• 2022 State of the State…With a Grain of Salt

    2022 State of the State…With a Grain of Salt0

    Kansas Governor Laura Kelly gave her 2022 State of the State address this week to mark the beginning of this year’s legislative session. This speech, set against a backdrop of the ever-growing state revenue surplus, included many of the Governor’s already announced ideas and plans for what to do with the cash. In the speech,

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  • September 2021 Jobs Report: Growth on the Horizon?

    September 2021 Jobs Report: Growth on the Horizon?0

    The September jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that Kansas gained an estimated 1,100 private-sector jobs from the previous month. This comes as part of a recent trend of slowing job growth, with a 0.4% increase in July, a 0.3% increase last month, and now a 0.1% increase this month. Kansas still

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  • Kansas lagging behind neighbors who dropped unemployment benefits

    Kansas lagging behind neighbors who dropped unemployment benefits0

    A new report from the Foundation for Government Accountability argues that continued federal unemployment benefits stifle worker and family efforts to return to a pre-COVID-19 economy.  Despite this, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly refuses to withdraw from programs such as the weekly $300 unemployment bonus, thus slowing Kansas’ recovery. Since late June, the state of Kansas

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  • Gov. Kelly plays politics with federal unemployment relief0

    Gov. Kelly announced last week that she won’t consider temporary federal unemployment relief as stalled congressional COVID negotiations. In response to President Trump issuing his own executive orders, the Governor’s announced her own executive action on COVID and her changing COVID  economic response. Such actions strongly suggest she’d rather paper over the faults of her administration than

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  • Will Kansas unemployment benefits stall re-opening?

    Will Kansas unemployment benefits stall re-opening?0

    Kansas lockdown and social distancing rules to combat COVID-19 have led to massive unemployment. With claims for unemployment benefits hitting record levels, the state’s real unemployment rate is likely well above 10%. Governor Kelly must change unemployment benefits policy to encourage work. Otherwise, the full Kansas economic recovery from COVID-19 may not start until well

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