TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Key conservative initiatives are likely to fail in Kansas this year because a few Republicans are breaking with the rest of the Legislature’s veto-proof GOP supermajorities.
Republicans have pushed measures through the state Senate tightening election laws and weakening school vaccination requirements, but not with the two-thirds vote needed to override potential vetoes from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. A proposed change in the Kansas Constitution aimed at limiting future tax increases also died in the Senate for lack of a two-thirds vote.
Because former President Donald Trump won over many conservatives and abortion opponents, his supporters control the Kansas GOP, and anti-vaccine activists and election-conspiracy promoters have gained influence. But conservatives’ struggles in the Legislature show that with Kelly as governor, they still need more-centrist establishment Republicans’ support.
