Author Archives:

Short notice for signing of such a big, historic bill

May 23, 20126:00 a.m.

There was some confusion about when Gov. Sam Brownback would sign the drastic tax-cut bill before he did so Tuesday – strange, given the pride he supposedly takes in the “pro-growth” legislation. On Saturday night there was a premature report that it would be Monday in Wichita. A realistic-looking fake press release sighted Sunday on Twitter deepened the intrigue, wryly suggesting the bill signing would be Monday at Koch Industries as a sort of “thank you” for the Koch brothers’ past political contributions to Brownback. In the end, did the administration give only two and a half hours’ notice of the bill signing, and hold it at the Capitol, to avoid public protests?

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Kansas government, Sam Brownback, taxes | Comments (0)

Could Roberts be vulnerable?

May 22, 201212:12 p.m.

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., landed an unenviable spot on a list of longtime U.S. senators vulnerable to a challenge from the right, in the wake of the Nebraska and Indiana GOP primaries. Salon.com’s Steve Kornacki wrote of Roberts: “He’s old (76) and has been on Capitol Hill for 32 years – the first 16 in the House and the last 16 in the Senate. He’s also a quiet, behind-the-scenes player whose voting record is only now evolving to sync up with the GOP base’s prevailing mood. It wouldn’t be too hard for an opponent to portray Roberts as a tired insider with Potomac Fever. Plus, the Kansas Republican Party is unusually prone to civil war. Roberts could provide an inviting target for, say, Kris Kobach, the youthful Kansas secretary of state who has become the leading national voice of the anti-immigration right.” The other vulnerable Republicans on the list: South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, Georgia’s Saxby Chambliss, Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander, Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell, Mississippi’s Thad Cochran and Maine’s Susan Collins.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Congress, Kansas delegation | Comments (0)

None of Lawrence belongs in ‘Big First’

May 21, 20126:00 a.m.

On Saturday the Kansas House approved a congressional map that would newly divide Lawrence between Rep. Lynn Jenkins’ 2nd District and Rep. Tim Huelskamp’s 1st District. Leading up to the vote, House Speaker Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, claimed, “It is something the delegation can accept.” But Huelskamp’s campaign director, Jim Pfaff, told the Topeka Capital-Journal that was a “knowing misrepresentation, because we do not and never did support this map. He never even showed it to us before it was considered.” In any case, liberal-minded Lawrence is a poor fit in the rural “Big First.” The question now is the same as a decade ago, when Lawrence was split between the 2nd and 3rd districts: If such a city doesn’t represent a “community of interest,” what does?

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Congress, Kansas delegation, Kansas government | Comments (0)

Romney-Brownback ticket?

May 20, 20126:02 a.m.

Gov. Sam Brownback’s early endorsement of Rick Perry for president probably ruined any chance of a Romney-Brownback ticket. “But if I were Mitt, my choice would be Sam Brownback,” writes Huffington Post’s Erin Medlicott. Among her reasons: Brownback ran for president himself in 2008 and knows national fundraisers. As a senator, he worked with then-Sen. Joe Biden on Iraq and with other Democrats on other issues. He has solid conservative credentials and could help with conservative Christians. “I believe Brownback could ‘hit the ground running’ and has Capitol experience to get the job done,” writes Medlicott (who, it should be said, worked on Biden’s presidential bid).

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Presidential race, Sam Brownback | Comments (0)

So they said

May 20, 20126:01 a.m.

“I married a Georgetown law graduate and am a Hoya Mom – the mother of a double Georgetown graduate. So in my family, ‘Hoya Saxa’ comes second only to ‘Rock Chalk Jayhawk.’” – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (in photo), addressing Georgetown University graduates

“I’d rather go to the dentist than listen to rap music.” – Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., at a Library of Congress event honoring composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David

“Lawyers should really not try to explain a bill.” – Rep. Judith Loganbill, D-Wichita, on Twitter, during Kansas House debate Friday of an antitrust bill

“We can’t sell our souls.” – Missouri State Sen. Bill Stouffer on Missouri blocking the sale of University of Kansas Jayhawk license plates

“It’s a fascinating study of hatred.” – Kevin Corbett, president of the KU Alumni Association, on the license-plate debate

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Kansas delegation, Kansas government | Comments (0)

Garvey family gift boosts Orpheum’s restoration

May 20, 20126:00 a.m.

The 90-year-old Orpheum Theatre received a wonderful gift last week – $1 million from the Willard and Jean Garvey Trust. The donation from a Wichita family renowned for its arts patronage should bolster further fundraising for the theater’s ongoing restoration, as it enables more planning and design. Meanwhile, even with the renovation unfinished, the Orpheum management is proving the venue’s value to the community and especially downtown, by booking big names and then drawing full houses.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Wichita events | Comments (0)

Kansans changing minds on same-sex marriage?

May 19, 20126:00 a.m.

A SurveyUSA poll, sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12, found 42 percent of Kansans agreeing with President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage – perhaps surprising for a state that saw a constitutional amendment to ban it pass with 70 percent of the vote in 2005. In the survey, 55 percent said they disagreed with Obama, and 37 percent said a candidate’s view on the issue would be very important in the coming election. The agreement with Obama was highest among liberals and Democrats, followed by 18- to 34-year-olds (53 percent), northeast Kansans (49 percent), and women and moderates (47 percent).

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Gay marriage, President Obama | Comments (0)

Is there no statesman to be found in Topeka?

May 17, 20126:01 a.m.

It seemed like the GOP infighting and resulting gridlock in Topeka couldn’t get worse. Then it did Tuesday, as the ill will between the chambers on tax cuts and redistricting newly infected budget negotiations and led to an angry confrontation in the GOP Senate caucus. Wednesday offered some hope for a better tax-reform bill. But the office of Secretary of State Kris Kobach “stands ready to submit valid plans” for redrawn House, Senate, State Board of Education and congressional districts to federal court, turning to judges to do what 165 duly elected state lawmakers have failed to do. On the 96th day of the 90-day legislative session, is there no statesman to be found in the House, Senate or governor’s office – someone with the leadership to make some deals and end this costly nonsense?

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Kansas government, Sam Brownback | Comments (0)

Nice save on bus service – for now

May 17, 20126:00 a.m.

Their action was no cure, but Vice Mayor Janet Miller and three other City Council members get credit for finding more than $500,000 in other budget items to cut and sparing Wichita Transit for now. That invited some heat, as the cuts involve neighborhood cleanup and street maintenance. The emotional public comments at Tuesday’s council meeting reflected how vital the buses are for many riders, and how many people already view the limited hub-and-spoke service as unworthy of Wichita. An emerging proposal to ask voters to pay higher sales tax to fund the bus system went unaddressed by council members at the meeting, but they’ll soon have to decide if bus service is a nicety or a core service that justifies its own funding stream.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Wichita government | Comments (0)

Brownback, speaker want to ignore deficit projections

May 16, 20126:00 a.m.

Gov. Sam Brownback and House Speaker Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, haven’t sufficiently explained why it would be fiscally responsible to finalize a tax-cut bill projected to create a deficit of more than $2 billion by 2017. “We can make this work. We will make it work,” the governor said Friday. O’Neal signaled that the proponents don’t believe the deficit projections, which come from legislative staff. “Projections in out-years are unreliable due to the fact that no model currently exists to predict the dynamic effect of tax relief,” O’Neal said. But if legislative number crunching can be ignored on tax cuts, why not on every other piece of legislation somebody wants to pass?

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Kansas government, Sam Brownback, taxes | Comments (0)

Dennis’ leadership on state school board will be missed

May 14, 20126:00 a.m.

Kansas State Board of Education chairman David Dennis of Wichita announced last week that he would not run for a second term. His move helped keep the board district maps from becoming part of the state’s redistricting impasse, as the proposed map had Wichita incumbents Dennis and Walt Chappell facing off this year. But Dennis’ decision also means that Kansans won’t have the benefit of his sound judgment and informed leadership on the board for much longer. That’s too bad. Drawing on his 29 years of military service and 10 years of teaching at Wichita North High School, Dennis quickly helped move the state board past its infamous evolution wars and tied votes.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Education, Kansas government | Comments (0)

Goico successfully defended in-state tuition law

May 13, 20126:02 a.m.

Last week the Kansas House again rejected an attempt to repeal the 2004 law that enables some children of undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities. To their credit, lawmakers opted not to interfere with the efforts of the 500 students who are making use the law and advancing their educational goals. During the lengthy debate, the unflinching advocate for those students was Rep. Mario Goico, R-Wichita, who peppered the repeal sponsor with questions and spoke movingly of having had no choice when he was sent by his parents to the U.S. from Cuba as a 15-year-old. Though he was able to gain refugee status from the State Department and stay legally, the kids helped by the Kansas law have no such option. As he said, “the Department of State has been absent without leave now for 40 years.”

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Immigration, Kansas government | Comments (0)

South Wichita won with Southfork vote

May 13, 20126:01 a.m.

It was a long time in coming, but the neglected south side of Wichita won big with Wednesday’s 3-2 vote by the Sedgwick County Commission to support a tax-increment financing district for developer Jay Maxwell’s Southfork project. TIF districts carry risk and need to be carefully vetted. But Southfork passed muster at the city and county governments for a reason – it will transform 72 acres near I-135 and 47th Street South, including land now in a floodplain, and put a mix of retail and office space, hotels and restaurants in a part of town overdue for economic development.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Economy, Sedgwick County, Wichita government | Comments (0)

So they said

May 13, 20126:00 a.m.

“If you love KS & value education, workers, & jobs. Call your legislator and tell them to vote NO right now.” – Working Kansas Alliance, on Twitter, as the House was voting on the tax-cut bill

“If you love your state and want economic opportunities for your children, call your legislator and ask them to vote yes.” – Alan Cobb of Americans for Prosperity, on Twitter

“You need to go out on the Internet and educate yourself.” – Rep. Charlotte O’Hara, R-Overland Park, urging colleagues to pass the resolution condemning the United Nations Agenda 21

“Stupid is as stupid does.” – Rep. Mike Slattery, D-Mission, quoting the movie “Forrest Gump” in condemning the Agenda 21 debate as “wasteful”

“If it were Fred Brown Hospital, I think it would take on a different character.” – Rep. Gene Suellentrop, R-Wichita, on how loyalty to the University of Kansas may explain why lawmakers opposed his amendment to consider selling the KU Hospital in Kansas City, Kan.

“It would make about as much sense to sell the WSU baseball team.” – Rep. Don Hineman, R-Dighton, on selling KU Hospital

“Dear Ks House colleagues, please don’t sell the University of Kansas Hospital until I get out of here!!!” – Rep. Trent LeDoux, R-Holton, tweeting after surgery

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Kansas government | Comments (0)

Good reasons not to rush voter-registration mandate

May 10, 20126:01 a.m.

If the multiple messages sent by the 2011 Legislature about when the state should require proof of citizenship for voter registration weren’t enough, the delays in implementing a new Division of Vehicles computer system and completing redistricting should be. Yet the House inexplicably voted again this week to move up the proof-of-citizenship mandate to be effective June 15 rather than Jan. 1. Even if the threat of voter fraud were real and sizable, it wouldn’t justify passing such a document mandate before the state is ready. The Senate should say “no.”

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Kansas government, Voting | Comments (0)

Kansas a preview of all-GOP federal government?

May 8, 20126:00 a.m.

Salon.com’s Andrew Leonard pointed to Kansas for clues as to “what complete Republican control of the U.S. government at the federal level would look like,” noting work in Topeka on a plan to reduce state income taxes for the wealthy while requiring poor Kansans to newly choose between getting a sales-tax refund on groceries or claiming the earned income tax credit. “The details are different,” Leonard wrote, “but the basic outline is similar to the ideas codified in Paul Ryan’s Mitt Romney-endorsed budget: We’ll pay for tax cuts for the wealthy by cutting services that help the poor.”

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Kansas government, Sam Brownback, taxes | Comments (0)

Sebelius’ invitation to Georgetown under fire

May 7, 20121:22 p.m.

Some Catholics are upset that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is scheduled to give a commencement address May 18 at Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute. Patrick J. Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, wrote a letter urging Georgetown to rescind the invitation to the former Kansas governor, calling it “scandalous and outrageous that America’s oldest Catholic and Jesuit university has elected to provide this prestigious platform to a publicly ‘pro-choice’ Catholic.” The letter mentioned Sebelius’ role in mandating that most employers cover birth control under the health reform law – a mandate since altered to try to accommodate religiously affiliated employers. The University of Notre Dame drew similar flak when President Obama addressed the graduating class of 2009.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under President Obama, Religion | Comments (0)

City stays strong on domestic violence; concerns about state

May 6, 20126:01 a.m.

The Wichita City Council was right last week to continue having municipal judges consider domestic battery convictions older than five years when they sentence an offender. That look-back period is tougher than state law and will send some offenders to jail who wouldn’t go otherwise, continuing to cost the city in the jail fees it pays for use of the Sedgwick County Jail. But with 10 local homicides from domestic violence last year, the city needs to be aggressive about prevention and intervention. And as the city of Topeka recently found out, trying to save money by going soft on domestic violence is bad not only for public safety but for a city’s image. Meanwhile, the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence is withdrawing from a state contract to oversee programs for low-income victims of domestic violence. It contends that some new contract requirements are unrealistic or can be harmful, such as requiring that every victim undergo a psychological evaluation. The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services disagrees and says it is just trying to provide more accountability. It plans to provide grants directly to community domestic violence centers, though some are also objecting to the SRS requirements. SRS took criticism earlier this year for contract language that seemed to require domestic violence programs to promote two-parent families.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Kansas government, Wichita government | Comments (0)

55 mph too fast for East Kellogg

May 4, 20126:01 a.m.

Credit is due Travis Cunningham for discovering that a stretch of East Kellogg between Webb and Greenwich had a 45 mph speed-limit sign where the legal limit is 55 mph.  It’s alarming that more than 500 drivers have paid nearly $60,000 in fines and court costs for “speeding” along that same stretch of Kellogg over the past seven years, which the city has concluded it can’t refund. But it is good that the city has decided that the problem is with the ordinance, not the 45 mph speed limit. The higher speed limit is not appropriate with all the commercial development and stoplights in quick succession. The Wichita City Council will consider on May 15 revising the city ordinance to match the speed limit.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Wichita government | Comments (0)

Pottorff’s centrist approach will be missed

May 3, 20126:00 a.m.

It’s hard to imagine a Kansas House without Rep. Jo Ann Pottorff, R-Wichita, but the real estate agent and former Wichita school board member has announced she will retire after 27 years in the Legislature. Her open-minded and solidly centrist approach to issues, and especially her vocal support for public schools, has gone from being the rule to the exception in the local GOP delegation. Pottorff will be missed.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Kansas government | Comments (0)

Kansas doesn’t need more smoking

May 2, 20121:13 p.m.

The way for the Legislature to deal with the lingering hypocrisy of the 2010 statewide smoking ban is to end the exemption for state-owned casinos. It is not to allow smoking in bars and other places open only to people 21 and older, as per a bill advanced in a House committee Tuesday. If Rep. Steve Brunk, R-Wichita, is correct in saying it may be too late in the session for the measure to make its way through both chambers, it’s just as well. Especially with Medicaid costs swallowing up the state budget, lawmakers should be discouraging smoking, not accommodating more of it.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Kansas government | Comments (0)

Moran successfully defended kids’ right to work on farms

April 30, 20126:01 a.m.

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., argued in a Politico commentary against a Labor Department proposal to regulate youths’ farm work, saying it would prevent kids under 16 from cleaning out stalls or rounding up cattle and also “limit a youth’s exposure to direct sunlight if the temperature reaches a certain limit once you factor in wind velocity and humidity.” Though Moran had co-sponsored a bill to block the new rules, it proved unnecessary. On Thursday the White House abandoned the idea. The push-back and relief were bipartisan. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., tweeted: “Our work to stop dumb rule on children working on farms succeeded! Rs & Ds from farm states came together and common sense won.”

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Congress, Kansas delegation, President Obama | Comments (0)

It’s unseemly to use redistricting as a political shield

April 30, 20126:00 a.m.

Yes, moderate Republicans in the Kansas Senate are fighting a battle to survive and retain control of the chamber, going against powerful forces including Gov. Sam Brownback. But it’s disappointing that they persist in trying to use redistricting to shield themselves, again advancing a map in committee Friday that would move several districts’ boundaries and prevent conservative challenges in the August primary. As one of those would-be challengers to a senator, state Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, said earlier last week: “If you’re doing what people asked you to do, there should be no problem with running against someone.”

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Kansas government | Comments (0)

Things looking up for Cessna

April 30, 20125:59 a.m.

It’s good news for Wichita and its aviation workforce that Cessna Aircraft Co. is recalling or hiring about 150 employees and increasing its sales force. Though Cessna’s hiring won’t offset the latest 350 layoffs at Hawker Beechcraft, it is one welcome indicator that the market for general aviation is showing signs of renewed life. Cessna also has seen recent upticks in orders, deliveries and revenue, helping boost owner Textron in potential investors’ eyes.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Aviation, Economy | Comments (0)

Governor’s job-approval flat at 34 percent; Kobach at 32 percent

April 29, 20126:03 a.m.

The latest SurveyUSA polling sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12, found the percentage of Kansans who approve of Gov. Sam Brownback’s job performance the same as in February, 34 percent. That compares with 51 percent last summer. Meanwhile, 44 percent of those polled April 20-23 said they disapproved of the governor’s performance, down from 50 percent two months ago. The other job-approval numbers in the April poll of 510 registered voters (42 percent Republicans, 33 percent Democrats) showed little change in two months: Sen. Jerry Moran, 44 percent; President Obama and Sen. Pat Roberts, 43 percent each; and Secretary of State Kris Kobach, 32 percent.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Kansas delegation, Kansas government, President Obama, Sam Brownback | Comments (0)