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
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
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
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
“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
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
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
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.
Democratic State Representative John Carmichael says the statute being referenced was passed in 2015. “The bill that we passed in 2015 was a result of hard work that began well before the legislative session. That bill had bi-partisan support. It also had support of Kansas law enforcement, as well as the Kansas press association,” explains Carmichael. “That does not mean that it is a perfect bill.”
…“It is a mistake for law enforcement to not release video associated with officer involved shootings, because it undermines confidence in law enforcement,” says Carmichael. “That’s bad for police. That’s bad for the public. That’s bad for our society.”
…“The public has a right to know whether their law enforcement officers are fairly enforcing the law. It is important to the integrity of law enforcement that the public see what occurred and weigh what they see in the video with what they hear from law enforcement and district attorneys. On the other hand, it is also important to protect the privacy of victims of crime.”
…“This is a rapidly evolving technology, as well as the law. What we passed in 2015 was a good start, but cases like we are talking about here today are why it is not perfect legislation. I would not at all be surprised, within the next few years, that we revisit that statute in light of what has happened subsequent to its implementation.”
“We need to remember over two years ago the governor embarked on a program with the help of his friends in the Legislature to pack the Supreme Court,” Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, said.