Good morning everyone: Back from Boston,where we still squeezed in some work while spending time with family at a wedding over last weekend. Went right from Boston to Topeka without missing a beat. As we head into this week, it’s comforting to know that we have just one more night at the Ramada. It’s always a very long four months, but it’s hard to believe how many late nights and early mornings are spent at that hotel and how many lawmakers I run into. In some odd way, it’s like I am attached to that place because it does become sort of a makeshift home/workspace for four months. That aside ..read more

Republican state Sen. Kristen O'Shea of Topeka said an emotional goodbye to the Kansas Senate on Friday when she announced she would not seek a second term in the statehouse. Due with her second child in a couple days, O'Shea told senators she would not seek re-election to the Senate District 18 seat, sometimes breaking down in tears as she explained the importance of her work in the Senate and how she balanced it with motherhood. Hours later, Republican state Rep. Kenny Titus of Manhattan announced he would run for the seat, which represents parts of Pottawatomie . . . SSJ This content is res ..read more

The Kansas Senate on Friday turned back last-minute efforts to pull bills legalizing medical marijuana and expanding Medicaid out of committee. The Senate voted down the motion to pull medical marijuana out of committee on a 12-25 vote. It rejected the bill to bring Medicaid expansion out of committee 18-17 with two Republican senators - Rick Kloos and Mike Petersen - present and passing and three senators absent. Both bills needed 24 votes to be . . . SSJ This content is restricted to subscribers. Click here to subscribe. Already a subscriber? Click here to login ..read more

The Kansas House on Friday overrode Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of about $35 million in sales tax exemptions that would have benefited veterans, telecommunications companies, Exploration Place in Wichita and the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center in Topeka. Just as she did in vetoing the $1.56 billion tax bill, Kelly said this assortment of tax breaks would put a burden on the general fund . . . SSJ This content is restricted to subscribers. Click here to subscribe. Already a subscriber? Click here to login ..read more

The Kansas House on Friday overrode Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of a new tax bill that she said was too expensive and would put the state's fiscal health at risk. The House voted 104-15 to pass the bill, which would cost about $1.56 billion over three years and would move the state to a two-tier structure with the bottom bracket eliminated. The bill, which drew bipartisan support, now moves to . . . SSJ This content is restricted to subscribers. Click here to subscribe. Already a subscriber? Click here to login ..read more

(Updated to show Schmidt had a primary in 2022) Former Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt is returning to Kansas politics, announcing Friday morning that he will run for the 2nd Congressional District seat that will come open with Congressman Jake LaTurner not seeking re-election. Coming off a defeat in the 2022 governor's race to Democrat Laura Kelly, Schmidt is jumping into a race that already includes Turner's senior adviser Jeff Kahrs and former Kansas Livestock Association President Shawn Tiffany. Kahrs and SSJ This content is restricted to subscribers. Click here to subscribe. Alr ..read more

Here's a look at how the tax bill vetoed by Gov. Laura Kelly compares to a plan that she proposed for lawmakers to consider when they get back to work on Friday with the legislative session scheduled to end on Tuesday. Here's a fiscal analysis of the governor's plan by the budget office, including . . . SSJ This content is restricted to subscribers. Click here to subscribe. Already a subscriber? Click here to login ..read more

A top adviser to Republican U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner is jumping in the race for the 2nd Congressional District as candidates jockey for the open seat. Jeff Kahrs, district director and senior adviser to LaTurner, said he is running for the seat that will come open with LaTurner's decision not to seek re-election this year. "I want my children to inherit the same free and prosperous country that my parents left to our generation, but we have work to do to make that a reality," LaTurner said, "Our nation is in peril," he said in a statement . . . SSJ This content is restricted to subscribers. Cli ..read more

The former president of the Kansas Livestock Association said Thursday morning that he plans to run for the 2nd Congressional District seat that will be vacated by U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner who is not seeking re-election. In an interview with the Sunflower State Journal, Shawn Tiffany, the owner of Tiffany Cattle Co., said he plans to run as a Republican for the seat that has drawn widespread attention since LaTurner surprised many when he announced he wouldn't run for a third term. "My wife and I have decided this is the right thing both for our family . . . SSJ This content is restricted to su ..read more

House Majority Leader Chris Croft said Thursday morning that he doesn't plan to run for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District. The Overland Park Republican said he's committed to remaining in the House and preserving the chamber's GOP supermajority this fall. "I am 100% committed to serving as representative for the 8th District and leading the Kansas House Republican caucus as majority leader," Croft said in a text Thursday morning. "I will continue working to deliver tax relief for Kansans, protect our state from foreign adversaries, and pass common sense legislation to improve our stat ..read more