Audit takes aim at Kansas facilities for veterans

By   /  May 7, 2013  /  Featured, Kansas, Kansas Government, News  /  No Comments

ATTENTION: State auditors unearthed a number of troubling financial issues at two Kansas facilities designed to serve local veterans.

Lax financial controls, poor accountability and the potential for fraud landed two Kansas veterans facilities in state auditors’ crosshairs Tuesday morning.

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Kansans spent welfare cash on strippers, smokes and sour mash

By   /  April 9, 2013  /  Accountability, Featured, Gambling, Issues, Kansas, Kansas Government, News, Wasteful spending  /  5 Comments

EASY MONEY: Kansas welfare recipients withdrew more than $43,000 from ATMs at liquor stores, smoke shops, casinos and strip clubs from August to October 2012.

Some Kansas welfare recipients are living large on the public dime, spending your tax dollars at liquor stores, strip clubs, smoke shops and casinos.

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Kansas schools lobbyist brings pencil to a gunfight

By   /  February 6, 2013  /  Featured, Gun control, Kansas, Kansas Government, Lobbying, News, Taxes  /  1 Comment

TAKE AIM: Gun-rights proponents turned out in force to support SB 45, which they say would prevent the use of taxpayer dollars to reinforce anti-gun initiatives in Kansas. Many thought the initiative would receive greater focus on school lobbying, as nearly $900,000 in taxpayer dollars have been used to fund the latest education lawsuit against the state.

TOPEKA — What many expected to be a tussle over schools using taxpayer dollars to sue the state turned into a gun fight regarding threats to the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.

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Kansas schools use tax dollars to sue for more tax dollars

By   /  February 4, 2013  /  Education, Featured, Kansas, Kansas Government, Lobbying, News, Politics, Politics & Elections  /  2 Comments

HANDS OFF: State lawmakers have introduced a pair of bills that would ban the use of public tax dollars for funding lobbying or litigation against the state and local governments. One of the bills, SB 109, would make doing so a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by up to a month in jail and/or a $500 fine.

OSAWATOMIE — Kansas lawmakers are looking to pull the plug on a vicious loop of public spending, and they could use the threat of jail time to do it.

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Paperweight: Kansas Legislature stays low-tech in digital age

By   /  January 29, 2013  /  Featured, General Interest, Kansas, Kansas Government, Legislature, News  /  3 Comments

DROWNING IN PAPER: While state lawmakers have tried implementing paperless committees, many simply chose to print out materials back in their office after being given digital files.

OSAWATOMIE — The Kansas Capitol is a conduit for digital information, but some apparently missed the memo.

Must have gotten lost in all that paperwork.

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