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GOP leadership of Kansas Legislature vote to form elite budget-writing committee • Kansas Reflector

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GOP leadership of Kansas Legislature vote to form elite budget-writing committee • Kansas Reflector


TOPEKA — Top leaders of the Kansas Legislature authorized on a party-line vote Wednesday the formation of a special committee responsible for developing a state government budget plan before start the 2025 session in January.

The 23-person committee, with 16 Republicans and seven Democrats, would meet five times between the Nov. 5 general election and the Jan. 13 launch of the annual session. The objective would be to produce a legislative draft of the budget before Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly outlined her priorities in the State of the State speech and in written budget recommendations.

The Legislative Coordinating Council, with support of only Republican House and Senate members, embraced the departure from precedent in Kansas.

For years, the Legislature has used a governor’s budget to initiate work on spending bills. Under the alternative inspired by House Speaker Dan Hawkins and Senate President Ty Masterson, both Republicans, the recommendations from Kelly would be relegated to the backburner.

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Hawkins said the modified process would give members of the Republican-led Legislature an additional three weeks to compare agency budget requests with last session’s spending bills. No longer would the Legislature’s existing budget committees sit on their hands for weeks waiting for a governor’s budget reports, he said.

“Everybody wants more time to dive into these budgets,” Hawkins said. “This is an opportunity for us to really work hard on doing good budgeting instead of just accepting the governor’s budget.”

Kelly said there was no merit to the GOP’s overhaul of the budget process while House Minority Leader Vic Miller, D-Topeka, questioned the wisdom of appointing an elite contingent of “super legislators” with power to carve the base budget.

Masterson challenged Miller’s suggestion Republicans were creating a two-tier system relative to legislative input on the budget.

“I just disagree with that comment on some type of super legislators,” said Masterson, who argued the special committee’s budget would be vetted by both chambers of the Legislature before sent to the governor.

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Miller said the regular House and Senate budget committees could perform extra scrutiny of the state budget if GOP leaders stopped declaring “pro forma” days at the Capitol. In 2023, the Legislature was given seven days off in January but were paid by virtue of the pro forma designation. There were nine such days in January 2024, he said.

He said it would be fair to describe the pro forma concept as an opportunity for elected officials to “get paid for not doing anything.”

In addition, Miller questioned why the draft of the 2025 budget would be shaped by eight Senate Republicans, eight House Republicans, three Senate Democrats and four House Democrats who may or may not return to the Legislature in January. Committee appointments haven’t been made public, but all House and Senate seats are up for reelection Nov. 5.

Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat who voted against the special committee plan along with Miller, said the Legislature should certainly dig deeper into nuances of state spending. But she expressed concern the expanding budget process could potentially burden legislative staff.

Eventually, Republicans plan to introduce a bill that would make the special budget committee a permanent fixture in state law.

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Rep. Blake Carpenter, R-Derby, said it was best to not think about the budget reform in context of the Kelly administration. A future Republican governor would operate with the same limitations imposed on Kelly, he said.

“If we put politics aside for a second, it’s not about the person that’s in the governor’s office,” he said. “Don’t look at the person. Don’t look at the party. It’s the right thing to do.”



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Kansas

Former Kansas high school wrestling coach charged with producing child pornography

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16 hours ago

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March 5, 2026

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Former Kansas high school wrestling coach charged with producing child pornography


WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – A former Kansas wrestling coach was charged with creating child sexual abuse materials by secretly recording minors showering during an athletic competition.

According to court documents, 37-year-old Ryan Brungardt of Salina is charged with two counts of production of child pornography and one count of attempted production of child pornography.

Brungardt is a former employee at Lakewood Middle School and former wrestling coach for Salina Central High School.

Brungardt is accused of using a cellphone to record three minors while they showered in a locker room during the Tournament of Champions, a wrestling tournament was held at Newton High in January 2024.

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Brungardt made his initial court appearance for the criminal complaint on Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brooks G. Severson.

A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday

Investigators are in the process of reviewing additional seized cellphone videos in this case that are suspected to have been recorded at wrestling meets in Newton, Hays, Garden City and Salina during the 2023-2024 wrestling season.

Anyone who believes they witnessed crimes or any suspicious activity at these events is asked to contact the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at (785) 600-8790 or report at www.kbi.ks.gov/sar.

Copyright 2026 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com

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RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Saturday after Wednesday sub-state wins

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1 day ago

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March 5, 2026

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RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Saturday after Wednesday sub-state wins


TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Below is a look at the results from Wednesday night’s high school basketball sub-state semifinals in Northeast Kansas.

Editor’s Note: This story will be updated with what schools are hosting when that information becomes readily available.

WIBW Scoreboard

BOYS

6A Boys West Sub-State: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results

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  • Topeka High 57, Washburn Rural 50 (will play Maize Saturday)
  • Junction City 70, Dodge City 56 (will play Derby Saturday)
  • Manhattan 58, Wichita-Northwest 56 (will play Wichita-East Saturday)

4A Boys East Sub-State: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results

  • Rock Creek 62, Louisberg 57 (will play Bishop Miege Saturday)
  • Atchison 74, Wamego 43
  • Hayden 72, Independence 56 (will play Atchison Saturday)
  • Eudora 76, Santa Fe Trail 68

GIRLS

5A West Girls: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results

  • Hays 80, Topeka West 18
  • Eisenhower 55, Seaman 41
  • Kapaun Mt. Carmel 71, Emporia 41

5A East Girls: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results

  • Shawnee Heights 89, Sumner 15 (will play Pittsburg Saturday)
  • Basehor-Linwood 74, Highland Park 28 (will play Piper Saturday)

3A Pomona-West Franklin Girls: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results

  • Osage City 75, Columbus 31 (will play Frontenac Saturday)

3A Sabetha Girls: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results

  • Silver Lake 48, Nemaha Central 26 (will play Riley County Saturday)
  • Riley County 51, Jeff West 40 (will play Silver Lake)

Copyright 2026 WIBW. All rights reserved.



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RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Friday after Tuesday sub-state wins

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2 days ago

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March 4, 2026

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RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Friday after Tuesday sub-state wins


TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Below is a look at the results from Tuesday night’s high school basketball sub-state semifinals in Northeast Kansas.

Editor’s Note: This story will be updated with what schools are hosting when that information becomes readily available.

WIBW Scoreboard

BOYS

5A East Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

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  • KC Washington 68, Highland Park 38
  • Shawnee Heights 49, De Soto 37 (will play Leavenworth Friday)

5A West Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

  • Topeka West 55, Hutchinson 32 (will play Bishop Carroll Friday)
  • Emporia 61, Great Bend 41 (will play Maize South Friday)
  • Seaman 73, Valley Center 51 (will play Hays Friday)

3A West Franklin Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

  • Burlington 60, Osage City 35 (will play Baxter Springs Friday)

3A Sabetha Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

  • Hiawatha 73, Oskaloosa 48 (will play Heritage Christian Friday)
  • Silver Lake 58, Sabetha 39 (will play Perry-Lecompton Friday 7:30 p.m.)

GIRLS

6A West Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

  • Washburn Rural 60, Wichita South 32 (will play Derby)
  • Topeka High 69, Maize 45 (will play Liberal)
  • Manhattan 67, Free State 21 (will play Wichita East)

4A East Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

  • Rock Creek 71, Parsons 23 (will play Tonganoxie)
  • Wamego 54, Labette County 33 (will play Bishop Miege)
  • Hayden 2, Athison 0 (will play Baldwin)

2A Eskridge/Mission Valley Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

  • Rossville 71, KC Christian 49 (will play Maur Hill-Mount Academy)
  • Lyndon 61, Jeff. Co. North 31 (will play Valley Heights)
  • Valley Heights 65, Doniphan West 41 (will play Lyndon)

Copyright 2026 WIBW. All rights reserved.



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