By Amelia Twyman WASHINGTON — Members of a U.S. House Education and Workforce subcommittee found rare common ground scrutinizing private equity’s stake in youth sports at a Tuesday hearing. Lawmakers from both parties on the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education stressed the importance of making sports accessible to all kids and discussed ways to prevent large companies from buying up facilities and raising costs on families. Financing from private companies can have benefits for youth sports, but can also make participation more expensive, they said. “Our concern today is with particular practices that reduce competition, drive up costs…
Author: Kansas Reflector
By Tim Carpenter TOPEKA — Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlotte O’Hara wants nothing to do with employees at the Kansas State Department of Education or the hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding flowing each year into the state for education of K-12 students. O’Hara, participating in a GOP candidate forum Thursday in Wichita, said one of her priorities after being sworn into office in January would be to terminate all Department of Education staff. “They are nothing but paper shufflers,” she said. “We have a constitutional duty to have a state Board of Education, but not a state Department…
By Morgan Chilson TOPEKA — Panasonic’s Kansas electric vehicle battery plant will convert part of its operations to build batteries for data centers, company officials announced. Panasonic leaders announced the company’s shift to focus on developing devices and infrastructure equipment for artificial intelligence uses and data centers at a June 8 investors day presentation. Yuki Kusumi, CEO of Panasonic Holdings, said the company will invest about $3 billion between fiscal years 2027 and 2029 to advance its work on devices and systems that support AI, including enhancing production capacity. Panasonic opened its 4.7 million-square foot plant in De Soto in July,…
By Grace Hills MERRIAM — The U.S. Department of Education is escalating its threat to pull federal funding from four Kansas school districts for their gender-inclusive policies. At least two of the districts are geared up for a legal battle. In April, the department found four public school districts — Olathe, Shawnee Mission, Topeka and Kansas City, Kansas — were in violation of federal Title IX civil rights protections. Grievances included allowing students to change their name or pronouns used at school without clear communication to parents and allowing transgender students to use the restroom, locker room and changing room that aligns with their…
By Morgan Chilson TOPEKA — A company building an underground nuclear reactor in Parsons is planning an initial public offering of 2.5 million shares, planning to raise more than $40 million. Deep Fission Inc. initially announced in May that it would issue about 6 million shares, with a target price of $24 to $26. However, in registration information filed Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company dropped the number of shares it is offering and the expected price range to $16 to $18 per share. California-based Deep Fission, which partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy to…
OVERLAND PARK — Name-calling and infighting dominated a Republican gubernatorial debate Friday that was preceded by campaigns trying to convince opponents to drop out of the race. Senate President Ty Masterson called businessman Philip Sarnecki an “angry elf.” Sarnecki blamed Masterson for the state’s budget issues. Former Johnson County commissioner Charlotte O’Hara and Secretary of State Scott Schwab stayed out of the line of fire, focusing on their policy priorities. The candidates are among seven Republicans seeking to replace Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly when she completes her second term in January. In the lead-up to the debate sponsored by the…
Emporia State University requests no hike, but warns strategy unsustainable By Tim Carpenter TOPEKA — Five public universities in Kansas are seeking in-state undergraduate tuition increases ranging from 3.5% to 6% in the upcoming academic year, while Emporia State University wants to hold tuition steady another year as an incentive to increase enrollment. Campus officials say Kansas Board of Regents universities remained a financial and academic bargain, but the majority requested tuition adjustments in wake of the 2026 Legislature’s imposition of millions of dollars in cuts the state university system. Higher education costs continue to escalate as the Midwest consumer…
By Morgan Chilson TOPEKA — A state audit found that as much as $1.2 million in food assistance payments could have been made to people living outside Kansas, although that would account for less than 1% of state spending on the program. An audit of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program usage, conducted by the Legislative Post Audit Department, found that between $700,000 and $1.2 million in federal fiscal years 2023 and 2024 may have been paid to recipients living outside Kansas. However, due to federal regulations, the Kansas Department for Children and Families can’t ask SNAP recipients to notify them within…
References to ‘Wizard of Oz’ aside, skeptics warn all that glitters isn’t gold By Tim Carpenter TOPEKA — Republican Sen. Michael Murphy sold the Kansas Legislature on granting investors in gold and silver an exemption from state capital gains tax by noting the insightful allegory about monetary policy woven into “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Murphy, who represents the Sylvia area near Hutchinson, fought the past three years as a member of the House and now the Senate to pass a bill declaring gold and silver coin or bullion to be legal tender in Kansas. Under House Bill 2515, forwarded to…
By Morgan Chilson TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed legislation that would have created a sports tourism grant program focused on expanding state investment in sporting events. Kelly on Monday vetoed House Bill 2346, saying the state already has a fund devoted to drawing sports-related activities, referring to the Attracting Professional Sports to Kansas Fund, which is being used along with Sales Tax and Revenue bonds to fund the public investment in the new Kansas City Chiefs stadium. “If the Legislature wants to direct a portion of those funds to local communities for sports attraction they should do so,” she said.…