Legislature

Special Contributor on March 30th, 2010

Think and Ink:  “I can keep you safe from all the monsters … except that one.  Vratil’s Sugar Tax. Copyright 2010, Think and Ink, O’Hara and Hoit.  Contact:  Charlotte O’Hara. Related: The taxman cometh… for your soda, KC Star Prime Buzz, March 9, 2010. Kansas soda drinkers to be treated like smokers, The Pitch Blog, [...]

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In a case involving widespread rumors at the state capitol, politics, and an exception provided by an old law, the Kansas Ethics Commission ruled that House Speaker Mike O’Neal (R-Hutchinson) had not violated state ethics laws. The complaint was brought by Democratic State Rep Marti Crow (D-Leavenworth) after O’Neals wife was hired by the chief [...]

Continue reading about Kansas Ethics Commission finds House Speaker Mike O’Neal did not violate nepotism law (video)

Today the National Institute on Money in State Politics announced they had updated their data for Kansas for the 2008 elections.  FollowTheMoney.org obtains data from the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission and updates its database and analysis for both candidates and political parties, and provides that information online for free.  Their grid page shows they’ve processed [...]

Continue reading about FollowTheMoney.org updates their data for Kansas. Interesting PULSE diagrams.

Earl Glynn on February 27th, 2009

A recent Meadowlark article, “Free Speech” May Cost Kansas Citizen $7500, gave details from a civil fine hearing held by the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission in January, which was decided at their February meeting. Kris Van Meteren brought a complaint to the Ethics Commission several months ago, and then talked to the press about his [...]

Continue reading about More Info on Van Meteren “Free Speech” Ethics Case

Earl Glynn on February 3rd, 2009

Dave Trabert, President of the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy in Wichita, talked to a packed room of about 50 Shawnee citizens at the Shawnee Public Library on Monday night to explain a new proposal about property taxes in Kansas.  The meeting was hosted by the Northwest Johnson County Republicans. This new proposed method, [...]

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Today the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy issued a press release, Proposition K Will Make Property Taxes Fairer and More Predictable.  Their study is about a better property tax sysetm for Kansas. This new system seeks to stabilize property taxes and make local government budgeting more transparent for taxpayers. The press release compared taxes [...]

Continue reading about Property taxes up almost everywhere, but population down in most Kansas counties

Saturday’s Chanute Tribune published an article, “Umbarger’s campaign expenditures questioned by foe.” The article described Senate candidate Iris Van Meter’s (R, Thayer) questioning of two expenditures in the campaign finance report filed on July 28 by her opponent, Senator Dwayne Umbarger (R, Thayer). Umbarger’s report listed a $1738 expenditure to Carolina Carports, which was likely [...]

Continue reading about Did Senator Umbarger violate ethics rules buying a carport with campaign money? Umbarger clairvoyant?

Sean Tevis, a Democrat in State Rep District 15 in Olathe, has become somewhat of an Internet political celebrity with a story yesterday about his unusual Internet campaign in the Los Angeles Times of all places. His campaign report filed yesterday with the Kansas Government Ethics Commission showed an amazing $96,512 raised, but almost all [...]

Continue reading about Netroots Nation used to “buy” Kansas State Rep District 15 in Olathe?

The left-leaning Kansas City Star is confused about the political affiliation of Steve Baru, who is a candidate for State Senate District 37 against Jeff Colyer in the August Republican primary election. Recently the Star’s Prime Buzz blog asked about Baru: Republican or Democrat: You make the call. The Star‘s confusion isn’t surprising since Baru [...]

Continue reading about Steve Baru seeks public trust in State Senate race but forged customer signatures!

State Rep Annie Kuether, (D, Topeka), is a friend of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and is known as a strong environmentalist in the Kansas legislature. Why is she investing in “Big Oil”?

Continue reading about Environmentalist Democratic State Rep invests in “Big Oil”?