Each week during the 2024 Kansas legislative session, we will provide Johnson County lawmakers the opportunity to share their thoughts about what is happening in the state capitol.
Below is a submission from Republican Sen. Mike Thompson of Senate District 10, which currently covers parts of Merriam, Overland Park and Shawnee.
Democratic Rep. Stephanie Clayton of Overland Park and Democratic Rep. Brandon Woodard of Lenexa have also both been asked to submit columns later this week.
The views expressed in each Capitol Update are solely those of the lawmaker.
We have reached “turnaround,” the midpoint of the session where most legislation must be passed by one chamber in order to be considered by the other. Over the last two weeks, the Senate adopted a number of important bills. For the purposes of this piece, I want to focus on two very important priorities that earned wide bipartisan support.
The first was SB 394, which we passed unanimously. It would require the use of age verification software on websites in which 25% or more of the content is pornographic in nature. A core function of government is to protect our children from harm, and that’s exactly what this bill does.
Age verification laws are now narrowly tailored and effective, largely because technology has changed. In fact, legislatures now “age-gate” several things that are illegal for minors.
In Kansas, it is used for alcohol, smoking, and sports betting. While the capabilities of the pornography industry have expanded, so have the capabilities of age verification technology. Slight inconvenience for adults does not mean the law is unconstitutional.
Similar legislation has been upheld in other states, such as Louisiana, Virginia and Utah, and notorious porn websites like PornHub have decided to shut off access to their sites in such states rather than simply complying with the law to protect children.
Secondly, the Senate took an important step in preserving private property rights.
As National Review wrote in this article, “Civil forfeiture allows state and federal authorities to take your hard-earned cash without cause and keep it. The practice must be reformed.”
This month, in bipartisan fashion, the Kansas Senate did just that when it passed SB 458, which reforms the Kansas Standard Asset Seizure and Forfeiture Act. This is a unique issue that drew strong support from both sides of the aisle, with its leading proponents being among the most conservative and liberal members of the Senate.
Proponents articulated several alarming stories that demonstrated the need for an overhaul of the system that can too easily be abused. When $23.1 million in cash and other property has been seized and over 70% of that is not even contested, there is a problem that cries out for a solution.
It’s an important to remember that in Kansas, a conviction is not required to seize property, unlike in other states. As a believer in the right to property, this is concerning and must be addressed.
Currently, there are two proposals — one in the Senate and one in the House. Both proposals remove crimes from the list of offenses that can result in a seizure and require police to submit a probable cause affidavit containing the reasons for their choice to seize property. And both require courts to determine whether a seizure was excessive and raise the legal burden police must reach to retain property.
The Senate version is even stronger, as it addresses federal abuses of civil assert forfeiture and, even more importantly, would allow claimants to request a jury trial.
I was proud to support the Senate version, which passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 36-2. I anticipate the differences to be ironed out over the next few weeks, and I look forward to voting for the final product.
Thank you for allowing me to serve you in the Kansas Senate!
