TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ Kansas legislators are expected to debate a wide variety of issues after opening their annual 90-day session January 12. They include: education standards; election fraud; immigration; judicial selection; and marijuana decriminalization. On education standards, many conservative Republicans are opposed to the multistate Common Core standards for reading and math. As regards election fraud, Secretary of State Kris Kobach plans to seek the authority for his office to prosecute election fraud cases. He narrowly missed obtaining that power in 2013. On the immigration issue, the city of Wichita plans to lobby legislators to allow immigrants living in the U.S. illegally to receive driver's permits. On the issue of judicial selection, GOP conservatives want to give the governor more control over Kansas Supreme Court appointments, subject to Senate confirmation. Lawmakers currently have no role. And as pertains to marijuana decriminalization, it is possible that proposals to decriminalize marijuana for medical and possibly even recreational use could surface, but they don't appear to have much political traction at this time.
Kansas Lawmakers Expected to Tackle Broad Variety of Issues
