The Kansas Legislature’s veto session officially begins Monday, but the heavy lifting is ahead starting Wednesday.
There has been a lot of attention the past two weeks on vetoes coming from Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, notably on abortion and gender issues, but 17th District Senator Jeff Longine of Emporia says his main focus is the overall budget, especially when it comes to public education. Longbine has said he is pleased with the higher education funding component, notably when it comes to Emporia State University, but he has some concerns about K-12 funding.
60th District Representative Mark Schreiber of Emporia says the K-12 budget is critical to passing the overall budget.
Republicans in legislative leadership have sharply criticized the Democrat governor’s vetoes on abortion and gender issues, notably on transgender policy, and many if not all of those directives could come back before lawmakers. Republicans also plan to take a closer look at a range of budgetary line-item vetoes, including one that would establish a flat income tax of 5.15 percent while giving taxpayers a tax rebate, as well as a veto which would end the current three-day grace period for counting advance ballots.
