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Commentary
Kansas Health Care Bill Good for Consumers
By Gregory L. Schneider
As a proponent of consumer-driven health care reform there has not been much legislation to cheer about lately, especially at the federal level. The common sense solutions are best left to the states and one of these solutions is currently making its way through the Kansas House of Representatives. Let's hope it passes. Read More>>
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Press Release
YOUR Kansas Tax Dollars: Efficient, Effective & Targeted?
Arkansas City (February 16, 2010) - [...] Senator Abrams and Representative Kelley invite citizens to join them Saturday, February 27, 2010, from 10 a.m. to noon
at the Brown Center Theatre on the campus of Cowley College in Arkansas City, Kansas, to learn more about the allocation and uses of their Kansas tax dollars. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. for coffee and juice, with the program beginning at 10 a.m. The event, moderated by Arkansas City Commissioner and former Superintendent Jean Snell, includes a Q&A period prior to adjournment. Read More>>
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Bankers see bleak job prospects for Kansans
 By Gene Meyer, February 19, 2010(KansasReporter) TOPEKA, Kan. -Prospects for Kansas' and the Midwest's struggling economies took a turn for the worse in February on bleaker jobs prospsects, according to a monthly survey of bank executives. Read More>>
KPERS funding among the U.S. lowest, study finds
By Gene Meyer, February 18. 2010
 (KansasReporter) TOPEKA, Kan. - Kansas' pension fund for teachers, state and local government workers and other employees is the second most poorly funded such pension plan in the nation, according to a report released Thursday by Pew Charitable Trusts researchers in Washington. Read More>>
Kansas needs stronger plan for tax breaks, audit finds
By Gene Meyer, February 17, 2010
 (KansasReporter) TOPEKA, Kan. - Kansas needs a stronger system for determining when to grant tax breaks to a wide variety of charities, public service groups, business development organizations and others, say two state audits released Wednesday.
Just one day after Kansas House tax writers rejected the idea of a three-year moratorium on new tax exemptions, credits and other boons in order to consider just such a system, the legislature's Division of Post Audit issued assessments of a broad range of tax credits and sales tax exemptions that have mushroomed out of Topeka since 2006.Read More>>
Audit: Redrawing court districts would save millions
By Gene Meyer, February 16, 2010
 (KansasReporter) TOPEKA, Kan. - Crunching Kansas' 31 state judicial districts into 13 potentially would save the state about $6.2 million annually, legislative auditors told the Kansas House Appropriations Committee Tuesday.
Consolidating those districts even more dramatically - into just seven districts - would save even more money, about $8.1 million. But neither move would solve widely differing judicial workloads that are one of the system's biggest problems, the legislative audit also reported. Read More>>
Sales tax plan hurts low income Kansans, critics say
By Gene Meyer, February 15, 2010
 (KansasReporter) TOPEKA, Kan. - A Kansas panel's proposal to streamline sales tax exemptions in the state would hurt many of the state's most fragile citizens, critics told state legislators. Read More>>
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"Turn yourself in" if you violate campaign finance rules
 By Earl Glynn on February 18, 2010
That is State Rep Don Hineman's advice. In January Hineman (R, Dighton) discovered he inadvertently violated campaign finance rules about soliciting campaign contributions from lobbyists after Jan. 1 and before the end of the legislative session. Hineman turned himself in and cooperated with the investigation by the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission. Hineman was fined $100 at a hearing [...]Read More>>
Kansas Supreme Court Justice asks Ethics Commission for opinion
 By Earl Glynn on February 18, 2010
Topeka. On Wednesday Kansas Supreme Court Justice Carol Beier asked the Ethics Commission whether the retention election for the position of Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court was governed by the Kansas Campaign Finance Act. One member of the commission commented about the irony of a Supreme Court justice asking for an opinion in a legal [...] Read More>>
Healing Arts Director Filed Lawsuit against Board over "Resignation"
By Earl Glynn on February 17, 2010
Jack Confer, the former Executive Director of the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts, filed a lawsuit against the Board in December and that matter is still pending in Shawnee County District Court. Confer took the job in July 2008 to lead the Kansas agency that regulates doctors. Confer followed Larry Buening, who resigned in Apr. [...] Read More>>
Government payrolls show continuing, long-term growth as private sector jobs decline
By Paul Soutar on February 15, 2010
 Kansas continues to lose private sector jobs as it adds more taxpayer-funded government jobs, a trend mirrored at the national level. The private sector lost 57,900 jobs between December 2007 and December 2009 while government added 3,200 jobs in Kansas according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Local government grew the most over the [...]Read More>>
Fuzzy "Facts" vs Freedom in Smoking Ban Debate
By Paul Soutar on February 11, 2010
There's almost no debate that smoking is unhealthy, but there's plenty of debate about whether and how to implement a statewide ban on smoking in public to reduce exposure to second-hand smoke. Interested citizens, lobbyists and speakers filled the Health and Human Services hearing room in the Docking building Wednesday. Local media photographed Stacy Parkinson, wife [...]Read More>>
"Motor Voter" allows teens under 18 to pre-register to vote in Kansas without proposed new law By Earl Glynn on February 11, 2010
"So we kinda have this [preregistration] then?" was the question from State Rep Scott Schwab (R, Olathe) at the House Elections Committee hearing in Topeka about allowing teens 14-17 to preregister to vote when they turned 18. On Wednesday State Rep Milack Talia (D, Shawnee) presented his bill to allow preregistration for young people to vote. [...] Read More>>
Dodge City reporter found in contempt, fined for court no-show
By Earl Glynn on February 11, 2010
Are Kansas Courts overstepping their bounds in a freedom of the press case? Claire O'Brien, a Dodge City Globe reporter, learned details from an interview with a murder suspect. Ford County attorney Terry Malone wants to force her to reveal her sources: Read More>>
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An Evening with Dr. Robert Lawson, 2.25.2010
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Dr. Emily Chamlee-Wright
Law Liberty and the Market Lecture Series
March 2, 2010, 7-9pm
Friends University, Science 100
The lectures are free and open to the public
Dr. Chamlee-Wright will be addressing current events, including the earthquakes in Haiti and the financial crises in the U.S. economy, applying lessons learned about market solutions from her research on the recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina. Using her background in economic development, Dr. Chamlee-Wright will comment on the direction and anticipated effectiveness of current efforts at solving complex social issues.
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 Calling all students and recent graduates:Learn more about liberty this summer at George Mason's Institute for Humane Studies. Application Deadline: 3.31.2010
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