hcj

KS - April 14 2025

Property Tax Relief Fails; Medicaid Bidding Reformed; Hunting Bill Vetoed; Early Childhood Office Created; New Royals Stadium

Greg Loving

14 Apr 2025 • 6 min read

Kansas Lawmakers Face Criticism for Failing to Deliver Property Tax Relief in 2025 Session

Legislature Overrides Veto to Reform Medicaid Bidding After Aetna's Contract Loss

Governor Kelly's Veto Kills Out of State Hunting, Fishing Restrictions in 2025 Session

Kansas Lawmakers Approve Bipartisan Bill to Create Office of Early Childhood

Kansas City Royals Should Press Ahead With Downtown Stadium

GET THE CITIZEN JOURNAL APP - FREE!

1. Kansas Lawmakers Face Criticism for Failing to Deliver Property Tax Relief in 2025 Session

The Kansas Legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly patted themselves on the back last June after placing into state law a compromise bill slashing income taxes an estimated $1.2 billion over three years. Senate Bill 1 had broad support with a mere six opponents among 159 legislators voting on the package negotiated by the Democratic governor, Republican Senate President Ty Masterson of Andover and GOP House Speaker Dan Hawkins of Wichita. The focus of that bill was income taxes, but it did raise to $75,000 the exemption on the value of a residence when calculating a taxpayer’s obligation to the state’s property tax levy for public schools. While 2024 was viewed as the year of the income tax, promises were made by Republicans and Democrats to address property tax reform during the 2025 legislative session. The end of the annual session last week offered evidence the performance of lawmakers on property tax relief was again underwhelming. “When it came time to lead, both the governor and leadership came up short,” said Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Republican candidate for governor, said Monday.
Source: Kansas Reflector

2. Legislature Overrides Veto to Reform Medicaid Bidding After Aetna's Contract Loss

A major health insurance company lost out on a bid to continue its role as one of Kansas’ Medicaid providers, and the state Legislature passed a law to avoid a repeat. Aetna Better Health of Kansas embroiled itself last year in legal battles with the state arguing the selection process for providers of the $4 billion Medicaid program was flawed. Legislators similarly criticized the executive branch for a lack of transparency. One Republican said the ordeal would be a “stain” on Kansas’ contract processes for years to come. Aetna provided health coverage as a managed care organization under KanCare, as Medicaid is known in Kansas, for five years leading up to the state’s 2024 evaluation process. The company tied for third place with another private health insurance company and ultimately lost the bid. In August, Aetna asked a legislative committee to consider changing the rules for MCO selection as it was going through an appeals process, which it lost. House Bill 2284, which Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed April 4 and the Legislature revived Thursday, forces the executive branch to create policies addressing some issues Aetna litigated. Republicans, who overrode the veto, say the bill improves transparency. But the governor in her veto message said the bill is a “dramatic overreach” into the authority of the executive and judicial branches.
Source: Kansas Reflector

3. Governor Kelly's Veto Kills Out of State Hunting, Fishing Restrictions in 2025 Session

A bill to restore discounted hunting and fishing licenses to older adults in Kansas and make big changes for non-resident waterfowl hunters is dead in the water this year after it was vetoed by Governor Laura Kelly. Lawmakers failed to pass House Bill 2028, a bill package that would have impacted hunting and fishing licenses along with the waterfowl hunting season for out-of-state residents, during the 2025 session of the Kansas Legislature. Governor Laura Kelly vetoed the bill earlier this week, sending it back to the Kansas House for review. However, lawmakers chose not to have a veto override session on the bill, meaning the governor’s veto was sustained. Lawmakers added language to the bill after its initial introduction that would’ve severely limited where and when out-of-state waterfowl hunters could participate in hunting activities in Kansas. Kelly disagreed with the changes lawmakers made to the original bill. Specifically, she found the added limitations to hunting for out-of-state residents to be a large concern. ‘While this bill touches on a variety of hunting and fishing issues, I am particularly concerned with how this bill severely limits non-Kansas residents from hunting waterfowl on public lands. More specifically, this prohibition could have a detrimental impact on the prosperity of our communities and businesses by denying the many positive outcomes from the economic activity generated by non-residents coming into our state for hunting purposes.‘
Source: KSN

4. Kansas Lawmakers Approve Bipartisan Bill to Create Office of Early Childhood

A proposal supported by Kansas governor Laura Kelly reached her desk just as lawmakers wrap up for the year. Lawmakers passed a bipartisan bill to create the Office of Early Childhood during their veto session last week. That office would consolidate existing state programs for early childhood care services currently shared by different state agencies. Those services include childcare home and center licensing, childcare subsidies and Head Start programs. Governor Kelly said it will streamline services and increase efficiency.
Source: KWCH

5. Kansas City Royals Should Press Ahead With Downtown Stadium

Seventy years ago on Saturday, April 12, Kansas City effectively was certified a “major league city” with the debut of the Kansas City Athletics at Municipal Stadium as punctuated by former President Harry S. Truman throwing out the first pitch. You should read all about it by looking up Blair Kerkhoff’s great recent piece about how the arrival of the A’s catalyzed the thriving sports scene now entwined with the identity of the city. That very day, Royals owner John Sherman was born in Japan amid his father’s 22-year career in the U.S. Air Force. He would go on to become one of the most substantial philanthropists in the history of the city. While the origin dates of those twin forces are a quirk of fate, the coincidence also is part of a through-line narrative with at least sentimental value to Sherman — who has had hanging in his office a framed copy of the famed photo. And each event remains converged at a crossroads — albeit not the ultimately all-too-hasty, vague and ill-fated East Crossroads stadium district proposal Jackson County voters rebuked a year ago this month. On the one-year anniversary of that jarring election, it’s still a crossroads the Royals should seek to untangle in what might be called the Kansas City spirit ... by doing all they can to make what happens in Kansas City stay in Kansas City proper. The benefits of that dynamic were exemplified by the building of the Truman Sports Complex in the early 1970s — and all the more acutely in 2007 when downtown was resuscitated by the Power & Light District and what’s now known as T-Mobile Center.
Source: Kansas City Star

SUBSCRIBE ONLINE TO GET THE HEARTLAND CITIZEN JOURNAL IN YOUR INBOX - FREE!