Agenda
11:45 a.m. Log into Zoom - Member Attendance
Renew Membership at kansasretailer.org
12:00 p.m. Legislative Update
2025 Legislative Session
SB 56 - Walmart / Restaurant / Convenience Stores Delivery Bill - Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee did not have a hearing this session. Expect a hearing next year. See SB 56 here.
HB 2376 - Requiring ABC to issue CMB Licenses - House Federal and State Affairs Committee passed the bill. No House action yet. See HB 2376 here. KABR Neutral Testimony Link
HB2089 — Enacting the consumer inflation reduction and tax fairness act and exempting the portion of a credit card transaction constituting a tax or gratuity from assessment of the fee charged by the card issuer. Informational hearing March 3 - Bill Brief See HB 2089 here
SB 222 — Prohibiting deference to a state agency's interpretation of a statute, rule or regulation or document by a state court or an officer hearing an administrative action. SB 222 seeks to reject courts deferring to agency regulatory authority if not explicitly based on Kansas statutory authority. This further pushes state regulation into a strict reading of explicit instructions as provided by state law. There is general agreement among regulated entities to restrict agencies from broad authority. This is relevant to liquor regulation as well and may result in current legal interpretation that changes historical interpretation. Senate passed 31-9. House Judiciary hearing was March 6. See SB 222
Excerpt of proponent testimony: proposal to codify judicial deference doctrine in Kansas. In 2013, the Kansas Supreme Court ended judicial deference in the state when it held that deference “has been abandoned, abrogated, disallowed, disapproved, ousted, overruled, and permanently relegated to the history books where it will never again affect the outcome of an appeal.” Douglas v. Ad Astra Info. Sys., 293 P.3d 723, 728 (2013). However, Kansas courts still “recognize that an agency ruling within its area of expertise is entitled to some deference.” Hanson v. Kan. Corp. Comm’n, 490 P.3d 1216, 1224 (2021).
Recent news regarding regulatory actions:
There appear to be loopholes in current statute that allow an independently owned retail liquor store to operate within the supports of a larger chain business structure as long as the finances are structured separately and advertising indicates the store is independently operated.
Other gaps seem to allow a distributor to operate for the benefit of a retailer. Kansas Statute does not specifically "require" a distributor to deliver, although the statutes do define how, when and where they are to deliver. The statute also requires any distributor that delivers to any retailer to deliver to all retailers within their territory. We have questions about distributors holding statewide franchise agreements for products they are not licensed to distribute statewide.
12:45 p.m. Members share reports / experiences
Do you know your representative and senator? Have you talked to them?
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Report conversations with legislators and needed follow-up
House Federal and State Affairs Committee List
Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee List
1:00 p.m. Adjourn
Contact Amy at 785-969-1617 for questions or to update your membership.
This meeting is provided on the Zoom platform. You can choose whether or not to be on video or just participate by voice audio.
Please direct your questions to Amy Campbell at campbell525@sbcglobal.net.
