WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police say a 26-year-old man has been killed in a drive-by shooting in Wichita.

Patrol North Capt. Brian White said that a shooting was reported around 11:45 a.m. Wednesday. White said that a man, who has not been identified, was shot several times as he stood in the fenced yard of a house.

The man was transported in critical condition to a hospital, where he later died.

Lt. Jeff Gilmore, head of the gang unit, said the victim appears to be a gang member and that the shooting is gang-related.

An investigation is ongoing.

By ANDY MARSO
House members were denied a vote on Medicaid expansion on procedural grounds in a floor debate Wednesday that mirrored one the Senate had a day earlier.

Rep. Jim Ward, a Democrat from Wichita, tried to attach the amendment to enact expansion during the beginning of an hours-long debate on the state budget.

“This is vital to the future of Kansas,” Ward said, adding that expanding Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act would extend coverage to about 150,000 low-income Kansans and draw federal funds to help struggling hospitals.

He was stymied by a House rule that requires offsetting spending cuts for any amendments that add costs to the budget.

Ward disagreed strongly when the rule was invoked. Under the ACA, Medicaid expansion is fully federally funded this year, but the states must kick in 5 percent next year.

Rep. Ron Ryckman Jr., a Republican from Olathe who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said putting that 5 percent requirement on the state would violate the budget neutrality rule, known as pay-as-you-go or “pay-go.”

“There’s not a question that it spends more money,” Ryckman said, defending the rules committee’s decision to disallow Ward’s amendment. “Thus it violates pay-go.”

Ward took the rare step of challenging the rules committee. He said that his amendment required the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to fund the 5 percent out of its own budget, which would see savings in substance abuse and mental health treatment due to expansion.

Ward said the rules committee was trying to avoid a Medicaid expansion vote.

“This is wrong,” Ward said. “To use the rules, to abuse the rules this way.”

The House overruled him on an 85-37 vote.

A day earlier a senator at the opposite end of the political spectrum had a nearly identical experience.

During a floor debate of a Medicaid drug bill, Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook attempted to introduce a Medicaid expansion amendment.

Pilcher-Cook, a Shawnee Republican, is an outspoken opponent of Medicaid expansion and the ACA, which is commonly called Obamacare. She told her colleagues she was bringing the amendment so it could be voted down to “send a message to the House” and deter House members from voting for their own Medicaid expansion bill.

“An expansion of Medicaid would increase the cost of health care for Kansas citizens,” Pilcher-Cook said, adding that the expansion provides “perverse incentives” to cut traditional Medicaid programs in lean state budget years because the federal match for those programs is lower.

But a Senate rules committee determined that Pilcher-Cook’s amendment was not germane because it significantly changed the scope of the bill. Pilcher-Cook challenged her chamber’s ruling as well, and the ensuing debate exposed rifts within the Senate Republican caucus.

Sen. Forrest Knox, a Republican from Altoona, and others decried the rules decision. But the Senate upheld it with a 22-15 vote that Senate President Susan Wagle stressed was about rules, not Medicaid expansion itself.

Wagle suggested Pilcher-Cook could schedule a hearing on the Medicaid expansion bill in her committee.

“I know that many of you want a chance to vote against Medicaid expansion in an election year,” Wagle said, “and that could still happen.”

Andy Marso is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @andymarso

HUTCHINSON -A Kansas woman arrested last week on a charge of aggravated indecent liberties with a child didn’t appear in court Wednesday as expected.

Attorney Stan Juhnke has filed his appearance as counsel for Britney Becker, 20, who is accused of lewd fondling or touching of a 13-year-old boy.

The court waived the reading of the formal charge and the case will now be scheduled as part of a waiver-status docket.

The suspect knew the victim, was friends with the family and that the encounters occurred twice in early November of last year, according to Hutchinson Police Detective Scott Carlton.

The boy apparently told his parents about the touching and they in turn called police, leading to the arrest.

Becker remains free on bond.

RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has unanimously approved legislation that aims to derail North Korea’s drive for nuclear weapons by hitting Pyongyang with more stringent sanctions.

Republicans and Democrats set aside their partisan differences Wednesday and voted 96-0 to pass the bill.

The measure targets North Korea’s ability to finance the development of miniaturized nuclear warheads and the long-range missiles required to deliver them.

The legislation also authorizes $50 million over the next five years to transmit radio broadcasts into North Korea, purchase communications equipment and support humanitarian assistance programs.

The legislation comes after Pyongyang’s recent launch of a satellite and technical advances that U.S. intelligence agencies said the reclusive Asian nation is making in its nuclear weapons program.

The House passed a similar North Korean sanctions bill last month.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The group Mothers Against Drunk Driving released its first report on the number of times drunken drivers are stopped from using their vehicles by ignition interlock devices in all 50 states. See the report here.

MADD is releasing the report in a Maryland where lawmakers are pushing to require all drunken drivers with blood alcohol content of .08 or greater to have the ignition interlock devices. Now, state law requires them for those with a BAC of 0.15, nearly twice the legal limit for driving.

The group also is focusing on Maryland because of the December death of Officer Noah Leotta. He was killed while working on a driving-under-the-influence assignment. The Maryland measure is being called “Noah’s Law” in honor of the officer.

MARION COUNTY – First responders rescued two people in Kayaks at the Marion Reservoir on windy Sunday evening.

Kansas Game Warden Cody Morris, deputies from Marion County Sheriff’s Office and members of the Marion Reservoir U.S. Army Corp of Engineers worked to locate and rescue the pair identified as in their late teens or early twenties.

“They were just out to enjoy a day on the lake and became stranded,” said Morris. “I’m not sure where they were from.”

The National Weather reported sustained northwest winds over 20 miles-per-hour and gusts over 40 miles-per-hour on Sunday.

One individual was found on an island while the other got swept away due to the high winds.

He was ultimately found cold but unharmed.

Morris has been working the Marion County area for about 18-months.

“This is the first water rescue I’ve been on but I know wardens help with them here and on other lakes across the state. We were glad to help and pleased with the outcome.”

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas House has approved a bill designed to address sexting among middle and high school students.

The chamber’s 123-0 vote on Wednesday sends the measure to the Senate. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the bill is focused on 12- to 18-year-olds accused of transmitting images of a nude child.

Under existing state law, prosecutors were restricted to filing a felony that carries a sentence of up to 11 years in prison and lifetime registration as a sex offender.

The bill establishes three options for handling so-called “sexting” cases based on simple possession of the image, transmission of an image and aggravated transmission of the image.

Republican Rep. Blaine Finch, of Ottawa, says moderated sanctions provide an opportunity for counseling or mental health treatment outside of prison.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the Kansas House’s debate on budget legislation (all times local):

4:35 p.m.

A budget-balancing plan given first-round approval by the Kansas House still punishes the state’s largest university for using out-of-state bonds to finance construction projects on campus.

The House advanced the budget bill Wednesday on a voice vote to set up final action Thursday. Members narrowed a provision restricting spending at the University of Kansas so that it did not apply to its Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas.

But there was no attempt during a five-hour debate to remove the remaining restrictions. Democratic Rep. John Wilson of Lawrence said there’s probably a better strategy for dealing with the issue.

Republican legislators are upset that a nonprofit corporation formed by the university had a Wisconsin agency issue $327 million in bonds for campus construction projects without legislative approval.

———-
4:10

The Kansas House has given first-round approval to a bill that eliminates a projected deficit of nearly $200 million in state’s next budget.

The chamber’s voice vote Wednesday advanced the measure to a final vote Thursday.

The bill makes dozens of changes in the $16.1 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. It contains proposals from Republican Gov. Sam Brownback to close the gap by juggling funds and capturing unanticipated savings.

The House added extra funds for the state’s two mental hospitals and pay raises for uniformed corrections officers at state prisons.

Republican supporters said the bill addresses essential budget needs.

But Democrats and some GOP lawmakers complained the bill represented poor fiscal management following massive personal income tax cuts enacted at Brownback’s urging in 2012 and 2013.

___

2:10 p.m.

The Kansas House has approved a proposal to make it harder for the state to sell or turn over the operation of its two mental hospitals to private companies.

The House voted 68-51 on Wednesday for an amendment to budget legislation from Democratic Rep. Jim Ward of Wichita. It says the state couldn’t spend any money on privatizing the hospitals in Larned and Osawatomie unless the Legislature approved the idea first.

A critical survey in November prompted the federal government to decertify the Osawatomie hospital about 45 miles southwest of the Kansas City area. The state is losing between $500,000 and $1 million a month in federal funds.

The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services has said privatizing the hospital is an option, but area legislators oppose the idea.

——-

1 p.m.

Kansas House members want to make sure that a measure punishing the University of Kansas for using out of state bonds to finance campus construction projects doesn’t hurt its Medical Center in Kansas City.

The House approved an amendment to a budget bill Wednesday on a voice vote to narrow the scope of a provision restricting spending at the University of Kansas.

Top Republicans in the GOP-dominated Legislature are upset with the university over how it is financing a development project that includes a new science lab, housing for 1,200 students, a new student union building and new power plant.

The university formed a nonprofit corporation that then went to Wisconsin’s Public Finance Authority to issue $327 million in bonds, avoiding Kansas legislative approval.

___

12:35 p.m.

Republicans have blocked a debate in the Kansas House on expanding the state’s Medicaid program as encouraged by the federal health care overhaul.

The vote Wednesday in the GOP-dominated chamber was 85-37 against debating a proposal from Democratic Rep. Jim Ward of Wichita to expand Medicaid for three years. The Kansas Medicaid program provides coverage for 362,000 poor and disabled Kansans, and Ward’s proposal would have provided coverage for another 160,000 people.

The 2010 federal health care law championed by Democratic President Barack Obama encouraged states to expand their Medicaid programs by promising that the federal government would pick up almost all of the costs.

But Republican legislative leaders in Kansas opposed the health care overhaul and believe a Medicaid expansion would be more costly to the state than expected.

——–

11:55 a.m.

Kansas House members have voted to limit the governor’s authority to temporarily short the state’s contributions to public pensions to cover gaps in the state budget.

The House took up a bill Wednesday that would eliminate a projected deficit of nearly $200 million in the state’s $16.1 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The bill allows the governor to act before July 1 to reduce the state’s contributions to the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System to keep the budget balanced without cutting other spending.

But the House voted 89-34 to add a requirement that any such reduction be paid back by Sept. 30, with 8 percent interest. Also, the governor could not reduce or delay contributions to KPERS during the next fiscal year.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas House is preparing to debate a bill that balances the next state budget while also giving corrections officers in state prisons a pay raise.

The measure on the House’s agenda Wednesday eliminates a projected deficit of nearly $200 million in the $16.1 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The bill contains many of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposals to eliminate the budget gap by shuffling state funds and capturing unanticipated savings.

But it also breaks with Brownback’s proposals to spend $2.4 million to give uniformed officers at state prisons a 2.5 percent pay raise. It contains an additional $3 million for the state’s two mental hospitals to help them with staffing and other issues.

The Senate expects to debate its own budget-balancing plan Thursday.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A man and woman have been found dead inside a Kansas City, Kansas, home.

Police said in a news release that the discovery was made Tuesday night when officers responded to the home. The victims were identified as 25-year-old Leslie Jacobson and 31-year-old Micky Burke, both of Kansas City, Kansas. The release says it appeared they had been shot.

The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information is urged to come forward.

SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Salina are investigating an incident at Lakewood Middle School involving fireworks.

Just after 12:30p.m. on Monday police were called to the school, 1135 E. Lakewood Circle, after a student reported seeing someone they didn’t recognize place something above the ceiling tile in the 8th grade boy’s bathroom, according to police.

School Staff found four packages of firecrackers above the ceiling tile at about 9:20 a.m. and the incident was reported to police later in the day.

Authorities have not identified who was responsible.

By Miranda Davis
KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA – Kansans could be driving a lot faster if a bill to increase the state’s speed limit to 80 mph wins legislative approval.
The House Transportation Committee heard testimony Tuesday on House Bill 2450, which would raise the speed limit on some multilane Kansas highways.

Rep. John Bradford, R-Lansing, spoke in favor of the bill, saying he had personal experience driving around some parts of the country this summer, and said he enjoyed the higher speed limits when he was traveling.

Bradford said the increased speed limit would help with safety, and that many people are already driving faster than 80 mph.

“If you’re out on the highway, you’ll quickly see there are many drivers already driving 80, 85, 90 and some even faster,” Bradford said.

But not everyone who testified agreed higher speed limits are a good idea.

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) and the Kansas Highway Patrol both provided written testimony opposing the bill. Both groups expressed concerns about highway safety if the speed limit were to increase.

KDOT said that vehicle crashes have risen since the state increased the speed limit from 70 to 75 mph in 2011. KDOT said that fatalities increased about 22 percent on the 75-mph highways, and fatalities decreased about 5 percent on the rest of the highway system. KDOT plans to conduct additional research with Kansas State University.

A key concern is that the increase to 80 mph will create a de facto 90 mph speed limit. The bill says that if someone is pulled over and is going less than 10 miles over the speed limit, the violation will not be reported to the Division of Motor Vehicles or considered a moving violation.

The bill also prevents insurance companies from changing or canceling policies if a driver is ticketed for going 10 miles over the limit.

The 10-mph buffer is in effect for current speed limits. Tom Whitaker, executive director of the Kansas Motor Carriers Association, said the organization does not support the buffer, and he proposed removing the provision if the bill moves forward.

“We support a uniform speed limit but strict enforcement of that speed limit,” Whitaker said.

HB 2450 would only affect separated multilane highways designated by the Transportation Secretary.

Changing signs on the applicable highways would cost about $20,000 and could be handled within the current KDOT budget, according to the fiscal note on the bill.

Edited by Leah Sitz