The Pew Charitable Trusts - State and Consumer Initiatives from Kansas

Attorneys General Prepare to Defend Controversial Laws

State attorneys general are about to head to court to defend controversial state laws. Are they required to defend laws that might not survive legal scrutiny?

Foreign Law Bans: Political Statement or Unconstitutional?

State lawmakers are focused on keeping U.S. courts away from the influence of foreign law. But does banning all foreign law go too far?

Johnson County, KS, Elections

Brian Newby, elections commissioner in Johnson County, KS, recently reached a milestone. Since he became commissioner in January 2005, the county has administered 50 elections, but only 26 of these were planned.

After Expanding Coverage, Health Care Pioneer Seeks to Tame Costs

The Affordable Care Act will extend health care coverage to almost everybody. Now states are moving on to the next frontier in health care reform: containing costs. Once again, Massachusetts is taking the lead by putting its health care industry on an annual budget and requiring all insurers and medical providers to make detailed price lists available to the public.

In Drought Ravaged Plains, Efforts to Save a Vital Aquifer

The Ogallala Aquifer, which feeds some of the world’s most productive croplands, is running dry.

Maryland Repeals Death Penalty, Sixth State in Six Years

Maryland became the sixth state in as many years to repeal the death penalty. But the fate of the state’s five remaining death row inmates is up to Governor Martin O'Malley.

Issue To Watch: School Testing

A number of states are pushing to up the stakes on reading tests for younger students and assign letter grades to schools.

Hard Realities on the Environmental Disaster Front

After another year marked by expensive and deadly disasters, states all over the country are still picking up the pieces from what Mother Nature wrought in 2012. But they confront equally sobering expectations for 2013.

Issue To Watch: Immigration

Long-bottled-up bills that address state policies on whether to offer in-state tuition to undocumented students could become law this year, because of changes in party control of legislative chambers and changes in federal policy.

GOP Lawmakers Look to Abolish Income Taxes

Republican lawmakers in several states are taking aim at something no state has done in more than three decades: eliminate income taxes.

Kansas State of the State Address 2013

TOPEKA, Kansas -- Jan. 15 -- Following is the prepared text of Gov. Sam Brownback's 2013 State of the State Address:

Kansas Cuts to Education Unconstitutional, Court Rules

A three-judge panel on Friday said the state was shortchanging its students about $400 million each year — money it must find to comply with the constitutional mandate.

Falling Short on Dental Sealants: Kansas

How well is Kansas protecting kids from tooth decay?

Brownback's Dilemma: How to Balance the Kansas Budget After Massive Tax Cuts

Kansas made a big gamble last year that huge income tax cuts would eventually bring prosperity. Right now, though, they’re causing painful decisions.

State School Funds On Trial, Again

Texas, Colorado, Kansas and others will see action on school finance lawsuits next year, but it could be years before they make a difference in the classroom.

Oklahoma Among States Limiting Property Taxes

Lowering property taxes is always popular, and results from the November 6 elections show this year was no exemption

The Impact of the Fiscal Cliff: Kansas

Federal and state finances are closely intertwined, and the fiscal cliff’s tax and spending provisions will have consequences for states.

As Layoffs Mount, Governors Seek Support on Wind Tax Credit

With election season politics behind them, several governors are reapplying pressure on Congress to extend a tax credit whose looming expiration is stirring angst within the wind industry.

U of Kansas Turns to Legacies to Boost Enrollment

As the University of Kansas contends with four straight years of declining enrollment, school leaders and the alumni association hope to attract more “legacy” students, whose parents or grandparents attended the school.

Still Risky: Checking Accounts in Kansas

Checking accounts, the most widely used financial product in America, contain hidden risks that can harm consumers. Three of the 12 largest banks nationwide offer checking accounts in Kansas and hold 13 percent of all deposits in the state. Here’s what consumers in Kansas may be paying.

Dam Inspectors Fear the Deluge

Each year, more dams in the United States show signs of disrepair. Meanwhile, the money to fix them grows harder to find.

Kansas Attorney General Wants Return of “In Cold Blood” Evidence

Kansas Attorney General Derek Smith on Monday called for the return of the case file records, investigative reports and gruesome crime scene photographs related to the 1959 murders of Holcomb, Kansas farmer Herb Clutter, his wife and two children, the subject of Truman Capote’s classic book “In Cold Blood.”

Public Safety in Kansas

Learn more about public safety in Kansas.

Wind Subsidies Raise a Storm in Heartland States

Wind-energy has been a booming industry in many states the past few years. But the federal tax credits that have helped fuel that growth is likely to disappear in a few months.

Best of #StateReads: Ex-Parks Official Had Criminal Past

This week’s extraordinary journalism about state government, tagged to #StateReads on Twitter.

Farmers, Frackers and Scarce Water

Hydraulic fracturing by energy drillers may not be the heaviest consumer of water on parched land. But environmentalists and some farmers are starting to worry about it.

Even in Hard Times, States Find It Difficult To Recruit Talent

As state government hiring picks back up, competing with the private sector for highly skilled workers is becoming a challenge for some agencies.

In Kansas Primary, Results Could Advance Governor’s Agenda

On a busy primary day in four states, conservatives in Kansas are looking to oust moderate Republicans, freeing up room for the governor to push his ambitious agenda.

Nine States Where Lenders Take Your Paycheck

Payday loans — small, short term loans secured against a customer’s next paycheck — are highly controversial. A new study from Pew Charitable Trusts explains that opponents believe the practice “preys” on people who, because of the high interest rates

Best of #StateReads: California Parks Director Resigns After Budget Revelations

This week’s extraordinary journalism about state government, tagged to #StateReads on Twitter.

Art for the Economy’s Sake

After years of budget cuts, state funding for the arts is making a comeback.

Precincts or Vote Centers

When policy makers and election officials have to make choices about how to run elections, cost considerations are often an important part of the process.

Widening Gap Update: Kansas

Kansas failed to pay its full annual pension contribution from 2005 to 2010. The pension system was 62 percent funded in ﬁscal year 2010 and faced an $8 billion funding gap.

Kansas and Oklahoma Income Tax Cuts Won’t Reach Zero

Kansas may soon finish a large tax cut and Oklahoma is likely to approve a smaller one, but both will be short of some lawmakers’ initial aspirations: ending the income tax entirely.

Q&A With Outgoing Colorado Pension Chief: ‘The 401(k) Experiment Is a Failure’

After more than two decades heading public employee pension systems in Colorado and Kansas, Meredith Williams says Americans are woefully underprepared for retirement.

Ky. Worse Than US in Movement on Earnings Ladder

A new study of which states are more likely to have residents moving up or down the earnings ladder has been released, and Kentucky is among the nine Southern states that have economic mobility below the national average.

In Kansas, a Redistricting Battle Like No Other

While nearly every other state is done with the once-a-decade redrawing of its political districts, Kansas Republicans can’t seem to come to an agreement.

Voter ID in Kansas and Tennessee

Voters in Tennessee and Kansas recently cast their first ballots under new state laws requiring that they present photo IDs at the polls.

Labor Shortages Lead Businesses to Support Help for Undocumented Workers

Business groups, especially in agriculture, are pushing several state measures to aid immigrant laborers who are in the country illegally. But many of those efforts are treading on uncertain legal ground.

Busy Brownback Agenda Running Into Problems in Kansas

TODAY'S TAKE: Legislative leaders from both parties are expressing doubts about Republican Governor Sam Brownback's proposals to cap state spending, overhaul the tax code and revamp school financing.

In Kansas, Governor Sam Brownback Drives a Rightward Shift

TOPEKA, Kansas - Republican Sam Brownback is pushing what may be the boldest agenda of any governor this year. In the process, he is setting up a showdown with moderates in his own party.

Kansas State of the State Address 2012

TOPEKA, Kansas — Jan. 11 — Following is the prepared text of Gov. Sam Brownback's (R) 2012 state of the state address Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Legislators, Justices of the Kansas Supreme Court leaders of Kansas sovereign Native American Nations,

Governors Preview Their 2012 Priorities

TODAY'S TAKE: From a constitutional amendment to expand gambling in Kentucky to creation of a health insurance exchange in Idaho, some governors are not waiting until 2012 to declare their agendas.

Election Websites: Kansas

Being Online Is Still Not Enough provides state-by-state reviews and analysis based on detailed criteria of election websites for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Protests Mark Child Poverty Forums in Kansas

SOCIAL POLICY BEAT: Holding town hall meetings on ways to reduce childhood poverty might seem unlikely to offend anyone. But don't tell that to the folks in Kansas.

Medicaid Directors to Feds: Give States Flexibility

HEALTH BEAT: In a new report, the leaders of state Medicaid programs say federal rules discourage them from experimenting with ideas that could save money and improve care.

Only Kansas Defunded the Arts, National Group Finds

TODAY'S TAKE: States took a variety of steps to cut their budgets this year, but Kansas was the only one to eliminate all state support for the arts, according to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.

Report: Six States Changing the Way Health Care is Governed

HEALTH BEAT: Fiscally strapped states are using more managed care, cutting doctors' fees and limiting drugs and medical services to contain rising Medicaid costs. A few are taking a broader approach to health care spending.

Gov. Nixon, State Officials Announce Study to Reduce Costs, Protect Public Safety Through Criminal Justice System

Gov. Jay Nixon was joined today by leaders from other branches of state government in announcing a bipartisan effort to develop recommendations to protect public safety by holding offenders accountable, while also containing costs within the criminal justice system.

Abortion Laws Blocked in Indiana, Kansas and South Dakota

SOCIAL POLICY BEAT: States enacted a record number of restrictions on abortion this year, but some of the most-closely watched new laws are on hold until the courts determine if they are legal.