TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas legislators have plenty of policy objections to Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan to overhaul the state’s individual income tax code, but efforts to sell the package also are clouded by questions about how his administration has spun his proposals. The Republican governor said his plan would be “revenue neutral,” meaning it wouldn’t reduce the state’s overall tax collections. The administration kept using the phrase last week, even after its own figures showed revenues would drop nearly $90 million during the fiscal year that begins July 1. Brownback said his proposed budget for the next fiscal year would…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas welfare officials have eliminated or slashed food stamp benefits for hundreds of low-income, U.S.-born children whose parents are illegal immigrants. The cuts are the result of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services changing the way it counts household income when determining who is eligible for the food stamp program now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The Kansas City Star reported that families affected by the change are those that contain a mixture of legal citizens and illegal immigrants. While illegal immigrants are not eligible for the food assistance, U.S.-born children…
TOPKEKA, Kan. (AP) Secretary of State Kris Kobach is having a tough time finding support for a plan that would allow the governor to distribute 12 big-game hunting permits at his discretion. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that Kobach testified in support of the legislation this past week during a hearing before the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. But committee chairman Larry Powell says there isn’t much support for it outside of Kobach’s office. The Garden City Republican says the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism and the governor’s office are against the change. State wildlife officials currently distributes…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Disability advocates don’t want the state to rush a plan to shift all state Medicaid services to managed care. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that about 30 people gathered this past week at the Statehouse to express concerns. The Disability Rights Center of Kansas is among the worried groups. The organization’s executive director, Rocky Nichols, said Kansas needs to take its time as it makes the switch. He said his group wants to keep the Medicaid waivers for home and community-based care out of the new managed care scheme and then phase them in gradually. Lt. Gov. Jeff…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Boeing is planning to boost its spending with Kansas suppliers. Company spokesman Forrest Gossett says that while the aircraft manufacturer is closing its Wichita facility, it’s not leaving the state. The Wichita Eagle reported that plans announced last week call for the aircraft manufacturer to increase its spending with Kansas suppliers from $3.2 billion to $4.8 billion by 2014 or 2015. Boeing announced earlier this month that it was moving work at its Wichita plant to Oklahoma City and San Antonio. Tanker work that was to have come to Wichita will now go to the Puget Sound…
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A south-central Kansas man who demolished a historic building in Harper is due in court for a plea hearing on charges of failing to notify regulators. Hugh Allen Barker, of Harper, had a change-of-plea hearing scheduled Monday in U.S. District Court. He’s accused of destroying the Buckeye Building in 2008 without informing federal or state environmental regulators. The 1885 structure was owned by The Balmer Fund, a nonprofit group that restores historic Kansas buildings Barker, the owner of Barker Sand and Gravel, contracted with the city to demolish the building after authorities condemned it.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The runner who scoured homeless shelters for people willing to sell their food stamps for cash will learn his punishment for taking part in a conspiracy that snared two Wichita grocery stores. Wally Mikhael Gaggo is due in federal court Monday for sentencing in two related cases. Gaggo has admitted scheming with the owners of two small grocery stores who gave food stamp recipients about 50 to 60 cents on the dollar for the stamps and pocketed the difference. Gaggo has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Prosecutors have…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Secretary of State Kris Kobach plans to speak this week to two Kansas legislative committees about the state’s new law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. The Republican secretary of state pushed successfully last year for the law, which took effect Jan. 1. He contends it will combat election fraud, but critics fear it will suppress turnout. Kobach was scheduled to update the House Elections Committee on the law Monday morning. He’s set to appear Wednesday morning before the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee. The state also has a law to require people registering…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Topeka Zoo says it needs a special building to quarantine its large animals when they are ill. Zoo director Brendan Wiley says the lack of such a building could jeopardize the zoo’s chance for accreditation this year. He says the lack of a quarantine building was pointed out in 2007 by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The association is examining the zoo this year because its five-year accreditation is ending. The Topeka Capital Journal reports the city council discussed the need for the building for large apes and carnivores last week but took no action.…
LECOMPTON, Kan. (AP) An 1890 painting of Kansas’ first senator, “Wild Jim Lane,” will be unveiled next month at the Lecompton Historical Society. Lane’s descendants recently donated the portrait to Lecompton, where Lane lived during the Civil War. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Lane was a celebrated orator who fought to keep Kansas a free state. He was known as “Wild Jim” because his political opponents successfully characterized him as a bit loony. The portrait was donated by Lane’s direct descendent James Shaler, of Massachusetts. It will be unveiled as part of a “Bleeding Kansas” history lecture series on Feb.…