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Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kansas governor vetoes scholarship bill that would have extended public funds to two private schools
Students traverse the Garden City Community College campus during a fall semester orientation event Aug. 18, 2024. (AJ Dome for Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill Friday she feared would funnel more public money to private educational institutions. Senate Bill 24 broadened the scope of the Kansas Promise Scholarship, which offers financial aid to Kansans in community college or a technical training program, to include two private institutions — Wichita Technical Institute and the Heartland Welding Academy. Typically, the scholarship is reserved for not-for-profit schools. 'I have serious concerns about the precedent that would be set by providing state funding to for-profit educational institutions that are not accountable to the state or taxpayers,' said Kelly, a Democrat, in an announcement. The bill also would have raised the maximum allocation that could be given to institutions across the state from $10 million to $15 million. The scholarship program covers the cost of tuition, books, fees and supplies for students in families below a certain income threshold who want to attend community college or technical school. 'This program is meant to support Kansans as they pursue an education,' Kelly said, 'not funnel public money to private, for-profit institutions.' The Senate passed the bill with unanimous support, and the House passed it 76-48 with nine Republican representatives joining Democrats in opposition. SB 24 originally dealt with the duties of the state insurance commissioner. Legislators gutted it during negotiations at the end of the session and inserted the contents of Senate Bill 44, in which the scholarship expansion was initially proposed. Mike O'Neal, who brought the scholarship bill to legislators in January, is a lobbyist for Wichita Technical Institute, among other high-profile clients, and a former House speaker. 'Given the demand for high-quality technical training in Kansas, it makes sense to expand the current eligibility for participation in the Promise Scholarship Act,' O'Neal said in committee testimony in February. James Genandt, the president of Kansas Technical Colleges, opposed the bill, arguing it would hinder the success of existing programs. Last year, scholarship applications were paused months before the original deadline because of dwindling funds, he said. 'More institutions in the mix will only accelerate the problem,' Genandt said. House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said he was disappointed in the governor's veto, describing the scholarship program as a successful tool for job development and talent retention. 'Whether the student attends a public or private school is irrelevant,' Hawkins said, 'especially as we face workforce shortages across many industries.' The Legislature concluded its veto session April 11, leaving no opportunity for Republicans to attempt to override the veto. House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, a Lenexa Democrat, applauded the veto and thanked Kelly for 'protecting public dollars.'
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Do Oklahoma lawmakers see our state as a real-life ‘Twisters' set? Two bills tell me they do
Storm chasers watch rotating clouds hovering over in May 2024 in Gove and Ness counties in western Kansas. (Photo by AJ Dome/ For Kansas Reflector) I'm beginning to think Oklahoma's legislators have been bamboozled by Hollywood's glamorous portrayal of storm chasers as heroic, brilliant individuals who single handedly save communities from tornadic destruction. Because before the arrival of the blockbuster 'Twisters' last year, our Legislature wasn't trying to spearhead a Tornado Grand Prix race and launch storm-seeking, adrenaline-fueled missiles traveling at ungodly speeds onto unsuspecting Oklahoma motorists. But that's exactly what lawmakers are proposing with boneheaded legislation that would empower a small group of predominantly male storm chasers to affix emergency lights to their vehicles, run red lights and stop signs and race around barricades erected by local and state officials to ensure public safety. Last month, two different bipartisan coalitions of lawmakers unanimously approved creating a new breed of licensed storm chaser — professional severe weather trackers. Those individuals would have fewer guardrails than even our highly regulated law enforcement personnel and be required to complete no specialized training to guarantee they know how to safely operate as an emergency vehicle. A Republican-led measure cleared a House committee, while a similar Democrat-sponsored bill cleared a Senate panel. The House's ridiculous plan would allow our state's broadcast TV stations – whose employees have a least five years of professional experience with a qualified media outlet – and a handful of state colleges and universities to morph into 'emergency vehicles' on any day with even a slight risk of bad weather, or when their station's meteorologist decides it's convenient to issue a severe thunderstorm watch or winter weather advisory. So even if it doesn't rain a drop, these folks would potentially have the power to circumvent roadway safety regulations and drive 130 mph. Rep. Scott Fetgatter said he came up with the idea after going on a 'ride along' to watch a storm chaser in action. Somehow the Republican emerged from the experience convinced that giving those chasers expanded powers is necessary to improve forecasts and warnings. Like Fetgatter, I have also gone out on a storm chase, but I did not emerge with the idea that chasers need expanded powers. Quite the opposite. I found myself staring down the barrel of chaos. Non-storm chasers were frantically rushing to get home to their families before hail pummeled them. TV stations and chasers hurried to get into the path of the storm to get the best shot. My job was to monitor a public radar and a local map to make sure we had an escape route in the event a tornado dropped from the sky. Licensed law enforcement and emergency managers, meanwhile, were carefully monitoring the storms from a safe distance, serving as a group of organized, trained storm spotters for their communities and the National Weather Service. I escaped without injury, but storm chasing in the Plains is an inherently dangerous activity that has resulted in at least six deaths since 2017, including three University of Oklahoma students who died when a tractor trailer rig struck them. (OU has a policy that does not endorse chasing.) Storm chasing draws thousands of thrill-seekers to Oklahoma and Kansas and the rest of Tornado Alley who dream of capturing footage of storms, hoping to sell it for a profit or to share it on social media for a viral moment. Blockbuster movies like 1996's 'Twister' and 2024's 'Twisters' have only increased the lure. Oklahoma TV meteorologists, meanwhile, rely on the footage their chasers capture to break up the monotony of hours of weather coverage and to entertain their viewers. Academics sometimes utilize chases to conduct scientific research. The National Weather Service typically relies on a trained network of spotters, and modern technology like doppler radars and other observation systems, though sometimes they receive reports from chasers. After watching countless hours of storm chasing footage on local TV over the past decade, I fail to see how passing a law that allows a few dozen people to drive like idiots will have any practical benefit for the rest of us. In fact, I fear it will make severe weather days more dangerous. It's already difficult enough to drive in ice, torrential downpours and hail. Yet lawmakers want to allow people to speed and use flashing emergency lights? Why should anybody have to spare valuable time pulling over for a storm chaser when they're trying to get home? I don't know about you, but the last time I huddled in my tornado shelter, it was pitch black outside, and it was the National Weather Service — not a storm chaser — that warned me that an early morning tornado was potentially headed toward my home. While a tornado never touched down, I remember hearing the winds howl as the storm passed over. If a tornado had destroyed my home, the last thing I'd want to see is a television camera capturing one of the worst moments of my life for entertainment purposes. I would certainly blame lawmakers for the indignity because their law permits TV crews to circumvent barricades erected by true emergency personnel who are legitimately trying to save lives. I'm not taking away from the professionalism of some storm chasers, but we need to admit that there's an element of entertainment closely wrapped in this. If you don't believe me, perhaps lawmakers should incorporate these folks as part of our state's emergency management division and have a central entity dispatch them each to a different location. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't have many takers. Because ours is a state that likes being entertained by weather — so long as it isn't in our neighborhood and leading to Hollywood-esque policies that endanger our roadways. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
