Kansas’ safeguards for identifying and weeding out problematic officers are incomplete or not enforced. The lack of thorough background checks allows officers to keep troubling details hidden.
The Legislature has overridden eight out of 15 vetoed bills in the current session, including a ban on transgender athletes in girls sports and additional work rules for older recipients of food assistance.
The GOP-controlled Legislature has promised to try and override many of Kelly’s vetoes, which cover a variety of issues including transgender rights and income tax rates. The governor sees her re-election as a mandate to check legislative excesses.
So far, there have been 292 assaults at the University of Kansas Health System for the 2023 fiscal year. Advocates are pushing to increase penalties for attacks against health-care workers, but legislation remains in limbo.
The bill will require physicians to provide care to infants “born alive” during abortion procedures and then report data to the state. The bill has enough support to override a governor’s veto.
Lawmakers want to impose new limits on early and mail-in voting to ensure that all ballots are received by the county election office on Election Day to avoid delaying results, which, they claim, sows doubt in the process.
Officials in Kansas and Missouri worry that a federal default could severely disrupt a variety of government services that could cause local layoffs, jettison retirement funds, restrict Medicaid access and more.
Last month, the former representative was found guilty of 12 felony charges for lying on federal COVID aid applications while he served in the Kansas House. Capps defrauded banks and government agencies out of $355,550.
The Legislature’s auditing firm found “significant weaknesses in several security control areas” across the 20 government agencies that were audited, putting the state at greater risk of cyber attacks and other security incidents.
The continued refusal to accept Donald Trump’s loss in 2020 is fueling an anti-democratic trend as the state heads into a highly competitive Nov. 8 midterm election which, experts worry, could cause lasting damage to institutions.
An audit found that the state’s unemployment agency likely paid between $441 million and $466 million in fake claims from March 2020 to March 2022. It also flagged numerous legitimate claimants as fraud.
Secretary of State Scott Schwab confirmed that a recount of the failed abortion amendment would cost $120,000. In response, anti-abortion activist Mark Gietzen filed a lawsuit demanding a hand recount without cost.
The U.S. Census Bureau found that nearly half of adults ages 55 to 66 had no personal retirement savings in 2017. But a state-sponsored private retirement auto-IRA savings program could give many retiring Kansans a break.
Residents will vote on a ballot measure in November that would give the Legislature veto power over rules and regulations issued by Gov. Laura Kelly. The measure was proposed by Kelly’s opponent, Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
Osage and Franklin counties haven’t supported a Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and yet in the vote last week, the constitutional amendment to ban abortion failed in both localities.
Inside politics: Key governor contests are set with abortion as the central issue; a defense of state Senates puts the focus on Nebraska; and, once again, a big number of legislators are facing no competition in elections.
