(Feb. 16, 2026) – Today, the House took final votes on the following bills:

House Bill 2653 requires the secretary of corrections to assist inmates with obtaining identification and employment-related documentation prior to release from custody. The bill passed on a vote of 124-0.

The Conference Committee Report on Senate Bill 30 relates to occupational licensing; provides for occupational licensing annual reports by agencies to the joint committee on administrative rules and regulations; requires that adoption of new occupational licenses and material changes to existing occupational licenses by a state agency be approved by the legislature by ratification. Passed on a vote of 89-35. The report will go back to the Senate for a final vote.

The House also debated the following bills:

House Bill 2615 designates a portion of U.S. Highway 75 as the Brigadier General George H Wark Memorial Highway and redesignates a current portion of the Purple Heart/Combat Wounded Veterans Highway for U.S. Highway 75.

House Sub. for Senate Bill 281 requires school districts to prohibit the use of personal electronic communication devices during school hours, prohibits any employee of a school district from using social media to directly communicate with any student for official school purposes. The bill saw the following amendments to add:

• clarification that nothing should prohibit a school from using email or similar communication platform to send or receive communications from students;
• defined "away" by adding "in a secure lockable pouch, phone locker or other inaccessible location;"
• made open lunch-periods an allowable time to use devices; and
• added accredited nonpublic schools to the provisions of the bill.

The House is slated to come back late in the day for more discussion.

The Senate is slated to take a final vote on Senate Bill 473, which authorizes Audubon of Kansas to convey certain property in Wabaunsee County and requires any deeds or conveyances related to such property be reviewed and approved by the state historical society.

The Senate is also slated to debate the following:

Senate Sub. for House Bill 2004 requires the secretary for the Kansas Department for Children and Families and the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to execute a memorandum of understanding or other written data-sharing instrument upon written request of the United States Department of Agriculture or the United States Department of Health and Human Services and comply with data requests from such federal agencies.

Senate Bill 324 prohibits the use of a mobile telephone while operating a motor vehicle in school or construction zones and providing penalties for violations thereof.