Kansas Senate

Kansas State Senate
Kansas State Legislature
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
New session started	January 10, 2011
Leadership
President of the Senate	Stephen Morris, (R) since January 10, 2005
Vice President of the Senate	John Vratil, (R) since January 13, 2003
Majority Leader	Jay Emler, (R) since January 10, 2011
Minority Leader	Anthony Hensley, (D) since January 8, 1996
Structure
Members	40
Political groups	Republican Party (32) Democratic Party (8)
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article 2, Kansas Constitution
Salary	$88.66/day + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 2, 2010 (20 seats)
Next election	November 6, 2012 (20 seats)
Redistricting	Kansas Reapportionment Commission
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber Kansas State Capitol Topeka, Kansas
Website
Kansas State Senate

The Kansas Senate is the upper house of the Kansas Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Kansas. It is composed of 40 Senators representing an equal amount of districts, each with a population of at least 60,000 inhabitants. Members of the Senate are elected to a four year term. There is no limit to the number of terms that a Senator may serve. The Kansas Senate meets at the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka.

Like other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federal U.S. Senate, the Senate is reserved with special functions such as confirming or rejecting gubernatorial appointments to executive departments, the state cabinet, commissions and boards.

Senate leadership

The President of the Senate presides over the body, Is a member of the Organization,Calendar and Rules Committee that appoints members to all of the Senate's committees and joint committees, and may create other committees and subcommittees if desired. Unlike many other states, the Lieutenant Governor of Kansas does not preside over the Senate. Since a 1972 amendment to the Kansas Constitution, the Lieutenant Governor's duties have been severed from the legislative branch, and is active in other areas of the Kansas state government such as commissions on military affairs and health insurance. In the Senate President's absence, the Vice-President presides. The President of the Kansas Senate assigns proposed bills to committees and the Majority Leader determines the calendar and order of bills to be debated on the floor of the Kansas Senate. The Organization, Rules and Calendar Committee is made up of the President, Vice-President, Majority leader, Assistant Majority Leader, Minority Leader and 4 senators elected by the majority caucus.

The current President of the Senate is Republican Stephen Morris of District 39 (Garden City, Ulysses). The Senate Majority Leader is Jay Emler of District 35 (McPherson, Ellsworth). The Senate Minority Leader is Democrat Anthony Hensley of District 19 (Topeka, Burlingame, Osage City).

Compositions of the Senate

Kansas is one of the most GOP-leaning states in the country and Republicans currently hold a supermajority in the State Senate.

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total
	Republican	Democratic		Vacant
End of previous legislature	30	10	40	0
Begin	31	9	40	0
December 17, 2010	32	8
Latest voting share	80%	20%

Officers

Position	Name	Party	District
President of the Senate	Stephen Morris	Republican	39
Majority Leader	Jay Emler	Republican	35
Minority Leader	Anthony Hensley	Democratic	19

Members of the Kansas Senate, 2009-2013

District	Representative	Party	Residence
1	Dennis Pyle	Republican	Hiawatha
2	Marci Francisco	Democratic	Lawrence
3	Tom Holland	Democratic	Baldwin City
4	David Haley	Democratic	Kansas City
5	Kelly Kultala	Democratic	Kansas City
6	Chris Steineger	Republican*	Kansas City
7	Terrie Huntington	Republican	Mission Hills
8	Tim Owens	Republican	Overland Park
9	Julia Lynn	Republican	Olathe
10	Mary Pilcher-Cook	Republican	Shawnee
11	John Vratil	Republican	Leawood
12	Pat Apple	Republican	Louisburg
13	Bob Marshall	Republican	Frontenac
14	Dwayne Umbarger	Republican	Thayer
15	Jeff King	Republican	Independence
16	Ty Masterson	Republican	Augusta
17	Jeff Longbine	Republican	Emporia
18	Laura Kelly	Democratic	Topeka
19	Anthony Hensley	Democratic	Topeka
20	Vicki Schmidt	Republican	Topeka
21	Mark Taddiken	Republican	Clifton
22	Roger Reitz	Republican	Manhattan
23	Robert Olson	Republican	Olathe
24	Pete Brungardt	Republican	Salina
25	Jean Schodorf	Republican	Wichita
26	Dick Kelsey	Republican	Haysville
27	Leslie Donovan	Republican	Wichita
28	Mike Petersen	Republican	Wichita
29	Oletha Faust-Goudeau	Democratic	Wichita
30	Susan Wagle	Republican	Wichita
31	Carolyn McGinn	Republican	Sedgwick
32	Steve Abrams	Republican	Arkansas City
33	Ruth Teichman	Republican	Stafford
34	Terry Bruce	Republican	Hutchinson
35	Jay Emler	Republican	Lindsborg
36	Allen Schmidt	Democratic	Hays
37	Raymond Merrick	Republican	Stilwell
38	Garrett Love	Republican	Montezuma
39	Stephen Morris	Republican	Hugoton
40	Ralph Ostmeyer	Republican	Grinnell

Changes in Membership

Date seat became vacant or otherwise affected	District	Previous	Reason for change	Subsequent	Date of successor's taking seat
November 2010	36	Janis Lee (D)	Resigned due to appointment as chief hearing officer for the Kansas Court of Tax Appeal.	Allen Schmidt (D)	February 2011
December 17, 2010	6	Chris Steineger (D)	Changed party affiliation.	Chris Steineger (R)	December 17, 2010
January 5, 2011	38	Tim Huelskamp (R)	Resigned due to election to the US House of Representatives.	Garrett Love (R)	January 5, 2011
January 10, 2011	15	Derek Schmidt (R)	Resigned due to election to as Kansas Attorney General	Jeff King (R)	January 10, 2011
January 10, 2011	23	Karin Brownlee (R)	Resigned due to appointment as Kansas Secretary of Labor	Robert Olson (R)	January 10, 2011
January 10, 2011	37	Jeff Colyer (R)	Resigned due to election as Kansas Lieutenant Governor	Raymond Merrick (R)	January 10, 2011

See also

• Kansas State Capitol
• Kansas Legislature
• Kansas House of Representatives

External links

• Kansas Senate
• Interactive Map of Kansas House and Senate Districts
• State Senate of Kansas at Project Vote Smart
• Kansas Senate at Ballotpedia