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With Talk Of Shortened Session, Kansas Lawmakers Still Stuck on Abortion And Medicaid

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Stephen Koranda
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Kansas News Service
Medicaid expansion protestors demonstrating at the Statehouse earlier this week

Kansas lawmakers are making contingency plans in case the spread of the coronavirus forces an early end to the 2020 legislative session. A shortened session would lessen the chances of lawmakers resolving their differences on abortion and Medicaid expansion before heading home.

Susan Wagle, the Republican president of the Kansas Senate, is blocking consideration of a bipartisan expansion bill until the House approves a proposed anti-abortion amendment to the Kansas Constitution. Attempts by legislative leaders to end the stalemate appear to be making little progress.

Statehouse Blend host Jim McLean talks with a lawmaker trying to end the impasse and discusses how funding problems are hindering the state’s public defender agency with Kansas News Service reporter Nomin Ujiyedin on this week’s episode of the podcast.

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Jim McLean is a political correspondent for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration based at KCUR with other public media stations across Kansas. You can email him at jim@kcur.org.
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