Category: In the News

From the Topeka Capital Journal: Kansas lawmakers look at closing police commission records

Democratic Rep. John Carmichael added an amendment that classifies the records as investigatory. They would not be required to be released under an open records request but may be released if a court decides it’s in the public interest, he said.

Carmichael said he’s concerned about the decrease in transparency and that opening up the commission’s work to the public translates into confidence in the police. He said he understands the desire to protect officers’ privacy.

“I think some people will be justifiably disappointed at the compromises that we’ve reached here,” Carmichael said.

Read the full story at http://cjonline.com/news/2017-02-09/kansas-lawmakers-look-closing-police-commission-records

From KMUW: Vote Expected On Bill To Boost Aviation Employment, But Cost A …

“There are a number of things that we can do to create jobs in Kansas through targeted stimulus of one type or another, and this bill is an example of that,” says Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat. “But what I want to see us do is take a much broader look at the Kansas economy.”

That broader look, Carmichael says, should include rolling back the tax income cuts that Republican Gov. Sam Brownback pushed through the Legislature in 2012.

Read the full story at http://kmuw.org/post/vote-expected-bill-boost-aviation-employment-cost-concern

From the Wichita Eagle: 15 things you need to know about the race to replace Pompeo

File photoThen the committee members will vote. If no one gets a majority, the lowest vote-getter will be dropped and the delegates will vote again. That goes on until somebody emerges from a vote with a majority. In the Republicans’ case, that will be 64 votes.

Democrats are still working out their final rules, but the process will be similar to the one the Republicans are using, said state Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, who is drafting the rules.

Read the full story at http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article130968234.html

From the Hutchinson News: Proposed bill would require Kansas students to use bathrooms of their birth gender

Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat and an attorney, said local school boards have been making decisions on restroom use and should be allowed to continue. Under the bill, the attorney general, potentially hundreds of miles away, would be intervening in local situations, he said.

Carmichael also raised concern over the financial impact, saying the bill contains no offsetting funds for the additional work that would be generated for the attorney general’s office.

“It would impose a financial burden on the attorney general’s office to investigate and prosecute those complaints,” Carmichael said.

Read the full story at http://www.hutchnews.com/b96dc43b-bffa-5d65-9ac5-e159c121c80f.html

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From the Kansas City Star: Kris Kobach says he advised Donald Trump on voter fraud probe, immigration orders

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, right, meets with then-President-elect Trump in Bedminster, N.J.Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, who has introduced a bill to strip Kobach of his prosecutorial power, said Kobach has dramatically overstated the frequency of voter fraud during his tenure as Kansas’ secretary of state.

Read the full story at http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article128687579.html

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From the Kansas City Star: Kansas’ Kris Kobach says he advised Donald Trump to investigate voter fraud

Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, who has introduced a bill to strip Kobach of his prosecutorial power, said Kobach has dramatically overstated the frequency of voter fraud during his tenure as secretary of state.

“He has claimed that voter fraud is rampant in this state, but he has little evidence to support that allegation,” Carmichael said. “He has brought charges now against, I believe, nine individuals, all of whom are United States citizens, most of whom are Republicans and the vast majority of them are white. And his office is now spending approximately a quarter of a million dollars a year prosecuting nine people and defending voting rights lawsuits.”

Read the full story at http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article128754474.html

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From KSN: President Trump calling for voter fraud investigation has some Kansans asking questions


“Despite the claims of the Secretary of State (Kris Kobach) proven cases of voter fraud in Kansas are very limited. I have worked in voter election law for 15 to 20 years in this state, and I have looked hard to catch people who are cheating, and to find people who are cheating. People from both parties, citizens, non-citizens,” says Kansas Rep. John Carmichael, D – Wichita. “It is an infinitesimal number of people. In fact, the Secretary of State, when he testified in 2014, had identified 19 cases of double voting, and to date he has now filed prosecution in nine cases. Each of those prosecutions has been against United States citizens, none of whom have been immigrants.”

Read the full story at http://ksn.com/2017/01/25/president-trump-calling-for-voter-fraud-investigation-has-some-kansans-asking-questions/

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From the Wichita Eagle: Kris Kobach says he advised Donald Trump on voter fraud probe, immigration orders

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, right, meets with then-President-elect Trump in Bedminster, N.J.Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, who has introduced a bill to strip Kobach of his prosecutorial power, said Kobach has dramatically overstated the frequency of voter fraud during his tenure as Kansas’ secretary of state.

Read the full story at http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article128687579.html

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