By Anna Kaminski TOPEKA — The agreement between the Kansas City Chiefs and the state of Kansas to build a new $3 billion domed football stadium, headquarters, training facility and entertainment district could be the largest stadium deal in American history, and most Kansas lawmakers agreed last week to establish a sports authority board to oversee the project. The unparalleled public subsidies that accompany the deal have drawn criticism from economists, politicians and football fans from the jump. Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, said the deal will live in infamy and become a euphemism for disagreeable legislation of the future. On Friday, lawmakers passed…
Author: Kansas Reflector
By Anna Kaminski TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a partisan, anti-abortion bill that offered protections to crisis pregnancy centers, which can function as alternatives to health clinics with abortion services. Within hours, the House and Senate voted to overturn her decision. Kelly said Kansans have been clear. They don’t want the government involved in private medical decisions, she said in a Friday announcement. “That means we shouldn’t be spending tax dollars trying to interfere with that very personal, very private, medical decision,” she said. “That’s why I’m vetoing this bill.” The House voted 87-35 and the Senate voted…
By Morgan Chilson TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill that would provide income tax deductions for Kansans enrolled in health care sharing ministries plans, saying the organizations can leave everyday people with “huge medical bills.” Health care sharing ministries are nonprofit organizations, often formed by people of the same faith or religious belief, to share health care costs by contributing monthly to a pool. Senate Bill 368 allows for tax modifications based on qualified health care expenses or for shares received from those organizations, according to a legislative report. “There’s a reason that regulators across the country are taking action…
By Anna Kaminski TOPEKA — Legislators want the state of Kansas to pay local law students a stipend if they promise to practice in a rural part of the state upon graduation. They also want to repay the student loans of working rural attorneys. It’s all part of an effort to address a persistent rural attorney shortage. House Bill 2595, or the “attorney training for rural Kansas act,” creates two programs meant to attract and retain practicing attorneys in the state’s rural areas. More than 40% of the population lives in a rural part of the state but only 20% of…
By Morgan Chilson TOPEKA — A former Salina high school wrestling coach is accused of creating child pornography after secretly recording minors while they showered in a locker room. Ryan Brungardt, 37, of Salina, is charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a child — production of child pornography, and one count of attempted production of child pornography, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office for Kansas. He was a former wrestling coach at Salina Central High School. A Wichita grand jury returned the indictment Monday, saying Brungardt “used, persuaded, induced, enticed and coerced” minor victims…
TOPEKA — A bill changing how courts impose jail time on consecutive sentences and limiting who will be released on bond passed the House despite concerns about how much it will increase costs and remove judicial discretion. House Bill 2444 addresses multiple issues, including limiting how days spent in custody while awaiting trial are applied toward consecutive sentences, limiting judicial discretion to release a person on their own recognizance, and requiring bonds of specific dollar amounts based on the crime the person allegedly committed. On Monday, the House passed the bill 85-37 along party lines, concurring with Senate amendments and sending…
Legislators share frustration with inaction on two bills tied to pricing of medicine By Tim Carpenter and Morgan Chilson TOPEKA — House Speaker Dan Hawkins intensified frustration among Republicans and Democrats by taking new steps to block legislation sought by hospitals and clinics to preserve integrity of a federal program restraining drug prices and generating revenue to care for indigent or uninsured patients in Kansas. The so-called 340B program compelled pharmaceutical manufacturers to sell drugs at a discount to eligible hospitals and clinics. It also required insurance companies to pay full cost for these prescriptions so the state’s health care…
Skeptics of legislation uneasy about broadening risk of DUI traffic accidents By Tim Carpenter TOPEKA — A bipartisan majority of the Kansas Senate made a legislatively tricky shot on goal before passing the ball to the team in the Kansas House. On a 21-19 vote Thursday, the Senate approved a bill allowing cities or counties to use a temporary law enabling licensed restaurants and liquor stores to sell alcoholic beverages 23 hours a day, seven days a week, during the FIFA 2026 World Cup extravaganza. If the House concurred with the legislation, the window for sales of beer, wine and…
By Morgan Chilson TOPEKA — A bill safeguarding protections for Kansas law enforcement agencies working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement advanced Wednesday in the Senate. House Bill 2372 sets rules for Kansas law enforcement agencies working officially or unofficially with ICE, defining specifics of enforcing immigration law and mandating insurance coverage. Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, called it a “public safety bill” and broke it into three sections. The first defines the legal authority of Kansas law enforcement to hold a person in jail on an ICE detainer or warrant, and the second requires insurance coverage from municipal insurance…
By Tim Carpenter TOPEKA — The Kansas House passed a bill Wednesday prohibiting utility companies from including in general rate increases the cost of building and operating electric vehicle charging stations. The original legislation was sought by businesses expressing interest in investing in EV infrastructure to serve vehicles requiring charging stations, but concerned electric utility companies had an unfair advantage in that market. More than a year of negotiations among lobbyists for fuel retailers, electric utilities and EV interests led to Senate Bill 380. Under the bill, utility companies wouldn’t be allowed to receive future consumer rate adjustments to cover costs…