Kansas Bill Would Eliminate State Sales Tax on Food Sooner
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - A Kansas House committee has kicked off discussions to immediately eliminate the sales tax on food. The bill would also add diapers and feminine hygiene products to the tax exemption. The plan in the House Committee on Taxation would eliminate the taxes on April 1. Currently, the state sales tax on groceries is set to expire in 2025. The bill is a legislative priority for Democratic Governor Laura Kelly. But Republican Representative Clarke Sanders questioned whether the food portion of the bill is necessary. He says lawmakers already approved a phase-out of that tax last year. “And the governor signed it," he said. "So, relative to food, I don’t see any reason to revisit that now.”
The measure under consideration would exempt diapers and feminine hygiene products from the state sales tax, paired with a plan to speed up elimination of sales taxes on food. The bill would eliminate the taxes on April 1. Currently the state’s sales tax on food is set to expire in 2025. Supporters contend adding diapers and feminine hygiene products to the exemption would make it more affordable to buy such necessities. Micheala Miller is with Strawberry Week Society, which advocates for menstrual product accessibility. She says people in poverty can resort to reusing products like pads or tampons. “These methods lead to serious illness and infection. Period poverty is a public health issue," she said. The bill is a legislative priority for the Democratic governor but some Republican lawmakers don’t want to bundle the tax exemptions together. Supporters argue the bill would make basic needs more affordable for all Kansans amid rising inflation.
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Kansas Legislators Consider New SNAP Restrictions
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS/KPR) - Kansas lawmakers are considering additional work training requirements for people to get food assistance from the government. The bill would affect able-bodied people without dependents between the ages of 50-59 who receive SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps. Under the measure, recipients would have to enroll in work requirement programs if they work fewer than 30 hours a week. Republicans say this bill would help poorer Kansans get job skills. Democrats say the bill could penalize people with irregular work hours. Haley Kottler is with the group Kansas Appleseed. She says the bill could make people choose between paying rent or eating. “It is really imperative that we create more access to food for our neighbors and not less.”
Kansas already has work requirements for food assistance. Currently, people without dependants are required to work to get food stamps but this bill would add additional training programs if they don’t work enough. Republican State representative Susan Humphries (HUMP-frees) says the bill is important to give low-income people job skills. “I’m a firm believer that work training is empowering to people, or volunteering," she said. "And I think it seems healthy that we want someone to be involved in the community.” Opponents of the bill worry it would take food away from people who need it or have unsteady work hours. Supporters say this bill is only a minor tweak.
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Kansas Adjutant General and Kansas Highway Patrol Superintendent Resigning
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Highway Patrol Superintendent Herman Jones, who has been sued for sexual harassment and retaliation, will retire in July, Governor Laura Kelly announced Wednesday.
The governor also said Adjutant General David Weishaar, who leads the Kansas National Guard and is the state's emergency management director, will retire April 1.
Jones has a 45-year career in law enforcement and was the Shawnee County sheriff before Kelly appointed him patrol superintendent in 2019.
Several women, all current and former patrol employees, sued top agency officials in federal court in 2021, alleging discrimination and a hostile work environment. Two former majors sued in 2020, alleging they were dismissed for helping women lodge complaints against top officials.
Kelly told the Topeka Capitol-Journal in December that two independent investigations found no substance to the allegations made against Jones.
Some Republican lawmakers have suggested putting the patrol under the direction of the Kansas Attorney General's office if Jones was not removed.
Kelly did not name a replacement for Jones.
Weishaar was appointed the Adjutant General on April 1, 2020. Kelly named Brigadier General Michael Venerdi to replace Weishaar. He currently has leadership roles with the Kansas Guard and previously was commander of the 184th Wing at McConnell Air Force Base.
(–Additional Reporting –)
Kansas Highway Patrol Superintendent Retires as Agency Remains Under Fire from Critics
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - The leader of the Kansas Highway Patrol plans to retire later this year. Superintendent Herman Jones will step down July 1, amid controversy at the agency. Democratic Governor Laura Kelly appointed Jones in 2019. His tenure has been marred by federal lawsuits alleging gender discrimination in the patrol. And some Kansas Republican lawmakers contend Jones has mismanaged the patrol, leading to staff shortages. They have threatened to move oversight of the patrol to the attorney general's office. Ongoing allegations of poor management stretch back to previous agency leaders.
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Marijuana Sales Booming in Missouri
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR / KNS / KPR) - The sale of recreational marijuana is booming in Missouri. Marijuana dispensaries around Kansas City say that the sale of recreational cannabis went through the roof over the weekend, largely because of out-of-state customers. One dispensary, Fresh Green, says it moved nearly nine times its normal sales volume. In Kansas, medical and recreational marijuana remain illegal. Any adult over the age of 21 can purchase cannabis in Missouri, but they cannot legally transport it across state lines.
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Man Jailed After Grass Fire Near Kansas Governor's Mansion
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - A 36-year-old man remains in jail after authorities say he intentionally set a grass fire near the Kansas governor’s mansion. Police arrested the man while firefighters worked for nearly two hours to put out the blaze Monday afternoon. Authorities say the man was seen lighting the fire. It eventually burned 6 acres but never got very close to the mansion. Governor Laura Kelly was not there at the time of the fire.
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U.S. States Weigh Farmland Restrictions After Chinese Balloon
HARLOWTON, Mont. (AP/KPR) - China has been buying up hundreds of thousands of acres of U.S. farm and ranch land. And now, Congress and at least 11 statehouses are weighing legislation to further limit foreign ownership of farmland. The proposals were introduced earlier this month out of concern for long-term food security and land potentially being used as a perch for Chinese spying. U.S.-China relations continue to cool amid trade disputes and suspected Chinese espionage. Concerns about Chinese spying were highlighted last week by the suspected spy balloon that traveled across the U.S. before being shot down off the Atlantic Coast.
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Bill to Ban Chinese from Buying Texas Land Gains Steam Among Republicans
AUSTIN, Texas (Texas Tribune)n— Texas Governor Greg Abbott says he'll sign a proposed bill banning citizens and foreign entities from four countries, including China, from buying Texas land. The Texas Tribune reports that Senate Bill 147 would ban citizens, governments and entities from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from purchasing land in Texas. The bill is aimed at curbing foreign influence in the state. Opponents say the bill is likely to further sow anti-Asian sentiment and disenfranchise immigrants, business owners and green-card holders.
The proposal follows a 2021 bill that banned Texas businesses and government officials from making infrastructure deals with interests from the four countries. That legislation, which passed unanimously, was filed in response to a Xinjiang-based real estate tycoon’s purchase of roughly 140,000 acres for a wind farm in Del Rio, a small border town near Laughlin Air Force Base.
Supporters say the bill does not apply to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. “Communist China, America’s greatest foe, is on a bender,” Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller wrote in an op-ed last year that called for such a ban. “They are buying up farmland across the United States and Texas.”
Chinese investors own about 383,000 total acres of U.S. farmland — about 600 square miles, according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s 2021 land report. Investors from Russia, Iran and North Korea collectively own less than 3,000 acres, according to USDA. Canadian investors account for about 31% of foreign-own farmland in the United States — by far the largest share — followed by investors from the Netherlands at 12% and those from Italy at 7%.
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Kansas Lawmakers Battle over Education Savings Accounts
TOPEKA, Kan. (KMUW/KNS) - Kansas lawmakers are considering a bill that would let parents use state tax dollars to pay for private schools. The bill would allow parents to sign up for a state-sponsored education savings account for each of their children. A Kansas House committee heard more than two hours of testimony on the proposal Monday. Under the plan, the state would set aside about $5,000 for each student to use at any private or homeschool. Conservative lawmakers who support the measure say tax dollars should be tied to students instead of school systems. Republican Representative Brenda Landwehr, of Wichita, says public schools are failing some kids. “The public schools have to answer a question: Why would there be a mass exodus from a public school if it’s serving a child well? Why?," she said. Critics of the voucher bill say it would siphon much-needed money away from public schools. They also say private schools can pick and choose who is accepted. Sarah Mackey is a Johnson County mom with kids in both public and private schools. "To give choice to lots of kids, which is wonderful, you’re going to be pulling vital resources from the kids that need it and the funding that needs to exist," she said. About 15 states have proposed similar bills this year.
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Kansas AG: Walgreen's Plan to Mail Abortion Drugs Illegal
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach says Walgreens could face legal trouble if it dispenses abortion pills through its mail-order pharmacy service. Walgreens said it would apply for certification to do so last month … after the FDA loosened restrictions around mailing abortion-inducing drugs. But Kobach says that would be illegal under state and federal law. Several Republican attorneys general have made similar arguments in recent days. They claim a 19th century federal law prohibits mailing the pills. The pills account for two-thirds of Kansas abortions. Walgreens doesn’t currently dispense the abortion-inducing drug mifepristone. But after the FDA rule change last month, it was one of the pharmacies that said it would seek to distribute the pill through the mail, where it's legal to do so.
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Former Wichita Airman Sentenced to Prison for Child Porn
WICHITA, Kan. (KPR) – A California man has been sentenced to 17.5 years in prison for distributing child pornography. Federal prosecutors say 29-year-old Bradley Wiley, of Chico, California, was stationed at McConnell Air Force in Wichita when he committed the crime. Wiley was a member of U.S. Air Force in August 2022 when he used a Whatsapp account to send images of prepubescent children engaged in sex acts. The Air Force and a Kansas-based task force investigated the case.
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Kansas Student Pleads Not Guilty in Shooting at High School
OLATHE, Kan. (AP/KPR) - A 19-year-old has pleaded not guilty to shooting a school resource officer at Olathe East High School last year. Jaylon Elmore appeared for a preliminary hearing this week and was bound over for trial. He was a senior at Olathe East on March 4 when he was called to an assistant principal's office after reports that he had a gun in school. Court documents say he and school resource officer Erik Clark shot each other during a scuffle over the gun. Investigators say the assistant principal was hit by bullets “most likely” fired by Clark during the fight. Elmore is being held on $1 million bond.
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UMB Bank on Trial for Mishandling Sale of Thomas Hart Benton Artwork
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Midwest Newsroom) - UMB Bank is on trial for allegedly self-dealing and brushing aside conflicts of interest when selling art. The claims stem from UMB’s handling of artwork that belonged to a trust of the late Missouri artist Thomas Hart Benton. An attorney for Benton’s heirs said during opening arguments that UMB sold artwork held in trust without independent appraisals. The attorney also claimed that UMB allowed insiders, like members of the bank’s board of directors and their family members, to buy Benton artwork for low valuations. And they claim that UMB failed to license and copyright Benton’s artwork, costing the trust millions.
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Federal Reserve Chair: Next Interest Rate Hike May Be Higher than Expected
WASHINGTON (AP/KPR) - Interest rates may be headed higher than expected. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says that if the U.S. job market further strengthens in the coming months or if inflation continues to accelerate, the Fed might have to raise its benchmark interest rate higher than it now projects. Powell made his remarks Tuesday in an appearance at the Economic Club of Washington.
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Chiefs' Mahomes Says Ankle Will Be Ready for Super Bowl
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes says he’s “definitely in a better spot” when it comes to his ailing right ankle than he was for the AFC championship game. The All-Pro quarterback also says he doesn’t expect to be limited by it when he leads the Kansas City Chiefs against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl. Mahomes spoke before Wednesday's practice at Arizona State's facility. He said he'll probably continue to get treatment on the ankle he hurt against Jacksonville in the divisional round throughout the week and possibly right up until kickoff.
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This summary of area news is curated by KPR news staffers, including J. Schafer, Laura Lorson, Tom Parkinson and Kaye McIntyre. Our headlines are generally posted by 10 am weekdays. These ad-free headlines are made possible by KPR members. Become one today. And follow KPR News on Twitter.