Kansas

Here’s why Kansas House speaker won’t allow a vote on Laura Kelly Medicaid expansion bill

Published

2 years ago

January 17, 2024

Here’s why Kansas House speaker won’t allow a vote on Laura Kelly Medicaid expansion bill

Medicaid expansion legislation has now been introduced in the Kansas Legislature, but it is unlikely to receive a floor vote in the House or Senate, let alone a committee hearing.

House Minority Leader Vic Miller, D-Topeka, introduced a Medicaid expansion bill Wednesday in the House Appropriations Committee.

House Appropriations Chair Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill, said he believed the bill should be introduced in the House Health and Human Services Committee but held a vote on introducing it in appropriations. The committee ultimately voted to allow the introduction of the bill in a 9-8 vote.

Also on Wednesday, Sen. Pat Pettey, D-Kansas City, introduced a Medicaid expansion bill in the Senate Ways and Means Committee without objection.

By introducing the bills in budget committees instead of health committees, the bills are now exempt from session deadlines. But Gov. Laura Kelly wants the bills acted upon much sooner.

“The legislature should listen to the over 70% of Kansans who support Medicaid Expansion and give this bill a hearing by Kansas Day,” Kelly said in a statement.

GOP leadership won’t put Medicaid expansion up for a vote

Kelly, a Democrat, has claimed that there are enough supporters of Medicaid expansion that it would pass if Republican leadership allowed it to get a vote.

“I believe that if the issue were put to a vote today, the majority of you in this chamber would support it,” she told legislators in her State of the State address last week. “Yet there are some who are so adamantly opposed to expansion that they won’t even give you the opportunity to debate and to vote.”

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, told reporters after the speech that he won’t allow a vote on Medicaid expansion.

“I know my votes,” Hawkins said. “I know the votes in the House, and I can tell you there is not enough votes to pass. People say, ‘Well, put it out for a vote.’ I never put anything up for a vote unless it’s going to pass. You don’t ever see us put stuff out there just to watch it die. We put things up that’s going to pass, and I can tell you right now there are not 63 votes for Medicaid expansion.”

He said he won’t put it up for a vote to prove the point because “we’re not in the business of proving a point.”

While the governor’s State of the State speech frequently elicited applause from Democrats, the clapping was often far more tepid on the Republican side of the aisle. That was especially the case with Medicaid expansion, which got a standing ovation from Democrats but nearly zero applause from Republicans.

Kelly’s Wednesday news release about the introduction of Medicaid expansion legislation did have supporting statements from five Republicans: Sens. Brenda Dietrich, of Topeka; Carolyn McGinn, of Sedgwick; and John Doll, of Garden City; and Reps. Susan Concannon, of Beloit; and David Younger, of Ulysses.

Democrats, Republicans disagree over benefits of Medicaid expansion

Kelly has argued that expanding Medicaid will provide access to health care for thousands of Kansans who have jobs, but their employer doesn’t provide health insurance and they make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, which can result in them having no coverage.

“Health care coverage for 150,000 Kansans,” Kelly said. “Cost-savings for most everyone. We protect our rural hospitals. And Kansas taxpayers pay nothing extra? That’s a deal just about anyone would take.”

While the governor has cited polls showing strong public support for expanding Medicaid, Masterson said the response depends on how the question is asked.

“If you had read me the question in whatever that Fort Hays (State University) poll was, I think I might have answered yes,” he said. “You skewed the question. You go out and ask the question the right way, it is not a majority of Kansans.”

“The problem is 90% of the people out there don’t even know what Medicaid expansion does,” Hawkins said. “They think it’s helping the elderly; they think it’s helping the disabled. It doesn’t. Those populations are already taken care of.”

Hawkins said there should instead be an increase in the Medicaid reimbursement rate, more funding for “safety net clinics” and addressing the intellectual and developmental disability waiver waiting list.

“There’s a lot of things that we want to do,” Hawkins said. “But Medicaid expansion is the governor’s deal. It’s not our deal. It’s just not.”

But Hawkins said GOP leadership isn’t introducing any bills on those issues. Masterson said those topics are generally addressed in the budget.

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Kansas

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

Published

4 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

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

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)

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Kansas

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

Published

16 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

In early 2026, the Kansas state legislature passed SB 244, a law which prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms on government property that align with their gender identity and establishes a private right of action that allows anyone who suspects someone is transgender and in violation of the law to sue that person for “damages” totaling $1,000.

The law also invalidates state-issued driver’s licenses with updated gender markers that reflect the carrier’s gender identity. In February 2026, transgender people across the state received letters from the state Department of Revenue’s Division of Vehicles informing them that their driver’s licenses “will no longer be valid,” effective immediately. SB 244 also prohibits transgender Kansans – or those born in Kansas – from updating the gender marker on state-issued birth certificates and driver’s licenses in the future.

The same day SB 244 went into effect, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP filed a lawsuit challenging SB 244 in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of two transgender men who had their driver’s licenses invalidated under the law. The lawsuit charges that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.

“The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police,” said Harper Seldin, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”

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Kansas

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

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Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of an illegal firearm.

According to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 22-year-old Antoine R. Gillum was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

His sentencing stems from a June 2024 incident in a metro gas station. KCPD investigators contacted Gillum inside and found that he had discarded a 9 mm pistol in an aisle between the merchandise. He also discarded a pill bottle containing multiple illegal substances: cocaine base, oxycodone/acetaminophen and oxycodone.

Officers searched the vehicle Gillum had arrived in and found approximately 32 grams of cocaine base.

On May 6, 2025, Gillum pleaded guilty to one count each of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Jennings. It’s a part of ‘Operation Take Back America,’ a nationwide Department of Justice initiative to eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

No further information has been released.

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