Articles written by John Hanna
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 782
Top court: Kansas Constitution allows partisan redistricting
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' top court declared Tuesday that the state constitution doesn't prohibit partisan gerrymandering, prompting one dissenting justice to accuse the majority of ignoring a "full-scale assault on democracy" from a Republican c...
Kansas' first transgender lawmaker not seeking reelection
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' first transgender state legislator is not seeking reelection, saying Friday that she is moving to Texas so that she can help care for her wife's aging parents. Democratic state Rep. Stephanie Byers, of Wichita, was...
Kansas looking at $50M for businesses restricted over COVID
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is moving to provide $50 million in relief to businesses such as bars, gyms and hair salons that were forced by state or local officials to shut down or restrict their operations during the first weeks of the coronavirus...
Days before Oklahoma bans abortion, details still uncertain
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — With Oklahoma only days away from enacting the toughest state ban on abortion in the U.S., providers were preparing to stop terminating pregnancies as questions remained Friday about enforcing the law's limited exceptions. The...
In abortion fight, conservatives push to end all exceptions
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Angela Housley was halfway through her pregnancy when she learned the fetus was developing without parts of its brain and skull and would likely die within hours or days of birth, if it survived that long. The news came during h...
GOP ties boost in Kansas school funding to 'open enrollment'
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Kansas on Thursday approved an increase in funding for public schools but tied the extra money to allowing parents to send their children to any school with room for them. The measure passed by the...
Kansas moves to phase out tax on groceries after election
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is moving to phase out the nation's second-highest state sales tax on groceries, but Republican lawmakers aren't planning to lower consumers' bills until after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly faces reelection in November. Eli...
Lawmaker doesn't want to share restroom with trans colleague
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas state lawmaker has complained publicly about having to share women's restrooms with a "huge" transgender colleague whom she describes as a potential threat to young children who visit the Statehouse. Republican state...
Kansas looks to use taxes on sports bets to attract Chiefs
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators were close Wednesday to approving a measure authorizing sports betting that would dedicate most of the state's revenues from it to efforts to lure the Kansas City Chiefs from Missouri to the Kansas side of the...
Kansas lawmakers return to tax cut debate; maps scrutinized
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers on Monday ended a spring break with more room to cut taxes and boost state spending than they had even a few weeks ago but potentially facing another debate over political redistricting. The...
Kansas judge rejects congressional map; appeal promised
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas district court judge on Monday struck down a new Republican-backed congressional map that would likely make it harder for the only Democrat in the state's delegation to win reelection this year. It was the first time a...
Kansas expects $760M more in taxes; fight over cuts heats up
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A new Kansas fiscal forecast issued Wednesday predicted that inflation will boost state tax collections more than previously expected, intensifying the dispute between Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and the Republican-controlled...
Kansas governor nixes bills on trans athletes, parents' role
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed conservative Republicans' proposed ban on transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports and a GOP proposal aimed at making it easier for parents to try to remove materials from...
Kansas governor signs new legislative, school board maps
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday signed a redistricting measure expected to preserve Republican supermajorities in the Kansas Legislature while also making it possible for conservatives to elect more members to the state...
Wefald remembered as leader who made Kansas State 'relevant'
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Jon Wefald is being remembered as "a human dynamo," a Kansas State University president for more than two decades who increased its enrollment, improved academic programs and boosted research funding — while finally finding a...
Residential property owners in Kansas to see small tax break
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Home and apartment-building owners will get a small break in the property taxes they'll owe this year and are likely to see small decreases in future years under a measure Gov. Laura Kelly signed into law Thursday. The...
Kansas trans sports ban likely to pass; veto override unsure
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Conservative legislators in Kansas expected Friday to pass a proposed ban on transgender girls and women competing in female school sports, though LGBTQ-rights activists believed the margins wouldn't be large enough to overcome...
Kansas chamber subpoenaed; ethics official briefly targeted
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A powerful Kansas business group said Friday that it has received subpoenas from the state ethics commission for information about campaign finance activities as Republican lawmakers pushed but then abruptly dropped a plan to...
GOP leader hopes new map moves Kansas school board to right
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas are pushing a redistricting plan that the state Senate's top GOP leader hopes will move the state school board to the right and give conservatives more say over what's taught in public schools....
GOP defections thwart some of conservatives' plans in Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Key conservative initiatives are likely to fail in Kansas this year because a few Republicans are breaking with the rest of the Legislature's veto-proof GOP supermajorities. Republicans have pushed measures through the state...
Kansas GOP lawmakers seek to nullify local 'sanctuary' rules
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers on Wednesday passed a measure to overturn three communities' policies that could help immigrants stay in Kansas illegally, highlighting an issue the GOP is likely to push in the governor's race. The bill is...
Kansas won't enforce vaccine rule for nursing home workers
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's says Kansas won't enforce a federal mandate that nursing home workers get vaccinated against COVID-19, acknowledging Wednesday that it conflicts with an anti-mandate state law she signed four...
Kansas lawmaker agrees to counseling to avoid battery charge
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 21-year-old Kansas legislator has agreed to undergo mental health counseling and a domestic violence assessment to avoid being prosecuted on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge over a fight with his younger brother....
GOP push against ballot drop boxes hits rural places, too
LECOMPTON, Kan. (AP) — Holes in the sidewalk outside Lecompton City Hall are a reminder that voters can drop their ballots in a box bolted there during elections. But as Republicans question the security of drop boxes, this small northeast Kansas t...
Kansas debates expanding student transfers in public schools
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators who argue that Kansas parents need more education choices are pushing to allow them to move their children from the public schools they'd normally attend to others outside their local school district's...