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Kansas legislative leadership wobbly on redistricting as January session draws near
Kansas legislators’ messaging has teetered between confident and uncertain as they approach a possible attempt at drawing new Congressional lines in January.
Kansas legislative leadership wobbly on redistricting as January session draws near
Kansas legislators’ messaging has teetered between confident and uncertain as they approach a possible attempt at drawing new Congressional lines in January.
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Civil rights • Voter rights • Anti-trans legislation • Abortion • Immigration • Municipalities’ local control • Kansas State Board of Education
MORe STATE GOVERNMENT NEWS
Late-night deal rewrites Kansas public health laws on masks, vaccines and quarantines
The Kansas Legislature approved a rewrite of the state’s public health laws, disregarding bipartisan concerns the bill was too restrictive. For example, no governmental body or public official could mandate face masks to prevent the spread of any infectious disease.
Celia Llopis-Jepsen / The Kansas News Service
Public defenders in Kansas got more pay, but still have the same crushing workloads
The Kansas Legislature didn’t approve money for additional public defenders, but it did support pay raises.
Overturn of Roe v. Wade raises stakes for Kansas abortion rights battle in August
The stakes for the August vote over a Kansas constitutional amendment on abortion access were made clear by the leak of a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion striking down federal abortion rights.
Kansas Attorney General argues fairness of congressional map is off limits for state court
AG Derek Schmidt’s office says the Kansas Supreme Court has no business evaluating the fairness of redrawn congressional districts, despite a district court’s ruling that the map is heavily biased toward Republicans and dilutes minority votes.
As opioid overdoses spike in Kansas, senators block fentanyl test strip provision
Senators chose last week to send a bill clearing FDA-approved cannabis medication back to a conference committee over a provision that would allow for legal fentanyl test strips.
‘Until we meet again’: Kansas representatives say goodbye as they prepare to exit Legislature
Rep. Ron Highland has announced he will not seek reelection. He is among several state representatives stepping back after at least 10 years in the Statehouse.
Kansas Supreme Court to say if Republicans gerrymandered the state’s congressional map
The Kansas Supreme Court will consider if district court judge correctly followed the state constitution when ruling the Republican-led Kansas Legislature drew a racially and politically gerrymandered congressional map.
Kansas Democrat threatens to recruit parents to sue schools for lack of honest history lessons
Rep. Valdenia Winn offered a proposal to House Republicans: If they were to override the governor’s veto of legislation installing a parental bill of rights, she would recruit parents to file lawsuits over the lack of honest history lessons in public schools.
Kansas lawmakers fall a few votes short of banning transgender athletes from women’s sports
Kansas House lawmakers failed to override a veto from the governor, spelling the end for a ban on transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.
Kansas House overrides veto of bill tying food assistance to employment or job training program
House Republicans took the first step Thursday toward an override of the governor’s veto of a bill requiring able-bodied Kansans without dependents to hold a job for 30 hours a week or enroll in a job-training program if they want federal food assistance.
Kansas Senate backs gradual elimination of sales tax on food by 2025
A Kansas bill providing a multiyear, staggered elimination of the state sales tax on food moved a step closer Wednesday to becoming law.
Legislature passes bill mandating Kansas counties use watermarked paper ballots
The Kansas Legislature sent Gov. Laura Kelly a multifaceted election reform bill containing an unfunded mandate that local governments use ballots printed on watermarked paper.
Senate overrides Kelly’s veto of legislation creating parental bill of rights for K-12 education
The Kansas Senate accomplished the first of two steps Tuesday required to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a parental bill of rights for K-12 public education that encouraged skepticism of classroom instructional materials and challenges to books on the shelf in school libraries.
Kansas senators push transgender athlete debate to new extremes in override of governor’s veto
Kansas senators pushed debate over a proposed ban on transgender athletes to new extremes involving the KU championship-winning men’s basketball team and child genital inspections.
Kansas Senate turns back Democrat’s bid to force action on clergy reporting mandate
Sen. Tom Holland found little support for a motion designed to bring to the full Senate a resolution that would require religious leaders in Kansas to become mandatory reporters of suspected child abuse or neglect.
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