Clay Wirestone, Kansas Reflector opinion editor

You might have to tilt your head a bit to see the majority’s lecherous fondling of state-sanctioned censorship, but once you glimpse the mortifying mise-en-scène, you won’t forget it. #ksleg

Kansans on food assistance can’t buy candy, soda beginning in February 2027 • Kansas Reflector Kansans receiving food assistance can’t buy soda or candy with those dollars beginning in 2027, Gov. Laura Kelly said Wednesday.

Kansans on food assistance can’t buy candy, soda beginning in February 2027 | via @crazeywriter.bsky.social #ksleg

Kansas Senate budget seeks to pry state funding from 'wine and cheese crowd' • Kansas Reflector Kansas Senate narrowly adopts — 21-19 — a new state budget bill amid competing complaints the measure spends too much and too little.

Kansas Senate budget seeks to pry state funding from ‘wine and cheese crowd’ | via @kansascarpenter.bsky.social #ksleg

Kansas Senate brings focus to $50M low-interest loan to Wichita aviation company • Kansas Reflector Kansas Senate blocks attempt to prevent state from making low-interest, $50 million loan to a Wichita company controlled by Florida venture capital firm.

Kansas Senate brings focus to $50M low-interest loan to Wichita aviation company | via @kansascarpenter.bsky.social #ksleg

Southwest Kansas remains alert for wildfires amidst extreme weather conditions • Kansas Reflector Southwest Kansas rancher Cole Gardiner is in recovery mode after a wildfire tore through 35,000 acres and kicked around 200 cattle.

Southwest Kansas remains alert for wildfires amidst extreme weather conditions | via @crazeywriter.bsky.social #ksleg

Kansas anti-trans law targets IDs and birth certificates — and the right to vote • Kansas Reflector A particularly troubling consequence of SB 244 is its threat to transgender Kansans’ ability to exercise their constitutional right to vote.

Opinion by Logan Casey: Kansas anti-trans law targets IDs and birth certificates — and the right to vote #ksleg

Kansas Senate votes to subvert students' First Amendment right to join public protests • Kansas Reflector Kansas Senate approves budget amendment outlining financial sanctions against public school districts that don't stop student walkouts for protests.

Kansas Senate votes to subvert students’ First Amendment right to join public protests | via @kansascarpenter.bsky.social #ksleg

Former Kansas Supreme Court chief justice to retire March 28 • Kansas Reflector Kansas Supreme Court Justice Marla Luckert will retire later this month, an announcement from the court said.

Former Kansas Supreme Court chief justice to retire March 28 | via @anna-writes.bsky.social #ksleg

Kansas Senate bill mandates 911 personnel undergo training to help callers administer CPR • Kansas Reflector Kansas House is reviewing a Senate bill mandating 911 dispatchers receive special training to provide CPR instructions to callers in emergencies.

Kansas Senate bill mandates 911 personnel undergo training to help callers administer CPR | via @kansascarpenter.bsky.social #ksleg

Kansas judge orders Friday hearing on whether to tap brakes on anti-trans law • Kansas Reflector Attorneys will argue Friday in court over whether a judge should slam the brakes on a state law that invalidates driver's licenses and birth certificates for those who changed their gender marker and ...

Kansas judge orders Friday hearing on whether to tap brakes on anti-trans law | via @journalist-sherman.bsky.social and @crazeywriter.bsky.social #ksleg

Kansas bill would allow renters to pay landlords in increments, expand definition of lawful income • Kansas Reflector Kansas renters would be allowed to pay their landlords in increments under a proposal that tackles housing affordability and access issues.

Kansas bill would allow renters to pay landlords in increments, expand definition of lawful income | via @anna-writes.bsky.social #ksleg

Lawmakers should be judged for anti-trans legislation striking fear into hearts of Kansans • Kansas Reflector The senseless cruelty that Kansas lawmakers unleashed in House Substitute for Senate Bill 244 is disgusting.

Opinion from Tamara Moots: Lawmakers should be judged for anti-trans legislation striking fear into hearts of Kansans #ksleg

Olathe Republican legislator dies at age 70 • Kansas Reflector Kansas state Rep. John Resman, a conservative Olathe Republican serving his fifth term in the House, died Monday.

Olathe Republican legislator dies at age 70 | via @kansascarpenter.bsky.social #ksleg

Kansas Medicaid practices jeopardize vulnerable mental health clients and networks, therapist says • Kansas Reflector Practices by Medicaid managed care organizations jeopardize Kansas’ already fragile mental health system, one expert says.

Kansas Medicaid practices jeopardize vulnerable mental health clients and networks, therapist says | via @crazeywriter.bsky.social #ksleg

Voters might not like taxes or big-spending politicians, but they absolutely hate the idea of kids’ futures being curtailed because lawmakers can’t make tough decisions in Topeka. #ksleg

Republicans celebrate as lesser prairie chicken loses threatened, endangered status • Kansas Reflector The stocky, dancing bird that populates prairies across five states lost its federal protections — not because its habitats have dramatically improved, but because a Texas court sided with energy and ...

Republicans celebrate as lesser prairie chicken loses threatened, endangered status | via @anna-writes.bsky.social #ksleg

In 1931, a deadly air crash in Kansas inspired safer flights. Why have some forgotten that lesson? • Kansas Reflector The Pentagon’s opposition to the ROTOR Act, at the last possible moment, is a slap in the face to the families of the Flight 5342 victims. Mann, the Kansas representative whose vote literally doomed t...

Opinion from @maxmccoy.com: In 1931, a deadly air crash in Kansas inspired safer flights. Why have some forgotten that lesson? #ksleg

SB 244 is just one of a string of discriminatory laws meant to harass and intimidate those Kansans not infected with the parasitic brainworms endemic among legislators. #ksleg

Kansas House member ridicules Legislature's building committee as rubber stamp operation • Kansas Reflector State Rep. Avery Anderson says the Kansas Legislature's committee on state building construction can't be trusted to provide meaningful recommendations on which state agency capital improvement projec...

Kansas House member ridicules Legislature’s building committee as rubber stamp operation | via @kansascarpenter.bsky.social #ksleg

Kansas SNAP data won’t be shared with foreign governments; no state funding lost  • Kansas Reflector Kansas SNAP data shared with the federal government won’t be given to foreign governments in an agreement reached this week.

Kansas SNAP data won’t be shared with foreign governments; no state funding lost | via @crazeywriter.bsky.social #ksleg

Kansas Court of Appeals rules CoreCivic can’t house ICE detainees without Leavenworth permit • Kansas Reflector CoreCivic can’t house immigration detainees before reaching an agreement with the city of Leavenworth on reopening its private prison

Kansas Court of Appeals rules CoreCivic can’t house ICE detainees without Leavenworth permit | via @crazeywriter.bsky.social #ksleg

Trans men file lawsuit over Kansas law that restricts bathroom use and invalidates driver's licenses • Kansas Reflector Two transgender men from Lawrence are suing the state over a new law that invalidates driver's licenses and restricts bathroom use based on sex assigned at birth, citing numerous constitutional rights...

Trans men file lawsuit over Kansas law that restricts bathroom use and invalidates driver’s licenses | via @journalist-sherman.bsky.social #ksleg

By whitewashing American history, Trump vows to erase today’s misdeeds • Kansas Reflector I have been tracking the Trump administration’s attempts to change what visitors learn at places managed by the National Parks service.

Opinion from @ericthomasphoto.bsky.social: By whitewashing American history, Trump vows to erase today’s misdeeds #ksleg

Trans Kansans struggle with reality of Legislature’s cruelty as driver’s licenses are invalidated • Kansas Reflector The Kansas Department of Revenue this week sent a letter to Kansans affected by a new law, which took effect Thursday, that requires the gender marker on a driver’s license to match a person’s sex at ...

Trans Kansans struggle with reality of Legislature’s cruelty as driver’s licenses are invalidated | via @journalist-sherman.bsky.social and @crazeywriter.bsky.social #ksleg

Kansas Senate approves cap on property valuations, despite questions on real tax savings • Kansas Reflector The Kansas Senate passed a resolution Wednesday to cap property valuation increases at 3%, the first step toward achieving a constitutional change.

Kansas Senate approves cap on property valuations, despite questions on real tax savings | via @crazeywriter.bsky.social #ksleg

Essential thread of articles.

🧵 from our colleagues in Kansas, who were covering their Legislature’s anti-trans moves long before national outlets noticed and will keep covering it long after the national news cycle moves on.

If you've seen the news today about transgender Kansans having their drivers licenses suddenly revoked, check out the deep reporting our colleagues in Kansas have been doing on the subject for months

🧵 👇 👇 👇

If you're watching what's happening to the transgender community in Kansas today, be sure to catch up with the monthslong coverage by our @kansasreflector.com journalists.

Senate bill would uncork round-the-clock drinking in Kansas during FIFA World Cup • Kansas Reflector The bill would authorize bars, restaurants and liquor stores to sell liquor from 6 a.m. to 5 a.m. for the duration of the World Cup.

Senate bill would uncork round-the-clock drinking in Kansas during FIFA World Cup | via @gracefromkansas.bsky.social #ksleg