GOP edge an advantage in House, Senate veto battles with Gov. Laura Kelly
by Tim Carpenter and Anna Kaminski, Kansas Reflector
January 13, 2025
TOPEKA — Members of the Kansas Legislature gathered with family and friends Monday to convene the 2025 session and welcome three dozen new lawmakers and test the influence of expanded Republican majorities in the House and Senate.
Unanimous votes accompanied formal selection of Andover Sen. Ty Masterson as Senate president and Wichita Rep. Dan Hawkins as House speaker. The anticipated GOP agenda of budget, tax, education, transgender rights, election and judicial reform could be familiar to statehouse observers of previous sessions. The GOP’s wider numerical advantage over Democratic legislators and Gov. Laura Kelly could amplify opportunities to press conservative bills.
“The trust you all have placed in me to serve as House speaker for another two years is a responsibility that I do not take lightly,” said Hawkins, a House member for 12 years. “We accomplished much in the last two years and I’m even more excited about what lies ahead for the next two years.”
He said the 125 members of the House had diverse views and subscribed to different ideologies, but as colleagues serving the interests of Kansas they shouldn’t allow disagreement to turn the building into a battleground for adversaries.
“The chamber represents the diversity of our state from rural to urban and everything in between,” he said. “Our strength lies in finding common ground. The challenges we face, and the people we serve, demand that we rise above partisanship.”
In the November election, Republicans gained three seats in the House to take an 88-37 advantage. In the Senate, Republicans claimed two additional seats for a 31-9 margin. Two-thirds majorities — 84 in the House, 27 in the Senate — are necessary to override vetoes by the governor. There are a dozen new senators and 25 incoming representatives.
Newly elected House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, a Democrat from Lenexa, said the opportunity to serve in the House had been experienced by about 6,000 people in the history of the state. He warned not all days in the 90-day legislative session would be smooth.
“When the days of our public service feel tough, and I promise you there will be very tough days ahead, please remember how you feel right now,” Woodard said. “I do want to invite every member to step outside of your comfort zone, show up every day with an open mind, and to explore getting to know your colleagues as people before considering their politics.”
The House and Senate followed the script and gaveled in their respective chambers at 2 p.m. That was followed by speeches by legislative leaders and photographs with family to mark the moment. Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert handled the oaths of office in the House, while Supreme Court Justice Dan Biles performed that duty in the Senate.
In the Senate, Masterson set the tone for the session: “Ready or not, here we go.”
The 50-minute ceremonious first day in the Senate was filled with smiles, handshakes and embraces among colleagues old and new. Legislators were welcomed at the Senate chamber’s entrance by family members and a group representing a Kansas chapter of Moms Demand Action, a gun control advocacy organization.
“I think everybody here has a best intention of making Kansas a greater state, but we simply disagree sometimes on what that means or how we get there,” Masterson said.
“There’ll be tears,” he said. “ There’ll be emotion. We’ll get angry sometimes.”
Masterson said he hoped to retain in the Senate something society has been losing — the ability to have passionate debates on complex subjects “and still love the other person on the other end of the argument.”
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, in a speech following Masterson’s emphasized education’s critical role in Kansas’ history. She advocated for policies supporting children, educators and funding for special education.
“Together those of us elected by voters have the opportunity to address the issues that make a difference in people’s lives,” Sykes said. “We could be distracted by culture wars, but doing that only divides us.”
She vowed on behalf of Senate Democrats to put aside ideological agendas to prioritize Kansas’ needs.
A handful of bills were prefiled in the Senate before the onset of the session. One was a bid to eliminate the practice of switching to daylight saving time twice a year and convert the state to permanent standard time. Another proposed validating results of a May 2024 bond election in Greeley County, which voters approved but ran into hiccups when the Kansas attorney general’s held back the funds because the county didn’t meet a requirement to advertise the election on a county-run website.
House Republicans also gathered Monday morning across the street from the statehouse for a closed-door meeting to discuss policy goals. On Sunday, Senate Republicans took part in a similar session outline legislative priorities.
Kelly is scheduled to deliver the annual State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the House chamber. Kelly, who is halfway through her second term, would be making her seven State of the State speech to the Legislature.
Meanwhile, Luckert plans to present the State of the Kansas Judiciary to senators and representatives in a speech scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, also in the House chamber.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.
