Author

Tim Carpenter

Tim Carpenter

Tim Carpenter has reported on Kansas for 35 years. He covered the Capitol for 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal and previously worked for the Lawrence Journal-World and United Press International. He has been recognized for investigative reporting on Kansas government and politics. He won the Kansas Press Association's Victor Murdock Award six times. The William Allen White Foundation honored him four times with its Burton Marvin News Enterprise Award. The Kansas City Press Club twice presented him its Journalist of the Year Award and more recently its Lifetime Achievement Award. He earned an agriculture degree at Kansas State University and grew up on a small dairy and beef cattle farm in Missouri. He is an amateur woodworker and drives Studebaker cars.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a candidate for governor in 2022, speaks Saturday at the Kansas Republican Party convention in Manhattan about state and national political actions of Democrats. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Kansas Republicans throw haymakers at Democrat Kelly, prepare for 2022 cycle
By: - April 24, 2021

Kansas Republican Party pounds Democrat Kelly at annual convention as potential GOP nominees prepare for showdown in 2022.

Kansans Republican lawmakers, from left, House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, Senate Vice President Rick Wilborn, House Speaker Pro Tem Blaine Finch and acting Senate Majority Leader Larry Alley, told the Kansas Republican Party convention in Manhattan they looked forward to overriding Gov. Laura Kelly's vetoes. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Kansas GOP lawmakers eager to rally partisan allies to challenge Kelly’s veto surge
By: - April 24, 2021

Kansas GOP legislators cobbling together roadmap forallies drawn to overriding series of vetoes by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

Democratic Kansas governor vetoes GOP-inspired voting, firearm and flag bills
By: - April 23, 2021

Gov. Laura Kelly rejected election reform bills crafted by the GOP-led Legislature in response to allegations of voter fraud in 2020.

Sen. Molly Baumgardner, center in chair and a Louisburg Republican and chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee, lauded signing into law of a bill creating a scholarship program for community college and technical college students in hard-to-hire fields. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Gov. Kelly signs legislation creating workforce development scholarship program
By: - April 23, 2021

Gov. Laura Kelly signed into law a bill creating a college scholarship to encourage students to develop skills needed in the Kansas economy.

Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Rogers, a Democrat, endorsed pending federal legislation to create a national policy of paid family leave. ( (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Kansas state treasurer touts federal legislation on paid family leave
By: - April 21, 2021

Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Rogers joins coalition of 17 state treasurers supporting federal paid medical leave for all workers.

Gov. Laura Kelly said the upward revision of state revenue forecasts was welcome news but warned the Republican-led Legislature against going on a tax-cutting spree as Kansas worked through issues tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Kelly cautiously welcomes healthy revision of state revenue projections
By: - April 20, 2021

Kansas analysts boosted projections for state tax revenue, which will be used as leverage to override the governor's veto of a tax-cut bill.

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly urge Kansans to embrace 10-digit dialing on local calls to prepare for implementation of the abbreviated 988 suicide prevention number similar to 911 used in emergencies. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Kansas transitioning to 10-digit dialing ahead of new 988 suicide prevention number
By: - April 20, 2021

Kansans in 785 and 620 area codes can prepare for 10-digit dialing on local calls to accommodate the national 988 suicide prevention hotline.

Former Gov. Jeff Colyer, who is seeking the 2022 GOP nomination for governor, faulted former Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for suggesting people unvaccinated for COVID-19 ought to have access limited to workplaces or where people vulnerable to the virus could be found. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Colyer takes plunge in Republican race for governor, earns backing from Marshall
By: - April 19, 2021

Former Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer takes next step in 2022 race for governor, earning endorsement from U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall.

An old farm windmill used to pull water from the ground stands among dozens of modern wind turbines constructed in southwest Kansas as the state worked to harness the breeze to produce electricity. (Jill Hummels for the Kansas Reflector)

Kansas opts for bonding to help consumers with energy price shocks, transition from coal
By: - April 19, 2021

Kansas joins pack by allowing utility companies to issue bonds, but questions remain about degree consumers benefit from retirement of coal plants.

Amber Shultz took the oath of office Friday to serve as secretary of the Kansas Department of Labor, which has been under a microscope for more than a year during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Shultz formally takes reins of labor department plagued by challenges
By: - April 16, 2021

The Kansas Department of Labor officially has a secretary at the helm as the unemployed struggle with fallout from COVID-19.

Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed Senate Bill 50 containing tax reform provisions sought by the Republican majority in the Legislature but labeled by the Democratic governor as "fiscally irresponsible." (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Gov. Kelly vetoes massive tax reform bill pushed through by GOP
By: - April 16, 2021

Gov. Laura Kelly vetoes major tax bill pushed through Legislature by Republican majority.

The Kansas Department of Revenue reported tax revenue in the month of December exceeded projections and added to the cash cushion available to the 2022 Legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Kansas unemployment rate declines to 3.7% in March
By: - April 16, 2021

TOPEKA — The unemployment rate in Kansas dropped slightly by 0.1% in March as the state’s economy added more than 12,000 private-sector jobs since February, officials said Friday. The Kansas Department of Labor and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the seasonally adjusted rate for March was 3.7%, down from 3.8% in February. However, […]

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