The prospects for a bill aiming to transfer the historic Shawnee Indian Mission property in Fairway to the Shawnee Tribe appear to be waning this legislative session in Topeka.
Though not technically dead, one state lawmaker who represents the area where the Mission stands says the chances of the measure getting a hearing this year are slim.
But the issue, according to tribal leaders and elected officials, could return in 2024.
The bill was introduced by an Olathe Republican
- HB 2208 was introduced earlier this year in the House Federal and State Affairs Committee by Rep. Adam Thomas, an Olathe Republican.
- The measure calls for the state to convey the Shawnee Indian Mission land to the Shawnee Tribe, now based in Oklahoma.
- A mirroring bill, SB 117, was introduced in the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, too.
- Friday, Feb. 24, is “turnaround day” in Topeka, a key deadline when bills that have not passed out of their original committees will not move forward in the legislative process this session.
The bill could come up again in 2024 session
- Rep. Rui Xu, a Westwood Democrat, said he knows from his conversations with the federal and state committee chair Rep. Will Carpenter that HB 2208 is “dead for this year at least.”
- Xu said the bill remains alive “for the full biennium” — a two-year period — and could come up again for debate in 2024, adding that bills in the federal and state affairs committees are exempt from “turnaround day” rules.
- Thomas told the Post via a text message that just because a bill is not getting a hearing this year does not mean the issue is dead, and that it can come up again next year.
Conflicting interests may have stalled the bill this year
- Xu said his best guess is that HB 2208 was “too messy with competing claims” to be taken up for a hearing in 2023.
- Carpenter, the House Federal and State Affairs Committee chair, did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.
- The Post also reached out to Sen. Mike Thompson of Shawnee, chair of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, and had not heard back at the time this story was published.
The tribe remains optimistic about land conveyance
- Maggie Boyett, the Shawnee Tribe’s chief communications officer, told the Post in a statement Tuesday that the tribe still believes its plan to restore and operate the Mission “as a museum is the most responsible way to preserve this sacred place for the benefit of the public.”
- “We understood at the outset that this year would be the start of a longer process,” Boyett said. “Our coalition continues to grow, and we are pleased with our success thus far.”
The city is confident that the state will maintain ownership
- The city of Fairway, which helps manage the property, wants the Mission to stay under the ownership of the Kansas Historical Society.
- City Administrator Nathan Nogelmeier told the Post in a statement Tuesday that the city — which began lobbying for the state to maintain control of the site this year — believes the Legislature will ultimately side with the city’s view.
- “We are confident the Kansas Legislature understands not only the significance of this National Historic Landmark, but also the potential consequences, both at the local and state levels, should the site be conveyed to any one party,” Nogelmeier said.
Go deeper: What could happen if tribe takes over Shawnee Indian Mission?
