Sam Brownback

A Kansas Senate committee has advanced a bill that would repeal an income tax exemption for more than 300,000 business owners. That sends the proposal to the full Senate for consideration. The plan would also increase income tax rates overall.

Republican Sen. Julia Lynn supported the measure because she said the Legislature needs to make some progress on tax issues.

“This is a situation that has been floundering for four years. Although it might not be the best bill that’s put forward, it’s the beginning of a process,” Lynn said.

Kansas’ two state-run psychiatric hospitals would lose nearly $20 million under the budget proposed by Gov. Sam Brownback.

In the current fiscal year, Osawatomie and Larned state hospitals are relying on state funds to make up for the loss of federal funding. Brownback’s recommendations for the fiscal year that starts in July would end that practice, leaving it to the hospitals to make up the lost revenue.

Gov. Sam Brownback says Cowley County Community College is responding to his challenge to offer a four-year degree for just $15,000. Students who enroll would start their education at the community college before moving to Fort Hays State University. Eligible degrees are in the areas of education and technology.

Brownback made the challenge in the State of the State Address and announced the new degree plan Friday. He says the state has an interest in providing an alternative to more expensive college degrees.

Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is hoping the federal government can rescue several critical infrastructure projects that the state can no longer afford.

Voters in the 4th Congressional District in south-central Kansas will choose a new member of Congress on April 11.

Republican Mike Pompeo officially stepped down Monday after he was confirmed to become the director of the CIA. Gov. Sam Brownback signed an order Tuesday setting the date for the election.  

Brownback says he chose the earliest Tuesday available under state law because he wants the seat filled quickly.

Around 1,000 abortion opponents gathered at the Kansas Statehouse Monday for an annual rally marking the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the decision that legalized abortion.

Gov. Sam Brownback told the crowd to keep its eyes on the Kansas Supreme Court. The high court is reviewing a lawsuit in which a lower court ruled that the state Constitution protects a woman's right to abortion.

“Yet this can never really be true, that abortion is a right," Brownback said. "Our rights come from God, and amongst them is the inherent right to life."