Yahoo Movies Time to negotiate in Kansas
It’s that time of year in the Kansas Legislature.
After a sleepy start to the legislative session, Kansas lawmakers are now rapidly approving bills and preparing for final negotiations on major tax and education policies.
The final week of the regular legislative session next week will test Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s negotiating power in her second term and test the strength of her veto pen.
By the end of next week, the Legislature will likely vote to override Kelly’s first veto of her second term on a bill banning transgender athletes from girls and women’s sports. Kelly vetoed the same bill twice in her first term but when the GOP-controlled Legislature sent the bill to her desk they had secured enough votes to override a veto.
Whether Republicans can retain that support for an override vote will be a major test of new House leadership, including House Speaker Dan Hawkins of Wichita, and Kelly’s ability to whip votes.
The episode will be a preview of what’s to come as the Legislature is likely to send Kelly a variety of bills she’ll object to including additional measures targeting the rights of transgender and nonbinary Kansans.
Meanwhile, negotiating strengths of the administration and House and Senate leadership will be tested as final deals are worked out.
Kelly’s administration showed an ability to negotiate with the House and Senate when her chief of staff took the lead brokering an update to Kansas governmental ethics rules after House Republicans introduced a bill that would have overhauled the power of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission and rewritten large portions of campaign finance law.
The proposal came as the commission pursued investigations into Republican strategists and officials for violations. After an initial backlash, the Senate voted Wednesday to send a bill to Kelly’s desk that had earned bipartisan support and the approval of the commission’s executive director.
By the end of next week, lawmakers are expected to send Kelly a tax plan and a final proposal to expand school choice programs in Kansas.
The House voted on a bipartisan basis Wednesday to approve a tax bill that combined some of Kelly’s priorities with a 5.25% flat tax that she has staunchly opposed.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Kelly softened her opposition but remained a far cry from supporting the bill.
“What you always have to look at when you’re looking at any bill that impacts the budget you have to look at the structural balance,” Kelly said. “I have not run the numbers yet on that. The original flat tax bill was too rich, it would have caused us to begin making some of the same cuts that were made after the Brownback tax cuts went into effect.”
More from Kansas
The Kansas Supreme Court heard arguments on abortion rights for the first time since federal protections to the procedure fell in Roe v. Wade. The court appeared skeptical of the state’s arguments urging them to overturn their landmark 2019 ruling finding the right and allow two Brownback era laws to take effect.
Kansas Supreme Court appears unlikely to budge on state-level abortion rights after 2022 vote by Katie Bernard
Kansas Senate passes bill aiming to curb ‘abusive’ ADA suits after initial backlash by Katie Bernard
KS Senate passes bill to define abortion as excluding miscarriage care, ectopic pregnancies by Katie Bernard
KS House passes ban on trans women in female spaces, labels intersex people as disabled by Jenna Barackman
KS may dump presidential caucuses for primaries, boosting turnout but costing taxpayers by Jonathan Shorman
And across Missouri
The University of Missouri System stopped using diversity statements in its hiring practices as state lawmakers consider legislation that would ban the colleges from asking job candidates about diversity and race. The move prompted frustration among students and faculty who worry it will make it more difficult for the universities to hire and retain minority employees.
‘Political pressure.’ Missouri students, faculty question removal of diversity statements by Kacen Bayless
Leader of Missouri Human Rights Commission opposes adding LGBTQ protections to law by Jonathan Shorman and Kacen Bayless
Lawsuit accuses top Missouri election official Ashcroft of illegally blocking ballot measure by Kacen Bayless
GOP-controlled Missouri House delays vote on Gov. Parson’s $859M plan to expand I-70 by Kacen Bayless and Jonathan Shorman
Senate approves Sam Graves’ bill to block Biden administration’s new water rules by Daniel Desrochers
The Latest from Kansas City
KC area sex club operated outside of Jackson County laws. New ordinance cracks down by David Hudnalll
Key figure who oversaw Kansas City’s $1.5 billion air terminal project is retiring by Mike Hendricks
For 5 days, KCPD didn’t alert public of missing 18-year-old. He was found dead Thursday by Glenn E. Rice and Andrea Klick
Odds and Ends
Hawley’s Ukraine proposal fails
The Senate rejected by a vote of 68 to 26 an amendment from Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, which would have established a special inspector general to oversee the financial aid the U.S. has given to Ukraine as it continues to resist Russia’s invasion.
Congress has appropriated more than $113 billion in assistance to Ukraine as of the one-year anniversary of the conflict in February. Hawley has been one of the most vocal critics of U.S. involvement in the conflict — and was even accused of promoting Russian propaganda by the White House last year.
In a guest column for Fox News this week, Hawley argued that without a dedicated watchdog the aid from multiple agencies could be subject to misuse, saying “when the buck stops with no one, there’s no ultimate accountability for policing waste, fraud and abuse.” Opponents, however, called Hawley’s proposal duplicative of oversight of the money already being performed by the Biden administration.
Trans rights rally in Jeff City
Hundreds of transgender rights advocates descended on the steps of the Missouri Capitol Wednesday to protest an onslaught of Republican bills targeted at the LGBTQ community.
“The children of our community need to be able to access the gender-affirming care that will help them be able to live the lives they want and deserve to live,” said Zora Williams, a transgender woman from St. Louis who traveled to Jefferson City.
PROMO Missouri, an LGBTQ advocacy group, bussed advocates to the rally from Kansas City, Springfield and St. Louis a week after the Missouri Senate passed a pair of bills that would ban gender-affirming care for minors and prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
Two controversial bills falter in the Kansas Senate
Two bills saw their likely end in the Kansas Senate this week as members either voted them down or sent them back to a committee with a coming deadline.
The chamber Tuesday voted to send SB 50, which established criminal penalties for social media terms of services that restrict or censor information, back to committee. The bill was championed by Shawnee Republican Sen. Mike Thompson, whose posts have often been removed from social media sites for misinformation.
Sen. Ron Ryckman, a Meade Republican, led the charge to return the bill to committee arguing that similar bills in other states were already embroiled in legal challenges based on the First Amendment rights of the social media companies. The Kansas bill, Ryckman said, was heading for the same fate.
“I’m not here to make a statement to make people feel good that we’re doing something,” he said.
On Wednesday, nine Republicans joined Democrats in rejecting a bill that would have made parents who did not pay child support ineligible for food stamps.
The bill passed the House last month as proponents argued the legislation would encourage child support payments and help families. But the Senate’s 20-20 vote likely killed the bill for the session.
Sen. Faust-Goudeau, a Wichita Democrat and the only Black woman in the Senate, gave an impassioned speech Tuesday against the bill, arguing it would make it more difficult for parents who were already struggling to feed their children.
“Find another way to force people to pay their child support. Don’t starve them to death,” she said.
Happy Friday
It’s baseball’s opening weekend so read this piece urging sympathy as umpires adjust to the MLB’s new rules. Drink a cold beer. And listen to Cheap Seats, an ode to the minor leagues.
Looking for more?
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For more politics news, follow @Kacen, @KatieJ_Bernard, @drdesrochers and @jonshorman.
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