A state legislative hearing is planned on a bill that would stop Kansas City, Kansas, from implementing a Safe and Welcoming ordinance that was passed earlier this year.
The hearing was scheduled at 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 15, in the Federal and State Affairs Committee in the Kansas House, Topeka.
The bill was requested by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor. The bill would stop Kansas City, Kansas, from implementing parts of its Safe and Welcoming ordinance, which welcomes immigrants and provides an identification card for them, as well as states that no Unified Government personnel will be notifying immigration officials about their presence.
Two state legislators discussed this bill at an online legislative coffee held Feb. 26, sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library.
State Rep. Pam Curtis, D-32nd Dist., said at the coffee that this bill was just another example of the state encroaching on local control.
Rep. Curtis said first of all, the federal government should be dealing with the immigration issue, and then that would solve the problems at the local level.
But since the federal government hasn’t done that, the state and local communities are trying to find a way to make their communities safe, and have all residents engaged.
Rep. Curtis said she read a quote from Schmidt that likened those participating in the ID programs to drug cartel members.
However, at the UG meetings, the commission heard from undocumented workers who do not have criminal records, as well as from many social workers and educators. The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education has voted to support this bill, because the IDs will make identification easier for parents enrolling school children. It also would help in getting medical care for people living in the community who do not have identification cards, according to its supporters.
“We need to clearly demonstrate who we’re talking about and the people in our community, the benefits of them having an identification card, and the benefits of the community having members who live in the community having IDs,” Rep. Curtis said.
Rep. Kathy Wolfe Moore, D-36th Dist., said she agreed. There are 105 different counties in Kansas, and it doesn’t matter what side you’re on, what matters is that the community here had a vote, had a public hearing and decided to do this, she said.
Local control is so important because local officials know their communities much better than state officials, she said.
Rep. Wolfe Moore said she is concerned that this bill could pass on the House floor.
During discussion earlier this year at the UG Commission meetings, the police chief in Kansas City, Kansas, said they haven’t been notifying immigration authorities for several years, and the sheriff’s department said the department notifies immigration authorities if there is an outstanding warrant. The KCK ordinance applied only to KCK and not to the sheriff’s office.
Other cities with Safe and Welcoming ordinances include Roeland Park and Lawrence.
House Bill 2717 prohibits any municipality from preventing the enforcement of federal immigration laws, requiring local law enforcement agencies to provide written notice to each law enforcement officer of the officer’s duty to cooperate with state and federal agencies in the enforcement of immigration laws and requiring any municipal identification card to state on its face that it is not valid for state identification.
The Federal and State Affairs Committee is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 15, with the hearing scheduled for March 15 in Room 346-S.
Members of the Federal and State Committee include Rep. John Barker, chair; Rep. Tony Marie Arnberger, vice chair; Rep. Louis Ruiz, ranking minority member; Rep. Francis Awerkamp, Rep. Jesse Burris, Rep. Stephanie Clayton, Rep. John Eplee, Rep. Randy Garber, Rep. Christina Haswood, Rep. Broderick Henderson, Rep. Dennis “Boog” Highberger, Rep. Michael Houser, Rep. Steven K. Howe, Rep. Leah Howell, Rep. Jo Ella Hoye, Rep. Vic Miller, Rep. Lisa Moser, Rep. Patrick Penn, Rep. Samantha Poetter Parshall, Rep. John Resman, Rep. Eric L. Smith, Rep. Adam Thomas and Rep. Paul Waggoner.
To send emails to the committee members, find their email addresses at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/chamber/house/roster/.
HB 2717 is online at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/documents/hb2717_00_0000.pdf.
To see a video of the Wyandotte County legislative coffee from Feb. 25, visit either https://www.youtube.com/c/KCKPublicLibrary or https://www.youtube.com/c/LWVJOCOKS4VOTERS.
The next virtual Wyandotte County legislative coffee will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 26, sponsored by the Bonner Springs City Library, the League of Women Voters and the Bonner Springs NAACP. It will be a Zoom meeting. Legislators who have stated they will participate in this event include Rep. Tom Burroughs, Sen. Jeff Pittman and Sen. Pat Pettey. To register in advance for this Zoom meeting, visit https://www.lwvjoco.org/content.aspx?page_id=4002&club_id=768754&item_id=1590818 or [email protected],