Kansas Legislature

While thousands of patients cross the border with medical cards in hand, countless more are buying recreational cannabis without a prescription. That’s unlikely to change as some Kansas lawmakers signal resistance to medical legalization in 2025.

Kansas Rep. Jarrod Ousley and Missouri Rep. Patty Lewis are introducing bills that would let people voluntarily exclude themselves from gun sales. Experts say such laws save lives.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, still has two years left in her term. She'll be heading to Topeka with another Republican legislative supermajority to work with. Despite calls from some, Kelly says she's not considering a U.S. Senate run in 2026.

Law enforcement officials say arresting homeless people for minor crimes like trespassing and vandalism will not help reduce homelessness. Experts say it will cost a lot of tax dollars and actually makes homelessness worse.

Democrats hoped to gain two seats in the House and three in the Senate to break the GOP advantage, but unofficial results indicated Republican candidates prevailed in eight of nine closely watched House contests and in five of six Senate races central to the power struggle.

The strip of about seven blocks in Overland Park is represented by a Republican, in a district where almost half the registered voters are Republican. But more than half the yard signs on that strip favor the Democratic challenger.

Democrat Andrew Mall and Republican Sen. Mike Thompson squared off on issues important to Johnson County in a debate on KCUR's Up To Date. The tight race could help determine the fate of the Kansas Legislature's GOP supermajority.

Some GOP lawmakers from Johnson County are no longer talking about their votes championing anti-abortion bills in the Kansas Legislature, and saying they respect the 2022 vote defeating an anti-abortion constitutional amendment.

The state is enacting a plan to overhaul its online security of sensitive information, partly in response to an attack on Kansas' courts last year.

Democrats in Kansas hope that 2024 is the year they finally break the Republican supermajority in the Kansas Legislature, which has been able to override Gov. Laura Kelly's veto on several key issues.

Kansas Democrats are optimistic that next month's general election will result in an end to the GOP's veto-proof supermajority. How likely is such an outcome, and what would it mean for state politics in Kansas?

Advocates say homelessness in Kansas is mainly caused by a lack of affordable housing, not issues like mental health. Efforts to increase housing stock have built thousands of new units, but it’s not enough, and some communities oppose new developments.