Vowing to reduce the size of the state's waistline, Gov. Sam Brownback on Monday launched a weight loss challenge.

"We have a problem in America with obesity and gluttony," Brownback said.

Gov. Sam Brownback weighs in for weight-loss challenge. by Scott Rothschild

Five-member teams were invited to weigh-in through Jan. 15 and eat healthier and become more active. The state team with the largest weight percentage loss will win a monetary prize that hasn't yet been determined.

Nearly 350 teams have signed up. Brownback also encouraged non-state employee groups, such as businesses and municipalities, to accept the challenge and provide incentives for weight loss.

Brownback's team included himself, Transportation Secretary Mike King, Acting Labor Secretary Lana Gordon, Commerce Secretary Pat George, and Kansas Adjutant General Lee Tafanelli.

At a news conference in the rotunda of the Statehouse, Brownback announced his team weighed a total of 1,043 pounds. Individual weights were not revealed as team members stepped up to a scale that had a visual barrier.

Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, a physician, said he hoped the challenge would help Kansans learn more about diet and nutrition. "This will affect your entire life," he said.

More information on the challenge is available at www.weightloss.ks.gov

Obamacare health insurance exchanges have been approved in four GOP-led states.

In Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback rejected partnering with the federal government to set up the web-based insurance marketplaces, saying the Affordable Care Act was an overreach by the federal government.

But in Idaho, a spokesman for Republican Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter said, "We're on track for Idaho having a say over how this process works, instead of having the federal government dictate all of it."

Here is a link to the story. http://bit.ly/YZsuXr

Supporters of wind energy cheered final passage in Congress of the bill to avert the "fiscal cliff."

The bill included a one-year extension of the wind energy Production Tax Credit for projects that start construction this year.

This statement came from the American Wind Energy Association: "America's 75,000 workers in wind energy are celebrating tonight over the continuation of policies expected to save up to 37,000 jobs and create far more over time, and to revive business at nearly 500 manufacturing facilities across the country."

Gov. Sam Brownback has touted Kansas' growth in wind energy and supported extension of the credit. But he has also called for phasing it out over several years.

A name from an old Kansas political scandal is at the center of a new Texas political scandal.

The Dallas Morning News reported today that Kenneth "Buddy" Barfield, an Austin political consultant who this year managed Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's failed run for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, has been accused by Dewhurst of stealing at least $600,000 from campaign funds. The newspaper and The Associated Press report that they have been unable to contact Barfield for comment.

A criminal investigation is under way and here is a link to that story: http://dallasne.ws/Tuq0jv

Barfield, a former employee of Koch Industries, was also a key figure in reports in 1996 that linked a $1 million political ad blitz with Wichita billionaire Charles Koch that helped four Kansas Republicans get elected to Congress, including current Gov. Sam Brownback, who was elected to the U.S. Senate that year. Brownback and the other three Republicans said they had nothing to do with the ads.

Here is a link to a report on that controversy from 1996: http://bit.ly/W5DyAb

A controversial task force that Gov. Sam Brownback appointed to study public school spending is holding its third and probably final meeting today.

The Governor's School Efficiency Task Force was initially under fire because it was dominated by accountants and no one on it was an educator or worked in a school. Brownback also established a website where people could make anonymous reports of their experiences with inefficient spending in the educational system.

Democrats and education groups said the task force was set up to attack public schools. In the task force's first meeting on Oct. 8, it heard from the Kansas Policy Institute, which has been a critic of how schools spend money.

In setting up the task force, the governor's office said that only 15 of the state's 286 school districts complied with a state law that requires at least 65 percent of state funds be spent in the classroom. But there is no such legal requirement, and school officials released a report that showed based on state funding, all school districts were surpassing the 65 percent level.

The task force is expected to make recommendations to Brownback soon.

Gov. Sam Brownback on Friday announced that federal officials have approved a waiver request to implement sweeping changes to the Kansas Medicaid system.

Gov. Sam Brownback announces federal approval to go ahead with KanCare. Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services Shawn Sullivan is beside Brownback. by Scott Rothschild

Kansas has already awarded three contracts to managed care organizations to run the Medicaid program, which provides health care coverage to 380,000 poor and disabled residents.

Known as KanCare, the Brownback administration has said the changes will help control care costs and improve care.

The new system will be in effect Jan. 1.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State on Friday criticized Gov. Sam Brownback for promoting a fundamentalist Christian evangelical event.

“The governor is really overstepping his constitutional bounds," said Vickie Sandell Stangl, president of the Great Plains chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

"He was elected to serve as governor of our state, not our state pastor-in-chief.

“The people of Kansas do not need politicians telling us when, how or whether to pray. If anybody needs to repent, it’s Gov. Brownback. He needs to repent for violating the constitutional separation of church and state," Stangl said.

Stangl was criticizing Brownback for promoting a nationally simulcast prayer and worship event put on by ReignDown USA that will be held Saturday in MacLennan Park, which is adjacent to the governor's mansion, Cedar Crest.

In a video promoting the event, Brownback said: "Too often we have forgotten God," and he invites people to pray.

Here is a video that Brownback made. The end of the video says no state resources were used to make the video or in the ReignDown event.

Gov. Sam Brownback says "too often we have forgotten God," and he is inviting people to pray on Saturday.

Brownback is asking people to participate in worship and pray at MacLennan Park in an event sponsored by ReignDown USA.

Here is a video that Brownback made. The end of the video says no state resources were used to make the video or in the ReignDown event.

Topeka — A group of political science professors on Thursday said conservative Republicans led by Gov. Sam Brownback are in the driver's seat in Kansas and now the question is where will they take the state.

Washburn University political science professor Bob Beatty on Thursday speaks during a roundtable discussion on the recent election. Seated behind him is Gwen Mellinger, a professor at Baker University. by Scott Rothschild

"The governor is going to be able to push through his legislative agenda in a very meaningful way," said Joe Aistrup of Kansas State University. "We are going to see a very strong pendulum swing to the right," Aistrup told about 75 people who gathered for a post-election discussion at Washburn University.

Conservative Republicans knocked off eight moderate Republican incumbents in the state Senate in August and will be in charge of that chamber when the legislative session starts in January. In the 125-member House, Republicans, most of them conservatives, hold a 92-33 edge over Democrats. More than 50 members of the House will be new legislators.

Aistrup said conservatives have made moderate Republicans in Kansas "almost extinct." Moderates, he said, are retired, beaten or converted, and he said that the Democratic Party probably won't be viable in Kansas for decades.

Michael Smith, of Emporia State University, said now that conservatives have taken over state government and hold all six congressional positions, they must show what their small government philosophy will look like.

Smith said to make significant budget cuts on the federal and state level will require cuts to health care and education and it will be interesting to see how the public reacts to that.

Ed Flentje, of Wichita State University, said the number of state governments in control of the Republican party has grown from nine in 2008 to 24 in 2012. In fact, he said only 11 states have divided party control.

"At the state level, red states got redder and blue states got bluer," Flentje said.

Burdett Loomis, of Kansas University, said Kansas has become a more conservative state while the United States "is trending blue." He said Republican governors face a dilemma. "They've got to deal with the federal government. They can choose to cooperate, work with it, or not cooperate and play it on a pure political basis," which could hurt the states, he said.

Loomis said one of the bills that he expects will pass next year in the Kansas Legislature and be signed into law by Brownback would allow a religious defense to discriminate against gays.

"That kind of legislation will slide through the Legislature," he said. Last session, the House approved the bill, but Senate leaders, who have since been defeated in the GOP primary, wouldn't consider the bill. Several Lawrence officials fought against the measure, saying it would have nullified a city of Lawrence anti-discrimination ordinance that includes sexual orientation.

Bob Beatty and Mark Peterson, both of Washburn University, and Gwen Mellinger of Baker University also spoke at the event.

Gov. Sam Brownback today kicked off a statewide weight-loss challenge aimed at instilling healthy habits, but he criticized new federal school lunch standards that provide healthier meals.

Gov. Sam Brownback and KDHE Secretary Robert Moser on Tuesday talk about the Governor's Weight Loss Challenge during a news conference. by Scott Rothschild

Brownback wants Kansans to organize into five-person teams to see which team can lose the largest percentage of weight.

Brownback intends to pick four members of his Cabinet to his squad.

"My hope is that the Governor's Weight Loss Challenge will encourage everyone to work together to make our state healthier," Brownback said at a news conference.

Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Robert Moser, a physician, and also the State Health Officer, said the obesity rate has doubled among Kansas adults from 15 percent to 30.1 percent between 1995 and 2010.

"Together, poor nutrition and physical inactivity is now considered the No. 2 preventable cause of death, behind tobacco use," Moser said.

Obesity is associated with congestive heart failure, diabetes and cancer, he said.

The governor's challenge will award monetary prizes — the amounts have not yet been determined — to teams comprised of state employees. Brownback also urged non-state employees to take up the challenge.

A web-based tool will be used to track the progress of each state employee team that joins the competition. Teams can start registering on Dec. 17 at www.weightloss.ks.gov.

On the issue of school lunches, Brownback said the goal of the lunch standards was "laudable," but added, "It's a typical federal issue. It just doesn't fit all circumstances."

He said he has heard complaints from people that their children participate in school athletics and aren't getting enough calories with the lunches.

The standards, championed by First Lady Michelle Obama, are designed to "raise a healthier generation of children," according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

According to the USDA, the changes that took effect this school year ensure students are offered both fruits and vegetables each school day; increase whole grain foods; offer only fat-free or low-fat milk; limit calories based on the age of children being served; and increase focus on reducing saturated fats, trans fats and sodium.