Latest news with #KansasReflector
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Kansas' surge in individual income tax collections exceeds May projection by 85%
The Kansas Department of Revenue reported the state received an unexpected burst in individual income tax collections that exceeded expectations for May by $144 million or 85.1%. The image is of a statue honoring President Abraham Lincoln that sits on the south side of the Kansas Capitol. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — A surprise outpouring of individual income tax receipts in May drove overall Kansas revenue collections $158 million above the monthly projection. The Kansas Department of Revenue received $657 million during the month, which was 31.7% above the estimate for May. 'Surpassing estimates this month is a positive indicator, but we remain diligent and focused on maintaining long-term financial health,' said Gov. Laura Kelly. The revenue department said individual income tax collections in May totaled $314 million. That was $144 million or 85.1% above the estimate for the month and a 3.1% increase over May 2024. In terms of corporate income taxes, the state took in $29.2 million — a figure $840,880 or 2.8% below the estimate for May. It represented a decrease of 26.8% from May 2024. Combined retail sales and compensating use tax receipts in May were $282 million. The total surpassed the projection by $11.1 million or 4.1% and was consistent with the total in May 2024. House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican seeking the GOP nomination for state insurance commissioner in 2026, said the 2024 Legislature was justified in passing a substantial tax reform bill signed into law by the Democratic governor. The bill offered an estimated $1.2 billion in tax relief over a three-year period. 'When we put money back in taxpayers' pockets, not big government, Kansas families and communities thrive,' Hawkins said. The 2024 law negotiated by Kelly, Hawkins and Senate President Ty Masterson established a two-bracket system for calculating personal income taxes. For married individuals filing jointly, taxable income up to $46,000 would be taxed at 5.2%, while taxable income above $46,001 would be taxed at 5.58%. Kansas' previous three-bracket system pegged rates at 3.1%, 5.2% and 5.7% depending on income. Under the 2024 legislation, the personal exemption and standard deduction on state income taxes were raised and the state income tax on Social Security benefits was abolished. 'These latest revenue numbers clearly show that passing the comprehensive tax relief package last year was hands down the right move,' Hawkins said. 'Kansas is in a strong position as long as we stay focused on smart, conservative leadership.'
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Kansas lawmakers in D.C. stand as aside as Farm Bill writers raid SNAP — again
A Holstein cow peers through the barrier of a dairy farm in Hamilton County, Kansas. (Allison Kite/Kansas Reflector) 'I do not believe the bill goes far enough in insuring that the truly needy are able to participate in the food stamp program.' U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kansas Me neither, Sen. Dole. But they're at it again. Last year, Republicans on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, with the support of Kansas Rep. Tracey Mann, wrote a Farm Bill. It went nowhere, not even a vote in the full House of Representatives. The Senate Ag Committee didn't even write a bill. Congress missed its second deadline to extend the 2018 Farm Bill. Why? That bill destroyed the coalition that has united to pass every farm bill of the last 50 years. Farm interests join supporters of food assistance programs to back one comprehensive piece of legislation. Nutrition advocates revolted against the draconian cuts in food stamps — now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP — and farmers don't have the votes by themselves to pass a Farm Bill in the House. With the extension of the extension ending in just four months Republicans are running the same play and running scared. They have raided SNAP of $60 billion for new farm subsidies, plus another $230 billion for tax cuts for the wealthy. Low-income families lose $5, with $1 going into a farmer's pocket and $4 into a rich taxpayer's bank account. The House Agriculture Committee passed it on a party-line vote; the Republican Mann voted yes while Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids voted no. Two strikes are enough. Farm lawmakers are using money dedicated to putting food on hungry families' tables like a bottomless checkbook — a private cookie jar — to increase subsidies to millionaire farmers. Now that the House has passed pieces of the Farm Bill as part of President Trump's tax cut package (the Kansas delegation split along party lines), the Senate is taking a look. Then, the House should rewrite its rules to take food stamps and nutrition assistance, along with overseas food aid, out of the jurisdiction of the Agriculture Committee. It's probably time to move SNAP out of the USDA, for good measure. Aggies justify the monstrous boost in spending as necessary to protect farmers from 'dire circumstances.' But maybe the circumstances wouldn't be so dire if farmers were not facing a trade war triggered by Trump's tariffs. Remember Trump Trade War I and the $20 billion shelled out to make up for that fiasco? Instead of preventing a replay, Congress went along. Kansas Republicans in the House voted to support Trump Trade War II when they voted for a provision preventing the House from even considering legislation to end the tariffs. Kansas Sens. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran twice voted against a measure in their chamber that would have done the same. They saying they're simply putting 'farm back into the Farm Bill,' a quaint description of shoehorning $60 billion in new farm payments into one catch-all piece of legislation. The proposal includes every legislative cat and dog the president and the Republicans can corral — from tax breaks for millionaires to more money to carry out the Trump draconian, damn-due-process mass deportation scheme. (If anyone thinks Congress is taking its responsibilities seriously, look at the sophomoric title its backers gave the bill-a name I refuse to dignify by repeating.) Lawmakers claim they're simply asking SNAP recipients to work in exchange for benefits. That sounds reasonable. Democrats favor work too, along with ensuring workers are paid a living wage. However, there is little evidence the requirements the House champions will themselves work. Most research is ambiguous, but it suggests that paperwork and reporting requirements will deter prospective workers. Moreover, the bill's transfer of administrative costs to states may lead to even more cuts in cuts in assistance. If you're thinking how catchy the 'putting the farm back into the Farm Bill' mantra sounds, consider: In the past 10 years, the top three Kansas farm program recipients cashed checks from Uncle Sam totaling more than $30 million. That doesn't count payments they earned last year and their share of the $10 billion in emergency payments Congress appropriated in December. The average Kansas SNAP beneficiary receives a little more than $200 per month, and none of them can 'eat tariffs' to survive. Meanwhile, the House's new Farm Bill will boost by $30,000 the limit on a single farmer's payments. That's not the maximum amount — that's just the increase in the maximum amount. Kansas representatives and senators have never shied from supporting farm spending. It's Kansas Politics 101. Despite partisan differences, it's one thing Sens. Dole, Kassebaum and Roberts and Reps. Glickman, Keys, Sebelius and Slattery all had in common. They also all supported a sound, effective, amply funded food and nutrition safety net. Greg Frazier was involved in writing five farm bills, as USDA chief of staff and a House Agriculture Committee staff director. A Kansas native, he now lives in Kansas City. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Kansas teachers left in the dark when reporting suspected child abuse, neglect
Marcus Stratton, a school counselor in Wakarusa, tells a legislative committee on June 2, 2025, in Topeka about his experience as a mandatory reporter of suspected child abuse and neglect. (Kansas Reflector screen capture of the Kansas Legislature You Tube channel) TOPEKA — Filing reports of suspected child abuse or neglect is the most difficult part of Marcus Stratton's job as a school counselor at a Kansas middle school. Stratton is a mandatory reporter, the title given to educators, health care workers, social workers and members of law enforcement who are required by law to report any suspicion of neglect or abuse. Teachers and school staff are the most frequent reporters of child neglect and abuse in Kansas, but minimal feedback, communication and transparency from the state foster care agency have left more questions than answers. Testifying before the Joint Committee on Child Welfare System Oversight, Stratton asked lawmakers Monday for more training for mandatory reporters and greater clarity on how the process of investigating allegations of abuse or neglect works within the state's foster care agency, the Kansas Department for Children and Families. 'When I get to a point where I have to make a mandatory report for a child, I can no longer meet the needs of the child in a public school setting,' Stratton told lawmakers. Teachers are taught not to investigate when they suspect potential abuse or neglect. Once a report is made, Stratton said he rarely knows the outcome. He only knows whether or not it has been assigned for investigation. 'Once we make the report, we may be meeting our legal obligations to do that, but we still have the relationship with the student that we have to maintain,' he said. Stratton is a counselor at Pauline South Intermediate School in Wakarusa, and he was not speaking as an official representative of the school. With concern for the wellbeing of students, he regularly questions how to navigate the opaque mandatory reporting process. He said the process can only be as good as those who are making the reports and those who are receiving them. Of the 71,000 reports of potential abuse, neglect or a family in need of assessment to the Kansas Protection Report Center in 2024, about half are assigned to an investigator, according to DCF data. Almost 30% of reports come from educators. In his nine years as a counselor, Stratton has never been called to court to testify in a child's case after filing a report. His experience with the Kansas Department for Children and Families has been good about 90% of the time, he said. 'In the years that I've been making mandated reports, I haven't come up with a magic formula,' Stratton said. 'There's so many different types of situations, so many different types of people. There's just no way that I think you can perfectly legislate something like this.' The more information, the better, he said. He suggested training for mandatory reporters to understand how DCF's process of investigation works and what qualifications and training an investigator might have. Eudora Republican Sen. Beverly Gossage, a former teacher and chair of the committee, said Stratton's concerns resonated with her. She relayed her experience with an old student who came to her sixth-grade class with a 'belt mark' across his face. He always had a story, Gossage said. After the second time, she filed a report. 'It does put you in an awkward position,' she said. The process can be a gray area for mandatory reporters, who may not know the consequences of filing a report and whether their anonymity will be maintained. It can be difficult to be specific when filing reports, said Monique Young, a Missouri educator who has also worked in Kansas. In Missouri, counselors, teachers and administrators participate in required training to recognize when a student needs help, but it can be a tough balance, Young said, when no central system exists within schools to ensure the best outcomes for both reporters and students. Often, information regarding investigations is confidential, said Tanya Keys, the deputy secretary of DCF. But she took Stratton's suggestions in stride, indicating there might be opportunities for educators to gain insight into the mandatory reporting system. Before Stratton left the committee room Monday, Gossage gave Keys and Stratton homework. She requested they meet again outside of the committee setting to discuss Stratton's concerns and find solutions that can apply to all mandatory reporters.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Kansas governor candidate Scott Schwab certain voting secure, eager to cut property taxes
Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a 2026 candidate for the Republican nomination for governor, discusses election politics during a recording of the Kansas Reflector podcast. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — Secretary of State Scott Schwab takes exception to anyone insisting on a state criminal investigation of Kansas elections based on the assumption evidence of misconduct waited to be found. Schwab, the state's top election official and a candidate for the Republican Party's nomination for governor, said Kansas elections were secure, fair and accurate. He was aware GOP rival Doug Billings said if he were elected governor in 2026 that he'd order the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to launch an inquiry into election irregularities. Billings asserted anyone who said Kansas didn't have election integrity issues was lying or ill-informed. 'He's not attacking me,' Schwab said on Kansas Reflector's podcast. 'He's attacking the lady that's retired, that volunteers at church and wants to volunteer as a poll worker. That's who he's attacking. And, if that's who you're attacking, your character is seriously in question. If you're calling her a liar, OK, that's between you and God.' He said anyone running for Kansas governor should be familiar enough with state government to know the KBI was under jurisdiction of the attorney general — not the governor. Schwab, 52, of Overland Park, graduated from Fort Hays State University, worked for a medical equipment company and entered the Kansas House in 2003. He unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination to a U.S. House seat in 2006, but returned to the Kansas House in 2009. He left the Legislature after elected secretary of state in 2018 and was reelected to that job in 2022. He declared his Republican gubernatorial candidacy in January and revealed he was being treated for cancer in March. He said testing showed a lung abnormality that required surgery. 'They said, 'Wow, we caught this thing really early. We're rounding up to stage one lung cancer, but we're gonna go in, take some significant margin, and you're good,'' he said. Aside from Schwab, the most prominent politician preparing for the GOP gubernatorial primary in 2026 was former Gov. Jeff Colyer. He replaced Gov. Sam Brownback when he resigned in early 2018 to work in the first administration of President Donald Trump. Colyer, who lost the GOP primary for governor in 2018 to Kobach, was recently endorsed by former Trump cabinet Secretary Ben Carson. Schwab said Colyer hadn't held public office for years, and 'he doesn't win primaries.' Other potential GOP candidates for governor included Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, state Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt, former Johnson County Commissioner Charlotte O'Hara, businesswoman Stacy Rogers and former Wichita school board member Joy Eakins. Only Billings has paid the filing fee to be a candidate. Schwab said it was significant U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, U.S. Reps. Derek Schmidt, Tracey Mann and Ron Estes and former U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner wouldn't enter the governor's race. 'Suddenly, what was considered a very crowded field doesn't get nearly as crowded,' Schwab said. He said candidates expecting to mount a competitive campaign would need to raise about $1 million this year. Schwab said he would campaign on a platform that included a commitment to lowering the property tax burden on Kansans. He said the county-by-county property appraisal process needed to be updated. He previously criticized the 2025 Legislature and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly for not taking substantive action to get a handle on property taxes. On abortion rights, Schwab said he remained an opponent of abortion. He said a fetus deserved personhood status and legal protections afforded Kansans at birth. 'The question we've got to ask yourself is, when does a person get access to constitutional and legal protections? Is it after they're born? A minute before they're born?' he said. 'Personally, I believe when there's implantation into the uterus, and then because there's a connection to the mother, that exists. That's my personal religious belief.' The Kansas Supreme Court issued an opinion in 2019 that said the Bill of Rights of the Kansas Constitution contained a fundamental right to bodily autonomy and that women in Kansas had the right to end a pregnancy. In 2022, Kansas voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have nullified the state court decision. 'I know where I would like to go, but it's unrealistic, and I get it. I want everybody in the world to love Jesus. That's unrealistic. I get it. I accept that. Does that make me an extremist? No, no,' he said. Schwab said he was comfortable with Kansas voters casting ballots ahead of Election Day, but would prefer ballots were deposited in drop boxes operated by county election offices rather than relying on the U.S. Postal Service. 'There's a few people that'll say, 'Hey, Election Day should be Election Day. Nothing early. Nothing by mail.' But that's an extreme minority. There's three ways to vote in Kansas: In-person on Election Day, in-person early or vote with an advanced mail ballot. We don't need more ways.' Kansas lawmakers approved a bill requiring special elections to be conducted in early March, at the August primary or the November general election. Schwab welcomed a law granting access to information from the Kansas Department of Revenue's motor vehicle division to better identify noncitizens registered to vote. In addition, legislators said online obituaries could be used by election clerks as a reference source for removal of deceased individuals from voter registration rolls. Schwab said he was disappointed the Legislature declined to enact his recommendation to make it a crime to harass an election worker. 'These are volunteers who are getting paid, but not much,' the secretary of state said. 'To threaten them when they're just doing what they were trained to do, it's pretty ridiculous. Some people are just mean.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
CoreCivic inmate sues Trousdale Turner prison staff over alleged extortion
An inmate at CoreCivic's Trousdale Turner prison in Tennessee is suing prison administrators for allowing gang members to assault him. (Photo: Kansas Reflector) A Trousdale Turner Correction Center inmate serving time at a privately-run prison in Tennessee is suing the warden and staff for allowing gang members to assault him and extort money from his mother. Filed in May in U.S. District Court in Nashville, the lawsuit claims gang members at the CoreCivic prison in Trousdale County threatened to assault inmate Charles Anderson if his mother and two family friends didn't send them money, then beat and sexually assaulted him anyway after he complained to prison staff. Trousdale Turner already faces a federal civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for gang violence and murders. The lawsuit names prison warden Vince Vantell, assistant warden Keith Huggins, investigator Robert Fohrd and a sergeant at the facility, which is run by the Brentwood-based prison operator under contract with the state of Tennessee. U.S. Department of Justice opens investigation into CoreCivic Trousdale County prison The filing says almost as soon as Anderson was transferred to Trousdale Turner in October 2023, he became the repeated victim of violence, with gang members stealing his property and threatening and inflicting violence on him. Gang members ordered him to buy back the stolen items in a well-known prison extortion scheme, according to the filing. Anderson then instructed his elderly mother to pay gang members' affiliates outside the prison through mobile methods or a 'green dot' card or else he would be severely harmed or killed. Gang members armed with shanks forced him to call his mother and ordered him to tell her to make payments between $40 and $150. 'These calls were placed from (Trousdale Turner Correctional Center) lines and presumably monitored by staff at TTCC,' the filing says. When the inmate's mother couldn't afford to make the payments, he asked two family friends for 'protection' payments to 'preserve his life.' The family friends told Fohrd about the extortion and threats, yet the staff member did 'nothing' meaningful to intervene or put Anderson in protective custody, the filing says. In May 2024, the family friend sent multiple emails to the warden's office about the 'incessant' extortion, and at one point a prison official told the friend they were 'committed' to placing him in protective custody. Yet in June 2024, Anderson was assaulted again, and in October 2024, he was sexually assaulted by at least four gang members with a broom handle. They claimed he owed them $1,000 for 'debt.' No staff members intervened, the filing says. The victim received treatment at Nashville General Hospital in October, but when he returned to the prison, gang members attacked him again and poured 'scalding hot water' on his face as he slept. Despite receiving medical treatment, he wasn't placed in protective custody and was attacked again and threatened if he didn't perform sexual favors for the gang members, which he refused to do, according to the filing. A corrections officer recommended he be put in protective custody, and staff reviewed the request. After repeated complaints and a request to file a Prison Rape Elimination Act complaint, Anderson met with prison officials when Vantell told him it was 'okay if he was gay.' Anderson replied that he wasn't. 'This interaction was an attempt to cover-up the rape as a consensual act and escape liability for the defendants' acts and omissions,' the filing says. The defendants denied his requests for protective custody, alleging he 'was not honest about why he needed protective custody' and 'became argumentative with the board' of prison officials. In December 2024, Fohrd spoke with the inmate's mother and told her to pay the gang members 'one more time' to buy back his property and he would be put into protective custody. The filing says the phone call was made in the presence of Anderson and gang members. 'Because the defendants failed to stop gang violence and extortion directed towards Mr. Anderson and his family, the violence and extortion continues, without reprieve, even to present,' the filing says. Since last October, the victim has received multiple disciplinary write-ups for refusing his cell assignment, because he believes 'segregation' is the only way to be protected from 'constant gang violence,' according to the filing. Yet he remains in the general population. Vantell resigned as warden in April after being placed on involuntary administrative leave amid the Department of Justice investigation into inmate physical and sexual violence, as well as understaffing at Trousdale Turner. The plaintiffs are represented by Moseley & Moseley Attorneys in Murfreesboro and Leanne Thorne in Lexington, Tennessee. A CoreCivic spokesman said the company doesn't comment on pending litigation but added that 'the safety and well-being of every person in our care is a top priority for our leadership and the staff at our Trousdale Turner Correctional Center.' CoreCivic 5-22-25 SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
