SESSION OF 2025
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2299
As Amended by House Committee on Education
Brief*
HB 2299, as amended, would create law prohibiting
religious discrimination and antisemitism in public educational
institutions and amend the Kansas Act Against Discrimination
(Act) to prohibit antisemitism. The bill also would authorize
the Kansas Attorney General to investigate violations and
enforce the provisions of the bill and the Act.
Public Educational Institutions (New Section 1)
Prohibition on Religious Discrimination and Antisemitism
The bill would declare as state policy that public
educational institutions that receive and expend tax dollars
are prohibited from engaging in practices or implementing
policies that discriminate or cause prejudice on the basis of
religion or promote or tolerate antisemitism or antisemitic
acts.
The bill would state that the prohibition is not to be
construed to prohibit any coursework that is dedicated to the
education and study of world religions or cultures in public
educational institutions.
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*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
https://klrd.gov/ Complaints
The bill would allow a person, or the parent or guardian
of a person under 18 years of age, aggrieved by a violation of
the prohibition on religious discrimination and antisemitism to
file a complaint with the Attorney General.
Investigations
The bill would authorize the Attorney General to
investigate any complaint received, and during the course of
the investigation, the Attorney General would be permitted to:
●Subpoena witnesses, evidence, records,
documents, and other material related to the
complaint;
●Take testimony under oath;
●Examine or cause to be examined any records or
other material that is relevant to the complaint;
●Require a person to attend any proceeding and
provide testimony under oath regarding any
material that is relevant to the complaint;
●Serve interrogatories; and
●Administer oaths and affirmations.
Requirements for subpoenas and interrogatories.
The bill would require service for any subpoena or
interrogatory issued by the Attorney General to be made by
certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known
place of business or residence or in a manner provided by the
Code of Civil Procedure.
2- 2299 Intentional refusal to respond. If a person intentionally
refuses to respond to a subpoena, interrogatory, or other
request made by the Attorney General, the bill would permit
the Attorney General, after notice, to file a petition with the
appropriate district court for a hearing. The bill would provide
that if a court finds the person is required to respond, the
court may:
●Issue an order requiring the person to respond to
the subpoena, interrogatory, or request; or
●Hold the person in contempt until the person
responds to the subpoena, interrogatory, or
request.
Civil Penalty
If, after investigating a complaint, the Attorney General
finds by a preponderance of the evidence that a public
educational institution violated the prohibition on religious
discrimination and antisemitism, the bill would require the
Attorney General to assess a civil penalty against the public
educational institution in an amount not to exceed $10,000
per violation. The bill would direct any civil penalty recovered
under this provision to be deposited into the State General
Fund.
The bill would allow a public educational institution to
appeal an assessed civil penalty in accordance with the
Kansas Judicial Review Act.
Definitions
The bill would define the following terms:
●“Antisemitism” or “antisemitic” would mean the
same as defined by the International Holocaust
Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition
of antisemitism, including the contemporary
3- 2299 examples, as in effect on May 26, 2016, and would
include:
○Encouraging, supporting, praising,
participating in, or threatening violence or
vandalism against Jewish people or property;
○Wearing masks to conceal a person’s identity
with the intent to harass or discriminate
against Jewish students, faculty, or
employees on school property; and
○Incorporating or allowing funding of
antisemitic curriculum or activities in any
domestic or study abroad programs or
classes; and
●“Public educational institution” would mean any
elementary or secondary school operated by a
unified public school district under state law, a
community college established under state law,
Washburn University, Washburn Institute of
Technology, a technical college established under
state law, or an institution supervised by the Board
of Regents.
Kansas Act Against Discrimination (Sections 2–4)
The bill would amend the Act to declare it would be state
policy that:
●Public institutions that receive and expend tax
dollars are prohibited from engaging in practices or
implementing policies that are antisemitic or
otherwise promote antisemitism;
●No person shall be required to participate in
programming or training that promotes or degrades
any one religion; and
●Governmental entities are prohibited from enacting
policies that promote or degrade any one religion.
4- 2299 Functions, Powers, and Duties of the Kansas Human Rights
Commission
The bill would authorize the Kansas Human Rights
Commission (Commission) to refer complaints to the Attorney
General for review, investigation, and initiation of legal
proceedings.
Complaints and Investigations by Attorney General
Under continuing provisions of the Act, the Attorney
General may make, sign, and file a complaint whenever there
is sufficient reason to believe that any person has engaged in
a practice of discrimination, segregation, or separation in
violation of the Act. The bill would authorize the Attorney
General to investigate the alleged unlawful employment
practice or unlawful discriminatory practice. During such
investigation, the bill would authorize the Attorney General to:
●Subpoena witnesses, evidence, records,
documents, and other material related to the
complaint;
●Take testimony under oath;
●Examine or cause to be examined any records or
other material that is relevant to the complaint;
●Require a person to attend any proceeding and
provide testimony under oath regarding any
material that is relevant to the complaint;
●Serve interrogatories; and
●Administer oaths and affirmations.
5- 2299 The bill would further authorize the Attorney General to
file a petition in the district court where the alleged unlawful
employment practice or unlawful discriminatory practice
occurred, seeking damages in amount not to exceed $10,000
per violation.
Damages for Pain, Suffering, and Humiliation
The bill would increase the limit on the amount of
damages that may be awarded for pain, suffering, and
humiliation which are incidental to the act of discrimination
from $2,000 to $10,000.
Background
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Education at the request of Representative Estes.
House Committee on Education
In the House Committee hearing, proponent testimony
was provided by the Kansas Attorney General,
representatives of Combat Antisemitism Movement and
Jewish Community Relations Bureau|AJC, and two private
citizens. The proponents generally stated the bill would help
address religious discrimination and antisemitism on public
campuses, and students shared their experiences with
antisemitism on campuses. The conferees also shared
statistics about the increase in antisemitic incidents in recent
years.
Written-only proponent testimony was provided by two
private citizens.
6- 2299 Opponent testimony was provided by representatives of
Al-Hadaf KC, Kansas Association of School Boards, and
Kansas National Educational Association and six private
citizens. Opponents expressed concerns about the definition
of “antisemitism” being linked to the IHRA working definition
and suggested alternative definitions.
Written-only opponent testimony was provided by a
representative of the ACLU of Kansas and 35 private citizens.
Neutral testimony was provided by the Executive
Director of the Commission and a private citizen.
No other testimony was provided.
The House Committee amended the bill to restore
continuing provisions of the Act regarding unlawful
employment practices and unlawful discriminatory practices.
Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, the Office of Judicial
Administration (Office) indicates enactment of the bill could
have a fiscal effect on the Judicial Branch operations
because the bill would allow the Attorney General to file a
petition with the district court for a hearing and would allow for
appeals to be filed, which could increase the number of cases
filed in the district court and result in more time spent by court
employees and judges processing and deciding cases. The
Office indicates enactment of the bill could result in the
collection of docket fees and civil penalties assessed in those
cases filed under the bill’s provisions, which would be
credited to the State General Fund. However, a fiscal effect
cannot be estimated.
7- 2299 The Office of the Attorney General states enactment of
the bill would require additional expenditures of $158,284 in
FY 2026 and $166,198 in FY 2027 from the State General
Fund, along with an additional 1.50 FTE positions for both
fiscal years to handle cases associated with the bill. Of the
FY 2026 amount, $127,791 would be for salaries and wages
for the additional positions and $30,493 would be for other
operating expenditures.
The Commission indicates the bill’s enactment would
have a fiscal effect on the operations of the agency; however,
the Commission does not have enough information to
estimate what that effect would be.
The Kansas Department of Education states the bill’s
enactment would not have a fiscal effect on agency
operations. The Board of Regents states the enactment of the
bill would not have a fiscal effect on the operations of the
agency or any Kansas postsecondary educational institution.
Any fiscal effect associated with enactment of the bill is
not reflected in The FY 2026 Governor’s Budget Report.
Education; discrimination; antisemitism; Kansas Act Against Discrimination; Kansas
Attorney General; Kansas Human Rights Commission
8- 2299