Progressives Decry 'Nauseating Catastrophe' Kansas Session

Credit where it's due . . . So much fiery prose helps garner some attention for mostly predictable outcomes in red state Kansas . . . Check-it:

Lawmakers wrapped up their work on Friday, leaving the state crueler, sicker, poorer and weaker. A bill mugging transgender kids made it into law. So did a bill promising tax cuts but threatening fiscal ruin. Public health officials’ power to fight illness was restricted. Special education students were left out to dry.

It was, as I just wrote, a nauseating catastrophe.

But it’s just what Republicans wanted. Boasting strengthened supermajorities in their respective chambers, House Speaker Dan Hawkins and Senate President Ty Masterson rode roughshod over Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly during the two-day veto session. Few backbench Republicans dared speak up or challenge leadership.

On the House side, members apparently met in secret nearly every day, giving and taking marching orders. Committees heard precious little actual debate. Bills speeded through and landed on the floor, where they passed with scant discussion. Meanwhile, the whole affair wrapped up in the middle of April, leaving little time for serious consideration or compromise.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Your 2025 Kansas Statehouse session: A belly flop into a swimming pool full of curdled milk