Category: Kansas state government
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Kansas and Wichita need pay-to-play laws
In Wichita, campaign contributions made to city council candidates often are not about supporting political ideologies — liberal, moderate, or conservative. It’s about opportunists seeking money from government. Pay-to-play laws can help control this harmful practice.
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Kansas STAR bonds vote a test for capitalism
An upcoming vote in the Kansas House of Representatives will let Kansans know who is truly in favor of economic freedom, limited government, and free market capitalism — and who favors crony capitalism instead.
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Reform KPERS now for the future
Significant structural KPERS reform must happen this year. Our state cannot afford to put this off yet again, writes Kansas State Treasurer Ron Estes.
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Kansas and Wichita lag the nation in tax costs
If we in Kansas and Wichita wonder why our economic growth is slow and our economic development programs don’t seem to be producing results, there is now data to answer the question why: Our tax rates are high — way too high.
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An ill wind blows in Kansas: The politics of renewable energy
Kansas Representative Charlotte O’Hara, who represents Kansas House District 27 in southern Johnson County, offers a look at the politics surrounding wind power in Kansas.
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Kansas Bioscience Authority hearings, day 2
At the second day of testimony regarding a forensic audit of the Kansas Bioscience Authority, a representative of Kansas Governor Sam Brownback was strongly critical of the audit itself, and also of the Board of Directors of KBA. Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Dale A. Rodman, who oversaw the audit process on behalf of the Brownback…
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For Kansas, spending is the other part of the equation
Kansas tax reform is made difficult by the fact that Kansas has a large, big-spending state government.
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Kansas Bioscience Authority
The release of a forensics audit of the Kansas Bioscience Authority coupled with two days of joint committee hearings revealed an independent government agency out of control, an audit that draws conclusions described as sanitized of important details, and an agency and legislative supporters who believe that now, all is well at the KBA.
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Kansas committee asks if KBA audit did enough to expose problems
Members of a Kansas joint committee expressed concern that a forensic audit of the Kansas Bioscience Authority was not broad enough and that deliberate deletion of data from a KBA computer left questions unanswered.
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Guide to Kansas legislative documents
Kansas state government has many websites and documents that help understand the Kansas Legislature. But some documents and data are missing.
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In Kansas, the billion-dollar question
The Fair Tax could provide a solution to problems in Kansas with the budget and our economic prospects, writes Larry Halloran.
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Kansas Speaker: Schools don’t spend all they have
Based on choices that many school districts have made in response to legislation giving them flexibility to spend fund balances, Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives Mike O’Neal questions whether a school funding crisis actually exists.