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This presentation ended one chapter and began another for the Kansas tax system
On Monday, the House Taxation Committee held a hearing that served as an epilogue to 10 years’ worth of drama in Kansas. Donna Ginther, director of the Institute for Policy and Social Research at the University of Kansas, presented the findings of the Governor’s Council on Tax Reform. Led by former GOP Senate President Steve […]
This week at the Kansas Legislature: transphobia, medical pot and anti-vaxxers, oh my!
With the Kansas Legislature returning to Topeka last week, the time has come for full-on partisan pie fights. That’s right, senators and representatives have rolled up their sleeves for dubious bills galore, along with the parliamentary sleight of hand needed to squeak them through both chambers. Looking at schedules and listening to chatter in Statehouse […]
Believe it or not, sanity has broken out among these three Kansas Republicans
For those who look at Kansas politics and despair, I’m here with good news. We’re seeing distinct signs of sanity on the conservative side of the aisle, and not a bit too late. Within the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen three high-profile Republicans buck the trends and speak up for the truth. They have […]
With the Legislature back in session, here are five big issues for Kansans to follow
The Kansas Legislature has returned! You’d be forgiven for not knowing it was gone in the first place, but the House and Senate took most of a week off after turnaround. That’s the (largely hypothetical) date when each chamber finishes work on its bills and sends the legislation to the other chamber. In reality, leaders […]
Kansas education commissioner’s offensive joke followed animated, rambling remarks
Randy Watson is taking a timeout. The Kansas education commissioner, on the job since 2014, has been suspended for 30 days after making an ill-conceived joke about American Indians during the Kansas Virtual Learning Conference in mid-February. But what struck me most watching the video of Watson wasn’t the joke — it was his peculiar […]
Derek Schmidt salutes Black history while seeking to stifle Black Kansas voters
Derek Schmidt wants you to share in his excitement for Black History Month. Why, on Sunday he tweeted the following: “Nicodemus is the oldest and only remaining settlement of freed slaves west of the Mississippi. Now a National Historic Site in Graham County, it is well worth visiting during Black History Month – or any […]
Former Kansas congressman Pompeo quick to heap praise on Russia’s ruthless Putin
Following Russian leader Vladimir Putin over the past few years, many words come to mind. Strongman. Ruthless. Megalomaniacal. If you’re former secretary of state and Kansas congressman Mike Pompeo, though, those words are “talented,” “savvy,” and “capable statesman.” With Russia in the process of invading Ukraine — a sovereign nation with an elected president — […]
For both Kansas groundwater and budget surplus, using too much too fast invites disaster
Let’s talk about resources. Two of the most vital for Kansas right now are a natural resource, water, and an unnatural one, money. We send legislators off to Topeka to manage the state’s money, and occasionally they have something to say about the water as well. Put aside, for a moment, arguments about critical race […]
Three flickers of light in the darkness of Kansas Legislature’s insanity
Following the Kansas Legislature sometimes feels like an activity best reserved for journalists, political junkies and masochists. Admittedly, those three groups overlap enough to form more of a single circle than a Venn diagram. As this week closed, however, these followers glimpsed a few positive glimmers amid the inky gloom of culture war messaging bills. […]
Gov. Laura Kelly frightens Kansas Republicans. A new amendment push exposes their desperation.
Gov. Laura Kelly scares and infuriates Kansas Republican legislators so much they want to amend the constitution to protect them from her dastardly ways. That’s the message of an absurd proposal heard Wednesday in the House of Representatives. If approved by both chambers, and voters this fall, it would let legislators set and reject rules […]
Anti-education ‘zombie’ bills shamble forward, but Kansas advocates have beheaded them before
Leave it to Tom Witt, executive director of Equality Kansas and dean of progressive lobbyists at the Kansas Statehouse, to sum up the challenge facing education advocates. “In this building, nothing stays dead,” he said Tuesday at a rally on the first floor of the Capitol. “You see zombie movies? This is it right here.” […]
What I learned by emailing with Kansas anti-vaxxers
It turns out that calling anti-vaxxers members of a death cult and their leader a dangerous con man upsets them. I received a handful of outraged emails last week from hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin enthusiasts. One recommended I go on a diet and exercise program. Others asked about the sources of my information, as though you […]