Marijuana, Medicaid expansion loom at Kansas statehouse

A variety of subjects are set to be on the agenda — too many to cram into one story. Abortion, taxes and education policy are the top priorities of most lawmakers, but other items are likely to draw considerable attention as well.

Lawmakers are again set to consider whether this is the year for legislative action on medical marijuana, Medicaid expansion, legislation dealing with the state's water crisis and changes to Kansas' election laws.

Fate of medical marijuana remains uncertain in Kansas Legislature

Heading into 2023, despite years of progress, the question of whether Kansas will finally legalize medical marijuana remains an open one.

In 2021, progress seemed real, with the Kansas House for the first time advancing a bill that would legalize topical, edible and other non-smokeable forms of medical cannabis in the state.

But the Kansas Senate has proven to be a tougher nut to crack, though Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, has maintained he is open to the idea but that it is not a top priority for his caucus.

"I think he's well aware that there's an interest in his caucus and in the other chamber in having the conversation and taking the vote on legalizing medical marijuana," Gov. Laura Kelly said of Masterson. "I think he's also fully aware that the people of Kansas want this, but again, we're becoming an island in the middle of the country. We're watching the legalization of marijuana and recreational marijuana happening all around us. That's going to put us in a very precarious position."

A committee probed the topic during the fall, even touring a growing facility in Kansas City, Missouri. Sen. Rob Olson, R-Olathe, has said he was planning on using the information gathered during the process to introduce a medical marijuana bill.

But Olson will no longer be chairman of the powerful Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, the panel tasked with advancing cannabis legislation, among other policy items. Instead, Masterson elected to replace him with Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee.

In an interview Thursday, Olson said he was still planning on "being involved in it as I said I would" and introducing the bill but said, "I don't know that it is going anywhere" given the change in committee leadership.

Thompson's views on medical marijuana are unknown, and he didn't respond to an interview request. But the move appears to create another potential obstacle for passage.

Lawmakers previously said they are looking to beef up security requirements for growing facilities and dispensaries, as well as overhaul how licenses are allocated. They also will have to grapple with the reality that recreational marijuana will soon be legalized in Missouri after voters there approved a ballot initiative in November.

But House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, said that his chamber is looking to the Senate to pass a bill on the issue, not wishing to waste their time on a topic that may not have a path forward in the Legislature.

"There's no reason for the House to go back in and do it again, and then have it go to the Senate and sit there for two more years and nothing happens," Hawkins told reporters in November.

Is fifth time the charm for Medicaid expansion in Kansas?

Kelly has indicated she will again push lawmakers to expand Medicaid in Kansas, a longtime policy priority for the governor that will likely be dead on arrival in the Statehouse.

"Fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth (try), whatever it takes," Kelly said in an interview with The Capital-Journal in December. "I will never give up trying to get Medicaid expanded. It is the one thing that we as a state can do that makes such a difference in the lives of so many people."

Democrats and some Republicans have pushed for Kansas to join 40 other states in expanding Medicaid, while conservatives have pushed back over cost estimates, among other concerns.

The last serious push to do so came in 2020, when a deal between Kelly and the former majority leader of the Kansas Senate, Jim Denning, ultimately collapsed after the issue became blended with a debate over abortion.

Republican leadership has continued to be skeptical of expansion and even advocates are pessimistic that a deal can be worked out.

"Nowhere in the election was there a message to lurch to the left or grow government by expanding Obamacare and making people more dependent on programs," Masterson, the Kansas Senate president, told Politico in November.

2022 elections set to bring push to change voting laws

In the wake of the 2022 midterm elections, lawmakers are again expected to consider changes to the state's election laws.

Two new leaders of committees charged with election-related bills are seen as more conservative and, likely, more open to major changes to the state's election laws.

That could include a ban on ballot drop boxes, or at least a push to require they be limited in use and monitored by election staff, something that critics believe would neuter their effectiveness.

Former Secretary of State Kris Kobach is set to be sworn in as attorney general after being sharply critical of ballot drop boxes during the campaign, with his comments likely to be indicative of the outlook from conservative Republicans.

"You have to have an attorney to understands that election fraud does exist," Kobach said during a pre-election debate. "Those on the left who say there is no election fraud are simply ignoring reality."

Additionally, legislators have pondered whether to eliminate a provision allowing an extra three days for mail ballots post-marked by Election Day to reach the county elections office.

In addition, Secretary of State Scott Schwab has outlined proposed changes of his own.

That likely will include proposing changes to when counties can canvass election results to avoid a repeat of a chaotic recount of the Aug. 2 vote on a controversial abortion amendment, despite the measure decisively failing.

"Over the past year, our agency has reviewed lessons learned from past elections and best practices from other states," Schwab said in a statement. "This legislation will improve election administration processes, reduce the burden on county election staff, and protect election integrity and transparency."

Can lawmakers take action to avert Kansas water crisis?

As Kansas goes on a solid two years of drought in the western part of the state, as well as rising concerns about the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer, lawmakers will be under more pressure than ever to shore up the state's water future.

It comes after the Kansas Water Authority, an advisory panel for state officials on the issue, handed down a historic recommendation late last month, saying the state will need to sharply curtail farming irrigation in order to preserve the Ogallala.

An overhaul of the state's water policy, including a major reorganization of state agencies and a dedicated funding stream for water efforts, imploded last session under opposition from Kansas' preeminate agricultural groups.

But Joe Newland, the incoming president of the Kansas Farm Bureau and a former legislator, has said water policy will be the group's top priority heading into the session.

There is expected to be support for a dedicated sales tax levy designed to bankroll the state's water plan, which has historically been underfunded by lawmakers.

"We have a lot of problems in water, and we really want to work very hard in trying to solve some of those problems," Newland said last month. "We've got a great organization, great team, that can work either within our own organization or with the state to help."