By Andy Marso
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — The rate of poverty and rate of uninsured declined slightly at the national level in 2013, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The data, from the bureau’s annual American Community Survey, does not include sign-ups for 2014 health insurance from the online marketplace that began this year as part of the federal Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare. Rather, the health insurance figures distributed Tuesday will serve as a baseline to compare future years’ data that include ACA online sign-ups.

Nationally, the uninsured rate dropped from 14.8 percent in 2012 to 14.5 percent in 2013, with a margin of error of 0.1 percent.

In Kansas the uninsured rate dropped from 12.6 percent to 12.3 percent, but the smaller sample size has a margin of error of 0.4 percent, so the state’s dip is not considered statistically significant.

In a conference call Tuesday, census bureau officials did not speculate on the causes of the increased insurance coverage nationwide but said it coincided with a drop poverty. Though median income remained static, the poverty rate dropped as more unemployed and underemployed people found work.

“I think the main reason we’re looking at a drop in poverty rate is the change in full-time employment,” said Chuck Nelson of the census bureau.

The number of American men and women working full-time year-round increased by 2.8 million.

Though the number of Americans living in poverty stayed about the same, the percentage dropped because the nation gained population in 2013.

Nationally, the rate of poverty in children under age 18 fell from 21.8 percent to 19.9 percent, the most significant drop in that category in more than a decade.

Full state level poverty data was not yet available Tuesday. Two-year averages released Tuesday showed Kansas dropping from 14.4 percent in poverty in 2010-11 to 13.6 in 2012-13, but that change fell within the statisticians’ 90 percent confidence margin of plus-or-minus 1.3 percent.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Some former Missouri officials are backing a proposal to require high school students to pass he same test used for immigrants applying for citizenship.

Former Gov. Bob Holden and other political leaders said Wednesday that the test is necessary to educate students on democracy.

A study conducted by a conservative Oklahoma research organization found less than 3 percent of high school students in that state could pass the citizenship test. Backers of the Civics Education Initiative said data on how Missouri students would fare isn’t available.

Under the proposal, Missouri high school students would have to correctly answer at least 60 percent of the citizenship questions in order to graduate.

The proposal is part of a push by the Civics Education Initiative to enact similar laws in all states by 2017.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Missouri election officials are scrambling to reprint ballots and reprogram computers after an appeals court ordered a change to an early-voting proposal that will appear on the November ballot.

County clerks said Wednesday that the change could cost thousands of additional dollars for local election jurisdictions and could delay the availability of absentee ballots.

An appeals court panel ruled earlier this week that the ballot wording approved by lawmakers for the proposed constitutional amendment was misleading, because it failed to note that the six-day early voting period would occur only if the state provides funding. The court ordered that a description of the funding contingency be added to the ballot.

Many counties already had printed their ballots, because military voting starts Friday and traditional absentee voting begins next Tuesday.

TOPEKA – Gov. Sam Brownback has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff from sun-up to sun-down today through Friday to honor the passing of former Gov. John Anderson.

His daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Anderson, says Anderson was 97 when he died Monday at an extended-care facility in Olathe. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Anderson practiced law in Olathe and served as Johnson County attorney before winning a seat in the Kansas State Senate in 1952. He was appointed attorney general in 1956 and won re-election in 1956 and 1958.

In 1960, Anderson ran for governor, defeating incumbent George Docking. At that time governors served only two-year terms, and Anderson successfully won re-election in 1962.

After his term ended, Anderson returned to his law practice in Olathe. He again sought his party’s nomination for governor in 1972 but was defeated in a primary election.

“I am deeply saddened to hear of Governor Anderson’s passing,” Brownback said. “He devoted many years to serving the people of Kansas, and we are grateful for his dedication to our great state. The lieutenant governor and I, along with Mary and Ruth, extend our heartfelt sympathies to Gov. Anderson’s family and friends. They are in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.”

At the family’s request, all funeral arrangements will be private.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A prosecutor says he’ll immediately release transcripts and audio recordings of a grand jury investigation into the death of Michael Brown if the panel doesn’t indict the suburban St. Louis police officer who shot him.

Spokesman Ed Magee on Wednesday said St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch has ordered that the proceedings be transcribed and audio-recorded, an unusual step for grand juries in Missouri. The story was first reported by St. Louis Public Radio.

If the police officer, Darren Wilson. is indicted, the grand jury testimony and recordings will become potential trial evidence and will not be released.

Wilson shot and killed 18-year-old Brown on Aug. 9, leading to unrest in Ferguson. The grand jury is deciding if use of lethal force was justified. Wilson is on paid administrative leave.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The head of a school efficiency task force is recommending several changes, including incentives for Kansas school districts to consolidate and potential restrictions on teacher bargaining rights.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports  Wichita businessman Sam Williams mailed his recommendations to the members of the task force last week.

The panel’s vice chairman, Jim Hinson, superintendent of Shawnee Mission district, said the recommendations are only a draft and the entire commission has not considered them. He says he personally has questions on several of the proposals.

Hinson said commission members will discuss the draft at meetings later this week.

That commission must submit a report to the Legislature by Jan. 9.

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) applauded the passage of a version of his manufacturing jobs bill in the U.S. House of Representatives last evening, and he continued to call for a vote on the legislation in the U.S. Senate.

“This bipartisan bill would put more people back to work by bringing together public and private agencies, businesses, universities, and other organizations to revitalize American manufacturing and innovation,” said Blunt. “I’m very pleased my House colleagues passed this common-sense, bipartisan provision, and I continue to urge Majority Leader Reid to allow a vote in the Senate as soon as possible.”

The bipartisan “Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act” (RAMI) was introduced by U.S. Representatives Tom Reed (N.Y.) and Joe Kennedy (Mass.) in the House. Blunt and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio) introduced a version of the bill in the Senate in August 2013, which passed the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee by voice vote in April 2014. For more information on the Brown-Blunt manufacturing bill, please click here.

“We’re thrilled to have such overwhelming bipartisan support for our bill to create high-tech, high-paying manufacturing jobs for Americans,” said Reed. “These are the kinds of jobs that will give generations to come the opportunity to create and innovate right here at home – not across the ocean. I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish together with my colleagues Rep. Joe Kennedy and Senators Roy Blunt and Sherrod Brown. Our shared vision sets the stage for an American manufacturing renaissance and will position the United States in the best way possible to be the world leader in advanced manufacturing. In this economy, Americans need something to come together on, something to unite around to fight for jobs. RAMI is that uniting initiative.”

“In every corner of our country, the transformation of the manufacturing industry is creating jobs and expanding access to opportunity for millions of Americans,” said Kennedy. “Today’s bipartisan passage of RAMI by the House of Representatives is another step towards the kind of domestic manufacturing policy our country needs to stay on the cutting edge of a global economy. I am grateful for Congressman Reed’s partnership on this bill and look forward to supporting Senators Brown and Blunt as it progresses through the Senate.”

“This bill keeps innovation and production here at home,” said Brown. “Our nation is most successful when we work together – and a Network for Manufacturing Innovation would foster public-private partnerships that give small businesses, industry leaders, and research institutions the tools they need to compete on a global scale. These regional, industry-led hubs will leverage local expertise and will create thousands of high-paying, high-tech manufacturing jobs for American workers.”

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — Protesters seeking the immediate arrest of the Ferguson police officer who fatally shot an unarmed 18-year-old have disrupted another government meeting.

They also renewed calls Tuesday at the St. Louis County Council meeting to remove the county prosecutor, Bob McCullough, investigating the case.

The calls for Darren Wilson’s arrest and the recusal of St. Louis county prosecuting attorney began with the final utterance of the Pledge of Allegiance.

“For all,” crowd members shouted as the pledge concluded with “and justice for all.”

A protest also took place one week ago at the Ferguson City Council’s first meeting since Michael Brown’s death.

Brown, who was black, was fatally shot Aug. 9 by Wilson, who is white. It led to unrest in Ferguson and has spurred a national discussion about police treatment of African-Americans.

By Andy Marso
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — Political action committees for medically related groups in Kansas tended to throw their money behind incumbent House members before this year’s primary — even if those members did not support all of the groups’ political initiatives.

Fifteen medically related PACs raised about $253,000 and spent about $125,000 this year in the reporting period that ended July 24. Updated reports are due to the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission on Oct. 23, before the upcoming general election.
Seven of the smaller medical PACs spent less than $1,000 and didn’t get into any direct support of candidates. Their spending was mostly on administrative matters, like registering with the ethics commission.

The other eight doled out donations of up to $500 for House candidates and $1,000 for those running for statewide offices.

The Kansas Hospital Association PAC spending of about $21,500 included donations to almost 40 House members, including several who are strong opponents of the association’s effort to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

“There’s a number of different topics and legislative issues in determining those individuals who support hospitals,” said Chad Austin, the association’s vice president of government relations. “Medicaid expansion, or KanCare expansion, is just one of those topics we look at.”

Austin said the group also took a great interest in Senate Bill 311, which gradually raises the cap on non-economic damages for medical malpractice from $250,000 to $350,000. The hospital association and several other medical groups supported the bill, under the assumption that the modest increase would keep the cap in place by satisfying the Kansas Supreme Court’s concerns about the cap remaining static for decades.

The bill had broad support in the House, passing 120-4.

Austin also said Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s work on that bill was part of what spurred the association to give $1,000 to the Republican’s re-election effort.

“We’ve had some other intersections with the AG’s office in the past as well,” Austin said.

Jerry Slaughter, executive director of the Kansas Medical Society, said preserving the non-economic damages cap has been “probably our largest issue” lately.

The medical society delved into dozens of House races by donating to incumbents this year but did not donate to Schmidt or anyone else running for statewide office. Slaughter said the society has a policy of avoiding statewide races financially.

“We encourage physicians to get involved in those races, but we do not provide support for statewide office candidates from our PAC,” Slaughter said.

Slaughter said that policy extends to the Kansas insurance commissioner, who leads the state agency that regulates health insurance.

The medical society PAC, pumped up by donations from doctors across Kansas, is the state’s most well-funded medical PAC, with about $167,000 in cash on hand at the end of July after spending about $47,000 during the primary season.

It’s a substantial amount, but nothing compared to the Kansas National Education Association teachers’ union PAC, which was sitting on $610,000 at the end of July.

Bob Beatty, a professor of political science at Washburn University, said the strategy by the 15 medical PACs of donating to House candidates rather than competing for broadcast air space in hotly contested statewide races was sound.

“These statewide races, they are sucking up a lot of money and attention, so in politics when you have resources like these PAC groups have, you want to see where you can make a difference,” Beatty said. “This year, it sure looks like it would be the Legislature.”

The Physician Hospitals of Kansas PAC also stuck mostly with donations to House incumbents but notably strayed from that philosophy in two races. The group supported Lonnie Clark in his bid to unseat Allan Rothlisberg in the 65th District Republican primary and Fred Patton in his bid to unseat Josh Powell in the 50th District Republican primary.

Patrick Vogelsberg, a lobbyist for the Physician Hospitals of Kansas, said the group generally has an incumbent-friendly policy but it “shouldn’t take control in all situations.”

“Any time we deal with an incumbent, it’s a fairly strong consideration to get involved and support a challenger,” he said. “But in these situations we felt alright about it.”

Vogelsberg said the group spent time vetting the candidates and was looking for “a candidate who is at least open to our issues” and does “not just summarily dismiss whatever our arguments may be.”

But the group also is looking for candidates who can win.

With about $40,000 in cash on hand, Vogelsberg said the Physician Hospitals PAC had to be “very precise” in its donations, and the decision to support Clark and Patton was vindicated only after the two prevailed in their primaries.

“Any time you’re trying to make recommendations on how clients should contribute, you definitely want to pick who’s going to be the winner in the end,” Vogelsberg said. “You don’t want to throw good money behind a bad candidate just because that candidate is favorable to you. In those situations we tried to pick who was the strongest candidate.”