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Kansas marijuana laws remain unchanged, despite Trump promoting looser regulations
President Donald Trump took the first step Thursday to reclassify marijuana, but the move won’t affect Kansans unless the state changes its laws, a law enforcement professional said.
Kansas marijuana laws remain unchanged, despite Trump promoting looser regulations
President Donald Trump took the first step Thursday to reclassify marijuana, but the move won’t affect Kansans unless the state changes its laws, a law enforcement professional said.
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TOP TAGS
Civil rights • Voter rights • Anti-trans legislation • Abortion • Immigration • Municipalities’ local control • Kansas State Board of Education
MORe STATE GOVERNMENT NEWS
Kansas education board’s attorney says abstention as substitute for ‘no’ vote an abdication of duty
Legal counsel to the state Board of Education says a flurry of abstentions could be consequential because the tactic might be used to undermine a requirement the state board register at least six votes among the 10 members to take formal action.
Gov. Laura Kelly, legislators honor bipartisan reform of Kansas law on sexual abuse claims
Gov. Laura Kelly joined activists and legislators Thursday who reflected on a four-year journey to adoption of a Kansas law ending the statute of limitations on criminal prosecution for alleged child sexual abuse and extending opportunity to file lawsuits in those cases.
‘Everyone’s scared’: Transgender Kansans brace for sweeping new law to take effect
Kansas SB 180 will bring a host of changes, including limiting trans residents’ access to bathrooms. Much is still unknown about how it’ll be enforced.
Church and state: Devotion infuses Kansas Legislature, with spiritual adviser and daily prayers
A spiritual adviser to former Gov. Sam Brownback, Dave DuPue teaches Bible studies during the legislative session to senators and representatives.
Church and state: Kansas Republicans reject systemic racism while fighting critical race theory
For the past two years, Kansas Republicans have been more interested in shielding white children from the application of “critical race theory” — a political catchall they apply to grievances with history lessons and diversity training. The opposition is consistent with fringe Christian beliefs on race.
Kansas governor signs K-12 education bill, strikes portion slicing state aid to rural schools
Gov. Laura Kelly struck down a K-12 budget bill provision that would have decreased funding to more than one-third of Kansas public schools, calling the provision potentially “devastating” for rural communities.
Church and state: Kansas Republicans ignore voters and pass new anti-abortion laws
Despite the 59-41 margin in a statewide vote on the constitutional amendment last year, Republican lawmakers passed new anti-abortion laws.
Church and state: Kansas Republicans justify private school handouts with fear of ‘woke ideology’
Adam Peters, GOP chairman in Ellis County, draws a parallel between the average Kansas fourth-grader and Janissaries of the 16th century Ottoman feudal system, saying public schools will ”weaponize those children against you.”
Church and state: Kansas Republicans target ‘imminently exploitable’ LGBTQ community
The role of religion in attacks on the LGBTQ community is evident in the hate group that writes legislation, debate among lawmakers, and a secret audio recording from a March 2 meeting of Republicans in Hutchinson.
Molly Adams/Lawrence Times
Lawrence Public Library to hold clinic on how to change gender markers on legal documents
The Lawrence Public Library is teaming up with Kansas Legal Services to hold a free clinic Wednesday to help transgender people get their gender markers changed on their Kansas birth certificates and IDs before new anti-trans legislation goes into effect.
Kansas, Montana lawmakers object to pronounced riptide of LGBTQ+ ‘erasure’ legislation
Kansas Rep. Brandon Woodard and Montana Rep. Zooey Zephyr pushed back Monday against movement among conservative state legislators to erode non-discrimination protections of LGBTQ+ individuals in a quest to “erase” them from public society.
Church and state: Republicans revel in divine plan to turn Kansas into ‘conservative sanctuary’
This week, Kansas Reflector is publishing a series of stories that examine the influence of religious beliefs on state government. On Monday, they begin with a GOP official’s plans for turning Kansas into a conservative sanctuary.
Kansas governor vetoes bill on child COVID-19 vaccines, authority of health officials
Gov. Laura Kelly shot down an anti-vaccination bill that would have blocked child COVID-19 vaccination requirements and stripped authority from public health officials, a move greeted with outrage from Republican leaders in the Legislature.
Kansas governor’s latest veto means no major tax cuts in the state this year
Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed the final tax relief bill to reach her desk this year. It would have given tax breaks to private businesses that compete with government services — like fitness centers and child care facilities.
Gov. Kelly signs bipartisan bill decriminalizing use of fentanyl test strips in Kansas
Gov. Laura Kelly had the late Cooper Davis and Sebastain Sheahan in mind Thursday when signing into law bipartisan legislation designed to save lives by decriminalizing in Kansas use of test strips capable of detecting presence of fentanyl in drugs.
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