This is testimony delivered to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Elections and Local Government, and the House Committee on Elections, supporting SB43 and HB 2092, which would allow for Election Day voter registration.

Kansas has made the national news again, just like in the days when we stopped teaching evolution in schools. This time it's for Rep. Randy Garber's (0%) personal crusade against LGBTQ Kansans, women who want to leave an abusive marriage, and internet privacy. But this isn't the news you need to be paying attention to.

This is testimony delivered to the House Committee on Education in opposition to HB 2233, a bill to require public schools fun teacher school supplies (a GREAT idea!) without appropriating any new money to do so (meaning other programs will suffer).

This is testimony delivered to the House Committee on K-12 Education Budget by Liz Meitl, a member of the Board of Directors of the MainStream Coalition, in opposition to HB 2150, a bill to provide education vouchers to private schools.

Last week, the Senate voted to pass Sen. President Wagle's (R, 7%) tax bill, SB 22. It will now go to the House, where it is likely to pass, too. But Gov. Kelly has already indicated she will not let it pass. It is likely to return to the Legislature, where Sen. Wagle will have to decide if she will try to override a veto. She will have her hands full.

This is testimony delivered to the Senate Select Committee on Education Finance by Brandi Fisher, Executive Director of the MainStream Coalition, in support of SB 44, Governor Kelly's plan to finance public education.

Today, the MainStream Coalition is in Topeka testifying in favor of SB 44, Governor Kelly's School Finance Plan. This bill finally puts to rest the endless litigation over school finance, ensuring that our schools are fully funded by incorporating an inflation provision, as required by the Kansas Supreme Court.

We spend a lot of our time arguing that legislators should represent their constituents, the people whose lives they affect by their vote. The people who they represent in their elected office. They should not, we say, represent only their donors, nor even solely the people who voted for them, as there are many issues that affect all Kansans. And they should certainly not represent only the views of the leadership of their party.

HCR 5004, a measure to amend the Kansas Constitution to make safe, legal abortions illegal in Kansas, was introduced this week in the Kansas House of Representatives.

The 2019 Kansas Legislative Session has been open for two weeks. Already, the Kansas Senate has introduced 48 new bills. The Kansas House has introduced 89. Many are procedural, some are common sense, some affect a small portion of Kansas law, others are simply declarations. And some are major, important bills that affect every Kansan. Already we've seen bills introduced for the state's budget, for changes to the tax code, for education financing, and more. But, and we cannot overstate this, the very conservative leadership in the Legislature has already introduced bills at odds with the stated goals of the Governor, and this impasse will likely lead to little getting accomplished until the very end of the session. Again.