Gov. Kelly signs SB 84 and more

On Tuesday, April 7, Gov. Laura Kelly announced that she signed Senate Bill 84 (SB 84), establishing the Supported Decision-making Agreements Act, which will allow adults to enter into supported decision-making agreements to receive assistance with an adult’s affairs from one or more other adults.

This bill provides individuals who need assistance with decision-making with the option to receive support from one or more adults while remaining as independent as possible.

SB 84 establishes the legal framework for a supportive adult to provide decision-making assistance to another adult (the principal), who could be an adult with developmental disabilities, brain injuries, mental health needs or more, who wants support while maintaining control over decisions in their life.

A supporter could provide the principal with aid in making and communicating decisions, and understanding information, options, responsibilities and consequences related to those decisions. The supporter could also access and obtain information relevant to decisions necessary for managing the principal’s affairs; ascertain the wishes and decisions of the principal and help communicate those decisions to others; advocate to ensure those wishes and decisions are implemented; and accompany the principal, as well as participate in discussions with others, when the principal is making decisions.

The supportive adult would not be allowed to exert undue influence on the principal, make decisions for or on behalf of the principal, sign for the principal, obtain information not reasonably related to the matters the supporter is authorized to assist the principal with under the agreement without consent or use information acquired for a purpose other than authorized under the agreement. Violations would be added to the crime of mistreatment of a dependent adult or an elder person, for which felony or misdemeanor penalties would apply, depending on the amount of financial resources involved.

In addition to Senate Bill 84, Gov. Kelly also signed the following bipartisan bills.

• House Substitute for Senate Bill 260: Establishes the born to invest act and requires the office of vital statistics to provide data to the office of the state treasurer for distribution of informational materials regarding certain government-administered savings accounts.

• Senate Bill 398: Aligns a part of the Kansas Rules of Evidence dealing with Expert witnesses with the Federal Rules of Evidence by requiring a proponent to demonstrate that it is more likely than not that certain specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to understand evidence before certain qualified witnesses may testify.

• Senate Bill 418: Enacts the by-right housing development act to provide a streamlined permit approval process for by-right housing developments and allows third-party review of new residential construction development documents and inspection of improvements, along with making other updates to zoning and regulations.

• Senate Bill 459: Removes the prisoner review board from the supervision of the secretary of corrections, changes the appointing authority, creates qualifications for the members of the board and requires parole hearings to be postponed if proper notice of the public comment session is not made to the victim.

• Senate Substitute for House Bill 2402: Requires eligible boards of education to consider participation in the community eligibility provision, provides a financial hardship exception to such participation and requires the state department of education to assist school districts seeking such participation.

• House Bill 2739: Relates to housing code requirements, removes the definition of apartment houses from chapter 31 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, provides requirements for adoption of the national fire protection association standards, 2024 edition, and provides that certain state accessibility standards are not applicable to moderate income housing program and Kansas investor tax credit housing act projects.

• House Bill 2528: Requires all state board of nursing actions related to certain nonpractice violations be void, allows for late license renewal for professional, practical and advanced practice registered nurses, sets fees for late license renewal, limits unprofessional conduct to acts related to the practice of nursing, prohibits the board from taking retaliatory action against a licensee based on certain lawful actions and creates a civil cause of action for violation thereof, requires termination of current board members on Jan. 1, 2027 and requires the governor to appoint interim board members subject to senate confirmation and requiring the board to issue refunds for overpayment or duplicate payment.

• House Bill 2652: Requires the clerk of the appellate courts to monthly publish a list of cases of the supreme court and court of appeals in which a decision has not been entered and filed within six months of submission and a list of cases in which a petition for review has not been granted or denied within six months of submission.