TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans in the Kansas House elected a new, more conservative majority leader Monday and Democrats dumped their firebrand leader in the chamber in favor of lower-key veteran with a reputation for being able to work with the GOP.

The selection of conservative Rep. Dan Hawkins of Wichita as majority leader for the next two years is likely to complicate Democratic Gov.-elect Laura Kelly’s efforts to pass her legislative agenda, particularly a plan to expand the state’s Medicaid health coverage for the needy. Defeated Majority Leader Don Hineman, a moderate Dighton Republican, has supported expanding Medicaid, while Hawkins strongly opposes it as chairman of the House health committee for the past four years.

Republicans maintained their 85-40 majority in the House in this year’s elections, but conservatives picked up at least six seats at the expense of GOP moderates. Hawkins prevailed over Hineman, 48-35, with one lawmaker absent and another not voting.

House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a conservative Olathe Republican, won a second, two-year term as the chamber’s top leader, besting a challenge from conservative Rep.-elect Owen Donohoe, of Shawnee, on an 80-4 vote.

But the result in the majority leader’s race suggested that Democrats still have opportunities to form coalitions with GOP moderates to pass legislation sought by Kelly.

To help shepherd Kelly’s agenda through the Legislature, they turned to veteran Rep. Tom Sawyer over Rep. Jim Ward, who’d held the job for the past two years with conservative Republicans Sam Brownback and Jeff Colyer as governor. Both Sawyer and Ward are veteran lawmakers from Wichita, but Ward is far more likely to deliver fiery speeches during debates and has a reputation for being more confrontational.

The vote among Democrats was 24-16 in Sawyer’s favor.

Sawyer was first elected to the House in 1986 and served as majority leader in 1992, when Democrats last controlled the chamber. He was minority leader from 1993 through 1998, stepping down for an unsuccessful run for governor against then-popular GOP incumbent Bill Graves. He returned to the House in 2003 and left in 2009 for a seat on the state parole board. When his term in that job was set to expire, he won back his House seat again in 2012.

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker will be the Missouri Democratic Party’s next leader.

Democrats elected Baker Saturday. She will replace Stephen Webber as state party chairman.

Baker is taking the reins of following major Democratic losses. Republican Josh Hawley unseated Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill in November, which will give the state two Republican U.S. senators.

Auditor Nicole Galloway soon will be the only statewide Democratic officeholder. Republicans hold supermajorities in the state House and Senate.

Baker told the newspaper that it’s an opportunity for Democrats to self-assess. She says both progressives and conservatives are welcome in Democrats’ “great big tent.”

Baker was appointed county prosecutor in 2011 and elected in 2012. She says she plans to run for re-election.

BOONE COUNTY – Authorities have arrested an 18-year-old who is suspected of firing gunshots outside a Columbia church during the funeral of a community activist.

The suspect identified as John Cosey is jailed on suspicion of unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action. No one was injured when gunfire erupted Saturday outside of Christian Fellowship Church as services were underway for 26-year-old Ahmonta Harris.

The Boone County Sheriff’s Department says Harris was killed after “unlawfully” entering a home near a golf course and getting into a confrontation with an armed 20-year-old resident. Friends and relatives dispute that Harris would have committed such a crime.

Harris frequently spoke at meetings and was best known for organizing a controversial event dubbed the “Fireworks War” as a way to bring people together.

The AP contributed to this report

TOPEKA—Fiscal year tax collections have exceeded previous year’s totals by $221.20 million according to data from the latest revenue report released Monday from the Kansas Department of Revenue.

Fiscal year 2019 tax collections so far total $2.70 billion, exceeding estimates by $2.74 million.

November tax collections were up $38.60 million, or 8.41 percent over last year. November’s tax collections exceeded expectations for the month by $2.74 million.

Individual income tax collections in November totaled $235.02 million which is $27.40 million or 13.20 percent above the same time last year. November sales tax collections fell slightly short of last November’s collections by $115,000.

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — Missouri and Kansas supporters are optimistic that the iconic Route 66 is on the road to becoming part of a National Historic Trail.

U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Jim Inhofe announced this week that a bipartisan bill would include Route 66 in the National Trails System Act.

The route connected Chicago to Los Angeles and was an economic boon for small towns — including in Missouri and Kansas — before the interstate system was built. The House of Representatives passed a similar bill in June.

Supporters say the designation would revitalize towns along the historic corridor. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a similar bill in June.

The proposal would allow the National Park Service to administer Route 66. The agency would award federal funds for preservation, development and promotion.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) – A southeast Missouri baby sitter has pleaded guilty in the dog attack death of a 13-month-old girl.

33-year-old Erica Jordan, of Cape Girardeau, agreed to a plea deal Friday. In exchange for pleading guilty to second-degree involuntary manslaughter, a charge of endangering the welfare of a child was dropped.

Prosecutors say she was caring for Loxli Chavez in March when a pit bull-mix attacked the girl. Jordan was temporality keeping the dog at her home for her brother. She told police the dog was “not good with children.” She said the dog also had bitten her son but that she thought he had calmed down after being neutered.

Sentencing is set for Jan. 18. She faces up to four years in prison.