TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Wednesday derided a proposed Kansas ban on transgender athletes in girls' and women's school sports as "regressive" as conservative Republicans prepared to advance it in the GOP-controlled Legislature.

Kelly predicted ahead of a state Senate debate on the bill that the policy would make it more difficult to recruit businesses to the state. But supporters dismissed her criticism, and the measure was a priority for top Republicans in the Senate, where the GOP has a supermajority.

Republicans in Congress and more than 20 state legislatures are pu...