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Though it seems unlikely to become law, it is encouraging that the Kansas House approved a plan to eliminate the statewide sales tax on groceries. Lawmakers recognized — at least last week — that the state shouldn’t be punishing the poor.
KanCare – Many people, including a respectable number of legislators, think Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration is moving too quickly on Medicaid reform. In this case, the governor might want to yield to those calling for a six-month delay, from Jan. 1 to July 1, 2013, on implementation of KanCare, the reform program. If another six months will give users and providers time to learn more about the program and become more comfortable with it going in, it could be time well-spent.
School districts in Wichita, Lawrence, Hays and elsewhere in the state are in various stages of closing or consolidating schools for lack of state funding, which means the affected families and employees are going through the various stages of grief. But that hasn’t stopped House Speaker Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, and others from treating districts like cash hoarders.
The Kansas House and Senate seem to be feeling their way on tax reform rather than following any playbook, including the governor’s, or even doing basic math at times.
Let’s hear it for the girls, too: When the last of the brackets were revealed, all three of Kansas’ Division I women’s basketball teams joined the three men’s teams in the postseason fray.
Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer said this week that the Brownback administration is listening to the concerns of advocates, consumers and families about its Medicaid reform plan. But if that were really the case, it would delay the reform and carve out long-term care for individuals with developmental disabilities.
State legislators and Gov. Sam Brownback need to be choosier about anti-abortion legislation this year, and try to avoid the costly litigation they drew with last year’s laws. So far, they are asking for more trouble, even unacceptably risking the accreditation of the University of Kansas Medical Center.
We interrupt the usual policy and legislative talk that dominates this space for some serious bragging about basketball. Not only is Wichita State University among the three Kansas teams to land in the NCAA Division I men’s tournament, but Wichita’s Heights and Kapaun Mount Carmel high schools each won matching his-and-hers state championships over the weekend. Amazing.
KanCare – The Brownback administration is right to want to control Medicaid costs, even though Medicaid spending as a proportion of the Kansas budget is below the national average. And coordinated care, if done well, could prevent hospitalizations and nursing-home stays and serve patients better.
Kansans always have a lot to say about presidential elections. The exciting difference this year was that Kansas Republicans’ preference actually mattered to the nomination contest, putting the state in the national spotlight and boosting Rick Santorum as he tries to close the delegate gap with Mitt Romney.
The Brownback administration and free-market groups are touting a new study by the Tax Foundation as evidence of why Kansas needs tax reform. But their proposed reform – cutting income taxes – is not supported by that study.
Will the U.S. Department of Justice put the hammer down on Kansas? That’s the question after a meeting last week about Kansas’ long waiting lists for services for people with disabilities. If the Justice Department does take action, it will be for good reason.
No one should doubt the Wichita school board members’ commitment to students, or the devastation they felt in voting unanimously Monday night to close five schools. That was not what they signed up for – just their chosen way out of the bind created by state budget cuts and the 2008 bond issue.
Today will tell whether the Wichita City Council is inclined to stay the course or think again on public incentives for private development. Those who still see such partnerships as a regrettable necessity to create jobs and improve the community can hope the council will proceed, if with a new degree of caution.
DD care – Kansas should take a cue from other states and exempt developmental disabilities from the Medicaid managed-care plan. Those patients’ needs are different and distinct from the typical Medicaid patient, and it would be irresponsible for Kansas to endanger their lifelong care in an effort save a few dollars.
The blame for Monday’s expected Wichita school board vote to close five buildings properly rests in Topeka, where legislators and Gov. Sam Brownback balanced the state budget on the backs of school districts. But recent actions by the school board, and especially president Betty Arnold, made the bad situation worse.
At least the talk in Topeka this year is about how the state can help the arts, rather than gut their funding. But a bill the House passed last week to give Kansans the option of donating to the arts on their income-tax forms is a start, not a solution.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach will see Wichita’s election as evidence that the state’s voter-ID law is a success and the system can be ready by June 15 to require proof of citizenship to register. Before they join the House in voting to move up the date from January, though, state senators should take seriously the glitches in Wichita’s vote and some other confusion and concerns.
As Gov. Sam Brownback’s approval ratings keep dropping, it is difficult for GOP officials to keep dismissing the polling as flawed.
As the Ambassador Hotel project now proceeds without the $2.25 million guest-tax subsidy, Wichita’s leaders need to forge ahead on Project Downtown and try to overcome the message that Tuesday’s ballot defeat will send to other would-be partners.
