Senate passes amusement ride regulations after Verruckt death, sends bill to Brownback

TOPEKA -- The Kansas Legislature has given final approval to a bill strengthening the law on amusement ride inspections following the death of a 10-year-old boy last summer on the world’s tallest water slide.

The bill now goes to Gov. Sam Brownback.

The Kansas Senate agreed Friday to pass the House substitute for Senate Bill 70, which would include new insurance and inspection requirements for rides in Kansas, along with permit and registration fees for those rides.

Republican lawmakers who helped push the bill through the legislative process said the state’s law for amusement rides was weak and needed to be changed.

Only three lawmakers in the Legislature opposed the bill after Rep. Scott Schwab, an Olathe Republican, gave an emotional speech to colleagues on the House floor last week in support of the legislation.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article143317024.html