Senate overrides veto of bathroom bill , leaders react

wibw.com · Feb 18, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Senate President Ty Masterson released a statement in Tuesday, responding to the Senate overriding Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of SB 244, the “bathroom bill.” The bill seeks to limit restrooms and locker rooms in public buildings to biological genders, requiring a driver’s license and birth certificate to reflect a person’s biological gender at birth.Gov. Kelly vetoed the bill on Friday, calling the legislation “poorly drafted” and suggesting it would have negative effects. View Gov. Kelly’s take on the bill here: Kansas governor vetoes ‘bathroom bill’Senate Democratic Leader Dinah Sykes denounced the Senate’s override, suggesting it was “rushed through the legislative process and is dangerously broad. Sykes added that the bill is likely to ”open Kansas up to litigation, cause undue financial burden on our local governments, and unfairly target some of our most marginalized Kansans." Loud Light provided a press release on the matter as well, stating the Senate’s override of the bill should be " a deeply disturbing reality check to all Kansans on the recklessness the legislature is willing to engage in by playing election year politics at the expense of all our freedom." While proponents claim this bill is to create legal clarity about sex and gender, the reality is that this bill is one of the most massive actions of government overreach in recent legislative history. Loud Light added that the bill is “one of the most massive actions of government overreach in recent legislative history,” saying SB 244: Related: Kansas lawmakers pass ‘bathroom bill’Copyright 2026 WIBW. All rights reserved.