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KS - April 15 2025

Data center tax break; Food stamp soda ban fails; KC property tax appeals drop; Kansans join USDA leadership; Teen’s Trump assassination plot foiled in KS

Greg Loving

15 Apr 2025 • 4 min read

Kansas Legislature Approves Data Center Tax Breaks With Environmental Safeguards

Kansas Food Stamp Soda Ban Fails

Wyandotte County Sees Sharp Drop in Property Tax Appeals Amid Rising Values

Trump Appoints Two Kansans to Key USDA Leadership Roles

Wisconsin Teen Captured in Kansas for Parents’ Murder, Trump Assassination Plot

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1. Kansas Legislature Approves Data Center Tax Breaks With Environmental Safeguards

In a bipartisan effort on the final day of the 2025 session, the Kansas Legislature approved Senate Bill 98, a revised tax incentive package aimed at attracting large-scale data centers requiring minimum investments of $250 million to the state. The House voted 85-37 and the Senate 26-9 to advance the legislation to Governor Laura Kelly's desk, where she has 10 days to take action. The final version, crafted after scrapping an earlier Senate-passed proposal, includes key modifications limiting both the duration and scope of sales tax breaks while establishing critical environmental safeguards regarding electricity sourcing and water conservation - provisions specifically designed to address concerns that data centers could strain the state's electric grid and water resources at the expense of residential customers.
Source: Kansas Reflector

2. Kansas Food Stamp Soda Ban Fails

A bill barring Kansans who use food benefits from buying soda and candy failed to move forward last week, while another bill passed that opponents said would stall stage agencies’ ability to react to changes in assistance programs and intellectual or developmental disability services. Senate Bill 79, which would have stopped anyone using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits from purchasing soda and candy, died when the House failed to take up the bill to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto. The Senate voted to overturn the veto, 29 – 11. Both chambers, however, voted along party lines to override the governor’s veto on House Bill 2240. Opponents expressed concerns that it would create obstacles for state agencies to move quickly in making needed changes in Medicaid, SNAP and other assistance programs.
Source: Kansas Reflector

3. Wyandotte County Sees Sharp Drop in Property Tax Appeals Amid Rising Values

Despite consistently soaring property values, fewer home and business owners in Wyandotte County protested the county’s valuation of their properties — which affects how much they pay in taxes — this year than they did last year. According to the county appraiser’s office, owners filed 40% fewer appeals this spring than last, when the number of appeals peaked. The drop in appeals comes after Wyandotte County officials moved to freeze property taxes last year in response to residents’ pleas for relief on their rising bills, and at a time when property values seem to be cooling off slightly. While values are continuing to rise across the county, they are doing so at a seemingly slower rate than the spikes owners have seen in recent years, according to the county appraiser’s office.
Source: Kansas City Star

4. Trump Appoints Two Kansans to Key USDA Leadership Roles

President Donald Trump has appointed a pair of staffers of two Kansas congressmen to jobs in his administration. Tucker Stewart and Riley Pagett were among the presidential appointments announced April 14 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Stewart is the USDA deputy assistant secretary for congressional relations. He's from the town of Washington and graduated from Butler Community College, Kansas State University and Washburn University School of Law. Stewart had been working for U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, for the past four years, most recently as general counsel and senior agricultural policy adviser. Pagett is the USDA chief of staff for trade and foreign agricultural affairs. He was born in Liberal but grew up in Oklahoma. He'd been working for U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kansas, for the past four years, most recently as deputy chief of staff.
Source: Topeka Capital-Journal

5. Wisconsin Teen Captured in Kansas for Parents’ Murder, Trump Assassination Plot

WaKeeney, a city of about 1,800 people in northwest Kansas, was the site of the Feb. 28 capture of a Wisconsin teenager who had killed his parents and plotted to kill President Donald Trump. Details of the crimes allegedly committed by Nikita Casap, 17, were revealed in an FBI affidavit unsealed April 11. Casap killed his mother, 35-year-old Tatiana Casap, and his stepfather, 51-year-old Donald Mayer, at their home in Waukesha, Wisconsin, to "obtain the financial means and autonomy necessary" to assassinate Trump, the affidavit said.
Source: Topeka Capital-Journal

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