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Commentary
Lawsuits and tax increases not necessary to fund schools
By Dave Trabert
A recent commentary by Kansas State Board of Education member David Dennis said educators "...just ask that they (legislators) make their decisions based on accurate information, with the future of our students in mind." (Read more). |
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Senators unveil plan to avoid future budget crises
Two
Kansas senators with major roles in the state's budget process called
Tuesday for a state constitutional amendment requiring the
establishment of a rainy day fund to help soften the impact of future
economic slumps on state spending(Read more).
IRS to watch Kansas tax preparers more closely
By Gene Meyer
Federal investigators plan to conduct both announced and unannounced spot checks of tax preparers in the current filing season as a way to further scrutinize tax preparers (Read more).
Tax revenues fall, adding pressure on legislators
By Gene Meyer
As tax revenues continue to fall below estimates each month, pressure is increasing on legislators to either raise taxes further or find more ways to trim government spending (Read more).
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Wichita School Board Approves Spending Up to $250,000 to Sue for More Funding
By Paul Soutar
In its first meeting of the New Year the USD 259 Wichita School Board voted to support the effort by Schools for Fair Funding (SFFF), "to reopen the Montoy litigation and/or initiate new litigation against the State of Kansas..." The vote was unanimous and will cost the district as much as $250,000, $5 per pupil, for fiscal year 2010 (Read more).
Kansas federal candidate summary from FEC
By Earl Glynn
Last week the Federal Election Commission announced on their Disclosure Data Weblog that they added a new Candidate Summary File to their fairly new Disclosure Data Catalog.
This new candidate summary provides financial information for each candidate who has registered with the FEC or appears on an official state ballot for an election to the U.S. House of Representatives or U.S. Senate during the current two-year election cycle.
The complete file for all FEC candidates can be downloaded in either CSV or XML formats (Read more).
No phantom Stimulus zip codes in Kansas
By Earl Glynn
Our national watchdog site today reported there were "phantom" ZIP codes for the recipients of some stimulus spending in the recovery.gov data.
More than $375 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money was pumped into 170 ZIP codes that do not exist. This wasn't a Kansas story since no phantom Kansas ZIPs were found, but I assisted with the national story. My contribution was to analyze almost 157,000 records of stimulus spending from the recovery.org download page in separate files for contracts, grants and loans (Read more). Wichita-area Legislators Hear From Citizens Before Session Starts
By Paul Soutar
South Central Kansas gave their legislators plenty of ideas and opinions to take to Topeka for the upcoming 2010 Legislative session. State Representatives and Senators from Wichita and the surrounding area listened as 31 citizens expressed their interests and opinions for nearly two hours Tuesday evening in the jury room of the Sedgwick County Courthouse in Wichita (Read more). Dr. Barbara Bollier elected new State Rep 25
By Earl Glynn
Mission Hills. Johnson County Republican Party precinct committees elected Dr. Barbara Bollier to be the new Kansas House representative from District 25. Bollier, 52, Mission Hills, is a retired anesthesiologist. She replaces Terrie Huntington, who was elected to the Kansas Senate after the resignation of David Wysong. Bollier's opponent in the race was Steve Petrehn, former mayor and current council member of Roeland Park (Read more).
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