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Kansas champions of administrative reform at public universities offer concessions to calm skeptics
The Republican majority leader of the Kansas House and the governor’s chief of staff worked Thursday to resolve objections to a bill designed to make the state’s three largest public universities more financially efficient by removing layers of administrative red tape.
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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
Kansas governor signs bill to expedite analysis of sexual assault kits
A new Kansas law will require the review of all sexual assault kits in a timely fashion, ensuring no tests languish on the shelf as they have previously.
Attorneys debate potential for Kansas election law to chill voter registration efforts
Voting rights attorneys battled Thursday in the Kansas Court of Appeals over the merits of a 2021 law that threatens felony prosecution for any activity that could be mistaken as the work of an election official.
Two House members say Rep. Waggoner offered ‘we work harder’ defense of gender pay gap
A Hutchinson state representative purportedly declared aloud during a recognition of Women’s History Month that women earned less in the workplace because men worked with more intensity at their jobs, two female legislators said.
Dylan Lysen / Kansas News Service
Republicans face a new kind of legal challenge for cutting up Democratic strongholds in Kansas
A new map of congressional districts lumps Lawrence with deep-red western Kansas — all but nullifying the ballots of the blue voters here and proving once again the power of gerrymandering.
‘Nerves and adrenaline’ as Kansas congressional redistricting trial begins
Opening arguments began Monday in a trial over a redistricting map that places Lawrence into the 1st District along with rural counties that border Colorado, about 385 miles west of town.
Kansas Legislature races to finalize budget, food tax cut, sports gambling, education bills
Kansas lawmakers are working to finalize last-minute deals on the state budget, a reduction of the state sales tax on food, sports wagering, a parental bill of rights, transgender athletes, and a wide range of other legislation before adjourning for a three-week break.
Legislature ties SNAP for able-bodied adults to job training or part-time job
The Kansas House and Senate voted to send Gov. Laura Kelly a measure Thursday mandating able-bodied adults without dependents hold down a job for 30 hours a week or enroll in a job training program to receive federal food assistance.
Lawrence immigration activists worry as city’s sanctuary ordinance is in jeopardy
Lawrence activists are concerned about a bill on its way to the governor’s desk that will nullify a city ordinance protecting community members regardless of their citizenship status.
Legislature forwards House, Senate and Board of Education maps to governor
The Kansas Legislature sent to Gov. Laura Kelly a bundled bill Wednesday containing redistricting maps for the House, Senate and state Board of Education.
Kansas House revives and passes stalled sports wagering bill
A bill to legalize sports wagering took a significant step Wednesday, clearing the Kansas House just more than 24 hours after the measure appeared to stall in committee.
Kansas Senate quickly endorses legislation banning ‘sanctuary cities’
Kansas senators fast-tracked a bill prohibiting municipal governments from creating “sanctuary cities,” approving it without reading it or allowing opponents to testify. The bill now goes to Gov. Laura Kelly.
Kansas sports wagering plan hits snag after leadership-backed amendment fails twice
The future of a plan to legalize sports wagering in Kansas is up in the air after a House committee abruptly adjourned Tuesday.
Senate tackles fresh redistricting controversy with Board of Education map
Kansas Senate leadership proposed Monday a redistricting map for the 10-member Kansas Board of Education that critics indicated unnecessarily placed four incumbents in head-to-head showdowns.
Kansas Senate gives major shakeup of ballot drop box, mail voting law green light
A bill approved this week by the Kansas Senate would limit drop boxes in all but the largest areas of the state to one per county and add new security measures for surveillance. It would also end a three-day grace period for mail ballots to arrive after Election Day.
Native American legislator rejects GOP lawmaker’s apology for offensive remark
Rep. Ponka-We Victors-Cozad rejected the apology of a House Republican who said during a floor debate that he had to make certain Victors-Cozad was using a wooden gavel rather than a tomahawk to bring order to the chamber.
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