TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran is putting pressure on Amtrak to commit to the continued operation of the Southwest Chief passenger rail service that connects Chicago to Los Angeles with stops in Kansas.

Moran recently delayed confirming three nominees to Amtrak’s board of directors in an effort to push the national rail carrier to offer assurances that the line will operate for at least another year, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported.

Amtrak’s president, Richard Anderson, agreed to meet with Moran and other lawmakers about the rail service’s future later this month.

Amtrak officials considered suspending rail service from Dodge City to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and transitioning to buses last year. The idea stemmed from the cost of repairs needed along a portion of the route.

The Republican senator was behind a federal budget compromise approved by Congress in February that provides an additional $50 million to go toward maintenance and safety improvements of the Southwest Chief line. Discussions in Congress about extending funding are ongoing.

“As the divide between urban communities and rural communities in America continues to expand, passenger rail services, like the Southwest Chief, are necessary in connecting Kansans to the rest of the country,” Moran said. “I am continuing to seek assurances from Amtrak that it will uphold its commitment to repair, improve and continue the Southwest Chief rail line.”

Moran and a group of lawmakers also sent Amtrak officials a letter requesting information about the route. Last year’s ridership information hasn’t been made available yet.

More than 52,000 passengers boarded the Southwest Chief line in Kansas in 2017, which was an increase of 2,700 people from the previous year.
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By CORINNE BOYER, Kansas News Service

Long-running frustration about Amtrak’s willingness to keep a rail passenger line running through remote parts of the country has politicians threatening to block new directors to the agency.

A handful of U.S. senators demanded specifics by this week about how Amtrak plans to spend an added $50 million to keep the Southwest Chief line running from Chicago, through Kansas, to Los Angeles.

Hoping to force Amtrak to make long-term promises of keeping the Southwest Chief line, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas had already used the power each senator holds to put a legislative block on the appointment of three nominees waiting to join the passenger rail agency’s board of directors.

Amtrak still has not specified when it will answer the pending questions from the Senate. A spokeswoman from Moran’s office said Amtrak has made contact, but not with answers about how it plans to alter long-distance routes or how the rail service calculates what states must chip in to support service.

“(Moran) will maintain those holds (on the nominations until he gets) assurances from Amtrak that it will continue to fund the Southwest Chief and funds that rail service,” said Moran spokeswoman Morgan Said.

Moran and other senators have criticized Amtrak for proposals to replace train services with buses along some parts of the route.

Amtrak officials did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

In February, Congress gave $50 million for upkeep of the route to Amtrak to keep the line working through September. Last year, Amtrak proposed replacing service from Dodge City to Albuquerque with buses, but the federal budget prohibits the use of buses to replace long-distance train service along the route.

In early April, a group of 11 senators sent Amtrak a letter demanding more detail about its plans for the Southwest Chief and how, more broadly, it decides which long-distance routes are worth operating.

The Senate letter also addressed Amtrak’s claims that ridership is down. The most recent data provided by Amtrak says more than 52,000 passengers boarded the Southwest Chief line in Kansas in 2017, up 5.7 percent from 2016.

With 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. departures, Newton, the busiest station in the state, saw nearly 16,000 passengers in 2017. Erin McDaniel, communications director for the City of Newton, says the town supports the Southwest Chief and partners with other cities to fund it.

“We know many of our residents use it to get to Chicago as well as the Southwest,” McDaniel said.

Keeping the Southwest Chief running is important to Newton because preliminary efforts looking at establishing train service to connect Newton to the Heartland Flyer route, which runs from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth, Texas, are underway.

“There used to be a train route that went there years ago,” McDaniel said, “but if the Southwest Chief goes away, dreams of extending the Heartland Flyer would go away with it.”

Over the last year, Amtrak has removed ticket agents from many stations. But Assistant City Manager for Dodge City Melissa Mccoy said the city employs staff at its train depot.

“We have few options in terms of public transportation,” McCoy said. She said ridership jumps with tourists in the summer.

Without the Southwest Chief route, McCoy says some Dodge City residents wouldn’t be able to travel long distances.

“We have a lot of working class folks, and they have limited income,” she said. “Amtrak provides them a way to visit family and go on vacation and without that they might not have it all.”

An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed the reason a hold was placed on Amtrak directors’ appointments. U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran took that action to secure a pledge to keep the Southwest Chief line running.

Corinne Boyer is a reporter based in Garden City for the Kansas News Service. Follow her @Corinne_Boyer.

HUTCHINSON – A lightning strike damaged the main apron of the Hutchinson Airport Sunday evening.

Airport Manager Pieter Miller said he got the call from the flight control tower Sunday night.

“About 7:15 or so, I got a call from the control tower and they reported the main apron just east of the restaurant here and that it blew chunks of concrete in each direction,” Miller said.

Miller said lightning strikes happen at the airport on occasion, but the damage this strike caused was extreme.

“I wouldn’t say it happens quite often, although we have been hit by lightning lots of time out here over the years. This is the most damage that I’ve seen happen at one time,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of hits on runways and of course, all of our windsocks and things like that get hit. I’ve never actually seen it blow a 6-by-10-foot chunk up in the air.”

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The process of obtaining a new Real ID is creating headaches for some Kansas residents.

Vietnam War veteran Armando Fleming is among several Kansas residents who have left driver’s license offices empty-handed after learning that the documents they brought to verify their identity weren’t enough to get approved for a Real ID.

The credential will be required under federal law to board airplanes and enter some federal buildings beginning next year. Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005 as a security measure following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Many states have been waiting to come into compliance closer to the Oct. 1, 2020, deadline.

Fleming, a Wichita retiree, was initially denied a Real ID with the name he’s been using his entire life because it doesn’t match the name on his birth certificate, the Wichita Eagle reported.

“I pulled out military records, discharge records, my awards . and I took them down (to the DMV) and the guy said, nope, it won’t satisfy the requirements” he said. “Needless to say, I started to get a little upset because I spent 15 years in the Army and fought for my country and got wounded for my country. I didn’t think I needed to prove who I was.”

The veteran’s documents listed Fleming as his last name, but they conflicted with his birth certificate.

Fleming’s maternal grandmother had filled out his birth certificate with his mother’s last name, Robinson. But he ended up using his father’s last name, Fleming, and didn’t even know about the issue until years later.

To obtain a Real ID, residents must present proof of their current legal name with a birth certificate or passport, as well as documents proving a social security number and residence. Individuals whose names don’t match their birth certificates or passports have to show additional documentation that traces their name changes, such as marriage, divorce or adoption records.

Fleming had to go to court and spend $204 to legally change his name so that he could get a Real ID with the name he’s been called for 74 years.

The Kansas Department of Revenue has acknowledged that some people are seeking legal name changes to obtain a Real ID that matches the rest of their personal, military, school and financial documents.

Kent Selk, the department’s driver services manager, said it’s a problem that mostly affects older residents.

“The state’s just upholding the federal law,” Selk said. “We’re following all of the guidelines from the federal government that says this is what you have to do to issue this credential.”

It’s unclear how many people across Kansas have changed their name to obtain a Real ID, or how many have decided not to apply for one because of the trouble or cost of getting a legal name change.

According to the department, more than 40% of Kansas’ 2 million licensed drivers have a Real ID.

By STEPHEN KORANDA
Kansas News Service

In the waning days of the 2019 session, the conservative Republicans controlling the Kansas Legislature made one thing clear to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and her allies: They were ready for a fight against Medicaid expansion.

The issue commanded the four-month session, which ended in the wee hours Sunday. The session was the first with the new Democratic governor in office, which gave people who wanted to expand health coverage for thousands of low-income Kansans the energy to push hard in the final days. Their efforts ultimately failed.

Conservative leaders in the House convinced enough Republican moderates to fold to break a logjam over expansion and approve a budget that boosts funding for roads, prisons, and education.

“Our ultimate goal was to make sure that we funded core government and that our schools were funded,” Republican House Speaker Ron Ryckman said.

Everyone involved agreed this wasn’t the last word on Medicaid expansion. House Democratic Leader Tom Sawyer said “we gave it our best fight, and we’re going to keep fighting.” Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, who refused to debate it this year, promised to prepare a “much more robust” bill before the 2020 legislative session starts in January.

But that’s all in the future.

While Medicaid expansion stalled, other initiatives advanced and faltered in 2019.

Increased school funding, yet again.

Lawmakers handed Gov. Laura Kelly a victory by approving her K-12 education proposal with a bipartisan majority.

Kelly based her plan on calculations from the Kansas Department of Education, adding about $90 million per year to account for inflation. The Kansas Supreme Court must sign off; if they do, it will end a long-running lawsuit over education spending.

But the plaintiffs in the Gannon case say the state got the math wrong, and that the Legislature will have to put in more still to make school funding adequate. Oral arguments are on May 9.

Gave businesses and itemizers a tax break.

In late March, Kelly quashed tax-relief legislation that was crafted in response to changes at the federal level. Lawmakers successfully tried again at the end of the session, passing a more modest bill.

It will save Kansas residents used to itemizing from paying more in state taxes after changes to the federal tax code. And it will exempt corporations’ overseas income from state taxes.

That’s if the governor doesn’t veto this bill too. She’s called the measure hasty and wants to instead study the Kansas tax code over the coming year.

Lawmakers tried to make it more palatable by including provisions to cut the sales tax on food, which Kansas taxes more than almost any other state. Kansas would collect sales taxes from more online retailers to make up for it.

Let the state Farm Bureau market health coverage.

Critics said the group shouldn’t be allowed to sidestep insurance regulations, especially when it comes to guaranteeing coverage for pre-existing conditions. But the farm bureau argued the flexibility will create new, cheaper health plans that their members could afford.

The governor expressed reservations, but let the bill become law without her signature, in part to encourage a compromise on Medicaid expansion.

Approved more money for prisons, with a twist.

Kelly offered a last-minute budget amendment to boost corrections spending by about $30 million. The administration is hoping that raising officers’ pay and moving some inmates to county jails and private prisons will ease the pressure on the state prison system.

Lawmakers ultimately included more than $25 million, but there’s a catch: the money’s being routed through the state Finance Council. It’s made up of the governor and leaders of both parties, who all will decide on actually doling out the funding.

Took baby steps toward fixing the child welfare system.

The across-the-board consensus to start off the session was that children dying on the state’s watch and kids sleeping in offices of overwhelmed foster care contractors constituted an emergency.

Lawmakers agreed to add staff for the Department for Children and Families to lighten the load, including more child abuse investigators. They also agreed to funding programs that will allow the state to get federal money to help struggling families stay together.

But most recommendations of the state’s child welfare system task force remained on the shelf, things like improving foster home recruitment and strengthening safety-net programs like Medicaid. And lawmakers cut support for child welfare oversight from the final budget.

Restored some funding for state colleges and universities.

Kelly wanted $8.9 million to fully restore what lawmakers had cut during the state’s lean financial years.

Lawmakers agreed and added more, boosting spending on colleges and universities by almost $16 million, plus about $4 million in additional funding targeted at specific programs, including a technical education initiative.

Overall, it’s still less than the $50 million the Board of Regents had requested, but the regents said they were thankful for what they got.

Got some highway projects rolling again.

Lawmakers routed extra money to speed up projects in the 10-year transportation plan, T-WORKS, that had been delayed due to the post-2012 tax-cut budget crunch.

A task force recommended finishing the delayed highway projects, and lawmakers agreed to pursue that before working a on a new long-term transportation plan.

Made it easier to vote, and get your ballot counted.

One provision in a package of updates to voting rules will allow counties to let voters go to any polling place on Election Day. But it’ll be up to those local election officials whether to make open polling available.

Another piece of the legislation allows voters to fix problems with the signature on their mail-in ballot. In some cases, ballots have been thrown out because county officials said the signature didn’t closely match an example on file. The new law will require county officials to try to contact voters and let them correct their ballot before all the votes are tallied.

The Legislature did not, however, revoke the Kansas secretary of state’s authority to prosecute election crimes. The move had broad support, and the endorsement of current Secretary of State Scott Schwab, but lawmakers ran out of time.

Allowed medical use of CBD oil containing some THC.

THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana still isn’t legal in Kansas. But lawmakers made allowances for having CBD oil with THC in it for medicinal purposes.

Patients and caregivers who have a doctor’s note will be protected against prosecution and child welfare proceedings. Republican Rep. Eric Smith, a sheriff’s deputy, said such a letter won’t necessarily protect against being arrested for possessing CBD oil containing THC.

Amend the state constitution to ban abortion.

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled last month that the state constitution guarantees a right to abortion. Abortion opponents say that could knock down many of the restrictions that have been added to state law in recent years.

The court’s long-awaited decision amplified calls for a constitutional amendment, which would need two-thirds support in the Legislature to get on the ballot for a public vote. Abortion opponents are waiting until 2020 to make their push for that.

Legalize sports betting.

It has bipartisan support, but legalizing betting on sports turned out not to be a slam dunk. While eight states already have done it and two others look to be in line, Kansas lawmakers got hung up on who should run gambling, how much to tax betting and other nitty-gritty details. The issue will likely come back in the 2020 session.

Refinance the state pension program.

Kelly wanted to stretch out repayment of state pension debt to free up money for other priorities, like highways and Medicaid expansion. But the proposed refinancing might have increased overall costs by $7 billion. Lawmakers scoffed and chose not to pursue it. Still, the reamortization idea could rerturn in the coming years.

Expand Medicaid.

Democrats and moderate Republicans maneuvered to get Medicaid expansion passed in the House in March. With the goal of inducing a debate on expansion in the Senate, the coalition blocked the budget twice as the session wound down.

Despite the bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate, and popular support, Republican leaders held off the last-ditch efforts.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda.