We won't even say "in case you missed it," because there's no way you could have: Kansas lawmakers ended their regular 2016 session Wednesday amid an ongoing debate over school funding. Here, we round up some of the biggest stories to come out of a busy news week that also saw some important election deadlines and campaign updates (and we did it without once using the pun "sine die another day").
Kansas lawmakers decide not to address school funding
After days of going back and forth on the issue—Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle initially said lawmakers wouldn’t use the Legislature’s last day to discuss school funding, just a day before GOP leaders said they weren’t ruling out a debate—lawmakers ultimately decided not to take up the issue before the end of the regular session.
“We are not ignoring the schools. We are not ignoring the court order. We have just decided at this point in time not to react,” Wagle said.
What you need to know about a possible public education shutdown in Kansas
Yes, it could happen; no, it’s not carved in stone; and best anyone can tell, this has never occurred in any other state.
Field set for competitive legislative races in Kansas
Wednesday at noon was the deadline for major-party candidates to file, and the full roster of Statehouse hopefuls hints at a pivotal 2016 election season for Kansas. To start, reports Jim McLean, Democrats have fielded candidates in all 40 Senate districts—the first time they’ve done so in decades.
Patrick Miller, a University of Kansas political scientist, says Democrats and moderate Republicans “are certainly on offense and not defense this year.”
Wanted: Kansas precinct captains
Across Kansas, there are about 14,000 precinct captain positions: Both a committeeman and a committeewoman for each party, in each voter precinct. And, as Kansas Republican Party chair Kelly Arnold notes, “Elections are won in the precincts.”
But going in to the 2016 elections, most of those precinct captain positions will likely be left vacant. For our statewide election series, reporter Sean Sandefur explains why that matters.
Great Plains Energy to purchase Westar Energy
Kansas’ largest electricity provider is being acquired by Missouri-based Great Plains Energy for $8.6 billion. It’s unclear what that will mean for the two companies' roughly 1.5 million customers who will be served when the sale is finalized.
