans won a 29-11 majority in the Senate and an 86-39 majority in the House. A Democrat controlled the governorship, creating a divided government. At the start of the 2021 session, Kansas was one of 16 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.

The Kansas State Legislature is responsible for redistricting following each census. Legislators were expected to address redistricting as part of the 2021 legislative session. As of the 2020 Census, Kansas was one of 37 states where legislators were responsible for redistricting.

At the beginning of the 2021 legislative session:
  • Republicans held a majority in the Kansas state House and state Senate.
  • Kansas was one of 12 states with divided government.
  • Kansas' governor was Democrat Laura Kelly.

    • Leadership in 2021

    Kansas State Senate

    Kansas House of Representatives

    Partisan control in 2021

    See also: State government trifectas

    Kansas was one of 12 states with divided government at the start of 2021 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Kansas was also one of 16 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Kansas State Legislature in the 2021 legislative session.

    Kansas State Senate

    Party As of January 2021
         Democratic Party 11
         Republican Party 29
    Total 40

    Kansas House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2021
         Democratic Party 39
         Republican Party 86
    Total 125

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2021 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2021. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Redistricting

    See also: Redistricting in Kansas after the 2020 census

    Redistricting is the process of enacting new district boundaries for elected offices, particularly for offices in the U.S. House of Representatives and state legislatures.

    To learn more about the redistricting process in Kansas after the 2020 census, click here.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Kansas state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2021 legislative session, there were 67 standing committees in Kansas' state government, including 19 joint legislative committees, 18 state Senate committees, and 30 state House committees.

    Joint legislative committees

    Senate committees

    House committees

    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the Kansas Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Article 14 of the Kansas Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Kansas
    Kansas Constitution
    Flag of Kansas.png
    Articles
    Ordinance • Preamble • Bill of Rights
    1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15

    Article 14 of the Kansas Constitution governs the ways in which the state's constitution can be changed over time.

    • One path is the legislatively referred constitutional amendment. Either house of the Kansas State Legislature can propose an amendment to the state's constitution. Two-thirds of the members of each chamber must approve the resolution. If they do, the proposed amendment goes on either the next statewide ballot during which members of the state legislature are elected or on a special election ballot if the legislature agrees to have a special election for this purpose.
    • If a simple majority of the electors of the state who vote on the proposition agree with it, it becomes part of the constitution.
    • The legislature must say what the measure's ballot title will be in their resolution authorizing it.
    • If there is more than one proposed amendment, voters must be able to vote on them separately.
    • At most, five amendments can be proposed for one election.
    • An amendment is allowed to revise one entire article of the constitution "except the article on general provisions."
    • Another path to amend the state constitution is through a constitutional convention. If two-thirds of the members of each house of the state legislature vote in favor, the question "Shall there be a convention to amend or revise the constitution of the state of Kansas?" or "Shall there be a convention limited to revision of article(s) ________ of the constitution of the state of Kansas?" shall be placed on a statewide ballot.
    • If a simple majority of those voting on that question say "yes," a convention is held.
    • Any amendments or revisions that come out of the convention must go before the state's voters.

    Kansas does not feature the power of citizen initiative for either initiated constitutional amendments or initiated state statutes.


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Kansas.

    Kansas Party Control: 1992-2025
    No Democratic trifectas  •  Sixteen years of Republican trifectas

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D
    Senate R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
    House D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

    Historical Senate control

    Between 1992 and 2020, partisan control of the Kansas State Senate was held by Republicans. The table below shows the partisan history of the Kansas State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2020. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Kansas State Senate election results: 1992-2020

    Party 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20
    Democrats 14 13 10 10 9 9 9 11
    Republicans 26 27 30 30 31 31 31 29

    From 1917 to 2020, Republicans held consistent control of the Kansas State Senate. The last time that Democrats held the chamber was from 1913 to 1916. Republicans gained a supermajority following the 1996 elections. Twenty-seven seats (two-thirds majority) are needed to override a gubernatorial veto and put a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

    Republicans held a majority of 31-9 following the 2008, 2012, and 2016 elections. This was their largest majority between 1992 and 2016. Despite a national trend toward the Democratic Party in 2006 and 2008, Kansas Democrats did not eclipse 14 seats. Despite the national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D), the Kansas State Senate was resistant to that trend. Senate Republicans did not gain a seat during Obama's presidency. From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.

    While Republicans have controlled both chambers of the state legislature since 1992, there has been conflict between conservative Republicans and moderate Republicans. Before the 2016 primary, moderate Republicans had been losing ground in the state legislature since the 2010 election of Gov. Sam Brownback (R), shifting from a more moderate Republican-controlled state legislature to a more conservative one after the 2012 elections. Eighteen Republican incumbents were defeated in the 2012 election. In the 2016 primary election, 14 conservative Republican incumbents—six in the Senate and eight in the House—were defeated by moderate Republicans running against the policies of Gov. Brownback.[1]

    Historical House control

    Between 1992 and 2020, partisan control of the Kansas House of Representatives was maintained by Republicans. The table below shows the partisan history of the Kansas House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2020. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Kansas House of Representatives election results: 1992-2020

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20
    Democrats 59 45 48 48 46 45 42 47 48 33 35 28 40 40 39
    Republicans 66 80 77 77 79 80 83 78 77 92 90 97 85 85 86

    From 1992 to 2020, Republicans held consistent control of the Kansas House of Representatives. Republicans had their largest majority following the 2014 elections when they held a 71-seat advantage. Republicans lost 12 seats in the 2016 elections but kept control of the chamber with an 85-40 majority. The last time that Democrats held the chamber was prior to the 1992 elections. In the 1992 elections, House Republicans gained four seats and took control of the chamber. The Republican gains in 2010 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.

    While Republicans have controlled both chambers of the state legislature since 1992, there has been conflict between conservative Republicans and moderate Republicans. Before the 2016 primary, moderate Republicans had been losing ground in the state legislature since the 2010 election of Gov. Sam Brownback (R). The legislature shifted from a more moderate Republican-controlled state legislature to a more conservative one after the 2012 elections, when 18 Republican incumbents were defeated. In the 2016 primary election, 14 conservative Republican incumbents—six in the Senate and eight in the House—were defeated by moderate Republicans running against the policies of Gov. Brownback (R).[2]

    See also

    Elections Kansas State Government State Legislatures State Politics
    Ballotpedia Elections Badge-VOTE-no shadow-Square.jpg
    Kansas State Flag-Close Up.jpg
    State Houses-Tile image.png
    State Courts-Tile image.png

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ kwch.com, "Primary election results show changes coming to KS politics," accessed August 4, 2016
    2. ↑ kwch.com, "Primary election results show changes coming to KS politics," accessed August 4, 2016
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