SESSION OF 2023
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2020
As Amended by Senate Committee on
Transportation

Brief*
HB 2020, as amended, would add to employment-
related law that a requirement for or use of a motor carrier
safety improvement will not affect or change the worker
status of a driver.
The bill would define two terms:
● “Motor carrier safety improvement,” to mean any
device, equipment, software, technology,
procedure, training, policy, program, or operational
practice intended and used primarily to improve or
facilitate compliance with traffic or motor carrier
safety laws or the safety of the vehicle, the vehicle
operator, or a third-party public roadway user; and
● “Worker status,” to mean the classification under
state law of a motor vehicle driver who transports
property for compensation as an agent, employee,
jointly employed employee, borrowed servant, or
independent contractor for a motor carrier.
The bill would be in effect upon publication in the
Kansas Register.


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*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
Background
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Transportation at the request of a representative of the
Kansas Motor Carriers Association (KMCA).

House Committee on Transportation
In the House Committee hearing, a representative of the
KMCA and a transportation attorney provided proponent
testimony. They stated requiring use of safety-related
technologies and monitoring or training drivers with regard to
safety can be viewed by courts and regulators as exerting
control, using safety technologies and providing training
would increase safety for all, and the bill would not affect
other indicators of control that may result in the classification
of independent transportation contractors as employees.
Written-only neutral testimony was provided by
representatives of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Joint Council 56, Kansas Corporation Commission, and
Kansas Highway Patrol. The neutral testimony requested
placement of the language in Kansas Statutes Annotated
Chapter 44, Labor and Industries, rather than with motor
carrier safety requirements in Chapter 66, Public Utilities, and
narrowing the definition of a motor carrier safety
improvement.
No opponent testimony was provided.

Senate Committee on Transportation
In the Senate Committee hearing, a representative of
the KMCA and a transportation attorney provided proponent
testimony. They stated that eight other states have passed
similar legislation addressing classification of independent
transportation contractors and motor carrier employees when

2- 2020
dealing with implementation safety-related monitoring
technologies. No other testimony was provided.
The Senate Committee amended the bill to make it
effective upon publication in the Kansas Register.

Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, the Kansas Department
of Transportation, the Kansas Highway Patrol, and the
Kansas Corporation Commission indicate enactment of the
bill would have no fiscal effect on the operations of the
agencies.
Worker status; contractor; employment; motor carrier; safety


3- 2020