Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector
photo by: Noah Taborda/Kansas Reflector
Senate Majority Leader Gene Suellentrop, a Wichita Republican, didn t wear a face covering Friday at a hearing on a constitutional amendment on abortion. He says he generally wears a mask at the Capitol if requested by people.
TOPEKA Senate Majority Leader Gene Suellentrop doesn’t prefer to wear a mask in the Capitol as the COVID-19 pandemic rages outside the confines of the limited-access building.
The Wichita Republican takes what might be considered a diplomatic approach to admonitions from public health officials that face coverings help limit spread of a virus that has killed at least 2 million worldwide, 389,000 in the United States, 3,500 in Kansas and 340 in his home county of Sedgwick. He usually opts not to wear one, as was the case Friday during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on abortion.
Advocates for, against Kansas abortion amendment make their cases to lawmakers
In public hearings marked by technological glitches, passionate arguments and time constraints, the Value Them Both amendment was the main show Friday in the Kansas Statehouse.
About 20 members of the public, ranging from lobbyists to medical professionals to concerned citizens, argued in front of state legislators why they should vote for or against the amendment. We re concerned because we can see the writing on the wall, said Rachel Sweet, public policy director of Planned Parenthood Great Plains. Proponents have downplayed . concerns that this amendment would lead to a full ban on abortion.
A coalition of conservative state lawmakers and advocates against abortion announced Tuesday morning that they would seek, for at least the second time, to put on the ballot an amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would reverse a finding that abortion is a constitutional right under the state.
The amendment would allow legislators to regulate abortion. We know where our families stand on the Value Them Both amendment, said Sen. Mollie Baumgardner, R-Louisburg. They want assurances their hard-earned tax dollars . to (not) be used on abortions.
The Kansas Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that abortion is a constitutional right, but legislators are trying to overturn that with this amendment. A constitutional amendment would need a two-thirds majority in both the Kansas House and Senate, and then needs to be put forth before voters.
OSWEGO â Labette County is spending down the remaining funds from $3.98 million it received from the state with direction to spend it on COVID-19 relief.
Some of the countyâs allocation remains unspent and is available for redistribution because planned changes in courtrooms in Parsons and Oswego didnât work out either because of Kansas Supreme Court approval or because the work could not be completed by Dec. 30, the deadline for spending COVID-19 relief funds.Â
The county received $3,983,558.77 from the stateâs Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas program, which is distributing federal pandemic relief money. The money can be used to reimburse for COVID-19-related expenses or for projects tied to the pandemic. Counties have until the end of the year to spend all of their allotted money or send it back to the state.