Senator King is announcing his intent to block a common sense change in Kansas politics. Last week the House passed a bill prohibiting the bundling of more than 2 bills. We only recently came to understand how bad bill bundling is. In Topeka, legislatures will put together important bills that must pass together with bills that would never pass on their own. Not only does that lead to passage of policy that shouldn’t pass, but also leads to confusion about exactly what legislators voted for and against. HB 2506 from last year is a perfect example. The legislature...
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SB 71 would impose midyear cuts on districts
“‘We are in the middle of the school year right now. So that $3.3 million would be hitting us in the middle of the school year,’ [Blue Valley School District Assistant Superintendent Mike Slagel] said. “’Obviously we already have the teachers in the classroom, we already have the bus drivers so we’d have to look for other ways to manage that new found deficit.’ “Slagel said the news of a mid-year budget reduction isn’t exactly a surprise, but it’s still unexpected.” http://www.kshb.com/news/state/kansas/kansas-schools-could-face-new-budget-reductions-with-introduction-of-new-senate-bill...
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Beware of changes to judicial selection
Public education supporters in Kansas need to understand the importance of an independent judiciary. That independence was compromised last year when the legislature passed a bill to change how judges are selected for the appellate court. The first appointment was former Brownback aide Caleb Stegall who was then quickly elevated to the Supreme Court. Brownback has now named his second nominee, and questions remain. Be aware that there is a bill to make the same change to the Supreme Court nomination process. “The new process, under which the governor nominates a judge who then must be confirmed by...
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