Briefs

Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, secured first-round approval Tuesday of a $20 billion state government budget. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Kansas collects $7M from $1.85B in sports bets in first year of legalized gambling

BY: - September 29, 2023

TOPEKA — The state’s first year of sports betting brought in $7 million in state revenue from $1.85 billion in wagers. In a Thursday update to committee lawmakers, Kansas Lottery finance director Matt Schwartz said revenue projections were basically on track with expectations. “Sports wagering revenues, we’re now a little more than 12 months in,” […]

Tents sit around a gazebo on Aug. 12, 2022, in Watson Park in Lawrence. (Lily O'Shea Becker/Kansas Reflector)

Mental health advocates ask for legislative policy that treats unhoused Kansans with respect

BY: - September 26, 2023

TOPEKA — Mental health advocates are once again brainstorming ways to approach the Kansas Legislature about the state’s growing homelessness problem.  Kansas cities and local governments have struggled to find solutions to the problem.  While urban areas have higher unhoused populations  — about 1,798 people are homeless on any given night in Kansas City, according […]

Topeka Rep. Fred Patton submits letter of resignation, stepping down Oct. 16

BY: - September 25, 2023

A Topeka member of the Kansas House plans to resign in October to give his replacement one year of experience before standing for election in 2024.

Corn, soy and wheat farmers are struggling with inflation and the economic effects of the war in Ukraine. (Jill Hummels for the Kansas Reflector)

Marshall expresses irritation with possible change to temporary visa program for farm workers

BY: - September 19, 2023

GOP U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, a Senate agriculture committee member, objects to proposed reform of a temporary visa program for farm workers.

Gov. Laura Kelly addressed participants in the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association Conference this week during an economic development tour that included visits in Japan and South Korea with companies with businesses in Kansas. (Kansas Reflector screen capture of submitted photo)

Gov. Kelly personally affirms Kansas’ economic development ties with Japan, South Korea

BY: - September 15, 2023

Gov. Laura Kelly visited Japan and South Korea to affirm international business alliances and make the case for wider corporate investments in Kansas jobs.

A sign outside a business says "now hiring"

Kansas jobless rate stable at 2.7% in August, loses ground in private-sector employment

BY: - September 15, 2023

The unemployment rate in Kansas hovered at 2.7% in August, which was unchanged from July and a slight improvement over the 2.8% posted in August 2022.

Nurses station in busy hospital

Hospitals plead with Congress to avert $8 billion in cuts in Medicaid funding

BY: - September 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — Health care representatives from across the United States are urging Congress to halt cuts to funding that helps hospitals care for uninsured or low-income patients who rely on Medicaid. More than 250 hospitals and health systems appealed to House and Senate leadership in a letter Thursday asking the lawmakers to avert or delay […]

Kansas health care coverage lags behind national average for second year

BY: - September 14, 2023

TOPEKA —  Kansas has fallen behind national health insurance trends for the second year in a row, with thousands of state residents falling into a health care coverage gap.  Kansas had a higher uninsurance rate than the national average for two consecutive years now, according to recently-released U.S. Census Bureau health insurance estimates. In 2021, […]

Gov. Laura Kelly nominated former state Rep. Annie Kuether, a Topeka Democrat, to a vacancy on the Kansas Corporation Commission. Kuether spent 25 years in the Legislature and served on the House's energy committee. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Senate committee confirms former Democratic legislator to utility regulatory board

BY: - September 13, 2023

Former Kansas state Rep. Annie Kuether was confirmed as the newest member of the Kansas Corporation Commission Wednesday with a near-unanimous vote.  Kuether, who served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1997 to 2022, will be seated immediately. She replaces outgoing commission Chair Susan Duffy. Gov. Laura Kelly announced she had appointed Kuether, a […]

Registered Nurse Orlyn Grace administers a COVID-19 booster vaccination to Jeanie Merriman at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic April 6, 2022, in San Rafael, California.

Food and Drug Administration approves COVID boosters for upcoming season

BY: - September 11, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the latest round of COVID-19 boosters, as public health officials brace for another cold and flu season. An advisory panel at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is scheduled to vote on recommendations Tuesday, the final step in the process before people will […]

Former Attorney General Robert Stephan, who served four terms as the state's top law enforcement officer, died at age 89. The Republican left office in 1995. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Gov. Kelly directs flags to be flown at half-staff in Kansas on Sept. 11 anniversary

BY: - September 8, 2023

Gov. Laura Kelly issues order directing Kansans to fly flags at half-staff Monday in tribute to lives lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

An anonymous donor has given the School of Business at the University of Kansas a gift of $50 million to advance the academic work of faculty and serve interests of business students on the Lawrence campus. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Anonymous benefactor donates $50 million to University of Kansas’ business school

BY: - September 5, 2023

Anonymous donor commits $50 million to business school at University of Kansas in Lawrence — the largest gift to the school in KU history.