#governor laura kelly

[theacecouple]

It's official! We got the state of Kansas to formally recognize Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week this year!

February 18-24, 2024 DON'T YOU FORGET!

[rapeculturerealities]

Kansas law will require ID to view acts of 'homosexuality'

The governor of Kansas vetoed n anti-LGBTQ+ bill while simultaneously letting a law pass requiring ID to view "acts of homosexuality."

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly issued vetoes Friday against a ban on gender-affirming care for minors as well as two anti-abortion measures. She also let pass without her signature a law requiring age-verification to view content "harmful to minors."

Under Kansas criminal law, material "harmful to minors" includes nudity and "sexual content," which is defined in part as "acts of masturbation, homosexuality, or sexual intercourse."

The law, which will go into effect on July 1, requires users to share their government-issued identification in order to view adult content. Websites can be fined up to $10,000 for each instance a minor accesses their content, and parents are allowed to sue for damages of at least $50,000.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ryan Adamczeski at The Advocate:

The governor of Kansas vetoed anti-LGBTQ+ bills while simultaneously passing a law requiring ID to view "acts of homosexuality." Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly issued vetoes on Friday against a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, as well as two anti-abortion measures. She also let pass without her signature a law requiring age-verification to view content "harmful to minors." Under Kansas criminal law, material "harmful to minors" includes nudity and "sexual content," which is defined in part as "acts of masturbation, homosexuality, or sexual intercourse."

The bill, which will go into effect on July 1, requires users to share their government-issued identification in order to view adult content. Websites can be fined up to $10,000 for each instance a minor accesses their content, and parents are allowed to sue for damages of at least $50,000. This could theoretically apply to family-friendly media with queer characters, LGBTQ+ charities and community resources, or even medical websites that include information on gender and sexuality. Such websites could soon be forced to block access to young users — cutting off their access to vital resources and information — or face hefty fines. Kelly did not comment on the age-verification bill, but gave justification for each of her vetoes. She said that a ban on gender-affirming care for minors “tramples parental rights” and targets “a small group.” She vetoed a similar bill last year, and the legislature did not have the votes to override it.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) vetoes ban on gender-affirming care for minors (SB233), but allows the controversial anti-LGBTQ+ "age verification" policy (SB394) to take effect without her signature.

[thatstormygeek]

I know we all know that the cruelty is the point and the GOP is immune to charges of hypocrisy and all that, but still occasionally legislators say something and I just stop and wonder how they got this way.

The governor said she has met with leaders in health care, child care, retail, hospitality, banking, real estate, aerospace, law enforcement and the medical community during her statewide campaign to support Medicaid expansion. House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, and Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, responded by calling her efforts a “welfare tour.”

These smug fucksticks have made it their mission to make things as awful as possible for residents of Kansas. They sneer at Medicaid expansion even as over half the rural hospitals in the state are at risk of closing. Now, anyone who has been paying attention to US politics knows that rural areas tend to vote more conservative. That's how much this party doesn't feel the need to even pretend to care about their constituents. Definitely a real representative government we have going on there.

At the Trox Gallery, she was approached by Jean-Ellen Kegler, a former director of the city’s visitor’s bureau, who said she moved back to Kansas after being gone for 25 years because Kelly was governor. Kegler, now retired, also expressed dismay about the messaging from GOP leaders that Medicaid expansion would benefit people who are too lazy to work. “We’ve heard that ever since the New Deal: ‘People are lazy. People are trying to bilk the government.’ And I think if we’re honest with ourselves, we see who is bilking the government, and it’s not the poor,” Kegler said. “It’s those who have money. And I don’t like to use the word ‘greed,’ but in this case, we’re seeing the greedy side of capitalism.”

[adriennejosephines]

I am so fucking proud of every single person that put in the work for the vote no campaign and who voted no. Abortion access stays legal in Kansas despite the efforts of ultra conservatives. The work isn’t over though. November is just right around the corner and we have the chance to get rid of Jerry Moran by electing Mark Holland. Not to mention U.S. House District 3 where Sharice Davids is running for re-election. Laura Kelly is running for re-election as governor as well. Plus countless other important races both local and statewide.

Tonight Kansans showed others that we value a woman’s choice when it comes to bodily autonomy. Let’s keep that momentum up.

[the-sayuri-rin]

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A new Kansas law requires the state to reverse any previous gender changes in its records for trans people’s birth certificates and driver’s licenses while also preventing such changes going forward, the state’s conservative Republican attorney general declared Monday.

Attorney General Kris Kobach also said public schools’ records for students must list them as being the gender they were assigned at birth, whether or not teachers and staff recognize their gender identities.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s office said she disagrees with Kobach’s views, though it did not say whether state agencies under the governor’s control would follow or defy them, setting up the possibility of a court fight. In 2019, a federal judge began requiring Kansas to allow transgender people to change their birth certificates to settle a lawsuit over a no-change policy.

[vague-humanoid]

On April 27, the Republican-controlled Kansas legislature overrode Governor Laura Kelly’s (D) veto to pass a law that legally defines an individual’s sex as “an individual’s sex at birth, either male or female.” The law, referred to as a “Women’s Bill of Rights,” defines a female as “an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova.”

The new law in Kansas is the most high-profile success of a well-financed and systematic campaign to establish anti-trans policies across the country. It is being coordinated by a secretive group that has consistently opposed policies that protect and expand women's rights.

The law states that “with respect to biological sex, separate accommodations are not inherently unequal” and that “distinctions between the sexes [are to] be considered substantially related to… protecting the health, safety, and privacy of individuals” in certain spaces. The spaces include restrooms, domestic violence centers, rape crisis centers, locker rooms, and athletic facilities.

The new law attempts to erase transgender individuals by excluding them from spaces deemed as “women only.” “The Kansas bill would certainly be among the most restrictive ones that we’ve seen in the country — one of the most expansive, one of the most extreme and really just one of the most mean spirited and hurtful,” ACLU of Kansas Executive Director Micah Kubic said, according to Politico.

The original bill, SB 180, was based on model legislation written by the Independent Women’s Voice (IWV) in collaboration with the Independent Women’s Law Center and Women's Liberation Front. The IWV is the action arm of the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), a dark money group that claims to fight to “expand women’s options and opportunities.”

The IWF website states that the group is an “educational” non-profit “dedicated to developing and advancing policies that aren’t just well intended, but actually enhance freedom, opportunities, and well-being.” But while the group publicly claims to be non-partisan, it has extensive right-wing ties. In 2016, CEO of IWV and Chairman of IWF Heather R. Higgins admitted in a speech, “Being branded as neutral, but actually having people who know know that you’re actually conservatives puts us in a unique position.”

In March 2022, the IWV introduced the model legislation for a “women’s bill of rights” and called for legislation to “protect biological sex as a distinct legal category,” stating that the “basic definition” of “woman” has “come under fire in recent years by activists who dispute the biological basis of womanhood.” According to the IWF website, the “women’s bill of rights” was introduced to “counter transgender ideology.”

On April 27, the group celebrated the passing of Kansas’ new law, stating that it protects “women’s rights to privacy, safety, and equal opportunity.” The statement continued to say that the law will “prevent judges, unelected bureaucrats, and administrators in Kansas from unilaterally redefining the word ‘woman’ to mean anyone who ‘identifies as a woman.’”

IWF/V is now fighting for similar legislation to be passed across the country. Similar bills have already been introduced in multiple states, including Montana, Tennessee, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and North Dakota. In 2022, a federal bill was also introduced and sponsored by Representative Debbie Lesko (R-AZ). The bill was reintroduced by Lesko and Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) in February 2023.

While the IWF/V touts themselves as a group that fights for women’s rights, the reality is that the group has spent decades opposing substantive policies to protect and expand women’s rights.

[voskhozhdeniye]

Kansas has passed what has been described as the “broadest” anti-trans bathroom bill in the United States, the confines of which could see some cis women barred from female toilets. 

Lawmakers in the state overturned a previous veto by governor Laura Kelly, who has continually spoken out against anti-trans legislation. 

SB 180, entitled the Women’s Bill of Rights, bans trans and intersex women from toilets, changing rooms and prison facilities that align with their gender, as well as barring trans women from accessing domestic abuse shelters and rape crisis centers.   

The legislation has been criticized as legally erasing trans people by stating an “individual’s “sex” means an individual’s sex at birth, either male or female”. 

Definitions outlined in the bill also state a female is a person who produces “ova” – in other words, eggs – meaning cis women who are infertile and are unable to produce eggs could barred from spaces under the legislation’s legal terms. 

The bill was passed by 84 votes to 40 in the House and subsequently 28-12 in the Senate. 

The new law is expected to take effect on 1 July. 

[dhaaruni]

Democrats have to be nicer about Republicans than Republicans have to be about Dems is because their guaranteed base is bigger than ours in the places that decide federal majorities so we need to win over more swing voters who've often voted for Republicans before and don't believe Republican = Trump!

This is why Georgia Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff are at Republican Governor Brian Kemp's opening of the Hyundai plant in Savannah.

Democrats who are personally liked by Republicans, even if partisan Republicans will never ever vote for them, will be more successful in purple/red states than those who are a total anathema to the other party. Case in point.

Also see: Mark Kelly, Roy Cooper, Josh Shapiro, Laura Kelly, etc.

[beardedmrbean]

Kansas lawmakers have sent to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s desk a bill to establish a flat income tax and eliminate the state food sales tax a year early.

The Kansas House voted 85 to 38 and the Senate voted 24 to 13 early Friday to send a tax package to Kelly that establishes a flat income tax of 5.15% for individuals.

The bill taxes any income above $6,150 for individuals and $12,300 for married couples.

Under current law, the food sales tax will be eliminated on Jan. 1 of 2025. The bill moves that elimination up a single year to 2024. The full package will cost roughly $485 million annually once it is fully implemented.

The House earned enough votes to override a veto from Kelly while the Senate fell three votes short.

Kelly, who took office after the repeal of former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s income tax cuts following years of budget shortfalls, is unlikely to sign the bill. Speaking to reporters at an event in Olathe Wednesday, Kelly indicated she would reject any version of a flat tax - even as numerous Democrats in the House voted in favor of a bill with a 5.25% rate.

She said it would remove the state’s ability to take any other tax relief actions.

“I have looked at the numbers and I have yet to come up with a flat tax that is sustainable over time,” Kelly said.

Kelly has sought the immediate elimination of the food sales cut for more than a year. Last year Republicans opted to implement the phase in rather than an immediate cut and the governor campaigned last year on giving Kansans an immediate cut if she was reelected.

The vote came after two back to back debates late Thursday night and early Friday morning.

Advocates of the flat tax argue it simplifies the tax system for Kansans, offering a tax cut to everyone.

“States that are doing well fiscally have lower income tax and single brackets,” said Sen. Caryn Tyson, a Parker Republican. “It just makes sense.”

But the policy ultimately provides a far larger cut to the weather Kansans than it does to low income taxpayers.

According to an analysis from the Kansas Department of Revenue, the bill would provide around $3,000 in annual tax cuts to Kansas’ highest earners while Kansas’ lowest earners would receive less than $50 annually in tax cuts.

The flat tax alone is expected to cost the state about $318 million annually once it is fully implemented.

Rep. Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat, argued that package as a whole was too expensive for the state and prioritized high earners over the average Kansan.

“I can’t support this bill,” Sawyer said.

Rep. Adam Smith, a Weskan Republican who chairs the House Tax committee, said Sawyer was correct that the bill would help high income Kansans more than low income Kansans.

He urged his colleagues to support the policy regardless, pointing to an increase in the overall standard deduction for all taxpayers included in the bill.

The bill also accelerates a planned corporate tax cut that comes as a result of Kansas using a new incentive program to lure Panasonic and Integra Technologies to start major business developments in the state.

The bill reduces Social Security tax for retirees and includes a provision that would gradually reduce the tax over time. The Social Security decrease had been part of Kelly’s tax plan alongside an immediate elimination of the food sales tax. and sales tax on diapers and feminine hygiene products.

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, applauded the package as a good use of the state’s surplus funds. But during House GOP caucus meeting, he acknowledged that a veto was likely.

“Our governor’s not going to sign any flat tax, she’s told us that,” Hawkins told GOP lawmakers. “Our task was to find a package that we could all agree on and keep our votes together.”

House Minority Leader Vic Miller, a Topeka Democrat, said he had voted for an earlier version of the flat tax because he thought it was the best possible bill. The final package, he said, he could not support.

The overwhelming majority of Democrats voted against the bill citing the cost.

“This just hearkens back to the good old Sam days,” said Sen. Tom Holland, a Baldwin City Democrat, referencing Brownback.

[thatstormygeek]

Why don't Democrats talk about Kansas more?

Admittedly, I don't go seeking out news by and for Dems, so maybe they are and I'm not hearing it. But then, you'd think as a left-leaning independent voter, I'd be the prime audience for this type of thing.

Really I'm asking why the Dems aren't shouting about Kansas every chance they get.

Laura Kelly is the Governor of Kansas. She is a Democrat who ran against Kris Kobach in 2018 and won. And then she won again in 2022. In Kansas.

Governor Kelly's election followed Sam Brownback's tenure in which he ran an "experiment" on the inhabitants of the state. One that failed. Miserably.

Halfway through Governor Kelly's second term, the state of Kansas has billions of dollars in cash reserves.

Billions.

She continues to hold the line against the Republican supermajority in the state legislature, throwing her support behind the expansion of Medicaid, school funding and other policies aimed to actually help the people of her state.

I don't know. I just think this is something we should be hearing about more.