Kansas Reflector Podcast

Kansas Chamber president Alan Cobb and lobbyist Eric Stafford outline key pieces of the business organization's 2023 agenda ahead of the new session.

The year 2022 was like few others in Kansas politics. Journalists at the Kansas Reflector began by covering a breakneck legislative session. Toward the end of the year, we followed a bitter midterm election contest. And in the middle of it all, August, we saw a landmark vote on abortion rights. Our staffers make sense of these stories and others that defined a remarkable year.

For generations, the aquifer that supplies western Kansas with water has been in decline, largely due to over pumping for crop irrigation. Parts of the state have just 10 or 20 years of water left. Rep. Lindsey Vaughn, who served as the ranking Democrat on the Kansas House Water Committee, joins the Kansas Reflector podcast to talk about it.

The iconic high rise Docking State Office Building, which now sits largely unoccupied, could soon be demolished. Work to take the building to the ground could begin as early as January 2023. On the other hand, a preservation group called Plains Modern has gone to court to halt full-scale demolition.

Libraries hold a conflicted place our collective imagination. To many of us, they're magical. We were first exposed to worlds of imagination and ideas on the shelves of our local libraries. To others, these buildings serve as indispensable community gathering spots, places to learn and meet and share. But to a small and vocal group, school and town libraries threaten social order. This week, Kansa...

Spencer Duncan, director of government affairs at the Kansas League of Municipalities, talks about the league's policy agenda for the upcoming legislative session.

Leah Fliter and Scott Rothschild of the Kansas Association of School Boards dive into K-12 education issues likely to be on the agenda during the 2023 legislative session.

A joint committee of the Kansas House and Senate convened for two days to explore concerns about the state’s foster care system. During 15 hours of testimony and questioning, a diverse collection of foster parents, academics, lawyers, contractors, state officials and others delved into their experiences with a system responsible for 7,000 children in need of care. The responsibility is immense, th...

Senior reporter Tim Carpenter leads a discussion with editor in chief Sherman Smith, opinion editor Clay Wirestone and reporter Rachel Mipro about campaigns for governor, Congress, attorney general, and the Statehouse, as well as votes on constitutional amendments and judicial retention.

In February 2021, it got really cold in Kansas. It was about 15 degrees below zero for more than a week. Natural gas prices shot up, in terms of BTUs, from $2.54 on Feb. 1 to $622 by Feb. 17. Then, as if the market had been manipulated again, it dropped back to $2.46 by the end of the month. The bills for all that are coming due. The Kansas Corporation Commission has decided the extraordinary cost...

The new Kansas Speaks survey of public opinion generated by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs is out. It checks the pulse of Kansans on dozens of issues — a list that ranges from views on public officials, the economy, abortion, election security, housing, marijuana to health care. Here to mine some of the numerical nuggets from the statewide survey are Brett Zollinger, director of the Docki...

Democrat Lynn Rogers says the Kansas State Treasurer's Office has the ability to help Kansans in their day-to-day lives by providing economic recovery loans, administering the college savings plans, and returning unclaimed property. He hopes to hang onto the job of treasurer by defeating Republican state Rep. Steven Johnson, a farmer from Assaria, in the November election.

Tiffany Muller returned to Kansas, where she made history in 2004 by becoming the first openly LGBTQ public official in Kansas, to campaign on behalf of Democrats. Muller — now president of End Citizens United, an organization that wants to get big money out of politics — says Republican candidates Kris Kobach and Derek Schmidt pose a fundamental threat to Democracy in the state.

Kansas is known for sunflowers, bison, farms and rural communities. But as our country and state grow ever more closely connected and urbanized, what does that mean for small towns and communities across the Sunflower State? Christy Davis, the Kansas director for USDA Rural Development, helps us answer that question.

Matt Lindsey, president of the Kansas Independent College Association, and Heather Morgan, executive director of the Kansas Community College Association, talk about a new transfer agreement among 39 colleges in those organizations. The agreement guarantees students earning a two-year degree at a community college the opportunity to enroll at one of the independent colleges as juniors, transfer 60...

Republican Derek Schmidt's gubernatorial campaign has embraced anti-transgender hate speech, and the Gardner Edgerton School District has entertained a discriminatory policy. D.C. Hiegert, an American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas legal fellow focusing on LGBTQ issues, and Brenan Riffel, a Kansas Reflector columnist and University of Kansas graduate student, talk with opinion editor Clay Wiresto...

Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran says he has grown more knowledgeable during his quarter-century of service in the nation's capital — while his disdain for the game of politics has deepened. He faces a challenge from Democrat Mark Holland in November. Moran talks about expanding health care benefits for military veterans suffering from toxic exposure, the 988 suicide and crisis prevention hotline,...

Stephen Durrell, executive director of the Kansas Lottery, discusses the introduction of legal sports gambling in Kansas. Online and in-person sports wagering is available at casinos in Mulvane and Kansas City, Kansas, while online bets through apps are being handled at Pittsburg and Dodge City casinos.

Chris Mann, the Democratic nominee for Kansas attorney general, talks about his background as a police officer, crime victim, prosecutor and defense lawyer. He is running against Republican Kris Kobach.

Joe Spease, chief executive officer of WindSoHy in Overland Park, outlines the potential for using "green hydrogen" to fuel vehicles and generate electricity, significantly reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Mark Holland wants to change arc of Kansas political history with straight talk on health care, election fraud and abortion. The former mayor of the Unified Government of Kansas City, Kansas, faces incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran in November.

The Aug. 2 election was a political earthquake in Kansas. The headline was a 59-41% vote against a constitutional amendment that would have allowed the Legislature to ban abortion. But there were a host of other high-profile races as well. Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone leads a discussion with editor in chief Sherman Smith and senior reporter Tim Carpenter.

It's primary time again in Kansas, and the television ads are assaulting viewers with images, ideas and ideology of candidates. Bob Beatty, political science professor at Washburn University and the state's foremost chronicler of Kansas political ads, joins Tim Carpenter to march through some of the season's campaign ads.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is seeking a second term as the state's chief executive. The former state senator from Topeka is traveling the state to make her case for reelection. She joins Tim Carpenter on the Kansas Reflector podcast to discuss her work as governor the past four years and her approach to the fall campaign.

Kansas voters are already casting advanced ballots on a constitutional amendment that would remove the right to abortion access in Kansas. The Aug. 2 election will be the first time voters in any state make their voices heard on reproductive rights following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Kansas Reflector editor in chief Sherman Smith is joined by Kelly Sommers, director...