Gov. Laura Kelly flexed a veto pen to reject bills Friday prohibiting gender-identity health care for transgender youth, introducing a vague crime of coercing someone to have an abortion and more, certain to trigger veto override attempts.
Limited by the state’s constitutional protection of abortion, Kansas anti-abortion lawmakers have funneled more money into a program encouraging women to give birth, among other such focused measures sent to the governor.
Before her death, Rep. Gail Finney ruffled state and local police officials and prosecutors by publicly denouncing as unjust the state law allowing civil asset seizure. The Legislature last week voted unanimously in favor of a bill reforming the law.
The Kansas State Board of Education on Tuesday voted to expand Indigenous education outreach from the K-12 to college level, following debate that touched on mascots and political agendas.
In three weeks, senators will decide whether to give Medicaid expansion a full floor debate or block discussion of health insurance coverage for low-income Kansans for another year.
The Kansas Legislature rebounded from dizzying defeat of a tax bill endorsed by Gov. Laura Kelly and Republican leadership by voting early Saturday for a three-year, $1.57 billion alternative that negotiators promised would deliver a state tax reduction to every Kansan.
Kansas senators killed a school finance bill that would have guided state education funding for the next three years, heeding warnings from public schools advocates that the bill’s special education provision could have proven disastrous.
The Kansas House on a voice vote decided Thursday to send a three-year, $1.4 billion tax cut package back to House and Senate negotiators, overriding a call from House Speaker Dan Hawkins to pass the bill and defying guidance of Gov. Laura Kelly.
Gov. Laura Kelly endorsed the tax-relief bill negotiated Wednesday by a committee ending the food sales tax early, exempting from income tax all Social Security benefits, expanding the residential property tax exemption, increasing the standard deduction for income tax purposes and cutting the top income tax rate.
Kansas lawmakers are trying to overhaul special education funding for public schools in a move condemned by public school advocates.
