During the 2025 Kansas legislative session, we are providing Johnson County lawmakers the opportunity to share their thoughts about what is happening in the state capitol.
The views expressed in each Capitol Update are solely those of the lawmaker. The topics are of the lawmakers’ choosing and are not fact-checked.
Below is a submission from Republican Sen. Beverly Gossage, who represents Kansas Senate District 9, which covers areas of western Johnson County, in addition to parts of Douglas, Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties.
The Post also extended invitations to submit Capitol Updates this week to Democratic Rep. Lindsay Vaughn of Overland Park and Republican Rep. Chip VanHouden of Spring Hill and have not heard back from either.
Representing District 9, I chair the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, the Bob Bethel Medicaid Oversight Committee and the Joint Child Welfare Committee.
In addition, I am a member of the Senate Committees on Financial Institutions and Insurance, Federal and State Affairs, Education and Joint Committee on Education Funding.
Let me highlight a few bills that were introduced in those committees and passed the legislature last week.
We reaffirmed our support of the Right to Try for Individualized Treatments Act by passing unanimously SB 250.
The bill authorizes a manufacturer operating in an eligible facility to make available individualized investigative treatments and allows individuals with life-threatening or severely debilitating illnesses to request an individualized investigational drug, biologic product or device from such manufacturers.
HB 2075 amends law concerning when law enforcement may take a child under 18
into custody as a suspected victim of abuse or neglect. It also adds a procedure for law enforcement to report suspected abuse or neglect to the Secretary for Children and Families for the purposes of initiating an investigation and amends the law concerning the frequency of — and requirements for — permanency hearings under the Revised Kansas Code for the Care of Children.
Changing the first hearing from 12 months to within 9 months, could lead to more children finding permanent placement earlier.
HB 2069 enacts four multi-state licensure compacts: the School Psychologist Compact, the Dietitian Compact, the Cosmetologist Licensure Compact and the Physician Assistant Licensure Compact.
This bill makes it easier for licensees in these professions from other states to practice in Kansas. This bill was strongly supported by the armed services and the Kansas Chamber as military spouses could more easily find jobs in Kansas as they are transferred here.
SB 29 requires the Secretary of Health and Environment to have probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, before taking action to isolate or quarantine an individual. It also permits any aggrieved party to file a civil action regarding an order made by the Secretary or a local health officer and establishes requirements for hearings and judicial review and provides for a county or joint board of health or local health officer to recommend against rather than prohibit public gatherings when necessary for the control of infectious or contagious disease.
As requested by law enforcement, it also removes the ability for a local health officer or the Secretary to order law enforcement to assist in the execution or enforcement of any order.
SB 126 updates the current newborn screening program to establish the Advance Universal Newborn Screening Program, increases the minimum statutory state financial assistance to local health departments and increases the hospital provider annual assessment on services rate and extends the assessment to include critical access and rural emergency hospitals with revenues above a certain threshold.
SB 45 establishes a statutory calculation, for purposes of accreditation, of the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate for each school district and any schools within the district, including virtual schools.
