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Minutes for SB194 - Committee on Local Government, Transparency and Ethics
Short Title
Providing that covenants, conditions or restrictions established between January 1, 1948, and December 31, 1958, that restrict the use of real property owned by state educational institutions for only single-family residence purposes and contain discriminatory provisions to restrict ownership or tenancy by race are against public policy and therefore void.
Minutes Content for Thu, Feb 27, 2025
Chairperson Bowers opened the hearing on SB194. Charles Reimer, staff revisor, provided a briefing on the bill. Mr. Reimer addressed questions from the Committee.
Tom Cox testified in support of SB194. Mr. Cox explained a partnership between Connected Nation and Wichita State University to build the state's first Internet Exchange Point (IXP). Mr. Cox indicated while doing their due diligence of putting the lease together, they discovered there was a racially discriminatory and restrictive covenant from the 1950's that the university did not know about when they purchased this parcel. Mr. Cox explained they reviewed any way to remove the covenant, and it was written in a way that made it effectively impossible to remove outside of legislation. (Attachment 1)
Mr. Cox and Mr. Reimer addressed questions from the Committee.
Written testimony in support of SB194 was provided by:
- Nathan J. Madden, Ph.D., Impact Strategist-Policy, Health Forward Foundation (Attachment 2)
Chairperson Bowers closed the hearing on SB194.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 a.m.
The next meeting is scheduled for March 4, 2025.
