Author: David Hicks
New state assessment at odds with Legislature’s improvement targets
Deputy Education Commissioner Dr. Ben Proctor revealed that a new state assessment plan will be given to students during the…
Prairie Hills / Sabetha USD 113 now in land transfer dispute with Nemaha Central
Its long-running financial disagreements with school districts in Jackson Heights and Vermillion over its closure of the Wetmore School was…
Former Manhattan mayor defends city’s taxes, salary increases
Manhattan city taxpayers have seen their property taxes increase by 25% since 2019. Since 1997, taxes increased by 351%; that…
Study shows Kansas tax burden is the 12th highest in the nation
While taxpayers await another threatened veto of tax relief, a new analysis shows Kansas has the 12th highest tax burden…
A-F Grading for Kansas schools results show continued declines in 2023
The new “A-F Grading for Kansas Schools,” based on 2023 state assessment scores, shows nearly half of Kansas public schools…
Kansas Supreme Court convenes special session in Lansing
The state Supreme Court heard arguments in two cases at the Lansing Middle School Auditorium before an estimated crowd of…
Governor vetos sugaring bill, siding with bureaucrats over entrepreneurs
Governor Laura Kelly dashed the hopes of sugarers around the state as she vetoed SB 434, which would have eliminated…
Veterans Treatment Court offers vets a second chance
Sedgwick County’s Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) opened last September, one of several such courts in Kansas providing alternatives to jail…
HB 2036 tax relief bill awaits Gov. Kelly’s signature
Finally, on the last day of the regular session, both chambers of the Kansas Legislature passed Senate Substitute for HB…
Kansas, 10 other states sue Biden Administration over latest student loan forgiveness plan
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, along with the attorneys general of ten other states, is suing the Biden Administration over…
Lawmakers approve SB 434 exempting sugaring from cosmetology license requirement
Practioners of sugaring around the state are a governor’s signature away from being able to ply their ancient trade without an…
SB 546 would end two business subsidies, cut corporate tax rate
Corporate income taxes in Kansas would be reduced to 5.75%, and two business subsidies — Promoting Employment Across Kansas (PEAK)…
Alabama CHOOSEs to become 11th state to approve universal school choice
With the stroke of her pen, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed into law the state’s Creating Hope & Opportunity for…
MRC study: Google interfered in U.S. elections 41 times since 2008
Supporters of former President Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton can find some common ground as a…
SB 427 would give school board members tools to improve transparency and accountability
School board members would no longer be restricted to whom they could speak on district issues, nor be barred from…
University of Kansas Health System merger with Liberty Hospital draws cross-border concerns
It’s not the “Border War” we’re used to in football, but the merger between The University of Kansas Health System…
Low-income earners benefit most under new flat tax compromise in SB 539
The Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee held a hearing today on a new flat tax bill that is a compromise…
State universities spent $45 million on DEI, received $116 million from foreign sources last year
A new state audit says the six Kansas state universities spent $45 million on various Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)…
Beloit group claims school board lacks transparency in bond issue campaign
Voters in USD 273 Beloit go to the polls in April to decide the fate of a $20 million package…
Lawmakers take the Kansas Constitution to court over calling a Convention of States
Two Kansas state legislators, Sen. Mike Thompson and Rep. Michael Murphy, have filed a federal lawsuit alleging the state Constitution…
Health officers could no longer order isolation or quarantine under proposed legislation
The authority to restrict public gatherings by state or local health departments, a controversial mandate used during the pandemic, would…
Spirited debate on “Conscientious Right to Refuse Act”
Individual rights squared off against the rights of the community as the Kansas Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare…
Intense debate on asset forfeiture reforms in competing House, Senate bills
While civil libertarians and the law enforcement community debated the merits of asset forfeiture — the seizure of property and/or…
House panel debates bill limiting KORA charges to provide public documents
Taxpayers won’t be overcharged to receive public documents in Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) requests any longer if House Bill…