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KANSAS LEGISLATURE
Tax increase, budget bills move forward By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
Republicans in the Kansas Legislature late Saturday night pushed forward on a $777 million tax increase and a state budget that would cut funds to higher education. The budget also would place those with developmental disabilities under KanCare despite pleas from parents of disabled Kansans to maintain the current system of providing long-term care. The House and Senate worked
on tax and budget bills as the 2013 legislative session neared its conclusion after 99 days of sometimes contentious wrangling within Republican majorities. The House was starting debate on the Senate-approved tax bill late Saturday, and the Senate was poised to take up the House-adopted budget measure about the same time. On the tax issue, the Senate approved a bill that would set the state sales tax at 6.15 percent instead of allowing the rate to fall to 5.7 percent on July 1, as was re-
quired by law when a temporary sales tax rate was enacted in 2010. The Senate approved the measure 24-13, sending it to the House. The tax package, which received support only from Republicans, would also cut itemized deductions by half, reduce the standard deduction, and ratchet down income tax rates. Please see BILLS, page 2A
Proposed budget would
have ‘devastating’ effect on KU. Page 2A
House rejects bill that would block new education standards By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
An effort to give the Kansas Legislature more control over educational standards in public schools failed to pass the Kansas House on Saturday, but some officials say the is-
The family reunion that never ends
sue may come up again before lawmakers adjourn. The bill would have blocked the Kansas State Board of Education from adopting the proposed Next Generation Science Please see EDUCATION, page 2A
What will it take to fix partisan politics? ——
Bob Dole miffed lawmakers aren’t working together By Giles Bruce gbruce@ljworld.com
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photos
WEARING MATCHING HOOVER REUNION T-SHIRTS, from left, Barbara Hoover Pekema, her husband, John Pekema, of King City, Calif., and Ben Ebenhack, of Marietta, Ohio, look out from the lunch table during the Hoover Family Reunion on Saturday at Lone Star Lake. In 1855, pacifist ancestors of the Hoover family settled in Douglas County. Almost 180 relatives from 18 states converged on Douglas County for the family’s 100th family reunion this weekend. BELOW: Cousins LaVon Harris, of Pomona, is hugged by Sarah Ann Bowman, back, of Boones Mill, Va., as the two reunite during the Hoover Family Reunion on Saturday
Hoovers have been gathering for 100 years
T
here will be homemade ice cream, that is for certain. Marty Hoover has been scouring the Douglas County countryside to find families who can loan out old hand-cranked icecream-making machines. What also is certain is that there will be plenty of unfamiliar faces turning the cranks and manning the spoons. Yes, it is family reunion season in Douglas County. And this particular reunion is the sort where you get to wear both a nametag and a bewildered look. “We have people coming who are great, great, great grandfather’s brother’s children,” says Carol Hoover Redenbaugh, who is Marty’s sister. “So, you don’t know who the heck these people are.” In fact, out of the 178 people from 18 different states coming to this weekend’s Hoover fam-
it would be a good place to practice their pacifist Brethren religion and grow a crop or two. But pacifism turned out to be a tough sell in the “Bleeding Kansas” period of the late 1850s and early 1860s, especially after Ulrich befriended abolitionist crusader John Brown. Infamous Missouri raider William Quantrill took note of that friendship and burned down Ulrich’s clawhorn@ljworld.com southern Douglas County home on his way back from sacking Lawrence. ily reunion, Redenbaugh Despite it all, the Hoovers figures she will know about stayed. Marty reckons he 45 of them. understands why. But, hey, there will be “Land was cheaper here homemade ice cream. than it was in Pennsylvania,”
Marty says. “And you can When the Hoovers came start something here.” to Douglas County in 1855 Evidently, you can keep via wagon train from Penn- something going here as sylvania, they didn’t know well: like a family reunion. anyone here either. They This weekend’s Hoover and their brother-in-law family reunion is the 100th — a character by the name Please see REUNION, page 2A of Jacob Ulrich — thought
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When Bob Dole speaks, people listen. That was definitely the case last week, when the former senator from Kansas’ comments on Fox News sparked a national discussion on bipartisanship and civility in politics. “It seems to be almost unreal that we can’t get together on a budget or legislation,” Dole said of today’s Congress. “We weren’t perfect by a long shot, but at least we got our work done.” But while the 89-year-old Dole’s words may carry weight, is there any promise for fixing the partisan strife infecting Wash- Dole ington and many statehouses across America? “I’m hopeful,” said Bill Lacy, director of the Dole Institute of Politics at Kansas University, citing the group of four Democrats and four Republicans attempting to draft a solution to the nation’s immigration problem. “The ‘Gang of Eight’ is a small illustration of the willingness to reach out and work together, but I wish we would see more of it.” Others are less hopeful that the polarization in politics can change any time soon. Analysis of the roll-call voting of every Congress since 1879 shows the current group of lawmakers to be the most polarized since Reconstruction, according to Michael Lynch, an assistant professor of political science at KU. “Historically there’s been big blocks of moderates — that was true when Dole was in the Senate and the majority leader,” Lynch said. “But we just don’t
ART TOUGEAU 1B-7B 2B, 8C, 7D
Participants turned out on wheels of all colors and shapes to Saturday’s Art Tougeau Parade. See the photos on page 3A.
Vol.155/No.153 32 pages