Lawmakers Criticize a Big Pay Raise for Themselves Before Passing a Big Spending Bill
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators approved on Friday another year's worth of funding for most state agencies and services after a few lawmakers staged a last-minute public protest over a 93% pay increase for themselves coming next year.
The Republican-controlled Senate approved, 26-12, a bill with about $19 billion in spending for the state's 2025 budget year, which begins July 1. It covers most of the spending outside of aid to the state's public schools, which is in a separate measure that has stalled.
The Senate's action came hours after the GOP-controlled House approved the bill, 78-44, so the measure goes next to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. She's likely to sign the bill, but the state constitution allows her to veto individual spending items, which she has done regularly in the past.
The bill would provide a 5% pay increase for all state government workers, plus larger increases for public safety workers and workers whose pay has lagged behind their counterparts in the private sector. But those increases are far short of the pay raise for lawmakers taking effect at the start of 2025 under a law enacted last year that didn't require them to vote on the increase.
Critics of the pay raise managed to get the Senate to include in its version of the next state budget a provision delaying the pay raise at least another year. House and Senate negotiators didn't include it in the final version of Friday's spending bill, prompting opponents to complain about the gap between the 93% raise for lawmakers and the 5% raise for most state workers.
“People don't trust politicians,” said Sen. Rob Olson, a Kansas City-area Republican. “This is why.”
Kansas is flush with tax revenues and under the spending approved Friday is on track to have more than $3.7 billion in excess funds at the end of June 2025.
Kelly and top Republicans brokered a deal earlier this week income, sales and property tax cuts, but the House scuttled it Thursday. Lawmakers planned to adjourn Friday for a three-week spring break, postponing another push on tax cuts until after they return April 29 for the last few days in session this year.
Legislators also haven't approved a bill with $6 billion in spending for the K-12 public school system. The state's 286 districts will see an increase in aid between $240 million and $320 million, or between 4.9% and 6.5%. However, disagreements over special education policies led the Senate to reject one bill Thursday 12-26, forcing lawmakers to draft a new version.
The bill funding other parts of the budget included provisions from GOP senators aimed at forcing Kelly to provide help to Texas in its border security fight with the Biden administration and restrict diversity programs on college campuses.
House and Senate negotiators decided not to delay the legislative pay raise.
A bipartisan commission of mostly former legislators concluded last year that lawmakers are underpaid and that low pay keeps younger and less wealthy people and people of color out of the Legislature. The law creating the commission allowed the raise to take effect unless both chambers rejected it by early February, which they didn't.
The increase will be nearly $28,000 a year for rank-and-file legislators, boosting their total compensation from $30,000 to nearly $58,000, including daily expense reimbursements in session. Legislative leaders get additional payments because of their duties, and the House speaker and Senate president will make more than $85,000 a year, up from $44,000.
During the House's debate, Republican Rep. Chuck Smith, of southeastern Kansas, backed the pay raise by praising the work of the chairs of the House budget committee and a committee on K-12 spending.
“We ought to be thanking these people for what they do,” Smith said. “It's unbelievable, the quality of people we have in here.”
The tone was far different in the Senate. Facing a barrage of questions from Olson and Sen. Dennis Pyle, a northeastern Kansas Republican, Billinger acknowledged that he doesn't think the big pay raise is appropriate.
“Something's very, very wrong,” Pyle said. “It's a sad day for Kansas.”
Pay for lawmakers varies widely by state, according to National Conference of State Legislatures data. New Hampshire’s salary is $100 a year — the same as in 1889 — while New Mexico pays $202 to cover lawmakers’ expenses in session but no salary.
Alaska lawmakers’ salaries rose by 67% from $50,400 to $84,000 at the start of their annual session this year, and New Jersey legislators will see their pay increase in 2026, also by 67%, from $49,000 to $82,000. New York lawmakers received a 29% raise at the start of 2023, making their pay the highest in the nation at $142,000 a year.
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GOP Leaders Want Money to Send Kansas National Guard Troops to Aid Texas in Border Dispute
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – Republican leaders in Kansas want to use state tax dollars to help enforce immigration laws at the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas. The Kansas News Service reports that lawmakers approved a budget that includes nearly $16 million to send Kansas National Guard troops to Texas amid its border dispute with the federal government. The dispute centers around a Texas law permitting officers to arrest migrants suspected of entering the U.S. illegally. Republican supporters say it’s necessary to combat drug and human trafficking. But Democrats, like Representative Henry Helgerson, say enforcing immigration law is up to the feds. “The federal government has plenty of money – can make more money if it needs it. And so does Texas. We have our own problems,” he added. Democratic Governor Laura Kelly is unlikely to support the measure. She has the power to veto specific items within the budget.
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Kansas Lawmakers Scuttle Plan for Cutting Taxes, Defying Governor and GOP Leaders
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bipartisan group of rank-and-file lawmakers in Kansas scuttled a plan for cutting taxes Thursday, with Republicans defying GOP leaders and Democrats ignoring a personal appeal from the state's Democratic governor.
The state House rejected a plan to cut taxes by about $1.4 billion over the next three years. It resulted from a deal between Gov. Laura Kelly and top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature, but the House decided on a voice vote to have House and Senate negotiators draft a different plan. The vote was overwhelming enough that House members didn't ask for a count or roll call vote.
Some critics, particularly Republicans, saw the plan as too small. Others, mostly Democrats, argued that it was weighted too heavily toward wealthy taxpayers because it would have dropped the state's top personal income tax rate to 5.5% from 5.7%. Lawmakers in both parties thought it cut property taxes too little.
“Let us rise up and be united and send a message that Kansans deserve more,” state Rep. Stephen Owens, a conservative central Kansas Republican who led the effort to reject the measure, said during the House’s short debate.
The House's action came after the Senate approved the plan 38-1, a vote that normally would have been a good omen for a House vote. Instead, many House Democrats clearly planned to vote “no” going in, and House Republicans had a private meeting outside the Statehouse beforehand, apparently so that supporters of the plan could work on their colleagues.
Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, said the Legislature won't consider another tax plan this week. Lawmakers are set to adjourn Friday for a three-week spring break and go back in session April 29 for a few days to wrap up business for the year. Masterson said another tax plan could be considered then.
The events in Kansas came two weeks after Georgia’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed personal and corporate income tax cuts that GOP Gov. Brian Kemp favored. Like Georgia, Kansas has a big budget surplus — still projected at more than $4 billion for the end of June 2025.
A dozen other states cut their income tax rates last year, according to the conservative Tax Foundation, but major tax cuts were thwarted in Kansas by the dispute between Republican leaders and Kelly over a GOP proposal for a single-rate, “flat” income tax, something Kelly said would benefit the “super wealthy.”
Kelly vetoed a plan with a single-rate income tax in January, and Republicans were unable to muster the two-thirds majorities in both chambers needed to override her action.
Republican leaders wavered on a single-rate income tax in recent weeks as they grew less willing to chance having no cuts enacted this year. All 40 state Senate seats and 125 House seats are up for election this year.
House Speaker Dan Hawkins told his colleagues during a brief debate that if they rejected the plan, they would face headlines of “House scuttles tax relief.”
“There isn't a single one of us who wants to scuttle tax relief,” said Hawkins, a Wichita Republican.
Their private meeting before the vote was in the Kansas Contractors Association office near the Statehouse. When an Associated Press reporter showed up, Republican Rep. Patrick Penn, of Wichita, was urging colleagues to overcome their misgivings. GOP leaders forced the reporter to leave.
Later, after Owens finished his last speech against the bill, a few Republicans members could be heard saying quietly, “Here, here,” and some clapped and tapped on their desks when the plan failed.
And frustration with the plan and Kelly's intervention was palpable when the governor met Thursday morning with House Democrats to sell it. She touted it as a big victory for Democrats.
“I can guarantee that the other side has gone as far as — a lot farther than — they wanted to go,” Kelly told them. "We should be embracing this and taking credit for it."
Besides adjusting the state's personal top income tax rate, the bill also would have eliminated state income taxes on retirees’ Social Security benefits, which kick in once a person receives $75,000 a year. It also would have increased the state’s standard personal income tax deductions, increased an income tax credit for child care expenses, reduced property taxes the state imposes to raise money for public schools and ended an expiring 2% sales tax on groceries six months early, on July 1.
The property tax was modest. For the owner of a home at the Kansas median value of $210,000, the annual savings would be about $140. A home’s appraised value can easily rise enough in a year to wipe out the cut.
“This, in my mind, is half a Band-Aid when the sore is still festering,” state Sen. Tom Holland, a northeastern Kansas Democrat and the only “no” vote in the Senate, said during debate.
(–Earlier reporting–)
Tax Cut Deal Reached in Kansas Statehouse
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) — Leaders from the Kansas House and Senate have reached a new deal on tax cuts after previous Republican plans failed. The Kansas News Service reports that the new plan would lower the highest Kansas income tax rate by 0.2% and make no cuts for lower tax brackets. Republican lawmakers had hoped to pass a flat tax this session but were unable to override a veto from Democratic Governor Laura Kelly. The new plan includes several other measures Kelly supports, like eliminating taxes on social security benefits and fully repealing the food sales tax by July instead of next year. Both chambers are expected to vote on the plan in the coming days.
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Kansas Senate Rejects K-12 Public School Budget
UNDATED (KNS) – The Kansas Senate rejected a budget for K-12 public schools Thursday night after opposition from public education groups. The bill included more than $77 million in new money for special education but changed the way the state calculates special-ed spending. Public school advocates, including the state’s largest teachers union, opposed the measure. They said the new accounting would underfund classrooms. The Kansas House narrowly passed the bill earlier. Republican Rep. Kristey Williams said it was fair and generous to schools, explaining that she thought “...we should be honest about what this bill includes. It includes more funding, not less." The bill’s failure means lawmakers will likely start their spring break without approving funding for public schools.
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Legislature Considering Property Tax Exemptions for Private Businesses that Compete with Non-Profits
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – Kansas lawmakers are considering property tax exemptions for private businesses that say they compete with tax-free organizations. The Kansas News Service reports that under the bill, certain Kansas businesses like gyms and child care centers would be exempt from property taxes if they compete with government entities or nonprofits that are tax exempt. Proponents of the bill say those tax exemptions give organizations like the YMCA an unfair advantage over private gyms. But Jay Hall, with the Kansas Association of Counties, says the plan would raise taxes for all other property owners. “This is essentially a tax shift from commercial, to residential and agricultural and other classes of property,” he explained. The measure has been considered for years in the Legislature but has renewed support with just days left in the session.
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Kansas House Approves Special Education Spending Plan, but Without Veto-Proof Majority
UNDATED (KNS) – The Kansas House once again approved a controversial school spending plan Thursday that adds about $77 million in funds for special education. But the Kansas News Service reports that supporters still don’t have enough votes to override a potential veto. The measure also would change the way the state counts special-ed funding. It would force districts to shift money from local property taxes toward special education. Republican Rep. Scott Hill supported the bill and says it adds budget transparency, clarifying that “...I want to see special-ed fully funded. I want to see those kids taken care of. And I don’t believe that hiding special-ed money other places does that.” Public school advocates worry the change would underfund classrooms. They support a task force plan that would add $82 million for special education each year for the next four years.
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Plans Emerge to Formalize State Foster Care Oversight Agency
UNDATED (KNS) – Kansas lawmakers may soon vote on a plan to formalize the state’s foster care oversight agency. The Kansas News Service reports that the plan lawmakers have advanced outlines how the Child Advocate is appointed. Kansas House lawmakers wanted to create a new advisory board to pick the agency’s leader. But the Senate wanted the position to be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. Republican Senator Kellie Warren says an advisory board would not be accountable to Kansas voters. “The governor is accountable to all Kansans. The governor would have the incentive to pick a good, qualified child advocate,” she explained. Lawmakers negotiating the bill went with the governor’s appointment option. Democratic Governor Laura Kelly created the Child Advocate position through an executive order. The position independently reviews complaints about the Kansas child welfare system.
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Microbrewery Bill Heads to Kansas Governor
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) - The Kansas Legislature has approved a plan to allow microbreweries in the state to distribute beer and hard cider themselves. The bill passed by overwhelming margins in both chambers and now heads to Governor Laura Kelly’s desk. KSNT reports that a licensed microbrewery would be allowed to sell beer and hard cider to alcohol distributors, retailers, clubs and various drinking establishments. The bill would also allow a microbrewery to sell beer and hard cider on the premises and off the premises at special events.
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Kansas Turnpike Authority Says Its Cashless Tolling System Will Have Lowest Rates in the Nation
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) – The Kansas Turnpike Authority’s new cashless tolling system will have the lowest rates in the country. The Kansas News Service reports that Turnpike Authority CEO Steve Hewitt says the new system can save drivers money people, and that people who have a K-TAG will pay 50 percent less per mile to use the turnpike. The new system will go into effect on July 1st. The toll plazas at each exit will be replaced with transponder sensors and cameras. Motorists will be charged each time they drive underneath one of the more than 20 overhead toll gates. Officials say the change will ease congestion caused by lines at toll plazas. Free K-Tags are available at ksturnpike.com.
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Wichita Reaches Settlement in Federal Lawsuit Over "Gang List"
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS) – Wichita has reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit over the police department’s use of a “gang list,” pending approval from the city council. The Kansas News Service reports that according to the suit, people were put on the list without notice or without criminal charges being filed. It says the list also targeted people of color. People on the list are subject to heightened surveillance and face higher bail bond costs. They also received stricter probation and parole terms. As part of the settlement, the Police Department will allow the public to review whether they are on the gang list. The department also will create an appeals process for a person if they think they were wrongfully placed on the list. The city also will pay $550 thousand dollars to cover legal fees for the plaintiffs. Read more.
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KU Health System and K-State Research & Extension Join Resources to Address Rural Health Disparities
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - The University of Kansas Health System and Kansas State University are joining forces to address health disparities across the state. They’re doing so through K-State 105, a program designed to build the economy in all Kansas counties. Elaine Johannes of K-State Research and Extension says the partnership is breaking down barriers between the two universities so they can work together. “We know who to talk with, who to work with. And then we can start thinking about bringing some of those larger funds in the state, and across the whole state so everybody has access and opportunity,” she added. The universities say they’ll focus primarily on rural health, by addressing things like access to telehealth services and OBGYN care. The program could also help Kansas organizations better compete for grant funding.
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Report: Missing Area Man Found Dead in Johnson County
LAWRENCE, Kan. (The Lawrence Times) – An actor and student missing since Sunday has been found dead in Johnson County. The Lawrence Times reports that the Johnson County Sheriff's Office issued a news release Friday afternoon, announcing that the body of Cole Brings Plenty was found in the area of 200th and Homestead Lane in Johnson County, about 11 miles east of Baldwin City.
Brings Plenty, 27, was an actor and Haskell Indian Nations University student studying media. Community members and family members had been searching for Brings Plenty for the past several days and had reported him missing to police. Lawrence police were also seeking him in connection with an alleged domestic violence incident that took place early on Sunday, March 31.
The Johnson County Sheriff's Office press release said that deputies were dispatched “in reference to an unoccupied vehicle.” It also said that “Deputies checked the area and discovered a deceased male in a wooded area away from the vehicle.” They identified the man as Brings Plenty.
Investigators and the medical examiner were on the scene Friday afternoon, according to the release. “This investigation is ongoing. If you have any information, reach out to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office at 913-782-0720,” the release stated. The release did not indicate whether deputies suspect foul play.
(–Earlier reporting–)
Search for Missing Area Man Continues
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR/The Lawrence Times) – The search for missing actor and student Cole Brings Plenty continues. Brings Plenty, a Mnicouju Lakota actor and a media student at Haskell Indian Nations University, may be driving a 2005 white Ford Explorer with Kansas license tag 368PXB.
The Lawrence Times reports that police told Brings Plenty's family that a traffic camera spotted a vehicle matching this description headed south on U.S. Highway 59 in the early morning hours of March 31. Cole Brings Plenty is 27 years old, 5'10" tall, with long black hair and brown eyes. He weighs between 145 and 150 pounds. He has since missed an appointment with his agent for a television show, and his friends and relatives say that is uncharacteristic.
The Lawrence Police Department said via press release that Brings Plenty was being sought as a suspect in connection with a domestic violence incident that allegedly occurred early Sunday at an apartment in Lawrence. Family members also reported him as missing.
If you have any information on the whereabouts of Cole Brings Plenty, dial 911, or contact the Lawrence Police Department at 785-832-7509. People may also contact the KBI at 785-296-4017, or leave an anonymous tip via the Crimestoppers line at 785-843-TIPS. Updates on the search are being posted online at the Kansas Missing and Unsolved Facebook page, and the Kansas City Indian Center page on Instagram.
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Foul Play Suspected in the Disappearance of Two Kansas Women Whose Vehicle Was Found in Oklahoma
UNDATED (AP) – Foul play is suspected in the disappearance of two Kansas women whose vehicle was found abandoned in the Oklahoma Panhandle last weekend, authorities said Friday.
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, were driving to Oklahoma to pick up Butler’s children to attend a March 30 birthday party in Kansas but never showed up, Tom Singer, the pastor of the church Butler attended, told KOCO-TV.
Hunter McKee, an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesperson, said investigators believe foul play led to women's disappearance based on what was found their vehicle.
McKee declined to say what evidence was found in the vehicle, citing the continuing investigation.
Singer did not immediately return phone calls for comment Friday morning.
McKee said the abandoned vehicle was found by Texas County deputies and referred additional questions to Texas County Sheriff Matt Boley, who did not immediately return a phone call for comment.
The sheriff's office has turned the investigation over to the OSBI.
“We’re still looking into where and when they were last seen,” McKee said.
McKee said no children are missing.
Investigators are searching the area in Texas County around where the vehicle was found, according to McKee, about 11 miles south of Elkhart, Kansas, on the Oklahoma-Kansas state line.
The area is about 260 miles northwest of Oklahoma City.
(–Earlier reporting–)
Southwest Kansas Women Still Missing in Oklahoma
HUGOTON, Kan. (KPR) — Foul play is now suspected in the case of two southwest Kansas women who went missing in the Oklahoma panhandle. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation says 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley, from Hugoton, were driving to pick up children in Eva, Oklahoma, but never made it. Their abandoned vehicle was later found south of Elkhart, Kansas, in the panhandle of Oklahoma. The search continues for the women, who disappeared on Saturday.
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KHP Identifies Three People Killed Wednesday in Douglas County Crash
LAWRENCE, Kan. (WIBW) - - The Kansas Highway Patrol has released the names of three people killed in a two-vehicle, head-on crash Wednesday afternoon in Douglas County. WIBW TV reports that the victims are all Nebraska residents. They have been identified as 70-year-old Ronald L. Milano, 39-year-old Joshua Z. Milano, and 36-year-old Patricia A. Milano. All three are from Lincoln, Nebraska. The crash occurred just after 1:30 Wednesday afternoon on US-24 highway near N 2100 Road. The location was about 4 miles northwest of Lawrence. Investigators say 2017 GMC pickup truck was eastbound on US-24 when it collided head-on with a westbound 2010 Kia Soul. All three of the crash victims were in the Kia. They were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the GMC pickup, 43-year-old Lowell Neitzel, of Lawrence, had no apparent injuries but was transported to a Lawrence hospital for observation.
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Report Lists Kansas as a Top State for Renewable Energy
LIBERAL, Kan. (KNS) – New data shows Kansas remains one of the top states in the nation for renewable energy, specifically from wind turbines. The Kansas News Service reports that a study issued by Climate Central found 47% of the state’s electricity generation now is coming from wind energy, surpassing coal. Renewable energy generated in Kansas more than doubled in the last 10 years. Zack Pistora, environmental lobbyist for the Sierra Club, says Kansas has the potential for more growth in solar energy, adding that “southwest Kansas specifically, is our best solar resource in the state and one of the best in the country.” Kansas is projected to expand renewable energy projects, bringing more jobs and money to rural parts of western half of the state.
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Manhattan, Kansas, Man Guilty of Sexual Exploitation of Teenager in Virginia
LYNCHBURG, Va. (KPR) – A Kansas man has pleaded guilty to federal child exploitation charges. Prosecutors say 22-year-old Andrew Kent, of Manhattan, entered a guilty plea this week to one count of sexual exploitation of a teenage girl. He's facing a sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison. Authorities say Kent told the victim, a 14-year-old girl in Lynchburg, Virginia, that he wanted to “take a kid’s virginity” after meeting her online. According to court documents, Kent met the 14-year-old girl on Twitter in January 2023. He was arrested in June of last year. Kent admitted to using Twitter, Snapchat, and Discord to contact minor girls for the purpose of getting them to send him naked pictures. Kent estimated he solicited and received images of child sexual abuse material from approximately 200 minor girls.
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Ag Equipment Company Investing $105 Million in Central Kansas Town
STERLING, Kan. (KPR ) — A new ag equipment manufacturing company will build a new North American headquarters and a production facility in the small, central Kansas town of Sterling. Governor Laura Kelly announced this week that KMW will invest $105 million and create 250 new jobs in the Rice County town. The company makes agricultural front loaders, backhoes and other attachments. KMW selected Sterling after a competition among several Midwestern states. The company, based in the Czech Republic, already operates two other plants in Kansas, one in Great Bend and another in Lyons.
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Report: Disparities Persist in Poverty and Wellness for Black Children in Kansas
UNDATED (KCUR) — Federal aid during the pandemic lifted millions of children out of poverty… but disparities still persist for Black children in Kansas. KCUR reports that the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s latest Race for Results report scores child well-being out of a thousand points based on benchmarks for education, early childhood and family resources. Black children in Kansas received just 381 points. Jessica Herrera Russell with Kansas Action for Children said a statewide child tax credit could help close gaps in wellness, explaining that "...doing something like this in Kansas would really give that monetary relief back to families, and help them be able to pay for the necessities that their kids need to really grow up healthy and thrive." Asian and Pacific Islander children ranked highest in the state with a score of 747.
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Kansas Lawmakers Want Schools to Show Proof of Effectiveness of At-Risk Programs
UNDATED (KNS) — Kansas lawmakers want schools to prove whether programs for academically struggling students are really working. The Kansas News Service reports that lawmakers hammering out a school spending bill have agreed on a measure that would require schools to show how they use money set aside for at-risk students. Under a pilot program this year, 10 districts chosen by the State Board of Education would submit reports showing whether their programs improved test scores. The following year, all districts would file the reports. Republican state Senator Renee Erickson says the change improves accountability. “That’s the best safety net we can use to make sure that the continuation of that at-risk program is, that’s giving us positive results,” she added. A recent audit showed that Kansas schools aren’t following state law in how they spend $730 million set aside for at-risk students.
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GOP Lawmakers Use Budget to Pressure Kansas Governor on DEI and Immigration
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans are likely to approve a proposed state budget for Kansas with provisions aimed at forcing the state's Democratic governor to restrict diversity initiatives on college campuses and help Texas in its fight with the Biden administration over border security.
GOP negotiators for the state House and Senate have agreed to include those items in a single bill containing the bulk of the $25 billion in spending for Kansas' 2025 budget year, which begins July 1. Top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature expect both chambers to vote this week on the final version of the bill. “It’s an opportunity to make a point,” state Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, said Wednesday. “The power of the purse — that’s all we have. That’s our main power.”
Both the Kansas House and Senate approved resolutions this year expressing their support for efforts by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas to enforce a law there allowing his state to arrest migrants suspected of entering the U.S. illegally. The Biden administration argues that only the federal government sets immigration policy.
But Republicans in the Kansas Senate then added an extra $15.7 million in the next state budget with directions to Gov. Laura Kelly that she provide Kansas National Guard resources to Texas.
Republican senators also included provisions to withhold a total of $35.7 million in funding from state universities unless their presidents appeared before Kelly and top legislative leaders and confirmed that they were not requiring prospective students, job applicants or staffers seeking promotion to provide statements endorsing diversity, equity or inclusion initiatives or discussing past experiences with it. The GOP budget negotiators agreed to retain those provisions unless a separate bill banning the practice becomes law.
The state constitution gives Kelly the power to veto individual budget provisions, and it's not clear that the immigration or anti-DEI ones have the two-thirds majorities in both chambers needed to override a veto. But if Kelly were to veto the anti-DEI provisions, the $35.7 million would go with them. “It's kind of like blackmail,” said Democratic state Rep. Tom Sawyer, of Wichita.
Republicans in at least 20 states have sought to limit DEI initiatives, arguing that they are discriminatory and enforce a liberal political orthodoxy. Alabama and Utah enacted new anti-DEI laws this year.
The Kansas House last month approved a bill that would bar universities, community colleges or technical colleges from basing a student’s admission or an employee’s hiring or promotion on any statement or pledge about DEI or “any political ideology or movement." Republicans are hoping to have a vote on a new version in both chambers this week.
But the Kansas Board of Regents, which oversees the state's higher education system, already is responding to GOP lawmakers' concerns. The board expects to consider a proposed policy change in April that would ban requirements in admissions or employment for “statements pledging allegiance to, support for, or opposition to diversity, equity or inclusion.”
“I really don’t think it’s going to be an issue. I think they’re all going to change their policy,” said state Rep. Kyle Hoffman, a Republican from western Kansas and a House budget negotiator.
Republicans' interest in border security comes with former President Donald Trump ramping up anti-immigrant rhetoric as he campaigns for reelection, often spreading falsehoods about migration. Roughly two-thirds of Americans disapproved of President Joe Biden's handling of border security in an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in March.
GOP officials in many states also frame the issue as stopping the flow of the dangerous opioid fentanyl across the Mexico-U.S. border, though experts agree the key is reducing demand for it in the U.S. “We need to stop it,” said state Sen. J.R. Claeys, a central Kansas Republican and a budget negotiator. “Obviously, the Biden administration isn’t going to do that, so we’re going to have to do it ourselves.”
But state Rep. Susan Ruiz, a Kansas City-area Democrat, said problems at the border demonstrate the need for reforming national immigration laws and argued that Americans are more likely to smuggle fentanyl than immigrant families seeking a better life in the U.S. “They’re willing to blame every possible thing on immigration in on immigrants,” she said.
Some Republicans expect Kelly to veto the provision. Last month, she told reporters that the state constitution makes her the guard’s commander-in-chief and she decides how its resources are used.
But Claeys responded: “We also have other budgetary ways of making things happen, so we’ll continue to use those and the power of the purse.”
(–Related–)
Study Evaluates Possible Economic Impact of Passing Anti-DEI Bills in Kansas and Missouri
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) – The economies of Missouri and Kansas could be significantly affected if state lawmakers pass bills that attack diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, a recent study shows. KCUR reports that economic consulting firm The Perryman Group found Missouri could lose more than $2 billion and close to 24,000 jobs by 2030, while Kansas risks losing close to $900 million and more than 8,000 jobs. That’s because travelers and prospective businesses see these bills as discriminatory. Health Forward Foundation published the report in February. Vice President Eusebio Díaz says the proposals would diminish economic development for years. “Two sectors are significantly impacted … tourism and retail. But we see the impact across all sectors,” he explained. Kansas’s anti-DEI bills focus on education and employment. Missouri’s proposals outlaw state spending on DEI efforts.
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Unique Soccer Facility Opens at Kansas State School for the Blind
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KPR) – Officials at the Kansas State School for the Blind cut the ribbon on a unique sports facility in Kansas City, Kansas Friday afternoon. The soccer field was specifically built for the visually impaired. A $32,000 grant from the Victory Project, a Sporting Kansas City philanthropic foundation, made it possible. Molly Quinn,the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes CEO, says the professional men’s and women’s soccer leagues recognize the need for such a facility, saying that "...our purpose for USA Blind Soccer and part of our mission is to be able to figure out how do we make this happen with MLS and NWSL." The Kansas City, Kansas facility is the first of its kind in the Midwest and is expected to host camps and coaching clinics in the future. For more on Blind Soccer, click here for an in-depth examination of the sport and this new facility.
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After KC Area Voters Reject Tax Measure, Chiefs & Royals Consider Options
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - After the decisive failure of a ballot measure that would have provided public funds for a downtown ballpark in Kansas City and renovations to Arrowhead Stadium, the Royals and Chiefs must decide what's next for the future of their facilities. The Royals wanted the tax extension to pass to help fund a $1 billion-plus stadium, which would serve as the centerpiece of a $2 billion ballpark district. The Chiefs wanted to use their share of tax money to help pay for $800 million in renovations to Arrowhead Stadium. Now, the two clubs are left to explore their options, which could include leaving Kansas City.
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Attorney Says Chiefs' Rashee Rice Was Driving Lamborghini in Dallas Chain-Reaction Crash
DALLAS (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs player Rashee Rice was the driver of one of two speeding sports cars who left after causing a chain-reaction crash on a Dallas highway over the weekend, the wide receiver's attorney said Thursday.
Why Rice left the crash Saturday was “a good question that's still being investigated," said Rice’s attorney, state Sen. Royce West, but he declined to elaborate. West expects charges to be filed against Rice, who was driving a Lamborghini sport utility vehicle, he said at a news conference without his client.
“He’s a young man that made a mistake,” West said Thursday, adding that Rice’s “heart goes out” to those who were injured. The crash involved the Lamborghini, a Corvette and four other vehicles and left four people with minor injuries, police said.
The driver of the Corvette also left without determining whether anyone needed medical attention or providing their information, police said. The Corvette belongs to Rice, West said Thursday, but no information has been released on the driver.
Rice posted to his Instagram Story on Wednesday that he was taking “full responsibility” for his part in the wreck.
Police have said the drivers of the Corvette and Lamborghini were speeding in the far left lane when they lost control and the Lamborghini traveled onto the shoulder and hit the center median wall, causing the chain collision.
West said that Rice, who is 23, will “do everything in his power to bring their life back to as normal as possible in terms of injuries, in terms of property damage.”
Investigators are interviewing witnesses, victims and others who may have been involved, police said Thursday.
Rice was leasing the Lamborghini from The Classic Lifestyle, said Kyle Coker, an attorney for the Dallas-based exotic car rental company.
Rice was born in Philadelphia but grew up in the Fort Worth, Texas, suburb of North Richland Hills. He played college football at nearby SMU, where a breakout senior season in 2022 put the wide receiver on the radar of NFL teams. The Chiefs selected him in the second round of last year's draft, and he quickly became one of the only dependable options in their passing game.
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