In a healthy democracy, laws are supposed to be debated in public. They’re meant to move through committees, invite testimony, and give everyday people a chance to understand what’s happening and speak up. However, there is a well-worn shortcut that undermines all of that: the “gut and go.” In recent years, especially around bills targeting transgender Kansans or embodying controversial issues, this maneuver has become a powerful tool for silencing voices.

What Is a “Gut and Go”?

A “gut and go” is a legislative trick. Here’s how it works:

1. One chamber (either the House or Senate) passes a relatively harmless or uncontroversial bill and sends it to the other chamber.
2. Instead of debating that bill, the second chamber strips out all of its original language (the “gut”) and replaces it with completely different legislation, usually the controversial content from another bill.
3. Then, they pass it and send it back to the first chamber for a simple yes-or-no vote (the “go”).

No committee hearings. No public testimony. No real debate. The bill number becomes a shell. This process has become a formality in the Kansas legislature.

H Sub for SB 244 and the Targeting of Trans Kansans

This is exactly what we’ve seen in the 2026 legislative session with H Sub for SB 244. The bill mandates that public restrooms, locker rooms, and similar spaces be restricted based on sex assigned at birth, ignoring people’s lived identities and medical realities. It creates escalating civil and criminal penalties for people who use facilities that align with their gender identity and invites private lawsuits, encouraging surveillance and harassment. Trans Kansans, in particular, are placed at constant risk of being questioned, reported, or punished simply for existing in public spaces.

The bill also forces the state to invalidate and reissue birth certificates and driver’s licenses that do not match “biological sex at birth,” stripping trans people of accurate identification. This makes everyday activities (voting, traveling, applying for jobs, or interacting with law enforcement) more dangerous and difficult, while increasing the risk of outing and discrimination.

By combining punitive bathroom policies with forced ID changes, H Sub for SB 244 institutionalizes discrimination across multiple areas of life. Instead of engaging in open discussion, lawmakers used procedural tricks to push these policies through quickly. Due to the gut and go of SB 244, transgender Kansans and their families were denied the opportunity to share their stories. As well as doctors, educators, and civil rights experts, faith leaders, business owners, and community members were shut out of the opportunity to share their expertise in the legislative process. The message is clear: your experiences don’t matter enough for a hearing.

Gut and go also protects lawmakers from accountability. If a controversial bill moves openly, legislators have to defend it, answer questions and justify their votes. When lawmakers use gut and go to pass bills attacking trans rights, they aren’t just changing policy—they are deciding who gets to participate in democracy and who doesn’t.

A Tool for Rushing “Emergency” Legislation

Gut and go is often justified as a way to move quickly at the end of a session, when deadlines loom. But “moving quickly” is not the same as governing responsibly. In practice, gut and go creates a backdoor channel for rushing through major policy changes, especially when lawmakers know those changes would face serious opposition if handled openly. Instead of earning public support, they sidestep it.

Kansas is no stranger to this tactic. During the Brownback era, gut and go became a routine way to push through controversial policies without transparency. Since then, the practice has only become more entrenched. The most troubling part of gut and go isn’t procedural—it’s political. This maneuver is designed to shut people out.

Kansans Deserve Better.

We deserve a Legislature that is willing to debate its ideas in public, that welcomes testimony instead of fearing it and that treats transparency as a strength, not a weakness. Bills affecting people’s bodies, identities, and basic rights should never be rushed through in the dark. Gut and go may be legal in Kansas. But that doesn’t make it right. When lawmakers choose to cut their constituents out of the legislative process, they’re eroding democracy—one shell bill at a time.