Kansas Democratic Governor Laura Kelly named former Republican Rep. Melissa Rooker on Thursday to help lead one of her signature initiatives.
Former state Rep. Melissa Rooker FILE PHOTO / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
Kelly chose Rooker to head the Kansas Children’s Cabinet, a 15-member group created in the late 1990s to guide state investments in early childhood programs.
Rooker, a moderate Republican, represented a Johnson County district in the Kansas House for six years before narrowly losing last year to Democrat Rui Xu. While in the Legislature, Rooker played a leadership role on education issues.
“I worked closely with Rep. Rooker for many years and know her to be a steadfast advocate for Kansas children and families,” Kelly said in a statement.
Kelly has said that expanding and improving programs that help prepare children to succeed is one of her top priorities as governor.
As the paid executive director of the Children’s Cabinet, Rooker will play a key role in helping the governor implement her vision.
“I have always focused my policy work on children’s issues,” she said. “So, for me … this could not be a more perfect fit.”
The cabinet advises the governor and Legislature on how to spend approximately $50 million in annual dedicated funding for early childhood programs. It also works with researchers at the University of Kansas to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs it funds.
Kelly also appointed Kim Moore to chair the Cabinet and the Children’s Trust Fund. Moore retired last year after 30 years as president of the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund.
“I’ve seen first-hand the positive impact that high-quality early intervention and support can have on children and families across the state of Kansas,” Moore said. “I look forward to (making) sure all children in Kansas are safe, healthy and have the opportunity to succeed.”
In a related development, Senate President Susan Wagle on Wednesday reinstated Sen. Dinah Sykes to the cabinet after removing her in December for switching parties.
Sykes, a former moderate Republican who became a Democrat just before the start of the 2019 legislative session, had challenged her removal from the cabinet. She argued that Wagle didn’t have the authority to replace her before the end of her term.
Research done by legislative staff proved her correct.
Skyes said she’s excited to again be working with Rooker.
“Her passion is Kansas kids and I think she’ll do an incredible job,” Sykes said.
Rooker succeeds Janice Suzanne Smith, who resigned in December.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Democrats are attacking a Republican tax relief bill approved Thursday by the state Senate as a give-away to large corporations and managed to peel away a couple of GOP votes Thursday by highlighting how it benefits big businesses.
Gov. Laura Kelly
The bill is designed to prevent Kansas residents and businesses from paying higher state income taxes because of changes in federal tax laws at the end of 2017. The Senate vote was 26-14 , leaving GOP leaders one vote short of the two-thirds majority necessary to override a veto by new Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who has opposed the bill.
A key part of the bill would prevent thousands of individuals from losing itemized deductions on their state forms, but nearly three-quarters of the relief in the first year of the changes would go to businesses — and much of that to corporations with international operations.
“They’ve had tax breaks for years, and it’s time for them to start paying their fair share,” said Sen. John Skubal, a moderate Kansas City-area Republican who was one of two GOP senators to vote no.
Kelly and other Democrats want to boosting spending on public schools and expand state Medicaid health coverage for needy families. But Republicans — who have supermajorities in both chambers — are making tax relief a top priority, which would make Kelly’s spending goals more difficult.
The populist arguments from Democrats haven’t given GOP leaders pause because many Republicans argue that the state’s business climate and economy will suffer if it doesn’t provide corporate tax relief quickly.
“Our young people are going to have fewer job opportunities and have fewer companies looking at Kansas,” Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican and the bill’s architect, said during its debate. “We need to have an economic environment that encourages growth, encourages new jobs, encourages creativity.”
The Kansas Department of Revenue estimates that the bill would save taxpayers $187 million during the next budget year, which begins in July.
Corporations would save $137 million of that, or 73 percent of the total tax relief, and $81 million — or 43 percent of the total — comes from provisions designed to prevent the state from taxing foreign income that it hasn’t previously taxed.
“How many multi-national corporations are small?” House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat, said Thursday. “You’re not talking mom-and-pops.”
The federal tax changes included provisions preventing corporations from sheltering income and assets outside the U.S. that could lead to Kansas and other states taxing foreign income.
The Kansas Department of Revenue said the state is among only a dozen taxing one part of companies’ foreign income. Other parts could be taxed by more than half with the federal changes, according to a report last month from the conservative Tax Foundation.
In Kansas, Kelly’s called on legislators to wait at least another year to consider tax changes. Her staff has called the tax bill irresponsible, and Kelly spokeswoman Ashley All said Thursday that the bill benefits “top income earners” and “does nothing for the people who need it the most.”
A conservative GOP senator predicted Wednesday that the bill is headed for “a big, fat veto.” Republicans have the two-thirds majorities needed in both chambers to override a veto, but the Senate vote Thursday showed how Kelly could prevail if just a few GOP moderates bolt.
All 11 Democrats and the Senate’s one independent member voted against the bill. Republicans hold 28 seats, but Skubal and Sen. Mary Jo Taylor, a moderate western Kansas Republican, voted no.
Taylor said lawmakers ought to settle budget issues, including school funding, before tackling tax relief. Skubal raised the same issue but said he might have been able to vote for the bill had its relief gone only to individuals.
GOP leaders contend Kansas is receiving an unanticipated “windfall” from the federal tax overhaul championed by President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress. The state’s tax laws are tied to the federal tax code.
Federal individual and corporate income taxes were cut but the overhaul included provisions that are expected to raise revenues in some states while lowering it in others.
The federal tax changes limit itemized deductions, and Kansas estimates that 200,000 individual filers will stop itemizing on their federal returns this year. But only 26 percent of Kansas filers itemized on their 2017 federal returns, and a smaller group, 14 percent, itemized on their 2017 state returns.
A Senate committee’s hearings last week on the tax bill were dominated by the concerns of business groups and big corporations with a sizeable Kansas presence, such as aviation’s Spirit AeroSystems and agribusiness’ Seaboard Corp.
A trade association for multistate corporations told lawmakers their state taxes could rise 11 percent.
“We operate in competitive markets with small margins,” David Rankin, a senior Seaboard vice president, told senators in committee testimony. “It seems counter-productive to penalize U.S.-based companies for growing their international operations.”
But Democrats have not been moved by such arguments. Kelly, a former state senator, has said her top tax relief priority would be reducing the state’s 6.5 percent sales tax on groceries — a goal Democrats and many Republicans share.
“If we were to make changes to tax policies, those changes should benefit every Kansan, or at the very least those who need it the most,” said Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat. “Giant multi-national corporations with record profits don’t fit in either category.”
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s fellow Democrats are attacking a Republican tax relief plan approved by the state Senate as a give-away to large corporations.
The vote on Thursday in the GOP-dominated Senate was 26-14. GOP leaders have acknowledged that big businesses would benefit but see that as helping the economy.
The bill goes next to the Republican-controlled House. It is designed to prevent Kansas residents and businesses from paying higher state income taxes because of changes in federal tax laws at the end of 2017. Most of the relief would go to businesses in the first year.
Many Republicans expect Kelly to veto it. GOP leaders fell one vote short of a two-thirds majority in the Senate necessary to override a veto when two moderate Republicans voted no.
SEATTLE (AP) — A jury has awarded about $123 million to the victims and families of a 2015 duck boat crash that killed five college students and injured more than 60 others in Seattle.
After a four-month civil trial, King County Superior Court jurors found that Ride The Ducks International bore 67 to 70 percent of the responsibility for the crash, The Seattle Times reported .
The company, based in Branson, Missouri, is the manufacturer of the Duck amphibious vehicle that crossed the centerline of the Aurora Bridge and rammed into a charter bus full of international college students in 2015.
The jury found that tour vehicle operator Ride The Ducks of Seattle was 30 to 33 percent at fault.
Two additional defendants, the city of Seattle and the state of Washington, were found not to be at fault.
The 2016 lawsuit, filed on behalf of 40 people who were injured or killed in the crash, claimed the former owner of Ride The Ducks International improvised flawed fixes for the World War II-era vehicles.
Ride The Ducks of Seattle failed to properly inspect and maintain the vehicle, the suit claimed. In particular, the plaintiffs argued, the company ignored a 2013 service bulletin from the manufacturer warning of a flaw in the axle and recommending a fix.
Attorney Jack Snyder of Ride The Ducks International claimed the company had identified the problem before the crash and issued an alert to other Duck-vehicle operators.
All other Ducks licensees and franchisees, except for Seattle, made the fix, he said.
Ride The Ducks of Seattle claimed that Ride The Ducks International peppered it with service bulletins and had a welding expert testify that the fix would not have prevented the axle failure that caused the crash.
The crash killed North Seattle College international students Claudia Derschmidt, 49, of Austria; Privando Putradanto, 18, of Indonesia; Runjie Song, 17, of China; Mami Sato, 36, of Japan; and HaRam Kim, 20, of South Korea.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board determined the collision occurred after the front axle broke off the ducks vehicle due to improper manufacturing by Ride The Ducks International and improper maintenance by Ride The Ducks Seattle.
After the incident, Washington’s Utilities and Transportation Commission suspended the local company from operating its 20 tourist vehicles. Ducks Seattle later acknowledged 159 critical safety violations and agreed to pay $222,000 in penalties to settle the state complaint before resuming operations.
The Missouri-based Ducks company agreed to pay up to $1 million in civil fines for violating federal safety regulations. Last year, both Ducks companies settled a suit for $8.25 million that was filed on behalf of four plaintiffs, including the family of one passenger who was killed.
In her closing argument, attorney Karen Koehler listed the names of her 40 clients, outlined their injuries and talked about what was taken from them. She asked jurors to award each victim $3 million or more.
Attorneys for the two Ducks companies emphasized in their closings the need for jurors to be reasonable and fair in awarding damages.
Most of the damages awarded Thursday, if not all, will be paid by the insurance companies that underwrite the companies. Awards to plaintiffs will vary.
Ride The Ducks said in a statement Thursday that officials have made a series of changes to their vehicles and have removed the Aurora Bridge from their route.
“Ride The Ducks of Seattle owners, management and team members have always wanted to do right by everyone affected by the accident, but have been limited by constraints in the legal process,” it said, adding that the jury’s verdict moved it one closer to that goal.
Named for their ability to travel on land and in water, duck boats have been involved in other serious accidents in the past.
Thirteen people died in 1999 when a boat sank near Hot Springs, Arkansas. In 2018, 17 people drowned when a duck boat was swamped in a sudden storm in Branson, Missouri.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A bill that one lawmaker said would mean “the most radical undermining of open records and transparency law in state history” passed the Missouri House on Thursday.
But the bill’s sponsor said he’ll work to tamp down the most contested part of the bill , which also imposes campaign contribution caps on local candidates and applies other ethics restrictions to local officeholders.
At issue is an amendment adopted on the House floor Monday that would keep records from being public if they are “received or prepared by or on behalf of a member of a public governmental body” and consist of “advice, opinions and recommendations in connection with the deliberative decision-making process of said body.”
Backers have said the intent is to shield correspondence between constituents and lawmakers, which recently became subject to the state’s Sunshine Law following voter approval of a constitutional amendment in November.
But Rep. Jon Carpenter said the bill passed by the House would allow almost all government records to be closed.
“Almost unquestionably if this bill passes, it’s going to be the most radical undermining of open records and transparency law in state history,” the Kansas City Democrat said Thursday on the House floor.
Republican bill sponsor Rep. Shamed Dogan, of the St. Louis suburb of Ballwin, told concerned colleagues on the House floor Thursday that he’ll work to tone down the contested language as the measure makes its way through the state Senate.
The Senate appears likely to change the bill. Republican Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden said passing legislation “is a multistep process for a reason.”
“We’re going to do our very best to make sure that the things that we feel are necessary for the privacy of our constituents and that sort of interaction is covered, without maybe making it too broad and really probably undoing or upending what the voters told us last November,” Rowden said.
The underlying bill would impose a $2,000 cap on campaign donations per local candidate — which would include candidates for mayor, city council and other municipal offices — each election.
Missouri voters in 2016 approved a cap on political donations to candidates for the Legislature and statewide offices at $2,600, then lowered the limit to $2,500 for senators and $2,000 for state representatives in November. But those limits didn’t apply to local candidates.
Dogan’s bill would also extend other ethics policies that lawmakers and statewide officials now face to local officials, including a $5-a-day lobbyist gift limit and a two-year ban on lobbying after leaving office.
“I’m happy when we get further through the process to compromise with the Senate to make this bill even better,” Dogan said, but “there is so much good in bringing light where it’s not shining on down to local governments.”
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 37-year-old Jefferson City man who was riding in a go-cart with a 5-year-old child when it overturned has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving while intoxicated.
James Gordon pleaded guilty in late January in a deal that reduced the original felony charge and dropped a charge of leaving the scene of an accident.
Gordon was placed on two years of unsupervised probation, ordered to complete a treatment program and to serve two-day shock sentence in the Cole County jail.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol says Gordon and the child were riding in a homemade go-cart last August when it overturned. Both were treated for minor injuries.
Gordon told authorities the crash occurred when he hit a low area on the gravel shoulder of a highway.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police in Kansas City, Kansas, are investigating the killing of a man whose body was found near the key to stolen vehicle.
Investigators at the scene early Thursday photo courtesy KMBC TV
Police Chief Terry Zeigler says officers found the man dead of an apparent gunshot wound early Thursday after they were dispatched to the scene of a shooting. Investigators found a car key next to the victim that belonged to a vehicle that had been stolen from the Legends Honda dealership near the Kansas Speedway.
Officers found the vehicle in a nearby parking lot with multiple holes in it. The victim’s name wasn’t immediately released.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 23- year-old former volunteer volleyball coach at the University of Kansas is charged with several burglaries and thefts of items such as underwear and swimming suits.
Yee -photo courtesy University of Kansas Athletiecs
Skyler Yee was charged Wednesday with 15 total counts, including four felony counts of burglary.
Douglas County District Court records show the break-ins occurred four times between December 2017 and January of this year at two addresses in Lawrence.
Yee was released on bond after a court appearance Wednesday. He was ordered to have no contact with the Kansas volleyball team and members of a Lawrence youth volleyball club.
Yee has served as a volunteer assistant volleyball coach for several years. He resigned in mid-January.
Defense attorney Casey Meek said Thursday Yee maintains his innocence.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Charging documents say a swastika and “family values” tattoo helped police identify a Missouri man accused of choking, raping and stabbing a woman.
Simpson -photo Greene Co.
26-year-old James Simpson, of Springfield, is jailed on six felony charges, including first-degree rape. No attorney is listed for him in online court records. He’s being held on $250,000 bond.
Charging documents allege Simpson attacked the woman last month after she invited him to her home. The documents say he choked her until she lost consciousness and stabbed her twice in the back, puncturing one of her lungs.
She escaped by crawling out of a window and running to a neighbor’s home for help.
The documents say Simpson was arrested Monday after struggling with officers.
Agriculture groups heard some good things in the State of the Union speech. However, the reactions were somewhat mixed. Tariffs Hurt the Heartland group spokesman and former Congressman Charles Boustany reacted to President Trump asking Congress for more authority to impose tariffs through the Reciprocal Trade Act, which is currently before Congress.
“The fact that the bill is dead on arrival in Congress is a good sign that Congress has had enough,” Boustany says. “it’s not surprising that a bill abdicating Congressional authority to oversee tariff increases isn’t popular.” National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Jennifer Houston says, “We welcome President Trump’s call for passage of the USMCA agreement. With 96 percent of our potential consumers outside of our borders, foreign access is key for cattle producers.”
American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall says, “Farmers and ranchers across the country need reforms to our immigration system, and we echo the president’s call for Congress to pass the USMCA agreement.” National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson says the speech didn’t recognize the harsh realities facing U.S. farmers. “If the President truly wants to support American farm families, he’ll begin to restore our reputation as a reliable trading partner and stop straining relationships with our top trading partners,” says Johnson.
ADAIR COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities have arrested two teens in the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old in northern Missouri.
Drake Zanoni -photo Adair CountyHead -photo Adair County
The suspects identified as 18-year-old Drake Zanoni and 17-year-old Andrew Head were booked into the Adair County Detention Center on suspicion of second-degree murder in the death of Izaiha McFarland, according to a media release.
McFarland was shot late Wednesday. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Authorities searched for several hours before taking the two suspects into custody.
Agriculture groups heard some good things in the State of the Union speech. However, the reactions were somewhat mixed. Tariffs Hurt the Heartland group spokesman and former Congressman Charles Boustany reacted to President Trump asking Congress for more authority to impose tariffs through the Reciprocal Trade Act, which is currently before Congress.
