TOPEKA —  Governor Laura Kelly announced the Governor’s Council on Medicaid Expansion Wednesday.

This Council of legislators, policy experts, advocates, stakeholders and community leaders will spearhead the Medicaid expansion efforts in the 2020 legislative session.

The members of the Council and their current positions are listed below:

Tom Bell – President and CEO, Kansas Hospital Association

Sen. Ed Berger – State Senator, District 34

Rep. Susan Concannon – State Representative, District 107

Denise Cyzman – CEO, Community Care Network of Kansas

Ximena Garcia M.D., Community Health Advocate

Cathy Harding – President and CEO, Wyandotte Health Foundation

Rep. Don Hineman – State Representative, District 118

April Holman – Executive Director, Alliance for a Healthy Kansas

Dave Kerr, former president of the Kansas Senate

Kyle Kessler – Executive Director, Association of Community Mental Health Centers

Sen. Carolyn McGinn – State Senator, District 31

Rep. Monica Murnan – State Representative, District 3

Dr. Lee Norman – Secretary, Kansas Department of Health and Environment

David K. Livingston – CEO, Aetna Better Health of Kansas

Sen. Pat Pettey – State Senator, District 6

Rep. Jason Probst – State Representative, District 102

Jerry Slaughter – Interim Executive Director, Kansas Medical Society

Kevin Sparks – CEO, United Health Community Plan for Kansas

Michael Stephens – President and CEO, Sunflower Health Plan

Sen. Gene Suellentrop – State Senator, District 27

Suzanne Wikle – Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Law and Social Policy

Rep. Kathy Wolfe Moore – State Representative, District 36

The Governor delivered the following remarks Wednesday on Medicaid expansion:

It’s hard to believe, but in just four months, another legislative session will be upon us. Every legislative session offers its own unique set of challenges and opportunities, and 2020 will be no different.

For the last several months I’ve been working with my administration to begin planning for the year ahead.

Many of those plans are still in development, but one piece of my 2020 agenda is a certainty:

I am going to do everything in my power to ensure this will be the year we will finally expand Medicaid in Kansas.

When I traveled around the state last fall, Kansans made it clear that this is a high priority. They want as many Kansans as possible to have access to affordable, high-quality health care. They want our hospitals supported, and they want the jobs Medicaid expansion will bring.

Medicaid expansion isn’t just a matter of smart health care policy. It is smart fiscal policy. It is smart economic policy. It is smart public policy.

I’ve stood at this podium many times over the last year explaining why Medicaid expansion makes sense for Kansas. I won’t repeat those arguments again today.

Instead, I’m here to talk about how we can finally bring this over the finish line.

As you all are aware, I put forward a proposal to expand Medicaid on Kansas Day last year. I continue to believe that proposal was the simplest, most commonsense path forward – a plan that includes measures that promote self-sufficiency, a plan that includes safeguards to protect against exorbitant spending, and a plan that can be implemented effectively without undue costs or administrative burden.

The House also took a position and passed a bill very similar to the one I offered, with very few amendments.

And this fall, the Senate will finally begin its work on the interim committee to start drafting its own plan.

This is finally a step in the right direction.

But one thing concerns me as this work gets underway.

Although Medicaid expansion has been at the top of voters’ minds for several years, the issue has received no formal committee review or vetting process in well over two years. Much has changed in that time, both federally and at the state level.

For starters, we have a new President and, therefore, a new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator. The CMS administrator gets the final say on how states can amend their Medicaid systems.

Obviously, we have a new governor, in addition to many recently-elected legislators who are diving into this issue for the first time. Several additional states have implemented expansion, with varying degrees of success, and an abundance of new data have been collected.

The landscape has undeniably shifted. And the one benefit Kansas can leverage as a late-expansion state is the lessons learned from those who went before us. It is critical that we do this.

To that end, today I will sign Executive Order 19-10, creating the Governor’s Council on Medicaid Expansion.

The Council will bring together both new and veteran voices on Medicaid expansion and will be charged with supporting legislative efforts to find the best version of Medicaid expansion for Kansas.

This Council will not develop or endorse new legislation. Rather, I’ve asked them to study the costs and benefits associated with expansion models in other states.

It will be facilitated by a national, nonpartisan policy expert from the National Governors Association, and they will meet three times before the end of the year to explore these issues.

By studying other state models for expansion, I am hoping we can avoid repeating some of the expensive, unnecessary mistakes made in other states.

While I hope the Council will be able to identify 3 to 5 guideposts or goals for responsible expansion in Kansas, it will not develop new legislation.

This Council will serve solely as an educational, transparent forum for public discussion, in a broader setting than can be achieved in an interim committee.

These discussions will be an important supplement to legislative work that is already underway. The experiences of the 36 other states that already moved forward with expansion varied widely depending on what shape each state plan took – particularly in the early phases of implementation.

That’s why this Council is necessary.

We know not all models for expansion are created equal. We must carefully study other state approaches and outcomes so that our final Kansas plan balances our unique needs with evidence-based best practices.

I want to thank every legislator, policy expert, advocate and community leader who has accepted our invitation. We want to hear everyone’s voice.

We want a thorough, honest discussion.

I am deeply committed to working with the Legislature to find a bipartisan solution. I want these Council members to ask the hard questions … to come up with a plan that works for all Kansans.

It’s the only way to get things done, and done right.

Let’s work together to figure out how we can best serve Kansans, get them the access they need to affordable health care, and bring Kansas dollars back to Kansas.

I look forward to collaborating with this Council and to, finally, bring Medicaid expansion to Kansas.

DECATUR COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug charges after a traffic stop.

On Wednesday, the Decatur County Sheriff’s office reported  they received information about a shipment of marijuana coming to a residence on west Sappa Street in the city limits of Oberlin, according to a social media report.

Surveillance was conducted over a 48 hour period on the residence. A search warrant was obtained and signed. The sheriffs office then conducted a controlled buy from the residence of 14 grams of marijuana and then  conducted a felony car stop on the property owner’s car after leaving the residence.

Deputies recovered another 12 grams of marijuana  during the search of the vehicle.
Upon conducting the search of the residence, deputies seized a large amount of drug paraphernalia, a pound and a half of marijuana and a scale used in the transactions.

Deputies arrested the owner of the residence. Charges are pending upon completion of the investigation, according to the sheriff’s department.

SEDGWICK COUNTY  — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary and have two suspects in custody.

Just before 6:30p.m. Tuesday, police responded to strong arm robbery call at the US Gas in the 2600 Block of North Hillside in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

At the scene, police found a 49-year-old employee with minor injuries from the robbery.

Investigators have learned that at 5:45p.m., a 15 and a 16-year-old came to the store and purchased drinks.  Employees asked the boys to leave because they were loitering and didn’t have guardians with them, according to Davidson.

The teens later returned to the store and battered the employee and damaged property in the store.

Officers responded and searched the area and located the teens in Grove Park and took them into custody, according to Davidson.

Police later learned the boys had been involved in a burglary at 1:30a.m. Tuesday at a market in the 2400 Block of South Seneca. Through that investigation, police learned that a third teen was involved in the earlier burglary. They located him and made an arrest, according to Davidson.

One 16-year-old boy is being held in juvenile detention on requested charges of aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, destruction of property and burglary. The 15-year-old is in juvenile detention on requested charges of aggravated robbery, destruction of property, shoplifting and burglary.  The third 16-year-old was arrested on requested charges of burglary.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that a Kansas cattle farmer did not defame a Branson attraction by leaving a three-star TripAdvisor review.

Owners of Bigfoot on the Strip sued Randy Winchester and his daughter in June 2018, claiming the review was libelous and defamatory.

Winchester had written that he was disappointed by a tour of Bigfoot Farms and its cattle. Owners of the attraction contended some of the details in Winchester’s review were inaccurate.

Winchester said after tour owner’s contacted him to complain, he changed it to a one-star review.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Beth Phillips ruled late last month that Winchester’s statements were factually correct and/or didn’t diminish the company’s reputation in the community.

An attorney representing Bigfoot’s owners did not return a call seeking comment.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Cerner Corp. will lay off 255 workers as part of a wider effort to cut costs.

Cerner officials said the layoffs will occur in the Kansas City area and across the country. The affected employees were told Wednesday that their last official day will be Nov. 5.

The health care technologies company is Kansas City’s largest employer, with about 14,000 workers in the area. It has a global workforce of about 30,000.

Cerner is currently considering ways to diversify and is undergoing a review of its operations. CFO Marc Naughton said the company wants to cut more than $200 million in expenses.

The company continues to grow. Cerner has already hired several thousand workers this year and plans to hire hundreds this year.

BROWN COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 10a.m. Wednesday in Brown County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Chevy Suburban driven by Michael P. McMillan, 70, Fairview, Kansas, was  eastbound on U.S. 36 at U.S. 75.

The SUV left the roadway to the south and struck the U.S. 75 bridge pillar.

McMillan was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Chapel Oaks in Hiawatha. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ Republican state treasurer on Wednesday abandoned a campaign for an open Senate seat to challenge a GOP freshman congressman that he describes as vulnerable to Democratic defeat.

Treasurer Jake LaTurner’s announcement came little more than a week after former GOP Gov. Jeff Colyer publicly called on him to run for the 2nd District seat in eastern Kansas that Rep. Steve Watkins narrowly won last year. Watkins has faced internet rumors and speculation that he would resign but has tweeted that he won’t step down.

Republicans in Kansas’ Second Congressional District need a candidate that can win the general election in 2020.

I call on #SEK native @JakeLaTurner to seek the Republican nomination for the 2nd Congressional District and Republicans across Kansas to unite behind his campaign. pic.twitter.com/cPhsZfSAMB

— Dr. Jeff Colyer (@DrJeffColyer) August 27, 2019

LaTurner said in an Associated Press interview before his announcement that the speculation played no role in his decision and that he takes Watkins at his word that he will not resign. Instead, LaTurner said he worries that if Watkins is the GOP nominee, Democrats will pick up the seat, as they nearly did in 2018.

“It should not be a seat that is in play,” LaTurner said. “It was in play, big-time, this last election, and it’s going to be in play again if he’s the nominee for the party.”

Watkins, a former Army officer and military contractor, won by less than a percentage point as a political unknown who emerged from a crowded GOP primary. President Donald Trump carried the district easily in 2016, and both LaTurner and Colyer have cited the difference between Trump’s showing and Watkins’ result two years later.

Republican Rep. Lynn Jenkins held the seat for a decade after ousting a one-term Democratic incumbent in 2008, and averaged nearly 60 percent of the vote in four races for re-election. Before that, the seat had been held by Republicans for 12 years. In the 2018 general election, Watkins faced Democrat Paul Davis, a former legislative leader with a statewide profile, because he nearly won the 2014 governor’s race.

Watkins’ campaign has suggested on Twitter that defeating Davis in a nationally targeted race shows that the 42-year-old congressman is a strong candidate for re-election.

The race will be “a life of service versus a life of self-service,” Watkins spokesman Bryan Piligra said in a statement Wednesday.

“Jake LaTurner’s entire career has been political ladder-climbing — and that climb ends in August,” Piligra said, referencing the primary next year.

Local GOP leaders expressed misgivings about Watkins ahead of the 2018 primary, though many said he later won them over after capturing the nomination with less than 27 percent of the vote. Watkins’ campaign said he has voted with Trump some 93 percent of the time.

But University of Kansas political scientist Patrick Miller said last year’s election results told some Republicans that Watkins is “someone you can take down.”

“The blood has been in the water,” Miller said. “Watkins was ripe for a primary challenger to emerge even before any of these rumors started swirling.”

The only Democrat running so far is Abbie Hodgson, a 37-year-old former speechwriter for Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who later worked for the Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington.

LaTurner, 31, is a former Jenkins staffer who was elected to the Kansas Senate in 2012. He served there until being appointed to fill a vacancy in the treasurer’s office in 2017, and won a full, four-year term as treasurer last year. LaTurner launched his U.S. Senate campaign only days after four-term GOP Sen. Pat Roberts announced in January that he wasn’t seeking re-election in 2020.

Colyer also urged LaTurner to switch races because the field in the U.S. Senate contest already included six candidates, including Kris Kobach, nationally known for advocating tough immigration policies. Many Republicans fear Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state, will win the nomination, alienate moderates and put a normally safe GOP seat at risk.

GOP Rep. Roger Marshall of western Kansas has said he will discuss his plans during an event Saturday at the Kansas State Fair, and he’s expected to jump into the Senate race.

Kobach lost the governor’s race last year to Democrat Laura Kelly after narrowly defeating Colyer in the GOP primary. Kobach’s critics within the GOP argue that he benefits from a crowded field and fractured vote.

LaTurner said such concerns were not a factor in his decision. He said he focused on how Watkins could “turn the (House) seat over to a liberal Democrat.”

ATCHISON, Kan. —Ocean explorer and Kansas native Dr. Robert Ballard, known for his work to find the wreckage of the Titanic, recently returned from his expedition to find Amelia Earhart’s plane in the South Pacific.

Ballard, 77,  who was born in Wichita, spoke to students and others at Atchison High School Tuesday about his life and amazing work.

Kansas Senator Jerry Moran hosted the event. 

Watch a replay of the lecture and discussion with the team of scientists aboard Ballard’s ship in the ocean.