Maps

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers were set to end a spring break on Monday with more room to cut taxes and boost state spending than they had even a few ...

None of the measures passed with the two-thirds majorities that were needed in both chambers to override a veto. A new fiscal forecast for state government issued last week was even more optimistic than a rosy one state officials and university economists issued in November, projecting an extra $760 million in tax collections over the next 15 months. The biggest budget issue remaining is funding for public K-12 schools, with more than $6 billion at stake. Kelly recently intensified her campaign to eliminate the state's 6.5% sales tax on groceries, which is one of the nation's highest. Republican legislators are poised to cut income, sales and property taxes by a total of $1.5 billion over three years. GOP lawmakers have proposed phasing out the sales tax on groceries over three years, starting Jan. 1. The Republican-controlled Legislature was set to reconvene after a three-week hiatus to wrap up its business for the year, though state court cases involving the new political boundaries drawn by GOP lawmakers create some uncertainty over how long they'll be in session. The state Supreme Court also is required to review legislative district lines by early June. The Democratic governor has vetoed a Republican measure to ban transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports and a GOP measure aimed at making it easier for parents to try to remove materials from public school classrooms and libraries. In recent days, they've responded to Democrats' criticism that it's not enough by noting that a provision was tucked into a tax bill that Kelly vetoed in 2019 and would have phased out the tax on groceries as of Jan. 1, according to data compiled by legislative researchers. (AP Photo/John Hanna) The Associated Press They have yet to finalize a more than $22 billion budget for the 12 months that begin July 1, and Republican leaders and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly are at odds over how to cut taxes now that the state is flush with cash.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Hours after a judge in Wyandotte County ruled that new, legislatively drawn congressional maps violate the rights of Kansans, ...

A Wyandotte County District Court judge ruled Monday that the Ad Astra 2 congressional maps are unconstitutional, tossing out the Kansas legislature's ...

“Ad Astra 2 has high levels of racial dislocation,” Klapper concluded, relying on Rodden’s analysis. "The way this Ad Astra 2 map was drawn, it would have disenfranchised individuals in northern Wyandotte County by including them in a very rural district," Rep. Stephanie Clayton, a Democrat on the House Committee on Redistricting, said. By moving half of Wyandotte County to the 2nd District, while also scooping Lawrence from the 2nd District and placing it in the heavily rural and Republican 1st District, the legislature passed a map that “leans so strongly Republican that the notes of Democratic-leaning and minority residents from Wyandotte are diluted to practical electoral irrelevance.” The court found an expert’s testimony regarding the partisan nature of the Ad Astra changes in terms of population, partisanship and geographical compactness to provide “powerful evidence that Ad Astra 2 is an intentional, effective partisan gerrymander ... designed specifically to provide Republicans with the most advantageous congressional map possible.” University of Michigan Political Science Professor and redistricting expert Dr. Jowei Chen’s analysis determined that Ad Astra’s treatment of the Kansas City area “was an extreme partisan outlier” in those districts and statewide, especially with respect to Shawnee and Lawrence as well as Topeka. "We are where we knew we'd be. Scott Schwab, and Susan Frick, et al, vs. “The Court has no difficulty finding, as a factual matter, that Ad Astra 2 is an intentional, effective pro-Republican gerrymander that systemically dilutes the votes of Democratic Kansans,” Klapper wrote. He ruled that Ad Astra 2 violates the equal protection clause of the Kansas Constitution by depriving “voters of substantially equal voting power.” Wyandotte County District Court Judge Bill Klapper issued a 209-page decision that found Ad Astra 2 unconstitutionally violates the plaintiffs’ collective rights through intentional and effective partisan gerrymandering as well as the intentional and effective dilution of minority voting rights in Wyandotte County. Scott Schwab, Tom Alonzo, et al, vs. KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Wyandotte County District Court judge ruled Monday that the Ad Astra 2 congressional maps are unconstitutional, tossing out the Kansas legislature’s attempt to split Wyandotte County and move Lawrence into a different congressional district.

Kansas redistricting means new boundaries in 2022 for congressional districts, state legislature districts and state board of education districts.

Please note that this map is likely to change, pending the outcome of the ongoing lawsuit. After being signed by the governor, state legislative maps must be approved by the state Supreme Court. The court is not required to weigh in on congressional or state Board of Education maps unless someone sues to challenge them. The changes reflect how the population of Kansas has changed over the past decade. In the Senate, redistricting plan Liberty 3 forces two pairs of incumbents against each other, leaving two seats up for grabs in the next Senate election in November 2024. The attorney general will then send it back to the court, which has 10 days to respond. In Kansas, the public may also submit maps for consideration with the support and sponsorship from a lawmaker. In the past 10 years, Kansas’ population grew nearly 3%, compared to over 7% for the nation as a whole. After passing through the Kansas Legislature, electoral maps must be approved by the governor. “The courts and the legislature have established case law and criteria on how to draw Kansas districts fairly and constitutionally.” The high-stakes, yearslong process creates maps that will shape the state’s political landscape for 10 years. On April 15, Gov. Laura Kelly signed three new redistricting maps, sending them to the Kansas Supreme Court for final approval. Update: On April 25, Wyandotte County District Judge Bill Klapper ruled that a map setting new boundaries for the state’s four congressional districts is unconstitutional.

A lower court in Kansas threw out the state's GOP-friendly congressional map on Monday and ordered the state legislature back to the drawing board as the ...

"The Court has no difficulty finding, as a factual matter, that Ad Astra 2 is an intentional, effective pro-Republican gerrymander that systemically dilutes the votes of Democratic Kansans," he wrote. He ordered the new map be drawn "expeditiously" in a 209-page ruling for the Wyandotte County District Court. The new map, known as Ad Astra 2, would have likely put the Democrats' sole congressional seat in the state at risk. The suit, Alonzo, et al. Alas, the rub becomes what is right. Republicans will likely face an uphill legal battle if they seek to appeal the decision to the Democratic-controlled state Supreme Court.

A judge in Wyandotte County ruled that new, legislatively drawn congressional maps violate the rights of Kansans.

As state lawmakers begin the veto session Monday, they received word the Congressional redistricting maps appr...

The so-called Ad Astra map split both counties, moving parts of them from the Third District to the Second. Other lawmakers representing Lyon County have not commented on the decision at this time. Schmidt did not address the judge’s concerns in a brief statement Monday afternoon.

Wyandotte County District Judge Bill Klapper rules a new congressional map drawn by Kansas Republicans violates the state Constitution.

We look forward to the Attorney General’s appeal of this erroneous decision.” Republicans drew a map that divides the Kansas City metro along Interstate 70, separating a diverse community in the northern part of Wyandotte County from the 3rd District, making it more difficult for the state’s only Democrat in Congress, U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, to win reelection. The ruling follows a consolidated trial for three lawsuits that were filed in response to a new congressional map passed by the Legislature this session. “The state is promptly appealing.” Federal courts previously handled these disputes, until a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2019 determined federal courts should have no say on the topic. Klapper’s order, which Attorney General Derek Schmidt immediately appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court, blocks the state from preparing for the congressional election until a new map is drawn.

The Buckeye State is stuck in a Sisyphean cycle of court fights over gerrymandered maps, despite past reform.

“The Republicans will argue that they now have more districts that are a little bit closer and up in the air but if you look at the numbers it’s not really true. In Alaska, control of the House is in the hands of a coalition. “There remains an aggregate asymmetry in the assignment of toss-up districts, demonstrating partisan bias,” the opinion reads. “Nonpartisan redistricting commissions are a very popular idea,” Kevin Kosar, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute told The Dispatch. “The real trick obviously, as we saw in Ohio, is how do you achieve it? “The states that have done less well are states that have tried to effectively build half a bridge from control by the politically motivated legislature to control an independent body—states like New Mexico, Virginia, Ohio, New Jersey, New York all did some version of a half of a bridge. Lawsuits resulted, and the state Supreme Court struck down the maps in a 4-3 ruling. (That’s just a comparison of the partisan lean of the seats, the analysis notes. While some of the map remains unsettled, FiveThirtyEight predicted that this cycle of mapmaking could result in the fewest swing districts since 1996 “What we’ve seen happen in 2021 and 2022 is not what [voters] had in mind.” University of Akron political science professor David Brian Cohen told The Dispatch. “They’ve gotten a process which has been completely dominated by the majority party. And the penalties for not passing fair maps—having to redo the work in four years—carries little threat. But the legislative races for the Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives, as well as some other local races, must wait to appear on a second primary ballot later in the year, once the legislative maps are finalized. The second primary will cost the state millions of dollars.

As lawmakers consider their next move on redistricting, the overall cost has ballooned to nearly $1.8 million, according to an accounting through April 19.

COLUMBUS — The Republican majority on the Ohio Redistricting Commission appears to be in no hurry to comply with the Ohio Supreme Court's latest order that ...

Cupp spokesman Aaron Mulvey said the speaker had spoken with Mr. Sykes on Friday and indicated that Monday would not work for a meeting. It suggested the commission continue along that path. “This commission's work is absolutely not over, in spite of what the federal court has ordered,” she said. “Ten days are gone since the court order,” Mr. Sykes said. They needed a third member to side with them to officially call the meeting. A federal three-judge panel has already said it will step in on May 28 if new maps aren't approved.

On this episode of Rewind, Emilee and JR review the recent Wisconsin State Supreme Court decision which a 4-3 majority found insufficient evidence to draw ...

GOP legislative maps give Republicans a clear path to two-thirds majority in Senate. However, it gets trickier on how to get to seat Number 66 in the Assembly. Nonetheless, the federal case still alive, though Republicans recently asked the court to dismiss it while the Dems want more time. The GOP maps are race neutral, comply with the Equal Protection Clause, meet other standards and adhere to an earlier directive from the court to make “minimal changes to the existing maps” that Republicans drew in 2011. On this episode of Rewind, Emilee and JR review the recent Wisconsin State Supreme Court decision which a 4-3 majority found insufficient evidence to draw state legislative districts on the basis of race and said other proposals that had been submitted to the court were racially motivated.

Wyandotte County judge ruled that legislatively drawn congressional maps violate the rights of Kansans.

The Republican-drawn map intentionally split strongholds of Democratic and Black voters, a judge ruled. The State Supreme Court will review the decision.

Judge Klapper waxed lyrical in the first pages of his ruling, citing an anthem about the moral strength of the residents of “the flat plains of Kansas” and musing on the meaning of democracy. It’s the redrawing of the boundaries of congressional and state legislative districts. Should it be upheld, it would in all likelihood keep intact the existing partisan balance in the state’s House delegation, which consists of three Republicans and one Democrat. The final impact on the political balance in the closely divided House of Representatives, however, remains unknown. It happens every 10 years, after the census, to reflect changes in population. It was not immediately clear whether Republicans in the Kansas Legislature would take that path. They called Judge Klapper a partisan Democrat and said he had sided with Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, “to usurp lawfully enacted maps approved by a supermajority of the people’s representatives.” The Republican-drawn map intentionally split strongholds of Democratic and Black voters, a judge ruled. A state court reinstated a Republican-leaning map in Ohio after a federal court intervened, and challenges in state courts to the Democratic gerrymander in New York and a new Republican gerrymander in Florida have yet to be resolved. The Kansas decision was the first in the state to reject a political map on partisan grounds. Ms. Kelly had vetoed the congressional map after Republican supermajorities in the State House and State Senate approved it in late January. The Legislature overrode the veto, and the A.C.L.U. of Kansas and the Campaign Legal Center sued in the district court, in Kansas City, to block the map. The Kansas ruling follows a flurry of state court decisions striking down partisan gerrymanders of congressional maps, largely in reaction to a 2019 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that barred federal courts from addressing the issue.

The Republican-drawn map intentionally split strongholds of Democratic and Black voters, a judge ruled. The State Supreme Court will review the decision.

Judge Klapper waxed lyrical in the first pages of his ruling, citing an anthem about the moral strength of the residents of “the flat plains of Kansas” and musing on the meaning of democracy. It’s the redrawing of the boundaries of congressional and state legislative districts. Should it be upheld, it would in all likelihood keep intact the existing partisan balance in the state’s House delegation, which consists of three Republicans and one Democrat. The final impact on the political balance in the closely divided House of Representatives, however, remains unknown. It happens every 10 years, after the census, to reflect changes in population. It was not immediately clear whether Republicans in the Kansas Legislature would take that path. They called Judge Klapper a partisan Democrat and said he had sided with Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, “to usurp lawfully enacted maps approved by a supermajority of the people’s representatives.” The Republican-drawn map intentionally split strongholds of Democratic and Black voters, a judge ruled. A state court reinstated a Republican-leaning map in Ohio after a federal court intervened, and challenges in state courts to the Democratic gerrymander in New York and a new Republican gerrymander in Florida have yet to be resolved. The Kansas decision was the first in the state to reject a political map on partisan grounds. Ms. Kelly had vetoed the congressional map after Republican supermajorities in the State House and State Senate approved it in late January. The Legislature overrode the veto, and the A.C.L.U. of Kansas and the Campaign Legal Center sued in the district court, in Kansas City, to block the map. The Kansas ruling follows a flurry of state court decisions striking down partisan gerrymanders of congressional maps, largely in reaction to a 2019 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that barred federal courts from addressing the issue.

A Wyandotte County judge struck down a set of GOP-authored Congressional maps enacted earlier this year and ordered the legislature pass new lines.

“We are thankful that Judge Klapper saw this map for what it was – a deliberate attempt to silence the political voices of Democratic and minority Kansans,” Sharon Brett, the ACLU of Kansas' legal director, said in a statement. The ACLU of Kansas, one of several parties to bring the lawsuits, cheered the ruling in a statement, though they acknowledged the reality that it will now head to the Kansas Supreme Court. "When the Kansas Legislature violates the Kansas Constitution, including in its enactment of congressional redistricting legislation, Kansas courts have the power and duty to exercise judicial review and invalidate the Legislature’s unconstitutional action," Klapper wrote. But he invoked a speech from federal Judge Learned Hand in saying that "Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women." In his ruling, Klapper echoed that sentiment when he wrote the maps "intentionally and effectively dilutes minority votes in violation of the Kansas Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection." Wyandotte County District Court Judge Bill Klapper called the maps passed over the veto of Gov. Laura Kelly earlier this year to be "motivated at least in part by an intent to dilute minority voting strength" and said the state courts had the right to take up redistricting cases.

A Kansas judge struck down the state's new Republican-drawn congressional maps on Monday as an unconstitutional gerrymander, but conservative legislators ...

In 2019, the court found that the state constitution includes the right to an abortion — a hugely consequential decision given the erosion of abortion rights at the federal level. “We’re not really going to have time to have a bunch of political posturing. But the decision announced Monday, following a four-day trial earlier this month, is guaranteed to be appealed to the state Supreme Court. “It’s part of the process,” Croft said. It would be a critical decision coming as federal courts have stopped ruling against political gerrymandering. The Supreme Court’s ultimate decision will be one of its most momentous in recent years because the court may interpret the state constitution to prohibit political and racial gerrymandering.

By the numbers — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday quickly signed into law the congressional map drawn by his own staff and passed by his allies in the Republican- ...

Newly filed court documents reveal that Rivera diverted more than half of his PDV USA income — $13 million — to three subcontractors in Miami who supposedly provided “international strategic consulting services” for the Venezuelan firm.” GETTING HARDER — “ As inflation rises, Floridians say it’s hard to pay their bills,” by Tampa Bay Times’ Natalie Weber: “Nearly half of Floridians included in a recent survey say inflation has impacted their ability to pay essential bills. select committee — part of an effort to force former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to appear for an interview — suggest that some of Trump’s top allies in Congress were frequently present in meetings where a handful of strategies to prevent then-President-elect Joe Biden from taking office were discussed, including efforts to replace the leadership of the Justice Department with figures who would sow doubts about the legitimacy of the election. NEW FILINGS — “ GOP lawmakers were deeply involved in Trump plans to overturn election, new evidence suggests,” by POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney and Nicholas Wu: Deposition excerpts filed by the Jan 6. Nadd additionally questioned whether Simpson was involved in the “ghost candidate” scheme where third-party candidates were run in key Senate races as a way to siphon votes from Democrats. Nadd refused to say whether Joe Biden was fairly elected president, but the former Black Hawk helicopter pilot and Afghanistan veteran said he did recognize him as commander-in-chief. “It’s wrong, factually and morally, to accuse someone of being a groomer with no basis and evidence,” he said. The federal lawsuit was first filed back in March and the groups suing asked a three-judge panel to draw a new congressional map because Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature were at odds with another at the time. One of the most controversial education proposals introduced this year, state Republicans advocated for the “individual freedom” bill as a way to ensure teachers and corporations remain objective when leading school lessons or employee trainings about race. About that other lawsuit — Meanwhile, lawyers representing Secretary of State Laurel Lee filed a motion in federal court on Friday asking that a previous lawsuit filed by Common Cause of Florida and Fair Districts Now and a group of voters be tossed out because the newly-approved map makes the case moot. Requested by the Republican governor, the two bills punishing Disney were made public on Tuesday and signed into law by DeSantis roughly 77 hours later following a special legislative session originally called to address congressional redistricting. Asking the judge — Several civil rights and voting groups filed a lawsuit the same day the governor signed off on the map, but there is skepticism that the court would take action ahead of this year’s election. Democrats have a lot to figure out, including whether they plan to mount a serious challenge in two potentially competitive South Florida seats now held by two freshmen Republicans. It looks like they are running out of time ahead of an election that may be the party’s last stand in Florida.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed into law a gerrymandered voting map that virtually guarantees Republicans four more seats in Congress while likely ...

But what they’re doing is dangerous and can have long-lasting effect on the state and in this country. This is to push the judicial system to the limit, all the way to the Supreme Court, which I believe is not only dangerous for the state but is dangerous for our democracy. And I think a lot of this, what we’re seeing, Amy, is all of this is just a distraction. It is racist tactics that is happening all across this country, that Republicans, they see that they are in distress, and they are going to great lengths to take power away from marginalized people, to pick on marginalized people. Now, I will say that the House Democrats and how they — and what they’ve done, they made clear that if they are going to make laws like 1960, they will protest like it’s 1960. The Republicans cannot continue to disenfranchise Black voters, disenfranchise and take our voices away from us, and expect nothing to bring attention to what’s happening in Florida. If we can’t win inside the chambers, we have to bring attention one way or another. We are the people! We are the people! The people’s house! The people’s house! The people’s house! “Republicans cannot continue to disenfranchise Black voters,” says state Senator Shevrin Jones, a Democratic member of Florida’s Legislative Black Caucus who took part in the protest and who calls the gerrymandering part of a larger suite of “racist tactics” enacted by Republicans across the country.

The last time the GOP Legislature passed an illegal gerrymander, my dad David King represented the League of Women Voters of Florida as they led the charge ...

It was the first time a court has declared that the Kansas Constitution prohibits political gerrymandering. The state is expected to appeal to the Kansas ...

The state constitution requires a decision by June 5. It was the first time a court has declared that the Kansas Constitution prohibits political gerrymandering. But the state’s attorneys also argued that nothing in the Kansas Constitution allows state courts — rather than federal courts — to review congressional maps or to consider political gerrymandering as an issue. It was the first time a court has declared that the Kansas Constitution prohibits political gerrymandering. The state argued that Davids’ district emerged slightly more competitive than it had been. “Strong enough to expect nothing more than a level playing field devoid of partisan advantage for one group of Kansans. Strong enough for the merits of the issue to be the deciding factor.

One of the leaders of the Ohio Redistricting Commission was in town Monday afternoon to attend a fundraiser in Warren.

One of the leaders of the Ohio Redistricting Commission was in town Monday afternoon to attend a fundraiser in Warren.