Kansas Lawmakers Override Vetoes on Taxes, Guns, Elections

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Kansas, this smells like winning!
Posted by Kane on May 4, 2021 3:35 pm

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Kansas Lawmakers Override Vetoes on Taxes, Guns, Elections



Republican lawmakers in Kansas have cut income taxes, lowered the age for carrying a concealed gun and tightened state election laws by overriding Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly’s vetoes of those measures.



“They listened to folks back home,” House Speaker Tem Blaine Finch said of GOP lawmakers. “It’s because of, really, the grassroots in their communities telling them, ‘Hey, this is important to us.’”



But Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, derided the “veto override-a-rama.” “Today leaves no doubt: The Kansas Legislature is more extreme than ever,” she said in a statement.



The Legislature overrode Kelly’s veto of a bill that would create a special concealed carry permit for 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds, and that’s a major victory for gun-rights advocates. The state already allows people 21 and older to carry concealed guns without a permit and adults can carry them openly, but Kelly’s election had advocates of tougher gun laws hoping for a roll back of Kansas’ generally loose policies.



The votes were 84-39 in the House and 31-8 in the Senate. The measure also expands Kansas’ recognition of other states’ concealed carry permits.



Republicans overturned Kelly’s veto of an elections bill making it harder for individuals and groups to collect absentee ballots and deliver them for voters.