Opinion

OPINION – States should be silent on immigration issues

L&T Publisher Earl Watt

Who is responsible when it comes to immigration? Who can set the policy and enforce it? Who can’t?

We are all familiar with the separation of powers and the checks and balances of government, but we usually miss a very important separation.

Most are familiar with the three branches of government — legislative, executive and judicial — and how they are a check on one another.

The 10th Amendment establishes another key restriction on the federal government as well as a key restriction on state governments, and how the two do not overlap.

The 10th Amendment reads, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

OPINION – The seasons

THE POSTSCRIPT, Carrie Classon

I woke up late at night and saw the falling snow.

In the middle of the night, the weather had changed. Snow began to fall. Large flakes hovered and floated in front of the streetlights as they fell, and soon the ground was coated.

Normally, I would be in Mexico by now. But with my book coming out, we stayed a bit longer. And now I’m glad we did, because two nights ago, my Uncle Andy died. He was 94.

Yesterday, I went with my mother and father, my aunt, my sister and four cousins to meet with the funeral director. He was surprised. He had to scout up more chairs. That’s when we told him my Uncle Les would also be joining us by phone.

OPINION – Age verification isn’t parenting

GUEST COLUMN, Vance Ginn, Kansas Policy Institute

Kansas lawmakers are weighing a proposal that would require new age-verification measures for online platforms, part of a growing national effort to address concerns about children’s safety in digital spaces. The goal is understandable. Parents across Kansas want their kids protected online. The harder question is how far government should go — and whether mandates aimed at technology companies end up displacing parental judgment rather than reinforcing it.

That question has taken on new urgency after a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. In Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, the Court upheld a Texas law requiring certain commercial websites dominated by sexually explicit content to verify users’ ages. Importantly, the Court applied intermediate scrutiny, concluding the law primarily regulated material that is obscene as to minors while only incidentally burdening adult access to protected speech.

But the ruling was narrow — and that distinction matters for Kansas.

OPINION – Rooted with strength

GUEST COLUMN, Glenn Brunkow, Kansas Farm Bureau

Last week I attended Kansas Farm Bureau’s Day at the Statehouse along with a couple hundred of my fellow Kansas Farm Bureau members. If you have never attended a Day at the Statehouse, I highly recommend doing so — it is truly an example of grassroots advocacy in action and proof of why Farm Bureau is so effective advocating for farmers and ranchers.

The program was exceptionally good and informative, laying out the issues of the current legislative session. Kansas Farm Bureau’s action plan for the session was also laid out for all the participants. It was the culmination of our policy development from the past year that came from those same members who showed up to lobby at the Capitol.

The work Kansas Farm Bureau members did over that 24-hour period should make all of us proud. We had members from every corner of the state representing all segments of agriculture.

OPINION – Insurance middlemen are a nightmare for my sleep patients

GUEST COLUMN, Dr. Jan Kriska, Kriska Health PLLC

Nearly every day, exhausted patients walk into my office desperate for relief from sleep apnea. The condition, which causes people to stop breathing in their sleep, is surprisingly common and can be life-threatening. Thankfully, it's also manageable with the right equipment.

In fact, the hardest part of providing care and solutions for my patients suffering from sleep apnea isn't the condition itself. It's fighting the insurance middlemen who routinely delay and deny the equipment hundreds of my patients need to stay alive.

One of the worst offenders is Synapse Health, a company tapped by UnitedHealthcare to provide durable medical equipment to its Medicare Advantage beneficiaries. Since the partnership began, patients have faced equipment delays so severe that they amount to malpractice.