HB 2387 - Prohibits the Governor or Any State Agency from Issuing a Request for the Medical Assistance Program
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 2387—Prohibiting the issuance of a request for proposal or entering into a new contract for the administration and provision of benefits under the medical assistance program and removing the authority of the governor to prohibit attending or conducting certain religious services and worship services.
This information is available thanks to kslegislature.org; ballotpedia.org; and votesmart.org
Highlights of this bill include:
Prohibits state agencies, including the Governor from issuing a “request for proposal,” or a formal document requesting vendors to offer bids, for the administration and distribution of benefits within the medical assistance program, on or before January 31, 2022 (Sec. 1).
Prohibits state agencies, including the Governor, from entering into any new contracts with managed care organizations (MCOs) for the administration and distribution of benefits within the medical assistance program, on or before January 31, 2022, with the following added requirements (Sec. 1):
That the secretary of health and environment shall continue to administer medical assistance benefits using MCOs as described and/or limited by existing state and federal law; and
That this and previous provisions shall expire on January 31, 2022.
Authorizes the Governor to serve as Commander-and-Chief during state of disaster emergencies, as provided by existing law, and possess the power to issue executive orders that are taken as law, including with regards to suspending existing laws about conducting state business and regulating state agencies, with the following exceptions (Sec. 2):
That the suspension of any law, provision, order, rule, or regulation must be because its existence impeded in any way the attempts to address the state of disaster;
That the Legislative Coordinating Council (LCC) shall meet within 24 hours of an executive order being issued to review said executive order;
That executive orders may be revoked at any time upon a concurrent resolution by the legislature;
That such executive orders may be revoked by the LCC with an affirmative vote of 5 members if the legislature is not in session, or if it is adjourned during session for 3 or more days;
That any such orders or powers granted to the Governor by this provision will be null and no longer in place after the state of disaster is over;
That the authorities and powers granted in this provision do not extend to the alteration of state election laws, the overlook of existing state laws regarding purchase, ownership and seizure of guns, or the violation of any state law regarding religious practice or worship;
That any party aggrieved by an executive order issued under this provision may file a civil action in their county district court; and
That any county’s board of county commissioners may adopt alternative policies regarding public health than those issued statewide by an executive order if the board has consulted with a trained public health consultant, has deemed the requirements of the executive order unnecessary to maintain public health in their county after consultation, and provides all other findings used to come to the board’s decisions.
A summary of the bill can be found here.
The bill was first introduced to the House on Friday, February 12, 2021, where it was referred to Committee on Judiciary. On Tuesday, March 2, 2021, the bill passed the House 101-23 where it was then received and introduced to the Senate that same day. On Friday, April 1, 2022, the Senate adopted the Conference Committee Report 26-12. The House also adopted this report 84-38 on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. The bill was enrolled and presented to Governor Laura Kelly (D) on Friday, May 6, 2022. The bill returned to the House Friday, May 13, 2022, after the Governor vetoed the bill. The House then voted to override the veto. This is how the Kansas House 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.
Michael Houser (R,1,Y), Kenneth Collins (R,2,Y), Charles “Chuck” Smith (R,3,Y), Trevor Jacobs (R,4,Y), Mark Samsel (R,5,Y), 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,Y), 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,DNV), 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), Dan Osman (D,48,DNV), 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,Y), Francis Awerkamp (R,61,Y), Randy Garber (R,62,Y), John R. Eplee (R,63,Y), Susan L. Carlson (R,64,DNV), Lonnie G. Clark (R,65,Y), Sydney Carlin (D,66,N), Mike Dodson (R,67,Y), Dave Baker (R,68,Y), 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), Leah Howell (R,81,N), 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), Chuck Schmidt (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), Cyndi Howerton (R,98,Y), 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,N), 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), Bill Clifford (R,122,Y), John P. Wheeler Jr. (R,123,Y), Martin Long (R,124,Y), Shannon Francis (R,125,Y)
The veto was overridden by the House with an 84-38 vote. All 84 ‘yes’ votes were by Republicans. The ‘no’ votes were comprised of 37 Democrats and 1 Republican. There were 3 House members that were absent and not voting including 2 Democrats and a Republican. According to the 2022 official General Election results, 35 of the House members that voted on this bill will not be in the House in 2023. This includes 22 Republicans that voted in favor of the bill, 11 Democrats that voted against the bill, 1 Republican that voted against the bill, and 1 Republican that did not vote.
The Kansas Senate voted next. This is how your Senators voted:
Dennis D. Pyle (R,1,Y), Marci A. Francisco (D,2,N), Tom Holland (D,3,N), David Haley (D,4,N), Jeff Pittman (D,5,N), 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,DNV), 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,DNV), Mike Petersen (R,28,Y), Oletha Faust-Goudeau (D,29,N), 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,DNV), Rick Billinger (R,40,Y)
The Senate overrode the Governor’s veto 27-10 with all 27 ‘yes’ votes being Republican and all 10 ‘no’ votes being Democrat. A total of 3 Senators were absent and did not vote including 2 Republicans and a Democrat.
The bill became effective by law on June 2, 2022.