Stateline Headlines

Road Funding a Big Issue in Contest for Governor of West Virginia

TRANSPORTATION BEAT: Highways emerge as a crucial topic in West Virginia's Democratic gubernatorial primary … Atlanta area officials have a long wish list of transit projects … Kansas and Texas move forward with plans for higher speed limits, and other transportation news.

Health Care Wrangling Could Delay State Aid

TODAY'S TAKE: Federal health care reform has been a divisive issue for states, but for some governors seeking immediate budget relief from Capitol Hill, the wrangling over the legislation is causing uncertainty.

Weekly Wrap: States Could Hand Off Liquor Stores

Three states weigh privatizing liquor sales; Lawmakers take aim at shorter, fewer sessions.

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.

Three More Governor's Races Set

TODAY'S TAKE: It was a busy week on the gubernatorial campaign circuit, as voters in three more states chose their major-party nominees for November. Tennesseans on Thursday (Aug. 5) selected Republican Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam to face Democrat Mike McWherter, the son of a former governor.

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.

States Use Data To Wrestle With Racial Profiling

Six states trying to stamp out the controversial, alleged police practice of racial profiling - selectively stopping, questioning and searching people based upon arbitrary minor offenses and the color of their skin - have enacted laws requiring officers to police themselves by recording racial data and other pertinent information on all traffic stops. They are North Carolina, Connecticut, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Washington.

WORTH NOTING: South Carolina's Shampoo Specialists

The Palmetto State cleans up a law requiring hairstylists to get more training than cops. Frog legs are frowned upon by Florida health officials. And an aide to Utah's lieutenant governor gets way ahead of his boss. In case you missed those stories this week, "Worth Noting" fills you in.

Republican to Advise Democrat Kitzhaber on Oregon Health Policy

TRANSITION WATCH: Oregon's new governor picks a Republican for a key post, Florida's incoming governor faces delays filling his administration, and more news of the historic shift in power in the states.

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

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.

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.

Primary Schedule Now Nearly Complete

Courts have finally cleared the way for primary elections to take place in Florida, Kansas, North Carolina and New Hampshire, the last states where legislative redistricting disputes threatened to derail this falls nominating process for the general election. But its still unclear whether the New Hampshire primary scheduled for Sept. 10 will include a full slate of candidates.

States Promote Nursing, Protect Moms

Mississippi, the state with the lowest breastfeeding rate in the country, has passed a broad new law allowing mothers to nurse at work and in public. In addition, five other states - Arizona, Kentucky, Kansas, South Carolina and Alabama - passed laws protecting mothers from charges of indecent exposure when they nurse in public places.

Weekly Wrap: Bullet Point Dramatizes Crisis

Mississippi's "down budget times" have led to the rationing of highway patrol ammo. Fallout from the recession is likely to mean higher fees for would-be Cal State students. It's delaying tax refunds in several states. Vermont had some good news - it ended the budget year that ended June 30 in the black. For a quick update on how the economic crisis is affecting states, read Stateline.org's "Weekly wrap."

Ventura, Other Govs Sing Red Ink Blues

Gov. Jesse Ventura, Minnesotas outspoken chief executive, is feuding with the legislature over his decision to close the governors mansion as a cost-cutting move. But even governors with more sympathetic legislatures are enduring cuts in office salaries and travel expenses in the face of budget crunches.

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.

Study Grades States On Higher Education

Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Minnesota, Kansas and Massachusetts get the highest grades in a new state-by-state report card that measures performance in higher education. According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, these six states do the best job of preparing students for post-high school education, providing academic opportunities, making them affordable, attaining a high graduation rate and reaping the benefits of an educated workforce. The lowest grades in the report entitled Measuring Up 2000 went to Arkansas, Louisiana, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee and West Virginia.

More States Announce Mid-Year Cuts

As new holes emerge in their budgets, more and more states are making spending cuts well before their legislatures reconvene next year. Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts and Missouri are the latest.

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.

Maryland Bridge Tolls Could Double

TRANSPORTATION BEAT: Maryland officials are considering higher bridge tolls for the first time since 1975 ... Michigan revisits its motorcycle helmet law … Connecticut's governor finds out that the public loves highway rest stops, and other transportation news.

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.

New Year Brings Slew of New State Laws

New laws for 2011 include further state bans on the practice of texting while driving.

LePage Struggles to Fill Maine Cabinet Due to Salary Concerns

TRANSITION WATCH: Maine's governor-elect says top choices for key roles have turned him down, Alaska Governor Sean Parnell promises a fight with the feds over Medicaid funding, and more news of the historic shift in power in the states.

Brownback vetoes bill expanding Kansas raffles

Kansas Senate passes plan to cut sales tax on groceries

Brownback to Kansas Legislature: Shut it down

Kansas lawmakers' debate on taxes sputters again

Brownback: Higher sales taxes or bust

Guns, speech

Republican tax plans would increase state revenue, analyses say

Proposal for lower Kansas sales tax on groceries rejected

Report card shows states have a lot of infrastructure work to do

Judicial joust

House Republican leaders propose 1.5 percent cut to higher education for each of next two fiscal years

Brownback leaves the state as Legislature remains deadlocked

Brownback texts Oklahoma governor to offer help

GOP legislators wide-ranging in views as tax talks continue

Kansas lawmakers pass bill on gun lobbying

Kansas tax and budget negotiations nudge forward

Don’t mess with school standards in Kansas

KU makes sudden change in Statehouse presence

Legislature makes no progress; Brownback leaves state to tout tax cuts

Higher education spending key issue in Kansas budget talks

Kansas lawmakers’ talks on taxes at standstill

Kansas lawmakers still deadlocked on tax, budget issues

Republican split in Mo. Senate kills transportation sales tax

Kansas chief justice says senator’s proposal on judicial selection is political coercion

Senate approves bill banning use of tax dollars to advocate for gun control

Legislative negotiations break down amid Republican in-fighting

Attempt to revive fire districts bill fails

Common Core provision muddies Kansas budget talks

Bigger push on Kansas judiciary selection coming

In Kansas, it’s lawmakers versus the courts

Logan elected chair, Wilk elected vice chair of Kansas Board of Regents

Budget provision would block state funding for Common Core standards

Kansas lawmakers agree to issue biodefense lab bonds

Education spending, state worker pay cap hold up Kansas budget negotiations

Top Kansas House Democrat: Staffer faces discipline over tweets

Bill eases land-use rules near historic sites

End the secrecy in criminal cases in Kansas

New judicial-selection plan fails

Higher education officials say concealed carry on campus probably inevitable in the future

Possible Kansas tax compromise in the works

State Board hears opposition to Common Core Standards

Conservatives at odds over budget, taxes as wrap-up session drags on

Court and legislators spar over Kansas judicial selection

Kansas education official defends use of racial slur

KU may get money it didn’t ask for, but not what it wanted

Brownback, GOP leaders defend private talks on tax plan, budget

Brownback: Private GOP tax talks ‘going well’

State education board may seek attorney general’s opinion on ‘innovative districts’ law

New plan for Kansas judiciary selection emerges

Kansas advocacy group files lawsuit to force AG to release information about tobacco funds

Kansas legislators part of recent national trend by states to change how judges selected

Many criminal records closed in Kansas

Analysis: Stalling is key part of strategy as Kansas Senate's leader pushes House on sales tax

Kansas lawmakers return for session's 80th day

Kansas Action for Children files lawsuit against Attorney General Derek Schmidt over settlement records

Kansas Republicans face tough spending and tax issues, and elections, for 2014

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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,

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.

Art for the Economy’s Sake

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

Kansas State of the State Address 2011

TOPEKA, Kansas - Jan. 12 - Following is the prepared text of Gov. Sam Brownback's (R) 2011 state of the state address: "Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Minority Leaders Hensley and Davis, Mr. Chief Justice, legislators, justices, cabinet officers, elected officials, honored guests and my fellow Kansans: I understa

Kansas State of the State Address 2010

TOPEKA, Kan. - Jan. 11 - Following is the prepared text of Gov. Mark Parkinson's (D) 2010 state of the state address: Click here to access the governor's Web page and view or hear the address. Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Minority Leaders Hensley and Davis, Mister Chief Justice, legislators, justices, cabinet

Kansas State of the State Address 2009

TOPEKA, Kan. - Jan. 12 - Following is the prepared text of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' (D) 2009 state of the state address: Good evening. As we gather again to assess the state of our State, I want to welcome the new members of the House and Senate and our new House leadership. On behalf of all Kansans, I thank yo

Kansas State of the State Address 2008

TOPEKA, Kan. - Jan. 14 - Following is the prepared text of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius's (D) 2008 state of the state address: Click here to visit the governor's web site to view the address. Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Madam Chief Justice, legislators, justices, cabinet officers, elected officials, leaders of Indian n

Kansas State of the State Address 2007

TOPEKA, Kan., Jan. 9 - Following is the prepared text of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius's (D) 2007 state of the state address. Click here to access the governor's Web page and hear the address. Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Madam Chief Justice, legislators, justices, Cabinet officers, elected officials, leaders of Indi

Kansas State of the State Address 2006

TOPEKA, Kan., Jan. 9 - Following is a transcript of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' 2006 state of the state address: Click here to visit the governor's Web page and listen to the address. Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Madam Chief Justice, legislators, justices, Cabinet officers, elected officials, leaders of Indian nati

Kansas State of the State Address 2005

TOPEKA, Kansas - Following is the text of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' 2005 state of the state address: Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Madam Chief Justice, members of the Legislature, members of the Court, Cabinet officers, elected officials, leaders of Indian nations, honored guests, and fellow Kansans. I am plea

Kansas State of the State Address 2004

TOPEKA, Kansas - Jan. 12 - Following is the text of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' 2004 state of the state address: Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Madam Chief Justice, members of the Legislature, members of the Court, Cabinet officers, elected officials, leaders of the Kansas tribes, honored guests, and fellow Kansans. I a

Kansas State of the State Address 2003

TOPEKA, Kansas - Jan. 15 - Following is the text of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' 2003 State of the State Address: Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Madam Chief Justice, Members of the Legislature and Fellow Kansans: It is a very special privilege to return to this House chamber where I served for eight years. It is an ho