From Pachyderm: Senate President Susan Wagle
From the Wichita Pachyderm Club: Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle. This was recorded February 1, 2019.
01
Feb
04
Dec
Briefs
He didn't participate Wichita Eagle Opinion Line, November 24, 2017: "The kindest word that can be ascribed to State Senator Susan Wagle, when she criticizes the Kansas Supreme Court? Disingenuous. She never mentions Brownback appointee, Justice Caleb Stegall; he has repeatedly agreed with his colleagues on school finance." The likely reason Senator Wagle doesn't mention Justice Stegall when criticizing the Court on school finance matters is that he, along with another judge, hasn't participated. The recent opinions are signed "BEIER and STEGALL, JJ., not participating. MICHAEL J. MALONE and DAVID L. STUTZMAN, Senior Judges, assigned." Why? "Justices Carol Beier and…
10
Nov
From Pachyderm: Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle
Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle addressed members and guests of the Wichita Pachyderm Club on November 10, 2017. School finance and the Kansas Supreme Court was a prominent topic.
18
Jul
Say no to Kansas taxpayer-funded campaigning
Kansas taxpayers should know their tax dollars are helping staff campaigns for political office. As reported by the Wichita Eagle, it is perfectly allowable for some Kansas state government employees to work on political campaigns.[1. Lowry, Bryan. Taxpayer-funded campaign staff can knock at Kansans’ doors. Wichita Eagle, July 17, 2016. Available at www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/election/article90179637.html.] Not all Kansas state government employees can work on campaigns while being paid by taxpayers. Only personal staff members of elected officials can. But this can be quite a large number of people. The Eagle reports that Governor Sam Brownback has 21 personal staff members. It's not…
14
Jan
Reaction to Kansas school lawsuit decision
Following are several reactions to the decision in Gannon vs. Kansas, the school funding lawsuit. The court ruled the state must spend more on schools. An important observation on the true size of the court-ordered tax increase was offered by Kansas Policy Institute: "Today's mandate of a $654 Base State Aid Per-Pupil (BSAPP) increase forces the state to raise annual spending and taxes by $440 million and, because of the way the Local Option Budget is written, local property taxes will automatically increase by $154 million. In total, the Shawnee District Court would take an additional $594 million out of…
11
Oct
Pachyderm speaker lineup announced
The Wichita Pachyderm Club has announced its speaker lineup for the next four weeks. October 12, 2012: Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, speaking on "Economic Growth and Tax Policy" October 19, 2012: A panel discussion of the fluoridation issue, which will appear on the November 6 ballot for Wichita residents. Speakers will include Dr. Stephen C. L’Hommedieu and Don Landis, spokespersons for Wichitans Opposed to Fluoridation. The club is still seeking someone to appear for the pro-fluoridation side. October 26, 2012: Republican General Election Candidates Leslie D. “Les” Donovan (Kansas Senate District 27), Mike Peterson (tentative, Kansas Senate District 28), Susan…
23
Jul
Sedgwick County voter registration changes: Impact on senate races
During the Kansas primary election season, there have been efforts to recruit Democratic party voters to change their voter registration to Republican in order to participate in Republican party primary races. Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) has asked teachers union members to switch their voter registration in order to vote in Republican primaries. KNEA has asked this on its website and in an email that has received widespread attention. Former Wichita Mayor Elma Broadfoot has recorded telephone calls urging Democrats to switch party registration so they may vote for moderate Republicans, reports the Wichita Eagle. Whether this effort will be…
09
Feb
Kansas Bioscience Authority hearings, day 2
At the second day of testimony (January 26, 2012) 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 Administration, also said that legislators who voted to form the KBA should "feel outraged that a golden opportunity that you helped create was taken away from your efforts." Rodman urged the committee to step back and look at the situation from a…
27
Jan
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. Defenders and supporters of KBA rely on two facts: First, the source of many problems -- former CEO Tom Thornton -- is no longer at KBA. He has been criticized for overspending and his managerial style, and the audit found that he deliberately deleted and scrubbed…
27
Jan
Kansas committee asks if KBA audit did enough to expose problems
By Bob Weeks, Special to KansasWatchdog.org Members of the joint Commerce and Economic Development Committees 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. On Wedesday James Snyder, managing partner for BKD’s Forensics and Valuation Services, told the committee that while his firm was hired and paid by KBA, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s administration was heavily involved. Secretary of Agriculture Dale Rodman served as the main contact for the Brownback Administration, although Caleb Stegall, the governor’s chief lawyer, and Steve Anderson,…