Opinion
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RYCKMAN RECAP, Ron Ryckman, 38th District Senator
The final — Week 12 — of the 2025 Legislature was called our “Veto Session” for a reason: the Senate overrode 15 of the bills rejected by the Governor, along with 33 line-items removed from the budget — a combined total of 48 — in a 24-hour period alone, during the process setting some sort of single day record.
In between Caucuses and Floor action, we also squeezed in a Judiciary hearing on confirmation of an appointment and returned to approve more than a dozen remaining conference reports. The House — for its part — only managed to restore half of the stricken budget sections, but still, it was not a good couple of days for the chief of the Executive Branch. As the most veto-issuing and overridden governor in the past 50 years, even some who had helped her get elected were starting to wonder whether this “middle of the road” business to which she subscribes is all it was cracked up to be. As one observer jokingly remarked, “Isn’t that where all the accidents happen?”
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L&T Publisher Earl Watt
Much like a number of economic proposals that have blown in and out of Seward County, wind turbines are now the hottest topic.
Most remember the corporate hog farming issue that was proposed about 30 years ago. On the surface it seemed like a great idea, pone that would have brought about 1,500 employees to Liberal in the form of a pork processing plant.
A no brainer, right?
Not so fast.
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THE POSTSCRIPT, Carrie Classon
The note from Marci was in Spanish, so I translated it to make sure I understood.
“Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to see if you could help us share this photo of a dog to see if anyone could adopt her. Her owner just passed away, and she was thrown out onto the street.”
The dog’s name was Muneca, which means “doll” in Spanish. Marci attached a photo of a dog with very long ears lying on the ground. Marci added, “She’s a very good dog.”
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GUEST COLUMN, Vance Ginn, Kansas Policy Institute
Kansas took a major step toward lasting, sustainable tax reform with the passage of Senate Bill 269 — a forward-thinking bill that rewards responsible budgeting with gradual income tax reductions. Predictably, Gov. Kelly vetoed the bill before being overridden by the House and Senate during their annual Veto Session. This all veto-override back-and-forth seems somewhat predictable as the measure initially passed both chambers with veto-proof majorities. Now that Gov. Kelly was rightly corrected in her veto, Kansans should understand how this policy, if executed properly, could reshape the state’s tax code and fiscal future for the better.
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GUEST COLUMN, Dave Trabert, Kansas Policy Institute
It’s always amusing to hear an elected official proclaim full support of transparency and then become indignant when transparency exposes things that run counter to their narrative.
That’s what happened at the Leavenworth County Commission meeting on April 9. Commissioner Jeff Culbertson said he received calls from constituents about one of our marketing campaigns that said local governments had more than $5 billion in cash reserves in 2022, of which about $73 million is held by Leavenworth County and some cities in the county.