Takeaways: The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl, which means millions more will be wagered in Kansas on the game. But sports betting remains illegal in Missouri — lawmakers continue to wrangle on a law that would change that — and bettors regularly travel to Kansas to wager on who might win […]
Blaise Mesa
Blaise Mesa is The Beacon’s Kansas Statehouse reporter. He has covered the Kansas Statehouse for The Beacon since Nov. 2023 after reporting on social services for the Kansas News Service and crime and local government for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He has a bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism with a concentration in radio from Columbia College Chicago.
Posted inKansas State Government
Kansas public defenders got raises. But their dissatisfaction with pay almost doubled
Takeaways: Kansas lawmakers gave public defenders a historic raise in recent years, yet a survey of those attorneys found that their concerns over pay almost doubled. In 2019, the State Board of Indigents’ Defense Services lost a fourth of its attorneys. In 2022, it lost another fifth. That led lawmakers to raise wages last year, […]
Posted inState Government
Kansas flat-tax plan vetoed by Gov. Laura Kelly. Here’s what happens next
Takeaways: A Republican-led Kansas tax plan that would bring $1.6 billion in tax cuts over three years was vetoed by the state’s Democratic governor on Friday. Now, the Legislature and governor prepare for a bitter fight over taxes that makes it unclear whether Kansans will get a tax break — or what form it might […]
Posted inKansas State Government
Kansas flat-tax plan vetoed by Gov. Laura Kelly. Here’s what happens next
Takeaways: A Republican-led Kansas tax plan that would bring $1.6 billion in tax cuts over three years was vetoed by the state’s Democratic governor on Friday. Now, the Legislature and governor prepare for a bitter fight over taxes that makes it unclear whether Kansans will get a tax break — or what form it might […]
Posted inEconomics, State Government
A Kansas business tax credit can offset the cost of child care. But almost nobody uses it
Takeaways: The child care shortage in Kansas costs families dearly, yet a business tax credit to offset those costs goes mostly unused. The credit is designed to encourage small businesses to offset costs for their employees and get money shaved off their state tax bill as a reward. A business spending $5,000 a year contracting […]
Posted inEconomics, Kansas State Government
A Kansas business tax credit can offset the cost of child care. But almost nobody uses it
Takeaways: The child care shortage in Kansas costs families dearly, yet a business tax credit to offset those costs goes mostly unused. The credit is designed to encourage small businesses to offset costs for their employees and get money shaved off their state tax bill as a reward. A business spending $5,000 a year contracting […]
Posted inState Government
Kansas Democrats and Republicans both proposed tax cuts. Here’s how they compare
Takeaways: Republicans and Democrats propose dueling tax-cut plans in the Kansas Legislature that could spend down a surplus and set policy for a generation. The Republican plan includes things the Democratic governor has said she’ll never sign. The Democrats’ plan lacks items that Republicans say are must-haves. Yet even as each side says the other’s […]
Posted inKansas State Government
Kansas Democrats and Republicans both proposed tax cuts. Here’s how they compare
Takeaways: Republicans and Democrats propose dueling tax-cut plans in the Kansas Legislature that could spend down a surplus and set policy for a generation. The Republican plan includes things the Democratic governor has said she’ll never sign. The Democrats’ plan lacks items that Republicans say are must-haves. Yet even as each side says the other’s […]
Posted inState Government
Here’s how Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly wants to spend the state’s tax dollars
Takeaways: The Kansas budget would include the largest single-year investment in child care under the plan set out by Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday The governor’s recommendations are just one step in the lengthy process of setting a final budget. Proposals to expand Medicaid and invest more in special education and her tax-cut plans draw […]
Posted inEducation, Health, Kansas State Government
Here’s how Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly wants to spend the state’s tax dollars
Takeaways: The Kansas budget would include the largest single-year investment in child care under the plan set out by Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday The governor’s recommendations are just one step in the lengthy process of setting a final budget. Proposals to expand Medicaid and invest more in special education and her tax-cut plans draw […]