Here are today’s headlines from Kansas government:(Wichita Eagle) Fetal protection law urged: Two anguished mothers pleaded with Kansas senators Thursday to pass a bill defining a fetus as a human being in criminal prosecutions. Terri Brooks of Wichita, whose pregnant 14-year-old daughter, Chelsea, was slain last year, told the Senate Judiciary Committee of the pain she felt to lose not only her daughter, but her unborn granddaughter. That granddaughter would have been named Alexa. Now, she’s the namesake for a bill called Alexa’s Law. A fetal protection law has passed the House in the past but stalled in the Senate. But Chelsea Brooks’ killing has mobilized proponents, including about 6,000 who have signed a petition in favor of the bill.(Topeka Capital-Journal) GOP budget excludes Democratic provisions for health care: The House tentatively endorsed a $12.4 billion state budget Thursday containing a salary plan for state employees and excluding proposals for broader financing of all-day kindergarten programs and health care for uninsured children.(KC Star) GOP holds line on spending Rep. Lance Kinzer stood with 24 other Republican lawmakers this week and vowed to keep the state’s budget from increasing beyond $5.95 billion. That was the total spending recommended by the House Appropriations Committee and scheduled to be debated Thursday on the House floor. It was $60 million less than Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, had recommended.(Kansas Health Institute News Service) House rejects 0-5 health initiative: The House on Thursday voted down an amendment that would have added $4.2 million to one of its first major spending bills of the year to finance Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ plan to extend health insurance to more Kansas children ages 5 and under.(AP) Presidential primary funding struck from bill: Kansas might not have a presidential primary in February after the House voted Thursday to strip funding for the special election from a proposed state budget.(KC Star) House vote expected on gambling: It’s almost a sure bet: The House is headed toward a vote on whether to allow expanded state-owned gambling in Kansas.(LJW) KUMC removed from budget ax: The House on Thursday removed Kansas University Medical Center from under its budget ax, but maintained requirements for the center to enter an affiliation with Missouri-based St. Luke’s Hospital.(AP) Unemployment compromise made: Businesses would receive about $175 million in tax relief over two years under a bill that went Thursday to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius after legislators broke an impasse over speeding up the delivery of jobless workers’ first unemployment checks.[(Harris News Service) Senate approves program to shut down wells:][9] Reacting to the marked decline of southwest Kansas groundwater, the Senate overwhelmingly endorsed a bill to create a new water conservation program to pay irrigators who volunteer to stop watering. [1]: http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/legislature/16915280.htm