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GOP legislative leaders enlist former Emporia State president to slash Kansas university budgets
Republican legislative leaders agreed to pay former Emporia State University president Ken Hush $50,000 to spearhead their efforts to slash spending at public universities.
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Civil rights • Voter rights • Anti-trans legislation • Abortion • Immigration • Municipalities’ local control • Kansas State Board of Education
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Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
Kansas House, Senate prayers point to ‘precarious times for truth, justice, equity’
A review of the 2021 Legislature’s collection of opening prayers revealed how the Rev. Cecil Washington urged the Senate and the Rev. Eunice Brubaker offered the House seasoned spiritual advice for politicians at risk of losing sight of God’s message as they battled ideological foes real or imagined.
Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector
Kansas GOP lawmakers eager to rally partisan allies to challenge Kelly’s veto surge
A six-pack of Republican lawmakers amplified for faithful party members their resolve to challenge Gov. Laura Kelly’s vetoes of bills on gun rights, tax reductions and fair elections along with a smattering of legislative diversions into transgender athletics and distinctive license plates.
Noah Taborda/Kansas Reflector; file
Democratic Kansas governor vetoes GOP-inspired voting, firearm and license plate bills
Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed two bundles of election reform measures Friday that would have restricted advance voting, eliminated emergency powers to alter voting procedures, added a new crime for turning in others’ ballots, and strengthened penalties for existing election crimes.
Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector
Gov. Kelly signs legislation creating workforce development scholarship program
Gov. Laura Kelly signed bipartisan legislation Friday authorizing a scholarship program aimed primarily at encouraging Kansas community college and technical college students to develop skills in high-demand areas of the state’s economy.
Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
Kansas governor blocks attack on transgender athletes, civics test for high schoolers, NRA curriculum
Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday vetoed a series of controversial bills that would have banned transgender athletes from school sports, required high schoolers to pass a civics test before graduation, and installed NRA-sponsored curriculum in public schools.
Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
After George Floyd’s murder, a racial equity panel proposed changes; the Kansas Legislature ignored them
The Commission on Racial Equity and Justice issued more than 30 suggestions in its December report for state legislators to consider, but none has received meaningful consideration.
Michelle Cadue
Lawrence High student activist lobbies for laws to protect Indigenous people
If you’ve ever visited the Kansas Capitol building, you might have assumed the adolescents you encountered were taking a field trip or paging for a state legislator. Georgia Blackwood, a Lawrence High School junior, crushes that presumption.
Jill Hummels for Kansas Reflector
Kansas opts for bonding to help consumers with energy price shocks, transition from coal
TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly signed bipartisan legislation stretching over time consumers’ payment of exorbitant […]
New law pushes Kansas school districts to reconsider health protocols
School boards across Kansas are beginning conversations or taking action to modify their COVID-19 restrictions in response to Senate Bill 40.
Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
End-of-session package installs framework for investigating elder abuse in Kansas
A package of bills aimed at curbing elder abuse and creating more communication with various agencies that work with seniors was met with support by lawmakers on the final day of the regular session.
Kansas GOP legislators target rights of transgender youth; Lawrence delegates and activists warn of harm
Following a trend in Republican-dominated legislatures around the nation, GOP members of the Kansas Legislature […]
Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
Gov. Kelly vetoes massive tax reform bill pushed through by GOP
TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed Friday a bill granting tax breaks to business sought […]
Colton Swaim: Don’t let the Kansas Legislature restrict our right to vote (Column)
We know that the 2020 election was secure. Claims of fraud and abuse nationwide and […]
Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
Kansas Legislature endorses license plate bearing design by slave owner
TOPEKA — A bundle of new distinctive license plates passed last week by the Kansas […]
Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector
Lawmakers finalize effort to limit mail voting in Kansas
TOPEKA — A pair of election bills passed by the Legislature to limit advance voting […]
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