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Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
Kansas students to face punishment for protests after lawmakers override veto
Kansas public school students will need parental permission to leave school grounds for a protest and schools could face $100,000 penalties if they don’t enforce restrictions after legislators overrode the governor’s veto Friday.
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
Kansas students to face punishment for protests after lawmakers override veto
Kansas public school students will need parental permission to leave school grounds for a protest and schools could face $100,000 penalties if they don’t enforce restrictions after legislators overrode the governor’s veto Friday.
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Civil rights • Voter rights • Anti-trans legislation • Abortion • Immigration • Municipalities’ local control • Kansas State Board of Education
MORe KANSAS NEWS
House GOP lawmakers introduce bill imposing near-total ban on abortion in Kansas
Eight Kansas House Republicans introduced a bill crafted to implement a near-total ban on abortions, while also authorizing individuals to file lawsuits against doctors and others who helped someone obtain an abortion.
Kelly urges Legislature to focus on health care, education, tax, water and child care reforms
Gov. Laura Kelly widened an agenda dedicated to public education, Medicaid expansion and broad-based tax reform Wednesday in the annual State of the State speech.
Kansas’ chief justice blames Russian ransomware hackers for disabling court’s electronic systems
Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert said Wednesday that the state didn’t pay ransom demands of a cybercriminal group that infiltrated the judicial branch’s computer system in October.
Medicaid expansion will probably fail again in Kansas, so why is the governor still trying?
Gov. Laura Kelly’s likely doomed push for Medicaid expansion is aimed at setting the table before this fall’s election. But Republican leaders want to focus on other ideas, like cutting taxes.
Kansans would see lower property, income and sales taxes under the governor’s new plan
A showdown over tax reform is brewing in the Kansas Legislature after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly unveiled a tax-cutting proposal on the first day of the 2024 legislative session.
Opioid settlement money is meant to fight addiction. Kansas gives a lot of it to police
As millions of dollars flow into the state of Kansas from opioid settlement funds, local and statewide groups are vying for that money to go toward opioid use treatment and prevention rather than law enforcement.
Kansas sees lower tornado count, one tornado watch issued for central region in 2023
There were slightly fewer tornadoes reported in Kansas and only one tornado watch issued for the central portion of the state in 2023.
Task force asks Legislature for 4-year, $82.7 million annual spike in special education funding
The task force created by the Kansas Legislature to resolve funding challenges in K-12 special education endorsed a four-year plan Friday adding $82.7 million annually in appropriations to local school districts.
Kansas special education task force to convene – finally – for quick study of funding shortfall
Rep. Kristey Williams and Sen. Renee Erickson agreed there was little value in convening a task force to study the state’s shortfall in funding public school special education programs because the financial issues were too complex for such a group to unravel and the only remedy suggested by education advocacy groups was too simplistic to warrant examination.
Kansas Chamber puts shoulder behind 2024 income tax, health care, education reforms
The Kansas Chamber released a legislative policy agenda Thursday endorsing a proposed single rate state income tax, opposing expansion of Medicaid health coverage to 150,000 low-income Kansans and supporting investment of state tax dollars in private K-12 education.
Kansas senator proposes job limits to avoid potential conflicts of interest in state government
Sen. Tom Holland, of Baldwin City, has introduced a bill that would forbid members of the Kansas Legislature from concurrently holding jobs in an executive branch agency. Others have filed bills on school starts, birth centers, taxation and heritage sites.
Abortion remains hotly contested in Kansas heading into the 2024 legislative session
From an influx of patients to evolving state restrictions, 2023 brought changes to abortion access in Kansas — and more could be on the way in 2024.
Next phase of Kansas’ gradual repeal of state sales tax on food to yield savings of $150 million
Gov. Laura Kelly said the next scheduled reduction in the state’s sales tax on groceries Jan. 1 will cut the rate in half to 2% and enable shoppers in Kansas to avoid $150 million annually in food costs.
Kansas leads nation with 9.7% real GDP growth during third quarter of 2023
Growth in the market value of goods and services produced in Kansas from July to September was tops in the nation and expanded by 9.7% during that three-month period, the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis reported.
Kansas school leaders say the shift to open enrollment next fall won’t be simple or easy
A new state law that goes into effect next fall lets Kansas students attend schools outside the districts where they live, as long as there is space available.
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