Kansas Reflector

Kansas Reflector is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to delivering detailed reporting, a variety of viewpoints, and daily updates on government and political matters.

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Analysts raise Kansas' short-term revenue forecast, warn of budget woes on horizon • Kansas Reflector

6 days ago | kansasreflector.com | Tim Carpenter

TOPEKA — A bullish revenue picture for state government in Kansas through the current and next fiscal years couldn’t sugarcoat projections the state budget could end up with a $730 million deficit by 2029 if lawmakers continued spending more than what was collected in revenue.
Kansas advocacy group marks HOPE Act anniversary by calling attention to food insecurity

1 week ago | kansasreflector.com | Tim Carpenter

TOPEKA — The advocacy organization Kansas Appleseed marked the 10th anniversary of the HOPE Act by denouncing the legacy of a state law blamed for undermining food security and work of the late U.S. Sen. Robert Dole to aid malnourished people. The HOPE Act, formally known as the Kansas Hope, Opportunity and Prosperity for Everyone Act, was signed into law in April 2015 by then-Gov. Sam Brownback.
Wyandotte County judge dismisses death penalty challenge on procedural grounds

1 week ago | kansasreflector.com | Tim Carpenter

TOPEKA — A Wyandotte County District Court judge pointed to flaws in Kansas’ capital punishment law in an opinion that didn’t lead to findings relative to a constitutional challenge because the death penalty was taken off the table in both cases creating legal standing for the case.
Funding freeze could slam Kansas classrooms, but state officials have asked feds to reverse course

1 week ago | kansasreflector.com | Anna Kaminski

TOPEKA — A directive from the U.S. Department of Education immediately froze more than $22 million in federal funding meant to help Kansas students recover from pandemic-era learning loss. The freeze hasn’t yet reached classrooms, but the state recognizes that could change and is asking officials to give the funds back.
Kansas Legislature slips under the wire a sales tax break to incentivize 'hyperscale' data centers • Kansas Reflector

1 week ago | kansasreflector.com | Tim Carpenter

TOPEKA — The Kansas Legislature completed a fitful process of writing and rewriting a bill delivering a state tax subsidy to investors betting on construction of enormous data centers costing a minimum $250 million. The House and Senate voted with bipartisan majorities on the final day of the 2025 session to send Gov. Laura Kelly a bill containing the sales tax incentive to help attract warehouse-shaped hubs packed with computer servers relied upon in the digital economy.
Kansas LGBTQ+ foster kids’ rights in jeopardy under new law protecting religious parents

1 week ago | kansasreflector.com | Anna Kaminski

TOPEKA — The way Kansas LGBTQ+ youths in foster care are placed into homes could change after lawmakers forced a bill into law that permits foster children to be placed with families who don’t affirm a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity based on the parents’ religious or moral beliefs.
Gov. Laura Kelly urges Trump administration to release $22.6 million in frozen funding

1 week ago | kansasreflector.com | Tim Carpenter

TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly said Tuesday a request was submitted to the U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to reinstate more than $22 million in federal funding appropriated to Kansas to help students who fell behind during the COVID-19 pandemic catch up with peers and to retrain teachers in the science of reading. The U.S. Department of Education announced in March that approximately $3 billion in pandemic relief funds would be frozen nationwide.
GOP, Democrats blast Legislature for failure to meaningfully lower property taxes in 2025 session

1 week ago | kansasreflector.com | Tim Carpenter

TOPEKA — The Kansas Legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly patted themselves on the back last June after placing into state law a compromise bill slashing income taxes an estimated $1.2 billion over three years. Senate Bill 1 had broad support with a mere six opponents among 159 legislators voting on the package negotiated by the Democratic governor, Republican Senate President Ty Masterson of Andover and GOP House Speaker Dan Hawkins of Wichita.
Kansas Statehouse session wraps with veto overrides galore

1 week ago | kansasreflector.com | Clay Wirestone

Senior reporters Tim Carpenter and Morgan Chilson help us decode the whirlwind of activity as Kansas legislators wrapped up their business for the year. Despite Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly rejecting a pile of bills, GOP supermajorities overrode her to force a fair number of them into law. Meanwhile, lawmakers finished up an array of other business for the year.
Your 2025 Kansas Statehouse session: A belly flop into a swimming pool full of curdled milk

1 week ago | kansasreflector.com | Clay Wirestone

by Clay Wirestone, Kansas Reflector April 14, 2025 When do you call failure success? When you have a supermajority of Republicans in the Kansas Legislature. Whatever else you might have heard about the 2025 session, it was a disastrous bellyflop into a swimming pool full of curdled milk. Lawmakers wrapped up their work on Friday, leaving the state crueler, sicker, poorer and weaker. A bill mugging transgender kids made it into law. So did a bill promising tax cuts but threatening fiscal ruin.