A Republican-led Senate committee declined Monday to take action on a bill that would prohibit people in Kansas without permanent legal status from receiving public benefits, including in-state tuition, and permit higher bond prices for those charged with crimes.
The way freshman Sen. Patrick Schmidt sees it, a shorter legislative session isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The Topeka Democrat said the shortened timeline for passing bills could work in Democrats’ favor.
Anti-abortion groups and reproductive rights advocates sparred in a Kansas legislative committee room this week over a bill that opponents say would give embryos and fetuses the same legal rights as pregnant women — a legal concept known as fetal personhood.
Proponents see a bill prohibiting local government officials from voting on major development projects in which they have a “substantial interest” as increasing transparency; opponents are concerned with what they view as overly broad language and hypocrisy.
A Democratic state rep. has requested the filing of a formal complaint and appointment of a special investigative committee to examine allegations that a Republican rep. engaged in “inappropriate” conduct on the House floor.
Advocates say Kansas laws have left thousands without legal means to drive — sometimes for years — just because they’re unable to pay fines. New reforms to suspended license rules have now gone into effect. Here’s what they mean for drivers.
Kansas organizations advocating for sustained funding for Medicaid services said hundreds of billions of dollars in proposed federal budget cuts to the national health program can be deadly to vulnerable people with disabilities as well as seniors and children.
A new bill in Topeka proposes legalizing the use of prison labor to address housing shortages while also providing inmates with job training, a proponent says.
An intense confrontation between a Republican and Democrat on the Kansas House floor Thursday during a gun debate forced the chamber into a two-hour recess as leadership worked to deescalate tensions.
The Kansas Senate gave preliminary approval Wednesday to legislation that would ban school district employees from using names or pronouns other than a minor student’s corresponding biological sex or birth certificate without parental permission.
