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SB 361 Kansas Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Electing to participate in the federal tax credit for individual contributions to scholarship granting organizations.

SB 361 would allow foreign exchange students residing with host families to enroll in and attend their host family’s school district as if they were residents, exempting them from the district’s open-seat lottery process. It directly affects these students by guaranteeing enrollment without competing for available spots in the lottery system. The key provision amends Kansas law (K.S.A. 72-3123) to explicitly include foreign exchange students in the exemption, aligning them with other priority groups like military students or siblings. This change applies starting with the 2024-2025 school year.
Issues: ✓ EducationSupports EducationGuarantees enrollment access for foreign exchange students without lottery competition, expanding educational access as defined in the topic description.95% confidence
Bill status vetoed 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Vetoed
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 22, 2026 Vetoed Apr 9, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

As Amended by House Committee on Education → Enrolled · 5 edits
MODERATE
The bill was completely rewritten to shift its focus from regulating open-seat lotteries for foreign exchange students to establishing Kansas's participation in the federal tax credit for contributions to scholarship granting organizations. The original text regarding student enrollment, capacity calculations, and lottery procedures for exchange students was entirely removed and replaced with new provisions allowing the state to claim a federal tax credit and requiring the state treasurer to report eligible organizations to the federal government.
Scope change
The bill's scope changed from governing student enrollment and lottery processes for foreign exchange students to governing state participation in a federal tax credit program for scholarship contributions.
SCOPE

All provisions regarding foreign exchange student enrollment, open-seat lotteries, capacity determinations, and priority rules for siblings and military students were deleted.

New text was added to elect Kansas's participation in the federal tax credit for contributions to scholarship granting organizations under Section 25F of the Internal Revenue Code.

REQUIREMENT

A new requirement was added for the state treasurer to annually provide a list of eligible scholarship granting organizations to the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

ENFORCEMENT

A restriction was added prohibiting state agencies from creating rules more stringent than federal law regarding the implementation of this tax credit participation.

TIMELINE

The effective date for the new tax credit participation was set for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026.

Floor votes

How they voted

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

Actions timeline

Total actions
24
Key actions
15
Committee
11
Apr 9, 2026
Vetoed
Motion to override veto prevailed; Yea 85, Nay 38, Absent 2
lower
Apr 9, 2026
Vetoed
Motion to override veto prevailed; Yea 29, Nay 10, Absent 1
upper
Apr 9, 2026
Vetoed
Vetoed by Governor; Returned to Senate on Wednesday, April 8, 2026
upper
Mar 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference Committee Report was adopted; Yea 29, Nay 10, Absent 1
upper
Mar 27, 2026
Lower · Passed
Conference Committee Report was adopted; Yea 87, Nay 37, Absent 1
lower
Mar 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference Committee Report agree to disagree adopted; Sen. Renee Erickson, Sen. Adam Thomas and Sen. Dinah Sykes appointed as second conferees
upper
Mar 26, 2026
Lower · Passed
Conference Committee Report agree to disagree adopted; Rep. Susan Estes, Rep. Kyle McNorton and Rep. Jerry Stogsdill appointed as second conferees
lower
Mar 26, 2026
Lower · Passed
Conference committee report now available
lower
Mar 23, 2026
Lower · Passed
Motion to accede adopted; Rep. Susan Estes, Rep. Kyle McNorton and Rep. Jerry Stogsdill appointed as conferees
lower
Mar 19, 2026
Upper · Passed
Nonconcurred with amendments; Conference Committee requested; appointed Sen. Renee Erickson, Sen. Adam Thomas and Sen. Dinah Sykes
upper
Mar 17, 2026
Lower · Passed
Final Action - Passed as amended; Yea 114, Nay 9, Absent 2
lower
Mar 16, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Be passed as amended
lower
Mar 16, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Motion to Amend - Offered by Rep. Melissa Oropeza
lower
Mar 16, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted
lower
Mar 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by House Committee on Education
lower
Mar 6, 2026
Committee
Referred to House Committee on Education
lower
Mar 6, 2026
Introduced
Received and Introduced
lower
Mar 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
Emergency Final Action - Passed; Yea 38, Nay 0, Absent 2
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Be passed
upper
Feb 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Committee Report recommending bill be passed by Senate Committee on Education
upper
Jan 23, 2026
Committee
Referred to Senate Committee on Education
upper
Jan 22, 2026
Introduced
Introduced
upper
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.