Kansas Senate Fails to Override Governor's Veto of Tax Package
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – Republicans in the Kansas Senate failed Monday to override Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of major tax cuts. The Kansas News Service reports that the override failed by just one vote after some Republicans broke with leadership. Kelly and lawmakers from both parties say tax cuts are a priority. They agree on measures like eliminating taxes on social security benefits, but they’ve been unable to reach a deal on income taxes. The governor says she’ll call a special session if they’re unable to pass tax cuts. Some Republicans say the override was their last chance before they end the session. But Republican Senator Dennis Pyle, who voted against the override, says there’s still time. “I want the people of Kansas to understand, we are not done. We’re in the 9th inning,” he added. Lawmakers typically wrap up around 90 days, which will be this Thursday.
(–Additional Reporting–)
GOP Leaders Still Can't Overcome the Kansas Governor's Veto to Enact Big Tax Cuts
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators narrowly failed again Monday to enact a broad package of tax cuts over Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's veto, making it likely that lawmakers would end their second annual session in a row without major reductions.
The state Senate voted 26-14 to override Kelly's veto of a package of income, sales and property tax cuts worth about $1.5 billion over the next three years, but that was one vote short of the necessary two-thirds majority. Three dissident Republican senators joined all 11 Democratic senators in voting no, dashing GOP leaders' hopes of flipping at least one of them after the House voted 104-15 on Friday to override Kelly's veto.
The governor called the tax plan “too expensive," suggesting it would lead to future budget problems for the state. Kelly also told fellow Democrats that she believes Kansas’ current three personal income tax rates ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share. The plan would have moved to two rates, cutting the highest rate to 5.55% from 5.7%.
Republican leaders argued that the difference in the long-term costs between the plan Kelly vetoed and a plan worth roughly $1.3 billion over three years that she proposed last week were small enough that both would have roughly the same effect on the budget over five or six years. Democrats split over the plan's fairness, with most House Democrats agreeing with most Republicans in both chambers in seeing it as a good plan for poor and working class taxpayers.
The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn for the year at the close of Tuesday's business, and Republican leaders don't plan to try again to pass a tax bill before then.
“This tax process is baked,” Senate tax committee Chair Caryn Tyson, a Republican from rural eastern Kansas, told her colleagues. “We are finished. This is the last train out of the station."
Kelly vetoed Republican tax plans in 2023 and in January that would have moved Kansas to a single personal income tax rate, something Kelly said would benefit the “super wealthy.”
Democrats and the dissident Republicans in the Senate argued that the House and Senate could negotiate a new tax plan along the lines of what Kelly proposed last week and dump it into an existing bill for up-or-down votes in both chambers — in a single day, if GOP leaders were willing.
Dissident GOP Sen. Dennis Pyle, from the state's northeastern corner, said lawmakers were making progress. Top Republicans had backed off their push for a single-rate personal income tax and both bills Kelly vetoed this year would have exempted retirees Social Security benefits from state income taxes, when those taxes now kick in when they earn $75,000 a year or more.
Kelly herself declared in her January veto message that to enact tax relief, “I'll call a special session if I have to.”
“Just look at how far we've come,” Pyle told his colleagues. “Our work is not finished.”
The bill Kelly vetoed also would have reduced the state’s property taxes for public schools, saving the owner of a $250,000 home about $142 a year. It would have eliminated an already set-to-expire 2% sales tax on groceries six months early, on July 1. The governor backed those provisions, along with the exemptions for Social Security benefits.
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Kansas Has New Abortion Laws, While Louisiana May Block Exceptions to Its Ban
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is requiring abortion providers to share patient information with the state and increasing funds to anti-abortion centers, while in Louisiana bills to loosen its restrictive ban face an uphill battle, thanks to Republican supermajorities in their Legislatures.
Democratic lawmakers in Louisiana are pushing bills to add exceptions, including in cases of rape and incest, to the state’s near-total abortion ban. A GOP-dominated House committee began its review of those measures Tuesday, but similar proposals failed last year.
Meanwhile in Kansas, the GOP-controlled Legislature on Monday overrode all four of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's vetoes of measures sought by anti-abortion groups. Starting July 1, abortion providers must ask patients why they are terminating their pregnancies and report the answers to the state, and it will be a specific crime to coerce someone into having an abortion.
Kansas also will offer both direct aid to anti-abortion centers and tax breaks for them and their donors. The aim of anti-abortion centers is to dissuade people from getting abortions while offering supplies, classes and other services.
Anti-abortion groups still exert a strong influence over Republicans in statehouses across the U.S. That's even after votes on ballot initiatives in multiple states demonstrated public support for abortion rights following the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision in 2022 — with the first one in Kansas in August 2022.
“We did not put this to bed,” Kansas Senate Democratic Leader Dinah Sykes said Tuesday. “Those people who showed up to vote who had not voted before need to show up in November to vote.”
The two states, nearly 400 miles (700 kilometers) apart, have dramatically different abortion laws because of their top courts. In August 2022, just months after Dobbs, Louisiana Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge to that state's near-total abortion ban, allowing the prohibition to go into effect. That was 10 days after Kansas voters decisively affirmed the position in a 2019 state Supreme Court ruling that the state constitution protects abortion rights.
Kansas doesn't ban most abortions until the 22nd week of pregnancy. Kelly is a strong supporter of abortion rights and has consistently vetoed the GOP-controlled Legislature's abortion measures.
She is expected to veto a fifth measure sought by abortion opponents, a bill aimed at ensuring that judges order child support payments apply to fetuses so that the mother's pregnancy expenses are covered. It would be similar to a Georgia law.
Critics believe the Kansas child support measure advances the anti-abortion movement’s long-standing goal of giving embryos and fetuses legal and constitutional protections on par with those of the people carrying them. There are dozens of proposals in at least 15 states aimed at promoting fetal rights, though most have not advanced, according to an Associated Press analysis earlier this year using the bill-tracking software Plural.
“If we’re going to say that fetuses now have legal rights, that is going to affect downstream a whole bunch of other things,” state Sen. Ethan Corson, a Kansas City-area Democrat, said before the measure passed last week.
But Kansas has had a law in place since 2007 that allows people to face separate charges for what it considers crimes against fetuses, and a 2013 state law declares that “unborn children have interests in life, health and well-being," though it isn't enforced as a limit on abortion.
The child support bill wouldn't change state policy on the legal status of fetuses, said Kansas Senate Judiciary Chair Kellie Warren, a Kansas City-area Republican.
“The real impact of this bill is helping women,” she said.
Abortion opponents also have touted the other measures as helping pregnant women and girls, in part by gathering better data about abortion so lawmakers can set clearer policy.
One measure continues to give $2 million a year in direct aid to anti-abortion centers that provide free supplies and services. Another exempts them from paying the state's 6.5% sales tax on what they buy and gives their donors a state income tax credit.
Kansans for Life, the state's most influential anti-abortion group said in a statement Monday that the measures “seek to meet Kansans where they are and save as many lives as possible.”
Meanwhile, many Republicans reject the argument that the August 2022 vote means Kansas voters expect lawmakers to stop regulating abortion.
“I think most Kansans would agree that we did want certain safeguards,” said GOP state Sen. Renee Erickson, of Wichita.
Louisiana's only exceptions to its abortion ban are when there is substantial risk of death or impairment to the patient in continuing a pregnancy and when the fetus has a fatal abnormality that makes a pregnancy “medically futile.”
Earlier this year, lawmakers rejected an effort to let voters decide whether abortions should be legal in Louisiana. The legislation proposed an amendment to Louisiana’s Constitution to enshrine reproductive rights for women, including access to birth control, abortion and infertility treatments.
Public opinion polls nationwide and some in Louisiana as reported by the The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate, have found that the majority oppose the most restrictive bans.
During the Louisiana House committee's first review Tuesday of bills adding new exceptions, Democrats shed tears and raised their voices in pleading for exceptions to the current law for rape and incest.
Democratic state Rep. Alonzo Knox, of New Orleans, questioned why young girls “who have been violated in the most unfathomable way” should be forced to give birth and be repeatedly traumatized by the experience.
“Not only that, she gives birth to a child that she has no knowledge or education about how to care for,” he added.
The committee expects to take a vote next week. Sponsoring state Rep. Delisha Boyd, another New Orleans Democrat, said she will try to sit down with Republican lawmakers and GOP Gov. Jeff Landry to see whether she can amend the bill to increase its chances of passage.
Landry, elected last year, replaced term-limited Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, who supported some abortion restrictions but was a vocal backer of some exceptions.
(–Related–)
Kansas House Votes to Override Some Gubernatorial Vetoes of Abortion Bills
UNDATED (KNS) – Kansas House legislators have voted to override some of Governor Laura Kelly’s vetoes of abortion bills. The Kansas News Service reports that House legislators voted to override Kelly’s veto on a bill that would require medical facilities and providers to report the reasons for abortions they perform to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Also, House legislators voted to override the governor’s veto on a bill that would make coercing a person into getting an abortion a felony crime. To become law, these bills will need to go through another round of override votes in the Senate.
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Backers of a Ban on Gender Care for Minors in Kansas Fail to Override the Governor's Veto
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas failed Monday to override the Democratic governor's veto of a proposed ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
The vote was 82-43 in the state House to reverse Gov. Laura Kelly's veto, but that was two votes shy of the necessary two-thirds majority.
Two Republicans who'd backed the bill earlier voted against overriding the veto, citing their concerns about provisions that included one that would have barred state employees from advocating social transitioning for transgender youth.
The House's vote came after the Senate voted 27-13 to override the veto, with the exact two-thirds majority required in that chamber.
Under the bill, social transitioning includes “the changing of an individual’s preferred pronouns or manner of dress,” and the rule against promoting it would have applied to state workers who care for children. The measure doesn’t spell out what constitutes promoting it.
The vote in the House was expected to be close after LGBTQ+ rights advocates raised questions about whether the provision against promoting social transitioning is written broadly enough to apply to public school teachers who show empathy for transgender students.
The bill is part of a broader push to roll back transgender rights from Republican lawmakers in statehouses across the U.S. Kansas would have been the 25th state to restrict or ban such care for minors, and this week the South Carolina Senate expected to debate a similar measure that already has passed the state House.
“Unfortunately, in today’s society, the predator in particular is a woke health care system,” said Republican state Sen. Mark Steffen, a central Kansas anesthesiologist and pain management specialist.
Like other Republicans across the U.S., Steffen and other GOP lawmakers in Kansas argued that they're protecting children struggling with their gender identities from being pushed into health care that the lawmakers see as experimental and potentially harmful. But that puts them at odds with the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other major U.S. medical groups.
LGBTQ+ rights groups such as Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union and Equality Kansas have stopped short of saying they would challenge the new law in court, but they've said they believe the provisions preventing state employees from advocating social transitioning violates their free speech rights. They've said that provision makes the Kansas law more sweeping than laws in other states.
Other critics argued that enacting such a ban sends a message that transgender residents aren't welcome. When Kelly vetoed a similar ban last year, she suggested that it would hurt the state's business climate.
“This is not the message we want to send to Americans about the welcoming opportunities that Kansas has,” said state Sen. Tom Holland, a northeastern Kansas Democrat.
About 300,000 youths ages 13 to 17 identify as transgender in the U.S., according to estimates by the Williams Institute, an LGBTQ+ research center at UCLA Law. It estimates that in Kansas, about 2,100 youths in that age group identify as transgender.
Republican lawmakers last year enacted laws barring transgender girls and women from female college and K-12 sports teams and ending legal recognition of transgender residents' gender identities. Transgender residents no longer can change the listing for “sex” on their driver's licenses or birth certificates to match their gender identities, something Kelly's administration had allowed.
“I do feel like there’s a genuine fear about me and what my body means, when I’m very happy,” Isaac Johnson, who is transgender and just finished a social work internship in Topeka’s public schools, said during a recent Statehouse news conference.
Transgender youth, parents of transgender children and dozens of medical and mental health providers all described gender-affirming care as life-saving and argued that it lessens severe depression and suicidal tendencies among transgender youth. At least 200 health care providers signed a letter to lawmakers opposing a veto override.
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Kansas Legislature Considering Changes to STAR Bond Requirements to Lure Pro Sports Teams
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – Kansas lawmakers are working on a plan to try to attract the Kansas City Chiefs, Royals or other professional sports teams to the state. The Kansas News Service reports that the plan involves offering sales tax revenue bonds – also referred to as STAR bonds – to help finance stadiums for up to two teams. STAR bonds are issued in Kansas to fund major businesses and attractions. They can be paid off over 30 years using diverted sales tax revenue. Lawmakers are considering changes that would allow a stadium to be funded 100% through bonds, rather than the typical 50%. Republican Representative Sean Tarwater proposed the plan. “It’s just important to send a very positive message to the sports community that we’re here and we’re very serious about this,” he said. Lawmakers would need to work quickly on a plan, as the session could end this week.
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Overdose Addition to Kansas Good Samaritan Law Awaits Governor's Signature
UNDATED (KNS) – A bill to include drug overdoses in the state's Good Samaritan law is now awaiting the governor’s signature. The Kansas News Service reports that the bill would protect most people from prosecution if they call 911 to get medical attention for someone who’s experiencing an overdose. The bill was amended to not protect people on parole or probation if they call for help. Advocates say the proposed law will allow people to feel more comfortable about calling for help without fear of prosecution for being in possession of an illegal substance. Kansas is one of two states without a Good Samaritan overdose law.
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Supreme Court Leaves in Place a Texas Law Requiring Pornographic Websites to Verify Users' Ages
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to block a Texas law requiring pornographic websites to verify the age of their users.
The justices rejected an emergency appeal filed by the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the adult entertainment industry. The provision of House Bill 1181, signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, remains in effect even as the association's full appeal is weighed by the Supreme Court.
There were no noted dissents from the court's one-sentence order.
Similar age verification laws have passed in other states, including Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Utah and Virginia.
The Texas law carries fines of up to $10,000 per violation that could be raised to up to $250,000 per violation by a minor.
Last year, a federal judge blocked the law's age verification requirement and health warnings, finding that they likely violated the Constitution. But in March, a divided panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the age verification ruling, although it upheld the health warnings ruling that adult sites can't be forced to publish statements with which they disagree.
The health warnings, disputed by the industry, included that pornography is addictive, impairs mental development and increases the demand for prostitution, child exploitation and child sexual abuse images.
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President Biden Approves Federal Disaster Declaration for Kansas Related to January Storms
WASHINGTON (KPR)– The Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced that federal disaster assistance is available for the state of Kansas to add to recovery efforts in areas affected by a severe winter storm in January of this year. Public assistance federal funding is available to state, tribal and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe winter storm of January 8-16, 2024. The counties eligible for this funding are Butler, Chase, Cloud, Edwards, Ford, Geary, Gray, Hodgeman, Morris, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Shawnee, Stafford, Trego and Wabaunsee.
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Federal Prosecutor Terra Morehead Disbarred
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) – The Kansas Supreme Court has officially disbarred a federal prosecutor. KCUR reports that the action taken by the high court to disbar Terra Morehead on Friday was expected. She agreed earlier this month to turn over her law license as part of a deal with a Kansas disciplinary board. Morehead was a Wyandotte County prosecutor during the 1990s who became known for allegedly helping former KCK Police Detective Roger Golubski frame an innocent man who spent 23 years in prison. While in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Kansas, Morehead was accused of threatening witnesses and concealing evidence. Morehead retired from the U.S. Attorney’s office last year. (Read more.)
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Kansas Farmers, Officials, Work to Mitigate Bird Flu Spread in Dairy Cattle
UNDATED (KNS) – Kansas dairy farmers and health officials are trying to mitigate the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as the bird flu. The Kansas News Service reports that the virus was discovered in Kansas dairy cattle for the first time in late March. Following a federal order, dairy cows are required to test negative for the virus before being transported across state lines. Dr. Justin Smith is with the Kansas Department of Agriculture. He says so far, 4 herds in Kansas have the virus, and those cattle have mostly recovered. Smith says regardless, dairy farmers need to stay alert. “It's highly important that these dairies, you know, step up their biosecurity, if they're bringing in new animals that we ask that they, you know, isolate those animals,” he added. One person, a Texas dairy worker, has tested positive for the virus since the outbreak began. Smith says the risk to the public remains low.
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USDA Report: Rural Residents Have Higher Mortality Risk
STILLWATER, Okla. (HPM) - A recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found working-age rural residents die from natural causes at a higher rate than their urban counterparts. And that mortality gap is widening. 25 to 54 year olds in rural areas died of natural causes at a higher rate, six percent, than urban residents in 1999. 20 years later, that number swelled to 43%. National Rural Health Association CEO Alan Morgan says it’s harder for rural residents to seek care. “it's just a matter of not having access to local care and also, taking time off of work to be able to have to drive an hour or two to seek care,” Morgan said. Researchers found cancer and heart disease were the primary natural causes of death for men and women. But researchers found women were a driving force behind the overall increase as pregnancy-related deaths grew by more than 300 percent.
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Family of a Black Teen Who Was Shot After Ringing the Wrong Doorbell Files Lawsuit Against Homeowner
UNDATED (AP) – The family of a Black teenager who was shot by a white homeowner when he mistakenly went to the wrong Kansas City, Missouri, address filed a lawsuit Monday, described by the family's attorney as an attempt to put pressure on the criminal trial later this year.
The complaint, filed by Cleo Nagbe on behalf of her son, Ralph Yarl, alleges that Andrew Lester, 84, was negligent when he shot the 16-year-old without warning more than a year ago, on April 13. It states that Yarl suffered and sustained permanent injuries, as well as pain and suffering, as a direct result of Lester's actions.
Lee Merritt, the family’s attorney, said the civil suit is to “give the family a chance to be in the driver’s seat in pursuing justice for Ralph” as the state’s criminal case against Lester unfolds.
Lester pleaded not guilty in September 2023. The trial was scheduled to begin more than a year later on October 7, 2024.
Lester’s attorney in the criminal case, Steve Salmon, said he is evaluating the civil complaint and will discuss it with Lester. He said at a preliminary hearing for the criminal case that Lester was acting in self-defense, terrified by the stranger who knocked on his door as he settled into bed for the night.
“The suit is based on what he has said,” Merritt told The Associated Press. “If he’s saying, ‘I mistakenly thought this person was a robber,’ we’re saying that’s negligence. You weren’t paying close enough attention. Everybody who rings your doorbell can’t be a robber.”
Yarl mixed up the street name of the house where he was sent to pick up his siblings. Yarl testified at the hearing that he rang the doorbell and then reached for the storm door as Lester opened the inner door. Lester told him, “Don’t come here ever again,” Yarl recalled.
He said he was shot in the head, the impact knocking him to the ground, and was then shot in the arm.
The case, which drew international attention, animated national debates about gun policies and race in America.
In a statement, Nagbe said the shooting “not only shattered our family but also exposed a critical gap in our societal fabric, where the safety of our children is jeopardized by reckless actions.”
The lawsuit also names the homeowner’s association, Highland Acres Homes Association, Inc., as a defendant. The association did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
Merritt said the family is aware the litigation might be delayed pending the outcome of the criminal case but wanted to still begin the process. He cited state law that allows the victim access to the criminal case records that has not yet been satisfied, as the prosecutor seeks clarification from the judge on the case’s gag order.
Yarl was “uniquely resilient” after the shooting, Merritt said, but “his resiliency has kind of grown into some impatience with being the person who was shot a year ago.”
“He doesn’t want to be that person,” Merritt said. “He wants to be an amazing band player, a good friend, a student, a rising college student.”
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Derek Schmidt to Run for Congressional Seat
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – Former state Attorney General Derek Schmidt Friday announced a run for the second congressional district in Kansas. The Kansas News Service reports that Schmidt is the highest profile Republican to enter the race since U.S. Representative Jake LaTurner announced he would not seek another term. Schmidt served as Kansas attorney general for 12 years before running against Democratic Governor Laura Kelly in 2022. He ultimately lost that race by 2 percent of the vote. LaTurner’s former senior advisor Jeff Kahrs is also running for the Republican nomination. On the Democratic side, Elgin Woody IV has filed for the race but says he will withdraw and run for the Kansas Legislature instead.
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Attorney Dakota Loomis Announces Bid for Douglas County DA
LAWRENCE, Kan. (Lawrence Times) - Baldwin City Prosecutor Dakota Loomis has announced plans to run as a Democrat for Douglas County district attorney. The Lawrence Times reports that incumbent DA Suzanne Valdez and Tonda Hill, a prosecutor in Wyandotte County, have also filed to run for the seat. The three — and anyone else who might file for the seat before the deadline of June 3 — will face off in the Democratic primary election on Aug. 6. No Republicans have filed for the seat so far. Loomis is 43-years-old and is a native of Lawrence. He graduated from New York University School of Law. He lives in Lawrence with his wife and daughters. The announcement comes after a panel of attorneys released their final report last week on disciplinary matter against current DA Suzanne Valdez. The panel is recommending she face a public censure for comments she made about the county’s chief judge, but the Kansas Supreme Court will make the final decision in the case.
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Lawrence Commission Approves Rezoning of Land Near Baker Wetlands
LAWRENCE, Kan. (Lawrence Times) - Nearly 200 acres next to rare wetland habitat just south of Lawrence could become a housing and business development. Last month, the Lawrence city commission approved rezoning for 177 acres just west of the Baker wetlands to potentially be developed. Now a private developer wants to buy 16 acres of the property to build housing next to the wetland parking lot and discovery center. Baker University owns the Baker Wetlands, home to hundreds of plant and animal species. University officials say they are evaluating the offer. Baker says the 16 acres being considered for development are not actually wetland and not positioned within the floodplain. The Lawrence Times reports that environmental groups oppose developing the area and have expressed concern about the sale and, what they say, is a lack of public engagement in the process.
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Barber County Officials Break Ground on Utility-Scale Solar Project
PIXLEY, Kan. (KNS) - Barber County officials have broken ground on the state’s first large scale solar project in south central Kansas. Once completed, the 190 megawatt project will be able to power more than 40,000 homes. Solar energy production in Kansas increased by 29% in 2023, and more growth is expected in the coming years. Almost half of the energy in the state now comes from renewable sources. But Kimberly Svaty, public policy director for renewable energy in Kansas, says there also has been more opposition to solar projects in the past couple of years. “We work very closely with landowners to make sure that we are caring for their ground, we are just guests on their ground.” Svaty says bridging the gap between local communities and renewable energy can bring more investment into rural Kansas. The Pixley Solar Energy Center in Barber County is targeted to begin operating in 2025. Pixley is in south-cemtral Kansas, about 100 miles southwest of Wichita.
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Riley County Police Apprehend Kidnapping Suspect
RILEY COUNTY, Kan. (KPR) - A suspect has been taken into custody following an armed kidnapping in Riley County and a high speed chase on Interstate 70. The Kansas Highway Patrol reports they were called in by the Riley County Police Department after the suspect fled eastbound on I-70 toward Kansas City. He was apprehended after, troopers deployed a Tactical Vehicle Intervention maneuver. KHP reports the victim escaped from the kidnapper before the arrest and is safe. The Kansas Highway Patrol was assisted by the Bonner Springs and Kansas City, Kansas police departments.
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Former Jayhawk Standout Joel Embiid Reveals Bell's Palsy Diagnosis
PHILADELPHIA, Penn. (KCTV) - Former KU Jayhawk basketball center Joel Embiid has revealed that he has received a diagnosis of temporary partial facial paralysis. KCTV reports that Embiid led the Philadelphia 76ers to victory last Thursday with a 125-114 win over the New York Knicks in Game 3 of the first round of the NBA playoffs. The win, however, may have been bittersweet for the All-Star center. In a news conference after the game, Embiid revealed that he had been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, which has affected him since before the playoffs began. His symptoms include blurred vision and the left side of his face and eye were affected. Team doctors say the condition is temporary, but there is no set timetable for his recovery.
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Kansas City Chiefs and All-Pro Tight End Travis Kelce Agree to 2-Year Extension Through 2027 Season
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs signed Travis Kelce to a two-year contract extension Monday that general manager Brett Veach said would make him the league's highest-paid tight end while keeping him with the Super Bowl champions through the 2027 season.
Kelce signed a four-year, $57.25 million extension with Kansas City in 2020, which followed a $46 million, five-year deal that he signed in 2016. The new extension would keep the 34-year-old Kelce with the club until he is 38 years old.
Veach did not provide a financial breakdown of the latest extension, but he did call it a priority to “adjust his contract” and that “it is very fitting that Travis is now the highest-paid tight end in these two years.”
“Hard to put into words what Travis means to this organization and this city,” Veach told local reporters on Zoom. “Just a really special day and moment for this organization to once again recognize arguably one of the greatest tight ends to ever do it.”
Kelce, who was chosen by the Chiefs in the third round of the 2013 draft, already is their career leader with 11,328 yards receiving. He needs eight receptions to reach 917 and pass Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez for that record, and three touchdown catches would give him 77, dropping Gonzalez to No. 2 on that franchise list.
Most importantly, Kelce has helped Kansas City win back-to-back Super Bowls and three titles in the past five years.
“Every now and then you have one of these guys that are outliers,” Veach said, “and Travis is one of those players. It's not even May yet and today we had a chance to get out there in phase two (off the offseason) and Travis was the first one in line.”
It's not just on the field where Kelce is a star, either.
His relationship with pop icon Taylor Swift has taken him to another level of celebrity, while appearances on shows such as “Saturday Night Live” have helped to make him a household name. He hosts one of the most popular podcasts across several genres with his brother and former Eagles center Jason Kelce, and he will soon host a quiz show on Amazon Prime.
But it all began on the field, where Kelce has long been considered one of the best tight ends in the game.
He missed the season opener with a knee injury last season, and he skipped the regular-season finale when the Chiefs already were assured of their playoff seeding. Those two games cost him the chance to extend his streak of 1,000-yard seasons to eight; he finished with 984 yards on 93 catches with five touchdown receptions.
When the postseason rolled around, Kelce once again took his performance to another level.
He had seven catches for 71 yards in a wild-card win over Miami, the fourth-coldest game in NFL history. He had five catches for 75 yards and two scores in a divisional win in Buffalo. He had 11 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown in the AFC title game in Baltimore, and capped it all with nine catches for 93 yards in the Super Bowl against San Francisco.
Along the way, Kelce batted down rumors of retirement, saying: “I have no reason to stop playing football. I love it.”
“The odds of someone playing this far into their 30s is low,” Veach acknowledged, “but it does happen. There are unicorns in the profession and Travis is one of those. He's shown no signs of slowing down.”
The extension for Kelce comes one week after the Chiefs announced they had signed Veach, coach Andy Reid team president Mark Donovan to contract extensions. The team did not say how long those deals would last, but they are expected to keep the three most central leadership figures with the franchise through the 2029 season.
Patrick Mahomes, whom Kelce considers one of his closest friends, is under contract through the 2031 season. All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones, the third piece of their three-player core, signed a five-year, $158.75 million deal in March.
Along with rewarding Kelce for his continued superlative play, Veach pointed to several young players who will be due contract extensions in the next couple of years as another reason for getting the tight end's long-term situation sorted out.
“We do have some younger guys coming up and like always, once the draft settles down, we’ll have a chance to address that,” he said. “Travis is an outlier here. We all know that. When you talk about Travis and his career and his legacy here, this is something we wanted to knock out of the park early on and shift our focus onto the young guys coming up.”
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