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HB 2037 Kansas House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Increasing the membership of the council on travel and tourism, updating the house legislative committee assignment required for council members appointed from the house, and removing provisions requiring allocation of funds from the matching grant program for the promotion of tourism for private, public and nonprofit entities and limiting the percentage of such funds granted to a single entity.

HB 2037 increases the Council on Travel and Tourism's voting membership from 17 to 20 and updates the required legislative committee for house members from agriculture and natural resources to commerce, labor and economic development. The bill removes two restrictions on the tourism matching grant program: it no longer requires funds to be allocated specifically to private, public, and nonprofit entities, and it eliminates the cap on the percentage of funds a single entity can receive. This change allows for more flexible distribution of tourism promotion funds to any eligible entity. The bill directly affects the council's structure and the administration of tourism grant programs.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Mar 2025
Signed into Law
Apr 2025
Introduced Jan 21, 2025 Signed Apr 10, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

{As Amended by Senate Committee of the Whole} → Enrolled · 5 edits · Apr 10, 2025
MODERATE
This bill updates the Council on Travel and Tourism by increasing its membership from 17 to 20 members, adding two new voting seats for the House of Representatives and expanding the governor's appointees to include representatives from the sports hunting and independent venue industries. It also standardizes the three-year term length for all governor-appointed council members. Additionally, the bill modifies the state's tourism matching grant program to remove a cap on funding for single entities and clarifies the definition of a 'tourist attraction' to include architecturally unique sites.
Scope change
The bill expands the scope of the Council on Travel and Tourism by adding new industry representation (sports hunting and independent venues) and increasing the total number of voting members.
REQUIREMENT

Added two new voting members to the Council on Travel and Tourism representing the Kansas Sport Hunting Association and the National Independent Venue Association.

Changed the House of Representatives representation on the council from two members (chair and vice-chair) to four members (adding the ranking minority member).

Standardized the term length for all governor-appointed council members to three years, replacing the previous mixed two- and three-year terms.

FISCAL

Removed the previous restriction limiting grants to any single entity or type of entity to a specific percentage, allowing for more flexible allocation of tourism funds.

DEFINITION

Updated the definition of 'tourist attraction' to explicitly include sites that are architecturally unique.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
15
Key actions
9
Committee
5
Apr 10, 2025
Signed into law
Approved by Governor on Tuesday, April 1, 2025
lower
Mar 25, 2025
Lower · Passed
Concurred with amendments; Yea 119, Nay 6
lower
Mar 19, 2025
Upper · Passed
Emergency Final Action - Passed as amended; Yea 37, Nay 3
upper
Mar 19, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Be passed as amended
upper
Mar 19, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Amendment by Sen. Chase Blasi was adopted
upper
Mar 19, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Motion to Amend - Offered by Sen. Chase Blasi
upper
Mar 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee Report recommending bill be passed by Senate Committee on Commerce
upper
Feb 5, 2025
Committee
Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce
upper
Feb 4, 2025
Introduced
Received and Introduced
upper
Feb 4, 2025
Lower · Passed
Final Action - Passed; Yea 115, Nay 4, Absent 6
lower
Jan 29, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee Report recommending bill be passed and placed on Consent Calendar by House Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development
lower
Jan 21, 2025
Committee
Referred to House Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development
lower
Jan 21, 2025
Introduced
Introduced
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.