Legislative wrangling continues today.

Key issues remain unresolved

In the wake of vetos of major legislation by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, the Kansas Legislature heads for a chaotic finale to an extended wrap-up session. The legislative maneuvering continues today.

Issues still pending include the Sunflower coal-fired power plant expansion; the state budget; a new voter ID law; and, perhaps, a last minute attempt to resurrect some form of abortion reform.

On the Sunflower plant, House and Senate leadership are attempting once again to muster enough votes to overcome the objections of Sebelius. [ Read more...]

Opponents call compromise bill 'toothless'

Illegal immigration bill appears doomed

A bill intended to crack down on illegal immigration was on life support as the end of the wrap-up session neared, after a last-ditch effort to breathe life back into the legislation failed early Friday evening.

Rep. Arlen Siegfried, an Olathe Republican who sat on a conference committee convened to reconcile differing House and Senate versions of the bill, took to the House floor to defend the compromise legislation that emerged from the conference committee.

But his motion to set up a vote in the House failed and the bill was subsequently assigned back to a conference committee so negotiations could continue. It appeared highly unlikely that any resolution would be forthcoming during this session. [ Read more...]

Operation Rescue calls action a 'huge victory' for the rule of law

Supreme Court unseals Planned Parenthood case against Kline

The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday unsealed a lawsuit filed against Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline by Planned Parenthood.

The suit seeks the return of records that Kline considers crucial evidence in a criminal case against the abortion provider. The records do not contain any information that would allow an abortion recipient to be identified.

The decision means the criminal case against Planned Parenthood will continue June 12.

As the unsealed documents reveal, Kline obtained the records when he was serving as attorney general. He sought and won approval from Shawnee County District Court Judge Richard Anderson, who oversaw the case when Kline was attorney general, to have the records transferred to the Johnson County district attorney’s office. The judge approved the transfer knowing that Kline had been appointed to serve as Johnson County district attorney. [ Read more...]

Jones: Slattery 'has deep ties to the lobbying industry'

Slattery to face Jones in Senate primary battle

Former Congressman Jim Slattery has a lot of fund-raising to do if he hopes to push aside fellow Democrat Lee Jones and go on to unseat two-term Senator Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts in November.

Slattery’s long-anticipated announcement that he would mount a challenge to Roberts came Tuesday. In the meantime, the Center for Responsive Politics reported that Roberts has amassed a campaign war chest of nearly $3 million as of March 31.

Slattery, a Democrat, served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He stepped down in 1994 to seek election as Kansas governor but was soundly defeated by Bill Graves.

He then moved to Virginia, where he has been a partner in a Washington, D.C., law firm and a registered lobbyist. He joins Lee Jones in seeking the Democratic nomination. [ Read more...]

They say without weapons, they're defenseless

Students want concealed carry rights on campus

A student movement to allow the carrying of concealed weapons on college campuses has spread to five colleges in Kansas. And, a sixth chapter is expected to form as soon as next week at Johnson County Community College, the state’s largest community college.

The movement sprang up in the wake of an incident last April in which a student at Virginia Tech University massacred 32 fellow students before taking his own life. The day after the incident, a student at the University of North Texas, using the social networking website Facebook, began a campaign to rally support for concealed carry on campuses.

Thus was Students for Concealed Carry born. The group now has more than 25,000 members at 300 college chapters in 44 states. [ Read more...]

The Week on the Web

Medical board still ailing. The AMA's physicians newspaper takes another well-aimed shot at the poetically named Kansas Board of Healing Arts:

The Kansas board ranked poorly -- 41st -- in an analysis of medical board data by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. The national rate of serious disciplinary actions per 1,000 licensed physicians fell 22% during the last three years, the group said.

Hoot and the howls. Republican Bill Otto's youtube tune, "Home on the Range 2020," is hilarious. Not only does Otto have the hangdog angst of a plaintive plainsman down pat, he's also attracting howls of outrage from the usual pack on the looney left.

Truth in fabling. Tim Schieferecke and the bloggers at RedState.com have concocted a cute little story about bribery helping the cause of the forces of eco-darkness as they battle the forces of the electric light:

The members on the fact finding "mission" to basketball bliss were Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence; Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence; Rep. Terrie Huntington, R-Mission Hills; Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka; Rep. Julie Menghini, D-Pittsburg; Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood; Sen. David Wysong, R-Mission Hills; Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence; Rep. Sydney Carlin, D-Manhattan; and Sen. Dwayne Umbarger, R-Thayer, Chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

It might resemble a fairy tale if it weren't so true (but note, anyone who thinks Kansas is "the one of the reddest states in the nation" either reads too much Thomas Frank or hasn't been south of the Nebraska line for a long time).

House Speaker Melvin Neufeld certainly thinks there's more to this and has accused Sebelius of using the flights to keep key supporters on her side. Coverage of this in the state press has been predictably lame.

For example, here's the Associated Press reassuring its readers that while John Vratil may have taken the flights, he "always voted for the legislation Sebelius has vetoed and to override her actions."

Must be a different Vratil and a different Sebelius - and a different Kansas. Same old AP, though.

New reader resource! News Around Kansas, the Liberty Update weekly harvest of press items from across our part of the fruited plain.

A Preview of the Coming Week

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