Associated Press

The Kansas Senate will determine whether a plan for raising sales and cigarette taxes to erase a budget deficit will clear the Republican-dominated Legislature and go to GOP Gov. Sam Brownback.

Two bills contained parts of the tax plan. The measures together would raise $384 million during the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The Senate was expected to vote Friday on a bill increasing the state’s sales tax to 6.5 percent from 6.15 percent. The House approved it early Friday morning, 63-44.

The Senate approved the other part of the package Sunday. It is a bill raising the cigarette tax by 50 cents a pack to $1.29. The measure also includes a modest tax increase for business owners.

The House approved the bill early Friday, 63-45. But House GOP leaders used a procedural maneuver to block the bill from going to Brownback until they saw how the Senate voted on the other measure.

The state’s budget gap arose after the Republican-dominated Legislature slashed income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback’s urging to stimulate the economy.

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The Kansas House has approved the second part of plan for raising taxes to help erase a budget deficit.

The vote early Friday morning was 63-45. The measure before the House included a cigarette tax increase of 50 cents a pack to $1.29 and a modest increase in taxes for business owners.

The Senate approved the measure Sunday, but House Republican leaders were using a procedural maneuver to keep it from going to GOP Gov. Sam Brownback. They wanted to see how the Senate would vote on the first part of the tax package.

The House approved the first part, 63-44. It would raise the state’s sales tax to 6.5 percent from 6.15 percent.

The two bills together raise $384 million during the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The state’s budget gap arose after the Republican-dominated Legislature slashed income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at GOP Gov. Sam Brownback’s urging to stimulate the economy.

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1:50 a.m. (CDT)

The Kansas House has approved the first part of a new plan for raising sales and cigarette taxes to help erase a budget shortfall and avoid deep spending cuts.

The House voted 63-44 for a bill that increases the state’s sales tax to 6.5 percent from 6.15 percent. The measure goes next to the Senate.

The House immediately began debating a second bill that would increase the cigarette tax by 50 cents per pack to $1.29.

A similar plan that contained both tax increases failed by a wide margin in the House early Thursday. But Gov. Sam Brownback later publicly pleaded with GOP lawmakers to pass tax increases.

Republicans who drafted the latest plan anticipate that Brownback still would have to cut up to $50 million from a budget lawmakers already have approved. The Kansas Constitution requires a balanced budget.

WALNUT, Kan. (AP) — A Chanute man has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the death of a Washburn University professor who was killed while competing in a cycling race in Crawford County.

Kansas media outlets report the 37-year-old man was also charged Thursday with reckless driving, improper passing of a bicycle and driving on the left side in a no-passing zone. He has been released on a $75,000 bond.

Authorities say 60-year-old Glenda Taylor of Topeka died in the accident June 7 in rural Walnut when she was struck by the suspect’s pickup truck while she was warming up for the Kansas State Time Trial Championships.

Washburn University President Jerry Farley says Taylor was a Washburn faculty member for 27 years.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man has turned himself in to police after a shooting in Wichita that left a man critically injured and a dog dead.

Wichita media outlets report police responded to a disturbance outside a home around 6 p.m. on Thursday.

Sgt. Nichelle Woodrow said when officers arrived, a 41-year-old man was found with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.

According to Woodrow, a dog had been shot and killed.

Authorities say the suspect turned himself in to police a short time later.

GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) — Three grants from a federal fund and donations from Ducks Unlimited and its partners will pay for nearly $9 million in habitat protection and restoration projects in Kansas.

The Great Bend Tribune reports more than $2.9 million in funding to enhance 4,500 acres in central Kansas marshes will come from North American Wetlands Conservation Act grants. Ducks Unlimited and its partners are adding nearly $6 million to help pay for the project.

NAWCA has provided more than $1.7 million in grant funds for wetland protection efforts in Kansas, with Ducks Unlimited and its partners matching NAWCA’s contributions at least dollar-for-dollar and often far more.

The North American Wetlands Conservation Act of 1989 was passed, in part, to support activities under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.

LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — The American Medical Association has adopted policies against nonmedical vaccine refusals and for transgender people in the military.

The nation’s largest doctors’ group says parents should not be able to refuse to have their kids vaccinated for personal or religious reasons. That’s because of the health risks unvaccinated kids pose to others.

At its annual policymaking meeting in Chicago this week, the AMA said it would support efforts to end those exemptions in state immunization mandates.

The AMA also adopted a policy saying there’s no medically valid reason for the military’s ban on transgender service members. And it agreed to organize efforts to create guidelines for assessing whether older physicians remain competent to safely treat patients.

The group has considerable lobbying clout and its positions tend to influence policymakers.

On Tuesday, California lawmakers approved a bill aimed at raising school vaccination rates after five hours of highly emotional debate.

The Assembly Health Committee voted 12-6 in favor of the bill, which came in response to a measles outbreak at Disneyland in December that infected more than 100 people in the U.S. and Mexico.

TOWANDA – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 4 p.m. on Thursday in Butler County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2014 Ford Fusion driven by Sarah N. Swemke, 32, Potwin, was northbound on Northwest 20th and Diamond Road seven miles North of Towanda when

The vehicle crossed over the southbound lane, entered the ditch, struck the fence-line and rolled.

Swemke and a 1-year old child were transported to Wesley Medical Center.

Both were properly restrained at the time of the accident.

The Associated Press

TOPEKA -Officials in Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration say Kansas’ bond ratings would likely be downgraded if the Legislature does not balance the state’s budget with tax increases.

Secretary of Administration Jim Clark told a joint meeting of Republican legislators Thursday that rating agencies would likely act because of budget uncertainty.

Bond ratings determine how much the state must pay in interest on its debt.

The state has been working to issue $1 billion in bonds to add funds to its pension system and boost its earnings. Clark said a downgrade could increase the state’s interest costs by $50 million a year.

Legislators have passed a $15.4 billion budget, but it requires about $400 million in tax increases to balance.

The budget problems arose after lawmakers slashed income taxes at Brownback’s urging.