Government

The Kansas House has passed a bill on a 68-56 vote that restricts one type of political fundraising used by public employee unions. The bill would ban public sector unions from making automatic withdrawals from employee paychecks for political purposes.

Under current law, public employees can voluntarily donate to their union’s political advocacy fund out of their paycheck. Supporters of the bill say it keeps workers from being pressured into making the contributions.

Some conservative groups are opposing Gov. Sam Brownback's new tax plan because it includes revenue-raising measures along with additional income tax cuts.

But the Kansas Association of School Boards is supporting the plan because it's aimed at filling a $500 million budget gap caused by last year's tax cuts.

The group's position surprised Senate Tax Committee Chairman Les Donovan, when he called on KASB lobbyist Mark Tallman to testify at a recent hearing.

Donovan said he had Tallman down as a proponent, but he wasn't sure if that was correct.

The City of Wichita and Sedgwick County Wednesday unveiled a new plan to help establish the communities priorities for public investments

Kansas state law requires communities have a plan for public spending on infrastructure and facilities to guide elected officials. The plan is called "Community Investments Plan... A Framework For The Future" and will begin with a survey created by Wichita State University. The survey will be mailed this week to a random sample of 25,000 registered voters in Sedgwick County.

Two state lawmakers from Wichita are seeking support for a measure that would limit employers' access to job applicants' social media accounts. 

Rep. Gail Finney and Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau both back measures to keep employers from requiring applicants to provide their usernames and passwords for social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.