Domestic Partnership Ordinances  HB 2299 would negate and prospectively prohibit local laws in Kansas that allow domestic partners to register as such.  In 2005, Kansas citizens voted for the state constitution to define marriage as one man and one woman only and the measure passed by 70%.  In contrast, the city of Lawrence passed an ordinance that would establish domestic partnership registries and defined the term domestic partner to mean "two individuals who have reached the age of majority and live together in a relationship of indefinite duration, with an exclusive mutual commitment in which the partners share the necessities of life and are financially interdependent. Also, domestic partners are not married to anyone else, do not have another domestic partner and are not related by blood more closely than would bar their marriage in this state.”

Status  08-Feb-20  12:00 pm:  The bill was debated on the House floor, but before it came to a vote for passage, a successful motion by opponents of the bill caused it to be sent back to House Judiciary Committee, where it awaits for possible future consideration.

Key Legislators:  Lance Kinzer sponsored the bill and provides his testimony on his website

House Journal 2/20/08, pg 1405
(Democrats in blue)

On roll call, the vote was: Yeas 66; Nays 50; Present but not voting: 0; Absent or not voting: 9.

Yeas: Ballard, Burroughs, Carlin, Colloton, Craft, Crow, Davis, Dillmore, Faust-Goudeau, Feuerborn, Flaharty, Flora, Frownfelter, Garcia, Gatewood, Gordon, Goyle, Grant, Hawk, Henderson, Henry, Hill, Holland, Horst, Humerickhouse, Huntington, Johnson, Lane, Light, Loganbill, Long, Lukert, Mah, McCray-Miller, McKinney, McLachlan, Menghini, Metsker, Moxley, Neighbor, Owens, Palmer, Pauls, Phelps, Proehl, Quigley, Rardin, Roth, Ruff, Ruiz, Sawyer, Sloan, Spalding, Svaty, Swanson, Swenson, Tietze, Treaster, Trimmer, Ward, Wetta, Wilk, Williams, K. Wolf, Worley, Yoder.

Nays: Beamer, Bethell, Bowers, Brown, Brunk, Burgess, Carlson, Colyer, Crum, Dahl, Donohoe, Faber, Fund, George, Goico, Grange, Hayzlett, Hodge, M. Holmes, Huebert, Kelsey, King, Kinzer, Knox, Landwehr, Mast, Masterson, McLeland, Merrick, Jim Morrison, Judy Morrison, Myers, Neufeld, O’Neal, Olson, Otto, Patton, Peck, Pottorff, Powell, Powers, Rhoades, Schroeder, Schwartz, Siegfreid, Tafanelli, Vickrey, Watkins, Whitham, B. Wolf.

Present but not voting: None.

Absent or not voting: Aurand, C. Holmes, Kelley, Kiegerl, Kuether, Peterson, Shultz, Storm, Winn.

The motion prevailed and HB 2299 be referred to Committee on Judiciary.