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Kansas schools could be required to verify family income for every student receiving free lunch
A proposed bill would require school districts to verify the gross household income of every student who receives free or reduced-price lunches. Federal law requires schools to verify a random sample amounting to 3% of recipients.
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Civil rights • Voter rights • Anti-trans legislation • Abortion • Immigration • Municipalities’ local control • Kansas State Board of Education
MORe KANSAS NEWS
Kansas Democrats tout bill requiring ICE to display IDs, shed masks and forego warrantless searches
A coalition of Kansas House Democrats urged passage of a bill requiring ICE agents operating in Kansas to forego warrantless raids, undergo a law enforcement training program and clearly identify themselves in public.
‘This bill spits on basic human decency’: Kansas Legislature passes bathroom ban without hearing
The GOP-led Kansas House and Senate on Wednesday suspended rules to approve a “bathroom bill” targeting transgender people after House Democrats delayed passage by six hours.
Kansas’ Chiefs deal criticized by both parties over ‘tax giveaways for billionaires’
In a crowded hearing last week, Kansas lawmakers drilled a lawyer for the Kansas City Chiefs on the deal to bring the NFL team across the state line. Republicans and Democrats are forming rare alliances on both sides of the issue.
Kansas Republicans add bathroom ban to anti-trans proposal, shuffle bills to avoid public hearings
The anti-transgender “bathroom bill” made a comeback in Kansas politics Monday after a GOP-led legislative committee pushed out legislation to force anyone using a bathroom in government buildings to use the facility matching their biological sex at birth.
Kansas bill seeks to roll back juvenile justice reforms, favoring stiffer detention sentences
Proposed legislation in Kansas cracks open state guidelines to allow courts to sentence any kid deemed an offender to juvenile prison, reversing a decade-old effort to treat youth incarceration as a last resort.
‘Prevention is important’: Erin’s Law advocates seek child abuse education in Kansas schools
Advocates and survivors of child sexual abuse are urging legislators to pass Erin’s Law, which requires K-12 schools teach about body safety and sexual abuse prevention at an age-appropriate level once per school year.
Kansas Senate panel advances constitutional amendment to cap property value increases
A Senate committee endorsed a proposed constitutional amendment that would cap annual increases to appraised property values at 3%, and roll back the clock to 2022 assessments.
Kansas legislators grill Chiefs attorney on economics behind deal to bring team across state line
A Kansas City Chiefs attorney told legislators Wednesday that projections show STAR bonds financing the team’s stadium deal will be paid off 10 to 15 years earlier than the expected 30-year term, upping economic benefits for the state.
KBI director urges mandatory background checks for school employees to fill public safety gaps
KBI director Tony Mattivi urged approval of a bill that would require state and national fingerprint-based criminal history background checks for all employees and volunteers at public and private schools every five years.
Kansas judge rebukes AG Kris Kobach in gender marker case, issues symbolic $1 fine
Kansas AG Kris Kobach will pay a symbolic $1 sanction in a case regarding gender marker changes on driver’s licenses because he “should have known” better than to file a motion in a court that did not have jurisdiction.
Kansas adopts faculty workload, post-tenure review system for public universities
The Kansas Board of Regents ordered state public universities to implement faculty workload and tenure review policies aiming to bring underperforming professors to remediation, with termination as a potential consequence.
Projected electricity usage expected to strain Kansas grid unless transmission, generation added
Projected increases in electricity load growth are as high as 99% by 2035, a data point that pushed regional energy regulators to create a plan to stabilize and expand grid capacity and transmission, a legislative committee learned.
Who can represent Kansas in court? Governor and attorney general clash at Supreme Court
The Kansas Supreme Court is considering who can represent the state in court, after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach have clashed over taking legal action on behalf of the state.
Kansas legislators hear divided testimony on proposed school cellphone ban
A bipartisan Kansas bill that aims to implement a bell-to-bell cellphone ban beginning next school year would override local rules and establish one of the nation’s most restrictive policies.
Kansas disregards CDC vaccine changes, will trust scientific evidence instead
Kansas’ top health agency is sticking with the longstanding childhood immunization schedule instead of implementing new guidelines released Jan. 5 by the CDC, a state spokesperson said.
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