What we’re watching: February state legislative update

Health Forward is supporting and building inclusive, powerful, and healthy communities by prioritizing people who experience the greatest injustices in health outcomes. We are working to remove those injustices through our leadership, advocacy, and resources.

The 2025 sessions continue to have strong momentum and, like many who we’ve talked to over the past few weeks, we are working double-time to stay up on developments. In addition to the speed, the volume of legislation is significant, with over 3,100 pieces of legislation being filed in Kansas and Missouri combined. We are grateful for your extra eyes and ears as we all work together to achieve policy wins to help our neighbors. 

Take a look at our policy agendas for Kansas and Missouri, to get a sense of how the action in Kansas and Missouri impacts the outcomes we seek to advance through Health Forward’s purpose plan.

Kansas

Topline takeaways:

• SB 4, which eliminate the three-day grace period for returning advance mail-in ballots, passed both the Senate and House chambers, and it’s looking like the bill will make it to the Governor’s desk where it would face a veto. Whether the veto holds or not likely depends on a single vote in the House.  

• Bills that encroach on the ability of the executive branch to make policy through waivers to the federal government both passed in the House and Senate – HB 2240 and SB 161, respectively. Not only do these bills weaken policy innovation from the Governor’s office, but they would also make it so new programs in Kansas – like Community Health Workers over the past couple of years – will have little chance of getting started. We oppose these bills. 

• Legislation that would eliminate the statewide affordable housing tax credit in Kansas – HB 2119 – has passed the House and was heard in the Senate. We oppose the wholesale elimination of the tax credit as it promoted the development of thousands of homes in the state.  

• Once again, the push to eliminate the three-day grace period for returning advance mail-in ballots is on the menu for some legislators. SB 4 and HB 2017 both would require that these ballots be returned by 7 p.m. on election day, which would potentially disenfranchise thousands of voters, especially rural Kansans. We testified in opposition to SB 4 earlier in the month, but the hearing on HB 2017 was cancelled, which means SB 4 is the main bill for this.
• The post-COVID push to limit the authority of public health officials at the local and state levels continues into its third year with SBs 19 and 29. Our primary concern in these bills is that they limit the authority of local and state health officials to implement reasonable regulations, like isolation or personal protective equipment, to prevent the spread of infectious disease outbreaks. We testified in opposition to both of these bills.
• Legislation on housing is also starting to make headway in committees. HB 2119, which we oppose, would eliminate the statewide affordable housing tax credit in Kansas, which has spurred the development of thousands of homes in the state. Thank you to UCS of Johnson for their efforts to coordinate advocacy on this bill. On a brighter note, we recently supported HB 2074 when it was heard in committee, as it would restore the homestead property tax refund to renters.

People policy goal: People can easily access safe, quality, and affordable whole—person care.

Power policy goal: Participation in our democracy and policymaking process improves health outcomes.

Place policy goal: Our communities are healthy place where people fully participate in the digital economy and build wealth through safe, quality, and affordable housing and homeownership.

Platform policy goal: Community health is influenced by systems, policies, and stories that promote racial equity and economic inclusion.

A comprehensive view of what we’re tracking can be found at our full Kansas Bill Tracker. 

Missouri

Topline takeaways:

• Both the House of Representatives and the Governor have made moves with the anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion policy changes. Governor Kehoe issued EO 25-18, which bans virtually any program, policy, or position focusing on any aspect of diversity, equity, and inclusion from getting state funding. HB 742 passed the House quickly and was heard in the Senate on March 3. It also bans all state money spent on diversity, equity, and inclusion which jeopardizes billions of dollars in economic activity and thousands of jobs, not to mention health equity and pathway programs for underrepresented populations to work in the medical field.  

• Despite having passed with a majority of voters, guaranteed paid sick leave and a pay raise for 1.1 million Missourians is under threat. HB 567 would prevent the full implementation of Proposition A. We stand with working Missourians who need time away from work when they or a family member are ill and needs care. We oppose this legislation. 

• Because of the success of voter-driven initiatives, the General Assembly continues to find ways to undermine the initiative petition process. SB 22 passed the Senate and, even though it was made slightly more palatable through amendment, Health Forward still opposes it. SJR 47 increases the threshold for passage of initiatives and HBs 551 and 575 add onerous requirements for people gathering signatures. This legislation demonstrates that efforts to weaken the citizen-led process are comprehensive. 

• We also want to point to the bills moving through the Assembly that we support and think would help people in meaningful ways. SB 94 expands telehealth coverage to include audio-only options. HB 398 is a comprehensive women’s and infant health bill. Or modernizing the property tax circuit breaker with SB 101 and creating a rural workforce housing fund with HB 245 – there are good pieces of legislation that we will continue to support and work with legislators to advance through to law. 

People policy goal: People can easily access safe, quality, and affordable whole—person care.

Power policy goal: Participation in our democracy and policymaking process improves health outcomes.

Place policy goal: Our communities are healthy place where people fully participate in the digital economy and build wealth through safe, quality, and affordable housing and homeownership.

Platform policy goal: Community health is influenced by systems, policies, and stories that promote racial equity and economic inclusion.

These bills highlighted are ones we are keeping a focus on, but here is a full list of the bills we’re tracking in Missouri.