Starting May 7, the Real ID Act will begin to take effect to fly and enter federal buildings.
Kansas Legislature
Posted inKansas State Government
Calls for state aid grow as homelessness worsens across Kansas
Takeaways: Homelessness is rising across Kansas. It’s booming in Lawrence, where it increased 51% from 2020 to 2023. Misty Bosch-Hastings, director of the Homeless Solutions Division for Lawrence, said that rise comes partly from people dropping off homeless people at camps in the city. Nearby hospitals, correctional facilities or mental health centers will pull up […]
Posted inHealth, Kansas State Government
Medicaid expansion won’t be getting its day in the Kansas Legislature. Senators fail to put it to a vote
Doctors diagnosed Kelsey Vetter with a mild form of cerebral palsy before she turned 3 years old. She hasn’t seen a doctor about it in more than a decade. “That weighs on me every day,” she said. “I know I need to get myself checked out. … But I’m afraid of those medical bills piling […]
Posted inState Government
Transgender care, abortion, plastic bags and more: Your guide to Kansas Gov. Kelly’s 2024 vetoes
Takeaways: Update: The 2024 veto session has ended. Read this story to see what passed and what didn’t. Gov. Laura Kelly’s vetoes of bills that would restrict gender-affirming care for children and abortion rights are setting up override votes that will test the unity of conservatives in the Legislature. One part of the Kansas legislative […]
Posted inHealth, Kansas State Government, Local Government
Transgender care, abortion, plastic bags and more: Your guide to Kansas Gov. Kelly’s 2024 vetoes
Takeaways: Update: The 2024 veto session has ended. Read this story to see what passed and what didn’t. Gov. Laura Kelly’s vetoes of bills that would restrict gender-affirming care for children and abortion rights are setting up override votes that will test the unity of conservatives in the Legislature. One part of the Kansas legislative […]
Posted inHealth, Kansas State Government
Kansas and Missouri bans may spur families to travel far out of state for gender-affirming care
If Kansas bans gender-affirming care for minors, Kansas City families with transgender children will be hundreds of miles from a doctor who could help them. Kansas lawmakers stand poised to follow a conservative playbook that 24 states, including Missouri, already have used to outlaw treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy. The Kansas Legislature passed […]
Posted inEducation, Kansas State Government
A hiring freeze for Wichita schools? Kansas Senate action could spare USD 259
Takeaways: Kansas lawmakers amended a bill Monday to prevent a possible hiring freeze at the Wichita school district. The bill adjusts how schools get funding. Current state law allows districts to use enrollment numbers from either of the past two academic years. Schools take the higher number because more students mean more state tax dollars. […]
Posted inEducation, Kansas State Government
These bills could change funding, hiring and enrollment in Wichita Public Schools
What the Legislature does or doesn’t do this year will determine the flow of state tax dollars to Wichita Public Schools, the ultimate cost or savings of closing some schools and how Kansas might attract new educators to fix a teacher shortage.
Posted inHealth, How To
Where to go in Wichita if you fall in the Medicaid gap
Kansas remains one of 10 states that haven’t expanded Medicaid, leaving 40,000-plus people in the state without government health insurance — or subsidies for private coverage. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly still wants the Legislature to expand that coverage — and so do more than two-thirds of Kansans. But Republican leaders in Topeka appear unlikely to […]
Posted inData, Health, Kansas State Government
Red tape and income limits have booted 82,000 Kansans off Medicaid since May. How can they get back on?
Robyn Adams struggled to support her husband and teenage daughter on $16,000 a year during the pandemic. Then the pandemic ended and her family lost its Medicaid coverage. “We went into panic,” she said. The family relied on a temporary expansion of coverage authorized by the federal government during the pandemic to weather the bills […]