State Government

Kansas legislators pass plan that could give $500M in COVID relief to businesses

Topeka — Republicans pushed a plan through the Kansas Legislature early Saturday that could provide roughly $500 million to small businesses to offset losses tied to state and local restrictions meant to check COVID-19’s spread last year. The measure would require the state, cities and ...

Kansas Statehouse in Topeka, February 2014.

Vaccine passports, other virus issues split Kansas lawmakers

TOPEKA — Republican lawmakers in Kansas were split Friday over proposals to ban COVID-19 vaccine passports, limit efforts to track down close contacts of people with the coronavirus and compensate businesses that closed or faced restrictions early in the pandemic. House and Senate ...

Gov. Kelly orders flags to half-staff for 5,000 COVID-19 victims

TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday directed that flags be lowered to half-staff across the state to recognize that more than 5,000 Kansans have now lost their lives to COVID-19. The order extends until sundown on Sunday. As of midday Friday, the coronavirus had been blamed on 5,016 ...

Medical marijuana just took a giant step toward legalization in Kansas

TOPEKA, Kansas — Kansas took its first major step toward legalizing medical marijuana Thursday when the conservative Republicans who dominate the state House passed a bill that tracks a national trend and bucks federal law. Kansas-style legalization would regulate everything from patient ...