John Alcala

Voted against Senate Bill 137, which lets police sell guns they have seized instead of destroying them. When a court forfeits a firearm, the seizing agency decides what happens to it. It could already destroy the gun, keep it for official use, trade it to another agency, or send it to the state bureau of investigation. The bill adds a fifth choice: selling or handing it to a licensed federal gun dealer. The gun cannot go to an ordinary buyer, only to a dealer holding a federal license. Destroying it stays on the list, and the choice still rests with the agency alone. Any money from a sale runs through the same rules that already cover other forfeited property. The Kansas House passed it 90-28. It became law.

March 20, 2025Supports Gun Control

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 5, 2026

Voted against House Bill 2311, which protects religious belief in foster care and adoption decisions. The state agency for children and families may not run a policy that makes someone agree with a government position on sexual orientation or gender identity. That applies where the person holds a religious or moral belief against it. The agency may not turn down an otherwise eligible person for holding such a belief. It may not turn them down for planning to raise a child by it either. That covers placing a child, adoption, being named a guardian and getting a license. Someone shut out this way can sue the agency for damages and legal costs. The agency may still weigh the child's own beliefs and the birth family's, and its duty to act in the child's best interest is unchanged. The House voted 87-38 to override the governor's veto, and the bill became law.

April 10, 2025Supports Civil Rights

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 5, 2026

Voted against Senate Bill 299, which opens the records of the commission that picks Kansas supreme court nominees. That commission screens applicants and sends names to the governor. Before this bill it could decide for itself which of its records to close. The bill removes that discretion and says no rule of the commission or of the supreme court may block disclosure. All its records become open, including the names and home cities of people nominated to the commission. Background check material and sensitive financial details about judicial applicants may still be kept closed. The Kansas House passed it 87-32. It became law.

March 5, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 5, 2026

Voted against overriding Governor Laura Kelly's veto of Senate Bill 244, which makes every shared restroom, locker room, changing room, and shower room in a public building open to one sex only. A person may still go into the other one to clean, make repairs, give first aid, help someone who needs it, do police work, coach, or stop a serious threat to safety or order. So may a child under 9 with an adult. A city or state body gets a written notice from the attorney general and can avoid a fine by fixing the violation within 15 days of that notice. If it does not, it is fined $25,000 the first time and $125,000 after that, with each day counted on its own. For a person, a second time costs $1,000 and a third is a crime. In four Kansas laws the act also defines gender as the sex written down at birth, and it orders driver's licenses and birth certificates changed to match. The Kansas House voted 87-37 to override over these votes, the Senate did the same, and the bill became law over Governor Laura Kelly's veto.

February 18, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 3, 2026

Voted against House Bill 2217, which widens what the state inspector general may investigate. That office sits inside the attorney general's office and looks for fraud in public benefits. It could already cover Medicaid and children's health insurance. The bill adds cash assistance and food assistance to its reach. The office can subpoena records, put witnesses under oath and serve search warrants. It refers what it finds to prosecutors rather than charging anyone itself, and every audit is its own choice. The bill also drops one item from the office's yearly public report, the totals on provider billing and payments. It adds no money for the extra work. The House voted 87-38 to override the governor's veto, and the bill became law.

April 10, 2025

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 5, 2026

Voted against overriding Governor Laura Kelly's veto of House Bill 2382, which makes Kansas schools show a video on how a fetus grows. Any class that covers human growth, human development, or sex education has to include it. The video must be a high-quality animation or a sharp ultrasound image. It must run at least three minutes and show the brain, heart, and other vital organs forming early in pregnancy. The same act also lets the State Board of Education set what its own members are paid to attend meetings. The Kansas House voted 84-41 to override over these votes, the Senate did the same, and the bill became law over Governor Laura Kelly's veto.

April 10, 2025

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 3, 2026

Voted against overriding Governor Laura Kelly's veto of House Bill 2062, which counts an unborn child for child support and for state income tax. Child support now starts at the date of conception. It is capped at the mother's own medical and pregnancy costs, and the cost of an elective abortion does not count. The act defines an unborn child as a living human organism in the womb from fertilization on. Starting in tax year 2025, a parent may also claim a $2,320 personal exemption that lowers taxable income for the year the child is born or the year a stillbirth certificate is filed. The act also lets a judge order a parent's retirement savings used for child support if that parent lost a work license for misconduct or chose to work less. Those savings are no longer shielded from child support claims. The Kansas House voted 87-38 to override over these votes, the Senate did the same, and the bill became law over Governor Laura Kelly's veto.

April 10, 2025

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 3, 2026

Voted against overriding Governor Laura Kelly's veto of House Bill 2033, which lets more reading help be paid for out of a school district's at-risk fund. Kansas keeps a list of the programs that fund may pay for. The act adds groups that do not run for profit and are cleared by a national body. That body trains teachers to teach reading step by step, the method used with students who have dyslexia. The Kansas House voted 87-38 to override over these votes, the Senate did the same, and the bill became law over Governor Laura Kelly's veto.

April 10, 2025

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 3, 2026

Voted against adopting the conference committee report on House Bill 2054, which raises how much money each contributor may give Kansas candidates and parties. Per election, the cap on one contributor's gift doubles to $4,000 for governor and other statewide races. It doubles to $1,000 for state representative, district judge, district attorney, and local races in areas under 50,000 people. It doubles to $2,000 for state senator, State Board of Education, and larger local races. The cap on one cash gift doubles to $200. A party may now give a candidate any amount for a general election, and what a party spends to back a candidate no longer counts as a gift. Yearly gifts from one donor to a state or legislative party fund may reach $35,000, and to a county or district one $10,000. The Kansas House adopted the conference committee's final version 72-52 over these votes, the Senate agreed, and the governor signed it into law.

March 27, 2025

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 3, 2026

Voted against Senate Bill 35, which ends two statewide property taxes. One mill paid for buildings at the state universities and half a mill for buildings at state institutions. A mill is one dollar of tax for every thousand dollars of assessed value. Kansas assesses a home at 11.5 percent of its value, so a $200,000 home saves about $35 a year. 2025 is the last year either is charged. Both building funds keep their money, which now comes out of the state general fund instead. That is $56 million a year for the universities and $25 million for the institutions, starting in July 2026 and rising each year. The Kansas House passed it 96-26. It became law.

March 26, 2025

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 5, 2026

Voted against House Bill 2088, which puts a clock on local building permits for houses. A city or county has 60 days to approve or deny a complete application and tell the applicant in writing. If it misses that deadline the permit is treated as approved. If the application is incomplete the local government has 15 days to say why and let the applicant fix it. It may not deny the permit using a rule it adopted after the application went in. The clock covers building permits for single-family homes, not zoning appeals. A local government cannot opt out, and a faster local rule still applies. The Kansas House passed it 83-40. It became law.

March 26, 2025

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 5, 2026

Voted against House Bill 2304, which makes cities and counties report the tax breaks and subsidies they hand out. The state already ran a public list of the tax breaks it gives out itself. The bill adds local programs worth more than $50,000 a year, such as tax increment financing. Both the local government and the business getting the money have to report. Reporting becomes a condition of getting the money at all. The list has to be searchable by program, by county and by who got the money. Totals go to two legislative committees each January. The bill also widens one gap: deals signed before July 2025 whose contracts promise secrecy stay hidden. It sets no penalty for a local government that files nothing. The Kansas House passed it 88-37. It became law.

March 25, 2025

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 5, 2026

Voted against overriding Governor Laura Kelly's veto of Senate Bill 4, which changes when a mailed early ballot has to arrive. Under the old law it still counted if it came in up to three days after the election. From January 1, 2026, it must reach the county election office by 7:00 p.m. on election day. The Kansas House voted 84-41 to override over these votes, the Senate did the same, and the bill became law over Governor Laura Kelly's veto.

March 25, 2025

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 3, 2026

Voted against agreeing to the Senate's changes to House Bill 2109, which shields power and phone companies from lawsuits over police gear on their poles. The company and a police force can agree to put police gear on a pole the company owns. After that, no one can sue the company over putting up, reaching, running, fixing, or taking down that gear. The shield covers companies owned by shareholders, by a city, or by their own members. The Kansas House agreed to the Senate's changes 78-44 over these votes, which sent the bill to the governor, and it was signed into law.

March 24, 2025

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 3, 2026

On March 24, 2025, John Alcala voted no on Kansas HB 2052, a firearms bill concerning concealed-carry-license eligibility and privacy for armed off-duty law-enforcement officers.

March 24, 2025

Source: fastdemocracy.com · researched August 8, 2026

Voted against passing House Bill 2101, which stops Kansas cities and counties from running a guaranteed income program with tax money. They may run one only if the Legislature passes a law allowing that program. Any local rule setting one up before July 1, 2025, is wiped out. Guaranteed income means a program, not required by federal law, that hands people cash on a regular schedule. The Kansas House passed it 86-37 over these votes, the Senate agreed, and it became law.

February 20, 2025

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 3, 2026

Voted against House Bill 2106, which bars foreign money from campaigns over changes to the Kansas constitution. No one may take a contribution or spending from a foreign national for or against a constitutional amendment. That covers people who are not citizens or permanent residents. It also covers foreign governments, foreign parties, foreign companies, and US companies mostly owned abroad. A US company mostly owned abroad may still give if the money comes only from its US operations and US citizens or permanent residents decide how it is spent. Anyone filing a report must swear they took no foreign money, and get the same promise from each donor. A donor must also swear it has not taken more than $100,000 in foreign money in the past four years. The bill adds a report 15 days before the vote and another 15 days after. It reaches constitutional amendments only, not candidate elections or local ballot questions. The Kansas House passed it 94-25. It became law.

February 14, 2025

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 5, 2026