Police arrest 16 outside Kansas Gov. Colyer's office for protesting

Police arrested 16 protesters on Monday who had surrounded the door to Gov. Jeff Colyer’s office and yelled “shame” over his opposition to Medicaid expansion.

The protest, part of the nationwide Poor People’s Campaign, was the latest of several demonstrations in Topeka over the past few weeks. A previous occupation of part of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office resulted in 18 arrests.

Dozens of demonstrators massed at the entrance to Colyer’s ceremonial office in the Statehouse on Monday after a rally nearby. The door was locked, however, and more than a dozen people sat down in front.

Police eventually gave the demonstrators a five-minute warning and most of the protesters moved back. But after several minutes, police handcuffed those who remained in front of the door and told the rest to leave the Statehouse.

“One hundred and fifty (thousand) Kansans are in the coverage gap because of the Kansas Legislature refusing to accept federal dollars for Medicaid expansion,” Oshara Meesha said.

The demonstrators named a number of grievances and demands over a range of topics, from pollution to water policy to health care access for people with disabilities.

“Governor Colyer appreciates the advocacy of the protestors today, however he continues to support work requirements for able-bodied adults on government welfare programs and opposes the expansion of Obamacare in Kansas," Colyer spokesman Kendall Marr said.

The Kansas Highway Patrol said officers arrested 16 people for violating the terms of a permit allowing a rally on the second floor of the Capitol rotunda. They were taken into custody on suspicion of criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections.

The Poor People’s Campaign is one in a line of groups and organizations that have urged Kansas leaders to expand Medicaid under the 2010 federal health care law. Through lobbying and demonstrating, expansion supporters came close to succeeding in 2017.

That year, lawmakers approved expansion but then-Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed it. Supporters didn’t have enough votes in the Legislature to override the veto.

Lawmakers didn’t pass an expansion bill this year.

“I’m pretty happy we were able to defeat it this year,” said Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican who chairs the House health committee.

Hawkins predicted the federal government will eventually end enhanced matching funds for states that expand Medicaid. “When they do, these states really are going to suffer funding-wise,” he said.

Republican efforts in Congress to repeal the 2010 health care law have so far been unsuccessful.

In Kansas, chances for expanding may hinge on who wins the governor’s race. A Democratic victory means Kansas would have a governor in favor of expansion, but a Republican victory would possibly mean the opposite. While most Republican candidates are opposed, former state senator Jim Barnett supports expansion.

This story was originally published June 4, 2018 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Police arrest 16 outside Kansas Gov. Colyer's office for protesting."