Good morning everyone:
Another very big week of news in Kansas. A hot GOP gubernatorial debate. A poll showing state Sen. Laura Kelly with a big lead in the Democratic gubernatorial election. The Supreme Court clears the path for states to tax the internet. And a judge stopped Kansas proof-of-citizenship requirements for would-be voters. Let’s try to catch you up with some other news and tidbits that fell between the cracks last week.
Governor’s race
Our radar doesn’t usually miss much as we monitor news for you, but this Topeka Capital-Journal story about the Democratic gubernatorial primary quietly slipped by last week.
While we have seen some polling showing the horse race in the Republican primary, we’ve seen nothing about the Democratic side until last week.
The C-J had this story about some polling that showed Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly with a lead among the Democrats. The poll had Kelly at 35 percent with former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer at 22 percent and former state Rep. Josh Svaty at 12 percent.
For what it’s worth, Svaty raised the most money of any Democratic candidate ($192,545) as of the end of 2017 and Kelly was a close second ($155,691). Yet, Kelly has the backing of much of the Democratic establishment, including former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
The AP’s John Hanna on Sunday morning took a look at how the immigration issue is playing in the Kansas governor’s race.
In that context, here’s a new development in the case of the Topeka group home that’s housing children who were separated from their parents at the border as part of the president’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy that’s created a firestorm of protests.
House Minority Lead Jim Ward announced Saturday that former U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom had put together a team of lawyers to assist immigrant children who have been removed from their parents and are now housed at The Villages.
Meanwhile, the Democratic gubernatorial candidates convened in Atchison on Friday night. Here’s a report on the event from the Atchison Globe. And here’s a podcast that Svaty did last week with the Capital-Journal. KSNT’s Courtney Ryan asks the GOP gubernatorial candidates about their views about expanding Medicaid.
There also was this story from The KC Star’s Hunter Woodall who examined the amount of money Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer still owes himself from a campaign committee he created to run for Congress many years ago.
Apparently, Colyer lists about $240,000 in debt in that campaign account, which he started to run for Congress in the 3rd District in 2002. Former pilot Adam Taff won the primary that year and went on to give Democratic incumbent Dennis Moore a tough race.
Basically, there’s nothing wrong with Colyer carrying the debt on the books and, more than likely, he ends up eating it in the end. Read the story and draw your own conclusions.
Republican former state Sen. Jim Barnett has been stepping it up this past week. He first called on the state to end its contract with a KanCare contractor that’s not meeting its performance standards for processing Medicaid applications.
Then on Saturday, he issued a statement calling for Secretary of State Kris Kobach to end the use of the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, which compares voter registration records from one state with the 26 other participating states to check for dual voter registrations and possible double voting. The ACLU is now suing Kobach over the program, saying it compromises sensitive voter information.
“If Kobach had ended the use of CrossCheck when we called on him to do so last year, everyone would be further along,” Barnett said. “Instead, Kobach tried to fix the flawed program and cost the state of Kansas and its taxpayers a lot of time and money. This is just one more reason he shouldn’t be governor.”
Kansans for Life’s dual gubernatorial endorsement
Most every Republican candidate for governor came out a winner last week when Kansans for Life’s political action committee endorsed Gov. Jeff Colyer and Secretary of State Kris Kobach. The group also agreed to note on its postcards that Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer is pro-life. The only one left out was former state Sen. Jim Barnett.
So why the double endorsement?
“One reason would be the race is so close you can’t tell who’s got a better chance of winning,” said Mary Kay Culp, executive director for KFL.
“You want to be on record as being behind the guy who wins. That’s not everybody’s reason. I’m just saying it’s a reason,” she said.
“It’s pretty much a three-way race to some degree,” Culp added. “Kobach has testified for pro-life bills and Colyer, of course, has actually now signed a pro-life bill and has a long voting record of voting pro-life.”
The organization wanted to acknowledge that Selzer is pro-life. Poll numbers and fundraising show “he’s got a chance,” Culp said.
“This is a decision made by a board with a lot of people chiming in,” she said. “There were people who agreed with this, people who wanted to go another direction, but ultimately after a long discussion it was decided this was the best way to do it.”
Revenue Department turmoil
The Capital-Journal’s Tim Carpenter obtains a secret recording between Revenue Department Secretary Sam Williams and the agency’s information technology staff that provides some insight into the internal workings of the department.
Care for children immigrants
Republican Congressman Roger Marshall reports back after visiting a detention facility for immigrant children on the U.S.-Mexico border. He said the children seemed to be getting good care, but yet expressed concerns over how federal immigration enforcement is handling immigrants trying to cross the border illegally. The Associated Press’ John Hanna has this dispatch. Here’s another story on Marshall’s visit to the border from WIBW.
Farm bill news
We’ll offer you this complete roundup of news from the U.S. House narrowly passing a new farm bill that imposes stricter work requirements for receiving food stamp benefits. We’ll just put these stories out there for you to peruse from the KC Star, Kansas Public Radio, the Capital-Journal, and the Lawrence Journal-World. For what it’s worth, the stories from Topeka and Lawrence probably give you more of a local flavor than the stories from Kansas City and Kansas Public Radio.
Proof-of-citizenship requirement affected young voters
When U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson struck down the state’s proof-of-citizenship requirement for voting, her opinion gave some insight into who was most affected
Overall, as of March 2016, there had been 30,732 voter registration applications invalidated because of the proof-of-citizenship requirement. Three-quarter of those applications were submitted at driver’s license offices.
Robinson’s ruling found that one expert – University of Florida professor Michael McDonald -credibly testified that the law disproportionately affected young adults and those who were not politically affiliated.
McDonald reported that 43 percent of the motor-voter applicants were between 18 and 29 years old and 53 percent were unaffiliated.
A leading scholar on voter registration, McDonald testified that there is a general consensus that barriers to voter registration discourage people from participating in the political process. It’s worse for younger voters.
“Moreover, these groups—the young and unaffiliated—already have a lower propensity to participate in the political process and are less inclined to shoulder the costs associated with voter registration,” Robinson wrote.
Online sales tax: What now?
Now that the Supreme Court has opened the door for the state to collect sales taxes on internet purchases, Bloomberg looks to the future with this story. The piece looks at questions such as whether the ruling will affect small retailers who are trying to use the internet to grow and whether Congress might step in and act. The story looks at some important considerations for policy makers.
Secretary of State’s race
This race isn’t getting much attention since it’s in the shadow of the governor’s race. However, there are a couple of interesting stories worth considering.
KSNT’s Courtney Ryan asks the secretary of state candidates about the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, which is now the focus of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Then Kansas News Service’s Celia Llopis-Jepsen has this report for Kansas Public Radio on the candidates’ thoughts about appealing a judge’s ruling that struck down the state’s proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting.
Foster kids in offices
Kansas News Services brings us a new report showing that fewer foster children are spending the night in offices. A chart produced by Kansas News Service shows the number of overnight office stays has dropped precipitously in recent months.
Transportation issues addressed
Kansas Transportation Secretary Richard Carlson sits down for a podcast with the Topeka Capital-Journal. Among other things, he discusses the new transportation task force created to help develop a new multi-year transportation plan as well as the potential for raising the state’s fuel tax to pay for roads.
