Kansas Governor Laura Kelly on Friday, February 13, vetoed Senate Bill 244, stating that the bill was “poorly drafted” and would have numerous consequences.
The bill, proposed by Representative Bob Lewis, would have restricted access to single sex spaces for people of the opposite sex, such as bathrooms and locker rooms in public buildings, government buildings, or buildings leased by a government entity, based on the biological sex of a person at birth.
This bill would also define “male”, “female”, and “sex” to have the same meaning.
Bill 244 would require the governing body of each public building to designate each multiple-occupancy private space for use only by members of that biological sex. It would not restrict the Americans with Disabilities Act by allowing people who need assistance in places like bathrooms and locker rooms to have that assistance.
Bill 244 would still allow people to enter private spaces for reasons like, custodial services, maintenance or inspections, to render medical attention, to give assistance to any person who requires assistance in private spaces, law enforcement purposes, to stop serious threats to others, to provide coaching if the person is a member of the coaching or training staff and the individual ensures no individual of the opposite sex is in the act of changing prior to entering the private space, and to children under nine years old if the child is accompanied by a care giver.
The bill could create potential civil and criminal penalties for people who enter into single sex bathrooms in government buildings that do not match their biological sex at birth. The first civil penalty would be $25,000 for the first violation and $125,000 for each subsequent violation, with each day of a continuing violation being a separate violation.
This bill has faced a lot of pushback due to its possible impact on transgender people wanting to use the bathroom that they feel best suits them, rather than their biological sex. Kelly stated that legislators should “stop tellings Kansans how to go to the bathroom and focus on how to make life more affordable in Kansa.”
House Speaker Dan Hawkins pushed back against Kelly, saying that he did not understand why she would veto a “common sense bill.” With the bill going back to the legislature, it needs a two-thirds majority to override the governor’s veto and become law in Kansas.