Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
In a flurry of statehouse drama rarely seen, Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed the monumental tax bill Wednesday morning. Within a few hours, the House overrode the veto, and that afternoon, the Senate narrowly sustained the governor.
Frustrated by the glacial pace on Capitol Hill, conservative leaders, governors and grassroots activists on Thursday scolded lawmakers for dragging their feet on ObamaCare repeal and replacement. "I think they should have had a plan ready on Day One.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is preparing to make good on a pledge to veto a bill increasing personal income taxes as a budget fix. Brownback has a Statehouse news conference scheduled Wednesday morning to act.
State Sen. Ty Masterson, R- Andover denounces a tax bill the Senate passed Friday, Feb. 17, 2017, in Topeka, Kan. State Sen. Ty Masterson, R- Andover denounces a tax bill the Senate passed Friday, Feb. 17, 2017, in Topeka, Kan.
Remember the days when if Republicans had majorities in the Kansas House and the Kansas Senate and the guy sitting in the governor's office was a Republican, well, things generally took care of themselves, for better or worse.
J.G. Scott, left, the chief fiscal analyst for the Kansas Legislative Research Department, confers with Bobbi Mariani, another fiscal analyst, during a meeting of the Kansas House Appropriations Committee, Monday, Feb. 13, 2017, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. The committee has endorsed budget-balancing proposals that would allow the state to avoid cuts in education funding.
Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo was sworn in as CIA director on Monday, Jan. 23, 2017, just an hour after the Senate confirmed him. Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath of office.
Rep. Roger Marshall of Kansas talks about the day his son, Cal, taught House Speaker Paul Ryan how to "dab" during the swearing-in photo op. with members of the 115th Congress and their families.
The Kansas State Fair's budget is fueled by fee revenues, but it requested $6.7 million from the state general fund in the fiscal year beginning in July 2018 to replace the Expo Center building on the fairgrounds in Hutchinson.
And with the defeat of many expansion opponents in last year's elections, there is a good chance a revenue-neutral bill could clear both chambers. But even if that happens, expansion still faces tough odds.
In Wyoming, Republican Gov. Matt Mead is counting on a state-funded research center set to open this year to find a way to produce energy from coal without releasing carbon dioxide into the environment. In Kansas, Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is eyeing new wind farms to bring jobs and economic growth.
If Fort Hays State University Interim President Andy Tompkins had been at the Friday press conference in Topeka where Gov. Sam Brownback hailed the winner of the $15,000 college degree challenge, Tompkins would have described a bigger pool of winners.
With university communities pushing back and a political shift in the Legislature, gun-rights advocates who've enjoyed a string of victories in Kansas are facing a new test of their clout. A state Senate committee will have a hearing Thursday on a bill that would give universities, colleges and public hospitals and clinics a permanent exemption from a 2013 law that allowed gun owners to carry concealed weapons into more public buildings.
Proponents and opponents of Kansas' business tax exemptions met Thursday on the legislative battlefield for the first time in the new session. A host of lawmakers garnered votes this fall by campaigning against the state's exemptions for limited liability companies, called the LLC loophole by opponents.
Several Kansas lawmakers are seeking to weaken a law that will allow concealed guns on state college campuses starting this summer. A bill introduced Tuesday would permanently exempt several types of health care facilities and colleges from the law that allows guns in public buildings.
The Great Bend USD 428 Board of Education doesn't need to hurry as it seeks to replace Superintendent Brad Reed, who resigned last month, board president Joyce Carter said Monday.
Representative Ron Ryckman is sworn in as Speaker of the House Monday, Jan. 9, 2017, by Kansas Supreme Court Justice Lawton Nuss. Rickman's wife Kim is holding the bible.
Budget hole - The immediate priority for lawmakers in the 2017 session is dealing with a $350 million hole in the state budget. Next up will be fixing a $500 million revenue shortfall projected for the 2018 fiscal year, which begins July 1. Rather than being worried about the lack of state senators who are attorneys, perhaps the greater concern is that the Senate doesn't have a practicing accountant among its members.