Member Directory | Member Login | Contact | Search JOIN WELCOME TO WICHITA EVENTS ADVOCACY YOUR MEMBERSHIP YOUR CHAMBER Home›Advocacy ›Elected Officials ›Take Action Now Share | Print | A A A Take Action Now The Chamber strives to create a better business environment for the Wichita region that promotes investment, innovation and job creation. We need your help ensuring that elected officials are aware of the Chamber's advocacy priorities. The issues below require your action to contact your elected officials now. Past Action 2021 SB 282: Aviation Jobs Tax Credit: The Senate Tax Committee passed out SB 282, a bill that helps grow the Kansas economy. This legislation is designed to attract aviation companies and advanced manufacturing aviation workers to our state. SB 282 is a powerful workforce development tool that helps make us competitive with other states by providing tax credits that prioritize training for high-skilled aviation occupations and incentivize aviation workers to move to Kansas. Aviation companies in our state are working to recover from the pandemic-induced recession, and some will soon be hard-pressed to find qualified, trained, and educated workers. This bill will help address this talent attraction issue by incentivizing employment for individuals in the aerospace industry. SB 282 may be debated on the Senate floor in the future. HB 2328: Aviation Jobs Tax Credit: The House Commerce Committee passed out HB 2328, a bill that helps grow the Kansas economy. This legislation is designed to attract aviation companies and advanced manufacturing aviation workers to our state. HB 2328 is a powerful workforce development tool that helps make us competitive with other states by providing tax credits that prioritize training for high-skilled aviation occupations and incentivize aviation workers to move to Kansas. Aviation companies in our state are working to recover from the pandemic-induced recession, and some will soon be hard-pressed to find qualified, trained, and educated workers. This bill will help address this talent attraction issue by incentivizing employment for individuals in the aerospace industry. HB 2328 may be debated on the House floor in the future. HB 2196: Unemployment Insurance Reform: HB 2196 reforms our Unemployment Insurance (UI) program. This bill fixes the UI system by updating the system's technology, providing relief to employers by preventing huge UI tax hikes, stopping fraudulent claims, and requiring beneficiaries to cooperate with reemployment programs. HB 2196 was debated on the House floor and passed by a vote of 87-36, as amended. The Senate will take up this bill in the second half of session. HB 2066: Licensing Reciprocity: HB 2066 expands and improves on the current military spouse and servicemember’s expedited licensure law and applies that concept to all applicants who establish or intend to establish residency in Kansas. This policy will make it easier for people relocating to Kansas to get a professional license if their current license from the state they are leaving authorizes a similar scope of practice to Kansas’ standards. This bill will help address a workforce development and talent attraction issue by removing barriers to employment for individuals moving into the state of Kansas. HB 2066 has now passed the House by a vote of 103-21 and the Senate by a vote of 36-2. It now awaits concurrence in the House or further debate and amendments in a conference committee. HB 2045: Angel Investor Tax Credit: HB 2045 renews the Angel Investor Tax Credit program. This program helps bring accredited angel investors together with qualified Kansas companies seeking seed funding and early-stage investment. HB 2045 expands and modernizes the Angel Investor Tax Credit to help provide entrepreneurs with access to capital to help their companies grow. HB 2045 was debated on the House floor and passed by a vote of 112-11, as amended. The Senate already passed its version of the bill, and the two chambers will now conference on the bills. SB 177: Unemployment Insurance Reform: The Senate Commerce Committee recently heard SB 177, a bill that reforms our Unemployment Insurance (UI) program. This bill fixes the UI system by updating the system's technology, providing relief to employers by preventing huge UI tax hikes, and stopping fraudulent claims. The Senate Commerce Committee didn’t finish working on its version, and may wait until the House works its version on the floor and sends it to the other side of the Statehouse. SB 66: Angel Investor Tax Credit: The Senate Commerce Committee passed out SB 66, a bill that renews the Angel Investor Tax Credit program. This program helps bring accredited angel investors together with qualified Kansas companies seeking seed funding and early-stage investment. SB 66 expands and modernizes the Angel Investor Tax Credit to help provide entrepreneurs with access to capital to help their companies grow. The Kansas Senate passed SB 66 by a vote of 26-12 on Thur., Feb. 18. SB 22: Tax Relief: The Senate Tax Committee passed SB 22, allowing individual income filers to itemize their state return even if they take the standard deduction on their federal return. The bill also addresses several corporate tax issues that businesses requested after Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017. Essentially, this legislation helps ensure that federal income tax reform doesn't end up costing you more on your state income taxes. Kansas taxpayers, both individual and corporate, should not see a tax increase at the state level as a result of federal tax reform that was intended to benefit taxpayers nationwide. The Kansas Senate passed SB 22 with significant amendments added on Tuesday, February 9th. 2020 HB 2506: Licensing Reciprocity: The House Commerce Committee on Feb. 21 passed out an amended version of HB 2506, the bill that would dramatically reduce the wait times for people moving into the state who hold a professional or occupational license and are seeking a similar license in Kansas. The Wichita Chamber testified in support of the legislation because it removes barriers for qualified workers from other states to move to Kansas and immediately join our labor force, thereby increasing economic growth in our state. While the original bill drew opposition from a number of licensing boards and industry groups, the amended version appears to ease most of their concerns. 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