TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly and the joint House and Senate tax committee agree the 2023 Legislature ought to work on bills addressing the state income tax cliff applicable to retirees with more than $75,000…

TOPEKA — Democratic Tom Hawk of Manhattan said Thursday he would retire Jan. 10 midway through his four-year term in the Kansas Senate. Hawk, 76, is a retired school superintendent and teacher who had a…

Fred Gardner has been getting better acquainted with the communities he will soon represent. It’s a big change for the retired Garnett veterinarian, and he wants to be prepared. It’s also a big change for…

There’s an old joke about the Kansas Legislature: When I die, I want to die in the Capitol building, because nothing’s ever really dead under the dome.  It’s a commentary on zombie bills and the…

TOPEKA — Kansas Republicans haven’t discussed new abortion legislation yet, but they do plan to address the subject when the legislative session starts in January. During Tuesday’s GOP caucus meeting to nominate new House of…

A reminder: The house always wins.  The gambling industry is devised to make money. And in the case of Kansas, bucketloads, thanks to lawmakers who recently ensured the sports betting industry will receive embarrassingly favorable…

Voters in neighboring Missouri just legalized recreational marijuana. Meanwhile, Kansas remains in the minority of states where neither medical nor recreational marijuana are allowed.   It’s a symptom of dysfunctional democracy in Kansas that legislators…

TOPEKA — A New York Times investigation into the gambling industry’s bare-knuckled lobbying efforts provides insight into concessions Kansas lawmakers provided when they legalized sports betting earlier this year. Among the revelations from the report,…

Can the three newly elected Kansas State Board of Education members move the agenda to the far right?  We’ll soon find out.   While the much-hyped red wave didn’t materialize at the national level, Republicans…

It’s time to abolish Kansas winter.  There is everything wrong with these winters and nothing good about them.  Growing up the son of a mining engineer who moved from project to project throughout the American…