Community health centers have to take patients regardless of ability to pay. More patients are coming in and many don’t have insurance that can cover the cost of care.
2025 Legislative session
Posted inState Government
Lawmakers debate whether voters should elect Kansas Supreme Court justices
Robert Edmunds won three judicial elections in his home state of North Carolina. He was elected to the state Court of Appeals before serving two terms on the state’s Supreme Court. Edmunds said he never would have risen through the ranks without elections. He didn’t have any political connections to the governor. He didn’t run […]
Posted inState Government
Kansas lawmakers offer dueling ideas on property tax relief
Debbie Detmer has a lot of memories in her house. She’s lived there 40 years and raised three children in it. Detmer is retired now and lives on a fixed income in Johnson County. She hasn’t done any work on her house, yet she pays more in property taxes each year. The bill is rising […]
Posted inState Government
Mid-term report: Kansas lawmakers prioritize culture war, squeeze social services and reject medical weed
Kansas Republicans are cracking down on social services programs, creating new crimes and rejecting proposals by Democrats. It’s the halfway point through the state legislative session and Kansas lawmakers have passed dozens of bills through the House and Senate. Some bills could fail or be significantly altered when they get to the other chamber. Other […]
Posted inState Government
Kansas lawmakers fret about future spending. They are trying to keep the budget lean.
The 2026 budget projection for Kansas isn’t great. The state is about $480 million short of funding all of its expenses. There’s no need to panic, though, said Rep. Troy Waymaster, a Bunker Hill Republican. “There are many things that could change the projections,” he said. The state is not guaranteed to face a fiscal […]
Posted inKansas
Kansas lawmakers consider medical weed again. Is the fifth time the charm?
Kansas lawmakers are likely going to act on medical marijuana in the 2025 session. Maybe. Medical marijuana is becoming a perennial debate in Topeka, and it’s annually unclear how likely it is for a bill to pass. “I have sat through, I don’t know, three interim committee meetings,” said Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park […]
Posted inKansas
Kansas Legislature prepares for another round of property tax cuts
Kansas lawmakers started debating tax plans in early 2024 and didn’t agree to a cut until the summer sun shone all across Kansas. The governor vetoed three tax cut bills, and lawmakers returned for a special session where they came to terms on $1.2 billion in cuts over three years. But lawmakers still left disappointed. […]
Posted inState Government
Kansas Republicans will try again to ban gender-affirming care for minors
Kansas Republicans plan to try to ban gender-affirming care for minors again. That means cutting off access to puberty blockers and hormone treatments for children with gender dysphoria, and banning gender-affirming surgery for minors, which is incredibly rare. The GOP has tried and failed to pass this ban. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly consistently vetoes the […]