Opinion

Governor vetoes first bill of session

GUEST COLUMN, Shannon Francis, 125th District Representative

The Southwest Chambers had their event in Topeka last week. We always have good representation from Liberal and Seward County. Liberal, Garden, Dodge, Hugoton, and Ulysses all participated. Thanks for coming. It makes a difference.

The Help Not Harm Act is the first bill to be vetoed by the Governor this session and will now return to the Senate and House where the Legislature can attempt to override the veto. SB 63 prevents healthcare providers from prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, or performing surgeries on minors for gender transition purposes. The reality is that many children who experience gender dysphoria eventually reconcile with their biological sex given the time and counseling. Children under 18 are not equipped with the knowledge or maturity to make decisions regarding these life-altering procedures. The treatment prohibited in the bill would not apply to treatment provided for individuals born with a medically verifiable disorder of sex development.

Social realignment under way could save America from collapse

L&T Publisher Earl Watt

It’s no secret that I am a Disney fan. First and foremost a Walt Disney fan. The man influenced culture in a way few could match in the past century. His imagination has provided our family with lifetime memories by visiting his parks and watching his movies.

The idea that Walt would turn over in his grave with what has happened to his company is also justified. It’s the same story around other parts of corporate America where the Woke movement planted its flag and demanded full compliance to its world view that was the antithesis of family values, faith and tradition.

America was on the brink of separation if the Woke movement would have been able to dictate national policy for four more years.

Thinking about my hair

THE POSTSCRIPT, Carrie Classon

I saw a photo of an author I admire recently, and she had no hair. I worried she was ill, so I immediately investigated. She was not ill. She had cut off all her hair and had done it for good reasons, she said. She had done a lot of thinking about her hair — a lot more than I had.

First of all, she said, she was not blond. “No one is blond,” she added, or almost no one.

Less than 1 percent of the population is blond, and she implied she felt dishonest pretending she was blond when she wasn’t. She went on to say that she had spent thousands of dollars and untold time on her hair. She sounded a little angry about the whole thing — the money spent, the dishonesty of it all.

Election day makes more sense than election season

RYCKMAN RECAP, Ron Ryckman, 38th District Senator

The pace really picked up in a hurry during Week 4 of the Legislature, as we caucused every day after sessions and took on major issues during floor debate.

Foremost among those were bills to help further public trust in election results and address rising property tax concerns. SB 4 and SB 6 — both passed 29-10 — would do away with the current three-day grace period by requiring all mail-in ballots to be received by 7 p.m. Election Night and prohibit so-called “ranked choice voting” to ensure winning candidates are actually the top choice of voters. A third measure cleared by the House, HB 2020, would require driver’s license reports to identify non-citizens on the voter rolls. With regard to property taxes, the headline measure was Senate Concurrent Resolution 1603, adopted 28-11, seeking to cap valuation increases at 3 percent per year.

More homes than one

GUEST COLUMN, Jackie Mundt, Kansas Farm Bureau

Recently, a work trip prompted a quick trip to Fresno, Calif., where I attended college to earn my undergraduate degree. The trip was past due; it had been nearly 10 years since my last visit.

As I drove around town and visited with old friends, memories broke free from the back of my mind. Many important pieces of who I am stem from those years.