I have visited with a lot of constituents who have said: “surely, the legislature won’t change the city and school board elections to partisan elections?”
Well, the horse is out of the gate….
Testimony needed ASAP today for Senate Bill 171, which would move local and school board elections to November and make them partisan.
Monday afternoon, Sen. Mitch Holmes, R-St. John, and chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, introduced a sweeping bill that moves the election date and overhauls much of the state’s election law. Currently, city and school board elections are non-partisan and held in the spring. However, under SB 171, city and school board candidates would run on a partisan basis in political party primaries in August and then general elections in November.
READ MORE – KASB Action Alert on SB 171
For more information, please read the following Wichita Eagle article:, Wichita school board to consider resolution against moving time of local elections.
Another bill of interest that had a hearing today, requires teachers to be fingerprinted every 5 years. SB 70, introduced by Senator Greg Smith form Johnson County.