The Kansas state governor, Laura Kelly, has announced that she will not sign age verification legislation that was recently passed through the state legislature. Instead, she will let the bill, Senate Bill (SB) 394 , automatically become law by
letting it enter force on April 25. The bill levies age verification requirements on websites with users from Kansas IP addresses to check their identities through government identification or transactional data. SB 394 empowers Attorney General Kris
Kobach to enforce the law. Kelly said in a statement: While well-meaning in its efforts to protect children from content the legislature considers 'harmful to minors,' this bill is vague in its application and may
end up infringing on constitutional rights, which is an issue being litigated in other jurisdictions over similar bills. For that reason, I will allow this bill to become law without my signature.
Kelly added that she could have
vetoed the bill, but the Republican-held state legislature would have the necessary votes to overturn her veto. |