Big-box retailers, corporate convenience shops and mega-liquor store operators would have the financial firepower to run the small liquor stores out of business, said Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita. As existing liquor stores close, he said, the loss of outlets offering whiskey and wine will compel passage of legislation allowing sales of those products outside liquor stores.

“The moms and pops, the ones on the margin of profitability, uniformly oppose this legislation,” Carmichael said. “This is not a compromise. This is a death knell for these businesses.”

Read the full story at http://cjonline.com/news/local/state-government/2017-04-06/house-passes-bill-overhauling-strong-beer-sales-kansas

Kansas Securities Commissioner Josh Ney shouldn’t also be the Jefferson County attorney and county counselor, argued State Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita.

Carmichael portrayed the Securities Commissioner’s Office as bloated, as he spoke on the Kansas House floor Wednesday. The office has “about $600,000 worth of lawyers,” he said, and it prosecuted six people in 2016.

Read the full story at http://www.hutchnews.com/aa7fdc80-2327-55cd-870c-6b92c080c011.html

Carmichael said Ney, who earned about $111,000 as the state’s securities commissioner, also was to be paid $63,700 for serving as Jefferson County attorney and $30,900 for work as Jefferson County counselor.

“My real quick calculation says our securities commissioner is making, yep, in excess of $200,000 a year,” Carmichael said. “If we’d like to start draining the swamp over at the securities commissioner’s office, maybe it’s a good idea for the full-time lawyers over there to work full-time for the state of Kansas.”

Read the full story at http://cjonline.com/news/local/state-government/2017-04-05/kansas-house-adopts-securities-reform-bill-outside-employment

Wichita Democrats Elizabeth Bishop, John Carmichael and Gail Finney were among the nine lawmakers voting against the bill. Carmichael said he valued the friendship with Israel.

“This bill is unnecessary and imposes unnecessary regulatory burden on Kansas businesses,” he said.

Read the full story at http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article142836039.html

There are over 750 liquor stores in Kansas, and Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, remembering a previous study, speculated that 200 of them could close.

“I think it’s going to put a stop to a lot of Mom-and-Poppers,” said Rep. Larry Hibbard, R-Toronto.

Read the full story at http://www.hutchnews.com/2075b705-b408-57d0-a3f9-ce9ad16d0165.html

Rep. John Carmichael, a Democrat from Wichita, said some people would go without other necessities, such as groceries for their families, because their addiction wouldn’t allow them to quit smoking.

“If you think taxing sick people is a really good idea, you should vote for this amendment,” he said.

Read the full story at http://kcur.org/post/e-cigarette-tax-fix-moves-forward-kansas

Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, voted against the amended bill, arguing it would likely put hundreds of small, family-owned liquor stores out of business.

“In your community, you’re going to drive by and you’re going see the closed sign or the foreclosure sign,” Carmichael told other lawmakers while pushing his own amendment, which failed. “And you can answer to your constituents for why you didn’t at least try to save their business.”.

Read the full story at http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article142704329.html

Carmichael said hitting Kansas with one more sales tax increase would be improper, despite indirect health benefits of a higher tax on cigarettes.

“Do I want to raise a terribly regressive tax?” Carmichael said. “I suggest that is terribly wrong.”

Read the full story at http://cjonline.com/news/local/state-government/2017-04-02/cigarette-tax-hike-food-sales-tax-cut-fail-pass-muster-kansas

The state has collected $4.2 billion for the current fiscal year, which runs through the end of June. The department said collections are $57.5 million above estimates for the full fiscal year.

Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, said that’s only because estimates were lowered.

Read the full story at http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article142380694.html

Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, compared the situation to “a high-stakes poker game.” If lawmakers call his bluff and override a veto, Brownback will have “no more chips to play,” Carmichael said.

Read the full story at http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article142070994.html