“He’s one of the smartest guys in this Legislature,” said Rep. John Carmichael, a liberal Wichita Democrat. “He’s a fair man.”
Read the full story at http://cjonline.com/news/local/2017-01-16/new-kansas-house-speaker-getting-good-marks-loose-style
Author: Staff
From the Wichita Eagle: Kansas House passes bill fixing election law to fill Pompeo’s seat
The bill passed after about 20 minutes of debate and only one amendment to the version that passed out of the Elections Committee.
Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, offered that amendment to clarify that independent candidates would have to wait for the governor to set the election before they begin collecting their signatures.
Carmichael said he only wanted to clarify the bill, not delay it.
“This is must-pass legislation in my view,” he said.
Read the full story at http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article126143674.html
From the Kansas City Star: Lawmakers want Brownback to address budget gap in speech
Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, predicted Brownback will skirt the issue in his speech.
“I don’t have any faith whatsoever that the governor will offer any meaningful reforms or changes,” he said. “The governor has a record of making appeals to folks’ emotions rather than dealing with reality in his State of the State addresses, and I have no reason to expect any less of him tomorrow.”
Read the full story at http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article125521249.html
From the Wichita Eagle: Lawmakers want Brownback to address budget gap in speech
Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, predicted Brownback will skirt the issue in his speech.
“I don’t have any faith whatsoever that the governor will offer any meaningful reforms or changes,” he said. “The governor has a record of making appeals to folks’ emotions rather than dealing with reality in his State of the State addresses, and I have no reason to expect any less of him tomorrow.”
Read the full story at http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article125521249.html
From the Wichita Eagle: Wichita lawmaker seeks to rein in Kobach’s prosecution powers
Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, said allowing Kobach to bring criminal cases has not uncovered evidence of illegal immigrant voting fraud, which was a big part of Kobach’s pitch when the Legislature granted him prosecutorial power in 2015.
“Since that time, he has commenced approximately 10 of those prosecutions, all of them against United States citizens and in virtually every instance, against folks who made mistakes in casting their ballots,” Carmichael said. “Some of these cases have since been dismissed … as unfounded, and a handful more have resulted in minimal fines against otherwise law-abiding citizens.
Read the full story at http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article125310489.html
Wichita Eagle: No public comment allowed at lawmakers’ public forum
That has rankled at least two Wichita Democratic members of the delegation, incoming House Minority Leader Jim Ward and Rep. John Carmichael.
Ward said the delegation hadn’t been consulted before the decision was made to eliminate public comment and if it had been, he would have opposed it. He said the pre-session forum is a tradition going back at least 30 years.
“It was a unilateral decision by an outgoing legislator to deny the public the chance to engage their representatives,” Ward said. “That’s totally inappropriate.”
Added Carmichael: “Unfortunately, I understand some members of the South Central Kansas Delegation don’t have the courage to face their constituents. And that’s wrong.”
Read the full article at http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article122697439.html
Topeka Capital Journal: Kansas lawmakers mining for a pot of gold to fix budget woe
“I’d say, from the Democrats’ perspective, if we consider increases in sales tax, whether a gas or tobacco tax, it needs to be coupled in some fashion with sales tax relief on food,” said Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita.
Read the full story at http://cjonline.com/news/2016-12-11/kansas-lawmakers-mining-pot-gold-fix-budget-woe
Wichita Eagle: How will Trump presidency change Kansas?
Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, said he thinks Kobach may be in for a disappointment.
He said there are many examples of judges appointed by Republican or Democratic presidents who “leave their partisan politics behind” when they ascend to the federal court bench. He said most of Kobach’s losses on the proof-of-citizenship law he wrote for Kansas have come at the hands of judges appointed by Republicans.
As for mass deportation, Carmichael said there are really two groups at issue: urban undocumented workers who are deeply integrated into their community and often the parents of citizen children, and unskilled workers who staff the undesirable occupations in meat-packing and other agricultural pursuits in western Kansas.
“I certainly hope we don’t have ‘papers please’ checkpoints or door-to-door searches for undocumented workers,” he said. “That could cause disruption in urban areas.”
And in rural communities, “If we suddenly deported those (undocumented) folks, it would have a terrible effect on those (agricultural) communities and those businesses.”
Read the full article at http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article114436728.html
Topeka Capital Journal: Election shifts Legislature to center-right on political dial
Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat awarded a new two-year term, said he was more optimistic, pegging the anticipated gain among Democrats at 10 to 20 seats in the House. He said success of Democrats would help determine whether moderate Rep. Russell Jennings, R-Lakin, or conservatives Rep. Ron Ryckman, R-Olathe, or House Majority Leader Jene Vickrey, R-Louisburg, can become House speaker.
“It will be very clear moderate Republicans and Democrats will control the Kansas House,” he said. “We will see if the governor arrives ready to work with people of his party and Democrats.”
Read the full article at http://cjonline.com/news/2016-11-08/election-shifts-legislature-center-right-political-dial
WIBW: Kansas Democrats seek fair election for all Kansas voters.
Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, says the Election Protection program will make the voting process as smooth as possible and will have more volunteers and attorneys present at voting place than ever before.
Carmichael went on to say the Secretary of State’s Kris Kobach’s recent battle over Kansas voter registration laws has caused Kansans to lose faith in the election process and prompted the Democratic party to take action.
“We’ve never been in a situation where our Chief Election Officer was subject to multiple court orders and as you know last Friday, barely avoided being held contempt of court and so we are trying to reassure folks about the integrity of the electoral process,” said Carmichael.
