Kansas has new anti-ESG law amid raft of culture war vetoes

By JOHN HANNA
AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials won’t be allowed to use environmental, social and governance factors in investing public funds or deciding who receives government contracts. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly allowed a Republican measure to become law without her signature Monday. Kelly’s decision comes after she vetoed more than a dozen other anti-transgender, anti-abortion and culture war measures the Republican-controlled Legislature approved. She vetoed a bill Monday that would have allowed parents to remove their public school students from lessons or activities that offend them. Kelly also vetoed another measure that she said could have meant prison terms for some people helping immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. The anti-ESG law takes effect July 1.