By: Charlotte O’Hara, Republican Governor for Kansas, 2026
913-304-4148
Email: charlotte@oharaforkansas.com
Republican Leadership Loves Illegals-SB 254 Where are You?
Skullduggery and sabotage are the only words to describe and answer the question: SB 254, WHERE ARE YOU?? This legislation would have prohibited state funds (our tax dollars) from providing services to illegal aliens, instead it ended up on the refuse pile of the Kansas Republican Super Majority, 2026 legislative session.
SB 254 passed in the regular session, however, many Republicans voted against it (list provided) and was vetoed, as expected, by Governor Kelly. Here’s where the skullduggery and sabotage come in: Republican Senate President Ty Masterson (one of my opponents) and Republican Speaker of the House Dan Hawkins, refused to bring the bill to the floor for a veto override. That’s right, there was no attempt to override the governor’s veto.
The typical excuse from leadership was we just didn’t have the votes to override Governor Kelly’s veto. Translate that into we’re (Republican leadership) protecting the Republicans who did not support saving YOU, the taxpayer, $600 million annually per AG Kris Kobach’s testimony, by no longer providing services to illegal aliens. Also, the long shadow of the Kansas Chamber and Koch Industries loomed large in this fiasco which was an absolute knife in the back of Kansas taxpayers.
Let me explain my long history of dealing with the Wichita juggernaut, epicenter of Kansas political power, Koch Industries and the Kansas Chamber. In 2011, my first year as a state legislator, I went to a luncheon in Topeka sponsored by Koch Industries thinking that I was going to hear presentations of good solid conservative legislation. But, oh no, what I heard was the glorious benefits of… ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION!! Open the door wide, cheap labor is good for Kansas!! Having been raised on a farm and part and parcel of “cheap labor” (not sure how cheap it was to raise 4 kids, but I digress) I understand the necessity of farm hands and slaughterhouse employees, especially in western Kansas. However, let’s overhaul the immigration system to allow seasonal and other workers (not workforce… communistic term, which I detest, dehumanizes people) to legally come into the U.S. Maybe vetting those crossing the border is a good idea???
The corrupt practice of quietly turning our heads while millions poured into our nation, which now seems to have been very much put on ICE by the Trump Administration, has undermined the rule of law in our state. Think about it, in the 2012 Kansas Legislative session the Minibus Gang – a group of 8 or so CONSERVATIVE Republicans, of which naturally I was a member – could not file an E-Verify bill through the normal committee process, because REPUBLICAN Leadership would have bottled that baby up in a nano second. It would have died in committee.
So, the Minibus Gang (our joke, since we could all fit into a minibus) had legislation crafted (naturally leadership got wind of what we were up to) and had the E-Verify bill in hand waiting to pounce on any germane bill that House Leadership might inadvertently allow to come to the House floor for a vote.
Finally, we had our chance!! Representatives Anthony Brown and Owen Donahoe (may Owen’s soul rest in peace) jumped at the chance and the fight was on!!! Oh, Speaker O’Neal fought hard against our GLORIOUS plan to begin keeping illegals out of Kansas!! Speaker O’Neal’s first move was to declare that the E-Verify amendment would be a voice vote, which naturally failed. Our leaders jumped up asked for division and a recorded vote. Miracles of miracles, since the rats were outed and now on record, it PASSED. But not to worry, in Conference Committee, Speaker O’Neal made sure the E-Verify amendment was stripped from the bill and left to die the death of all bills which would have slowed the flow of illegals into Kansas.
And the postscript? Speaker O’Neal in September of 2012, while still officially the Speaker of the Kansas House, was hired by the State Chamber of Commerce as their CEO. Oh, how nothing changes in Kansas!!
Back to me at the Koch Industries luncheon in 2011. Upon hearing the pontification of the wondrous benefits of illegal immigration, I got up, took my sandwich, threw it in the trash and left. Naturally, no other legislator followed me.
Here is the list of Republicans who voted against SB 254 in the 2026 Kansas Legislative regular session:
Out of 31 Republican Senators (total Senate membership 40): Argabright, Billinger, Bowers, Clifford, Dietrich, Rose, Ryckman, Schmidt, Shallenburger and Starnes.
Out of 88 Republican Representatives (total House membership, 125): Bohi, Borjon, Butler, Collins, Curtis, Esau, Roeser, Schreiber, C. Smith, Stiens.
If you want change, support my candidacy for Governor of Kansas. I am the only candidate for governor who has and who will stand strong against illegal immigration.
God Bless and Keep Your Eyes on Jesus.
Charlotte
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