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Saturday • January 21 • 2017
PUBLISHED SINCE 1891
KANSAS SUPREME COURT
Justices reject KNEA suit on teacher tenure
HOW WILL TRUMP IMPACT KANSAS?
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Democrats plan bill that would restore protections By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
Topeka — In a unanimous ruling Friday, the Kansas Supreme Court rejected a challenge brought by the state’s largest teachers union to a 2014 law that repealed tenure rights for veteran teachers. Democratic leaders in the Kansas Legislature quickly responded, saying they plan to introduce a bill to restore teacher tenure rights, also known as due process rights. The Kansas National Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, challenged the law, arguing that it was contained in a bill that included both appropriations and changes in substantive law, which they claimed was a violation of the Kansas Constitution’s one-subject rule. Article 2, Section 16 of the Kansas Constitution provides, “No bill shall contain more than one
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We believe that this fundamental right enables professional educators to advocate fully for their students without fear of punitive reprisal.”
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5 big issues to monitor
— Statement from the Kansas National Education Association, which challenged the law repealing teacher tenure
Statehouse Live
subject, except appropriation bills and bills for revision or codification of statutes.” Writing for the court, Justice Dan Biles acknowledged that KNEA had standing to bring the lawsuit, but that the Kansas Constitution “does not forbid combining appropriations and general legislation made into a single bill, so long as all provisions of that bill address the same subject.”
President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address after being sworn in as the 45th president of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Friday.
Patrick Semansky/AP Photo
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
> TENURE, 8A
Several of Donald Trump’s policy proposals and positions are of particular interest to Kansans. Here’s a glance at what could change during Trump’s time in office, based on statements he has made:
Some Republican lawmakers seek school funding cut By John Hanna Associated Press
Topeka — Some top Republican legislators in Kansas are looking to cut aid to public schools significantly to help close a hole in the state budget, a move that would fly in the face of past state Supreme Court rulings on education funding. Such a proposal also would defy the Legislature’s shift to the center. GOP lawmakers who are pushing the idea want to avoid accounting moves proposed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, arguing that they’re gimmicks that don’t solve budget problems. Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Carolyn McGinn, a Sedgwick Republican, said Friday that she’s drafting a bill to cut spending to close the projected
ACA AND MEDICAID Trump has promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and his administration will decide whether Kansas can continue operating Medicaid as a privatized managed care system.
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Everything will be on the table. School funding just happens to be where a lot of our money is.”
ENERGY POLICY Trump plans to end the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which could be a setback for the state’s growing wind energy industry.
— Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick
AGRICULTURE Warren Parker of the Kansas Farm Bureau says Kansas farmers are optimistic about Trump’s promise to reduce federal regulations on the industry.
$342 million shortfall in the state’s budget. She said it would reduce aid to schools by between $90 million and $125 million, and she hopes to have it ready next week. Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, an Overland Park Republican, suggested that legislators will pursue even larger cuts in education funding. He said public schools probably could “stomach” a $200 million reduction before the summer.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
W
ith every new administration in Washington, D.C., comes an expectation of change. For some, those expectations are wrapped in a sense of hope and optimism; and for others, depending on one’s political leanings, they’re wrapped with fear and apprehension. That was certainly true eight years ago when Barack Obama was sworn into office following his “hope and change” campaign. And it is perhaps even more true now with the inauguration of his successor, Donald J. Trump, as the 45th President of the United States. Many of the changes Trump has suggested would affect Americans, and perhaps the world, uniformly. But the state of Kansas and its economy have particular issues and concerns at stake, and so I’ve tried to put together a list of the top five policy areas in which Kansas may have a unique set of interests. No. 1: Medicaid and Obamacare I list this first only because it’s at the top of many state lawmakers’ agendas this year, and because it has been thrust into front-page news in recent days.
> TRUMP, 2A
Trump has proposed a $1 trillion dollar infrastructure program that would upgrade roads, bridges, tunnels and airports nationwide.
IMMIGRATION Although Trump’s specific plans for immigration policy are unclear, any action he takes will likely be felt in areas such as southwest Kansas, where immigrant labor plays a major role in the economy.
USA TODAY Trump vows to ‘heal our divisions’ in inaugural address. 1B
> CUT, 8A
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VOL. 159 / NO. 21 / 24 PAGES
Mild CLASSIFIED.............. 3C-4C COMICS...........................4B
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Low: 35
DEATHS...........................6B EVENTS...........................6B
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Forecast, 8A
HOROSCOPE....................5B OPINION..........................5A
PUZZLES..........................5B SPORTS.....................1D-4D