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As Amended by House Committee
Session of 2026
HOUSE BILL No. 2451
By Committee on Elections
Requested by Representative Waggoner
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AN ACT concerning elections; relating to the use of public assets for
campaign finance; prohibiting the use of such assets to advocate for or
against state constitutional amendments and any other ballot question
submitted to qualified electors; requiring detailed fiscal information
to be part of any informational statement concerning a proposed
bond issue; amending K.S.A. 25-4169a and repealing the existing
section.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
New Section 1. (a) As used in this section, "public funds" means
any state, county, city, school district or other political subdivision
funds, including funds derived from taxes, fees or assessments.
(b) Any publication, communication, mailing, advertisement,
website, social media posting or other informational material
concerning a proposed bond issue that is paid for, in whole or in part,
with public funds shall include a fiscal disclosure statement or a link
to a state or municipality website or a quick response code (QR) that
provides neutral, factual information regarding the financial impact
of the proposed bond issue.
(c) The fiscal disclosure statement shall include, at a minimum,
the following information:
(1) The principal amount of the proposed bond issue;
(2) the estimated total cost of the bond issue, including interest,
calculated using the expected interest rate at the time that the bond is
proposed and clearly identified as an estimate;
(3) the duration of the bond, including the number of years over
which the bond is to be repaid;
(4) a statement identifying any outstanding bonds or bond-related
obligations of the issuing entity, including:
(A) The remaining principal balance; and
(B) the estimated remaining total payments, including interest;
(5) the estimated annual debt service payment required to repay
the proposed bond issue;
(6) the estimated total amount of property tax revenue, in actual
dollars, required annually to make the bond payments;
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HB 2451—Am. by HC 2
(7) an estimate of the annual and total property tax impact
expressed in real dollar amounts, including the estimated annual cost
per $100,000 of appraised residential property value; and
(8) a clear statement that the estimates provided are projections
and actual costs may vary based on interest rates, assessed valuation
changes and other economic factors.
(d) A publication funded with public funds shall not state or
imply that a proposed bond issue will not raise taxes or increase
property taxes based solely on mill levy calculations, unless the
publication also includes:
(1) The estimated actual property tax dollars required annually
to make bond payments;
(2) the estimated real dollar cost to property owners; and
(3) a disclaimer that explains that a mill levy that remains the
same equates to a tax increase due to appraised valuations increasing
annually.
(e) All fiscal disclosure statements required by this section shall
be presented in plain language, in a manner that is clearly visible and
understandable to the average reader and shall not be minimized,
obscured or contradicted by other content in the publication.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the use of
public funds to advocate for a bond issue. The information required
under this section shall be strictly informational and neutral.
(g) Any publication concerning a bond issue that is inconsistent
with the provisions of this section shall constitute a violation of this
act.
Section 1. Sec. 2. K.S.A. 25-4169a is hereby amended to read as
follows: 25-4169a. (a) (1) No officer or employee of the state of Kansas,
or any municipality, shall use or authorize the use of public funds or public
vehicles, machinery, equipment or supplies of any such governmental
agency or the time of any officer or employee of any such governmental
agency, for which the officer or employee is compensated by such
governmental agency, to expressly advocate the nomination, election or
defeat of a clearly identified candidate to state office or local office , to
promote or oppose the adoption or repeal of any provisions of the
constitution of the state of Kansas or to promote or oppose any ballot
question submitted to the qualified electors of this state or any political
subdivision thereof.
(b) The provisions of this section prohibiting the use of time of any
officer or employee for such purposes shall not apply to an incumbent
officer campaigning for nomination or reelection to a succeeding term to
such office or to members of the personal staff of any elected officer.
(c) The provisions of this section shall not apply to the statutory
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HB 2451—Am. by HC 3
duties of the commission on judicial performance pursuant to article 32 of
chapter 20 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto.
(2)(d) The provisions of this subsection section shall not apply to the
use of internet connectivity provided by the state of Kansas or any
municipality to any candidate or elected official.
(3)(e) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no municipality
shall permit or allow any person to distribute, or cause to be distributed,
within any building or other structure owned, leased or rented by such
municipality any brochure, flier, political fact sheet or other document
which that expressly advocates the nomination, election or defeat of a
clearly identified candidate for state or local office or ballot issue unless
each candidate or ballot issue committee for such state or local office is
permitted or allowed to do so in the same manner.
(4)(f) (1) An officer or employee of the state or any municipality may
respond to inquiries regarding the adoption or repeal of any provisions of
the constitution of the state of Kansas or any other ballot question in a
neutral manner and publish neutral information to educate or otherwise
inform the public on such ballot questions on any website maintained by
the state or such municipality.
(2) It shall be a violation of this section for any officer or employee of
the state or any municipality to conduct or authorize directed mass
communications regarding such ballot questions, such as mailers, flyers,
radio advertisements, television advertisements, physical signage and
statements posted on social media.
(g) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to limit the
freedom of speech of any officer or employee of the state of Kansas or
any municipality who is speaking in the officer's or employee's
personal capacity. This section does not prohibit the state, state
agencies or the governing body of any municipality from presenting
factual information solely for the purpose of educating voters on a
ballot question.
(h) For the purposes of this subsection section, the term municipality
shall have the meaning ascribed to it means the same as defined in K.S.A.
12-105a, and amendments thereto.
(b)(h)(i) Any person violating the provisions of this section including
failure to provide the disclosure regarding a bond issue shall be guilty
of a class C misdemeanor.
Sec. 2. 3. K.S.A. 25-4169a is hereby repealed.
Sec. 3. 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.
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