HB 2089 – Restructures Firearm Safety Education Training Programs for School Districts

Political Deep Dive

Most people are more aware of who is in Washington D.C. controlling the federal government; however, those at the state level are lesser known, and yet they have more control over our lives. Through our Political Deep Dives (PDD), you can see how YOUR representatives have voted on bills that affect your day-to-day life. In this PDD, we will be focusing on HB 2089—Substitute for HB 2089 by Committee on Federal and State Affairs - Standardizing firearm safety education training programs in school districts.

This information is available thanks to kslegislature.org; ballotpedia.org; and votesmart.org

Highlights of this bill include:

• Requires, for the purposes of promoting the safety and protection of students and emphasizing how students should respond when encountering a firearm, the board of education of a school district to provide firearm safety education programs. The state board of education will establish curriculum guidelines for a standardized firearm safety education program. Such guidelines shall include, but not be limited to, accident prevention and, for students enrolled in (Sec. 1.a):

  • Kindergarten and grades one through 5, shall be based on the eddie eagle gunsafe program offered by the national rifle association or any successor program;

  • Grades 6 through 8, shall be based on the eddie eagle gunsafe program offered by the national rifle association or any successor program or the hunter education in our schools program offered by the Kansas department of wildlife, parks and tourism or any successor program; and

  • Grades 9 through 12, shall be based on the hunter education in our schools program offered by the Kansas department of wildlife, parks and tourism or any successor program.

• Specifies if a board of education elects to provide firearm safety education, the instruction will be in accordance with the guidelines established by the state board of education and will be offered to ensure that all students are provided the opportunity to take the course (Sec. 1.b).

A full text of the bill can be found here.

The bill was first introduced in the House on Thursday, January 21, 2021, where it was referred to Committee on Federal and State Affairs. The bill passed the House 75-47 on Thursday, March 18, 2021. The bill was received and introduced to the Senate that same day. The final action from the Senate occurred Thursday, April 8, 2021, where the substitute was passed as amended 31-7. This is how the Kansas Senators voted:

(Political Party, District number, Voted Yes/No/Did not vote)—Names that are crossed out are politicians that voted on these issues but, for one reason or another, are no longer in the House or Senate.

**If you are unsure what district you are in, you can click here to find out.

Dennis D. Pyle (R,1,Y), Marci A. Francisco (D,2,N), Tom Holland (D,3,DNV), David Haley (D,4,Y), Jeff Pittman (D,5,Y), Pat Huggins Pettey (D,6,N), Ethan Corson (D,7,N), Cindy Holscher (D,8,N), Beverly Gossage (R,9,Y), Mike Thompson (R,10,Y), Kellie Warren (R,11,Y), Caryn Tyson (R,12,Y), Richard Hilderbrand (R,13,Y), Michael A. Fagg (R,14,Y), Virgil Peck Jr. (R,15,Y), Ty Masterson (R,16,Y), Jeff Longbine (R,17,Y), Kristen O’Shea (R,18,Y), Rick Kloos (R,19,Y), Brenda S. Dietrich (R,20,Y), Dinah H. Sykes (D,21,N), Tom Hawk (D,22,N), Robert S. Olson (R,23,Y), Jeremy Ryan Claeys (R,24,Y), Mary Ware (D,25,N), Dan Kerschen (R,26,Y), Gene Suellentrop (R,27,Y), Mike Petersen (R,28,Y), Oletha Faust-Goudeau (D,29,DNV), Renee Erickson (R,30,Y), Carolyn McGinn (R,31,Y), Larry W. Alley (R,32,Y), Alicia Straub (R,33,Y), Mark B. Steffen (R,34,Y), Richard Wilborn (R,35,Y), Elain S. Bowers (R,36,Y), Molly Baumgardner (R,37,Y), Ronald Ryckman (R,38,Y), John Doll (R,39,Y), Rick Billinger (R,40,Y)

HB 2089 passed the Senate 31-7 with all 29 Republicans and 2 Democrats voting in favor of the bill. Against the bill were 7 Democrats while 2 Democrats did not vote.

After the Senate voted to pass the bill with amendments, the bill was sent back to the House that same day where the House concurred with the amendments.

Michael Houser (R,1,Y), Kenneth Collins (R,2,Y), Charles “Chuck” Smith (R,3,N), Trevor Jacobs (R,4,Y), Mark Samsel (R,5,N), Samantha M. Poetter Parshall (R,6,Y), Richard J. Proehl (R,7,Y), Chris Croft (R,8,Y), Kent L. Thompson (R,9,Y), Christina Haswood (D,10,N), Jim Kelly (R,11,Y), Doug Blex (R,12,Y), Joe Newland (R,13,N), Charlotte Esau (R,14,Y), John M. Toplikar (R,15,Y), Linda Featherston (D,16,N), Jo Ella Hoye (D,17,N), Cindy Neighbor (D,18,N), Stephanie Sawyer Clayton (D,19,N), Mari-Lynn Poskin (D,20,N), Jerry Stogsdill (D,21,N), Lindsay Vaughn (D,22,N), Susan Ruiz (D,23,N), Jarrod Ousley (D,24,N), Rui Xu (D,25,N), Adam Thomas (R,26,Y), Sean E. Tarwater Sr. (R,27,Y), Carl Turner (R,28,Y), Heather Meyer (D,29,N), Brandon T. Woodard (D,30,N), Louis E. Ruiz (D,31,N), Pam Curtis (D,32,N), Tom Burroughs (D,33,N), Valdenia Camille Winn (D,34,N), Broderick T. Henderson (D,35,N), Kathy Wolfe Moore (D,36,N), Aaron Coleman (D,37,N), Timothy Johnson (R, 38,Y), Owen Donohoe (R,39,Y), David W. French (R,40,Y), Pat Proctor (R,41,Y), Lance Neelly (R,42,Y), William “Bill” Sutton (R,43,Y), Barbara W. Ballard (D,44,N), Mike Amyx (D,45,N), Dennis J. Highberger (D,46,N), Ronald B. Ellis (R,47,Y), Jennifer Day (D,48,N), Megan Lynn (R,49,Y), Fred C. Patton (R,50,Y), Ron L. Highland (R,51,Y), Jesse Borjon (R,52,Y), Jim Gartner (D,53,N), Ken Corbet (R,54,Y), Annie Kuether (D,55,N), Virgil Weigel (D,56,N), John Alcala (D,57,N), Vic Miller (D,58,N), Blaine Finch (R,59,Y), Mark Schreiber (R,60,N), Francis Awerkamp (R,61,Y), Randy Garber (R,62,Y), John R. Eplee (R,63,Y), Susan L. Carlson (R,64,Y), Lonnie G. Clark (R,65,Y), Sydney Carlin (D,66,N), Mike Dodson (R,67,N), Dave Baker (R,68,N), Clarke Sanders (R,69,Y), John E. Barker (R,70,Y), Steven K. Howe (R,71,Y), Avery Anderson (R,72,Y), Les Mason (R,73,Y), Stephen Owens (R,74,Y), Will Carpenter (R,75,Y), Eric L. Smith (R,76,Y), Kristey S. Williams (R,77,Y), Ron Ryckman Jr. (R,78,Y), Cheryl Helmer (R,79,Y), Bill Rhiley (R,80,Y), Blake Carpenter (R,81,Y), Jesse Burris (R,82,Y), Henry M. Helgerson Jr. (D,83,N), Gail Finney (D,84,N), Patrick Penn (R,85,Y), Stephanie Byers (D,86,N), Susan Oliver Estes (R,87,Y), Elizabeth B. Bishop (D,88,N), Kelechi “KC” Ohaebosim (D,89,N), Steve Huebert (R,90,Y), Emil M. Bergquist (R,91,Y), John Carmichael (D,92,N), Brian Bergkamp (R,93,Y), Leo G. Delperdang (R,94,Y), Tom Sawyer (D,95,N), Tom Kessler II (R,96,Y), Nick J. Hoheisel (R,97,Y), Ron Howard (R,98,DNV), Susan Humphries (R,99,Y), Daniel R. Hawkins (R,100,Y), Joe Seiwert (R,101,Y), Jason Probst (D,102,N), Ponka-We Victors (D,103,DNV), Paul Waggoner (R,104,Y), Brenda K. Landwehr (R,105,Y), Lisa M. Moser (R,106,Y), Susan L. Concannon (R,107,Y), Steven C. Johnson (R,108,Y), Troy L. Waymaster (R,109,Y), Ken Rahjes (R,110,Y), Barbara K. Wasinger (R,111,Y), Tory Marie Arnberger (R,112,Y), Brett Fairchild (R,113,Y), Michael Murphy (R,114,Y), Boyd Orr (R,115,Y), Kyle Hoffman (R,116,Y), Tatum Lee (R,117,Y), James “Jim” Minnix (R,118,Y), Bradley Ralph (R,119,Y), Adam C. Smith (R,120,Y), John Resman (R,121,Y), Russell ‘Russ’ Jennings (R,122,Y), John P. Wheeler Jr. (R,123,N), Martin Long (R,124,Y), Shannon Francis (R,125,Y)

HB 2089 passed the House with a 79-44 vote. The bill was supported by 79 Republicans and no Democrats. Another 6 Republicans voted against the bill alongside 38 Democrats. One Democrat and one Republican did not vote. A total of 4 who voted on this bill are no longer serving in the House including 2 Democrats who both voted ‘no,’ and 2 Republicans, one that voted ‘yes’ and one that did not vote.

The bill was enrolled and presented to Democrat Governor Laura Kelly Friday, April 16, 2021. On Thursday, April 22, 2021, Governor Kelly vetoed the bill, and the bill was sent back to the House. There was no motion to reconsider the vetoed bill, and the veto was sustained on Friday, May 7, 2021.