An anti-stalking bill introduced into the Kansas Legislature ? following the murder last year of an Arkansas City woman ? appears to have died in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The deadline to move bills out of the committee has passed, according to Helen Abramson, a spokeswoman for Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood, chairman of the committee.
“It did not having a hearing,” Abramson said Thursday morning.
There would have to have been a hearing before the committee could decide whether to pass the bill on to the full Senate for a vote, she said.
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Kasha Kelley, R-Arkansas City, after the kidnapping, rape and murder last year of Jodi Sanderholm, a Cowley College student. The piece of legislation was approved unanimously by the House March 7. The Senate Judiciary Committee was the next step in the process.
The bill came to the judiciary committee late in the process, according to Vratil’s chief of staff, Carol Benoit. The committee receives a tremendous number of bills. Hearings started Jan. 15.
Final action was not taken by the committee on approximately 60 Senate bills before the Wednesday deadline for bills to move out of the committee.
The committee meets one hour a day four days a week. Each Senator on the committee serves on at least three standing committees.
It’s sometimes difficult for families pushing one particular piece of legislation to understand why the process takes so long, according to Benoit, who provided information on the Legislative process. It is not uncommon for bills to take at least two sessions, and sometimes three or four, to make it to a vote by both the House and Senate.
The slate is wiped clean every two years. Representatives elected this fall will start work on new bills introduced in the 2009 session. That means the stalking bill would have to be reintroduced and begin the entire Legislative process over again.
Kelley could not be reached this morning. Neither could Sen. Greta Goodwin, D-Winfield. The senate was in session and working with a full schedule, said a spokeswoman in Goodwin’s office.
Legislators will break April 4 and then return for the wrap-up session April 30. No date has been set for the veto session or Sine-Die.
