From the Alvin and Rosalie Sara Check studio PBS Kansas Presents Kansas Week.

Showdown in Topeka.

Lawmakers were back in action fighting to override the governor's vetoes.

We'll break down the battles and the dozens of new laws already on the books.

Plus, measles cases are surging.

Why?

Health officials say vaccinations are crucial right now.

And fear grips southwest Kansas amid claims of immigration raids.

Advocates demand answers.

It's all ahead.

Kansas week starts now.

Hello and welcome.

Thank you for joining us.

I'm Jared Cirillo.

After adjourning the regular session last week, Kansas lawmakers reconvened for their annual veto session.

Lawmakers focused on attempts to override Governor Laura Kelly's vetoes on several controversial bills.

Successful overrides occurred on key measures involving tax cuts, election funding and social policies related to fetal rights and education.

This session highlighted significant policy disagreements between the Republican controlled legislature and the Democratic governor, setting the stage for how these new laws will impact Kansas.

Meanwhile, Governor Kelly signed 37 bills into law this week.

Some of the highlights include allowing firework sales year round.

You'll also see new license plate options on the road, including popular blackout style in Wichita.

The Fallen Firefighters Memorial is now officially designated as the State Fallen Firefighters Memorial.

Other new laws strengthen protections for whistle blowers who report wrongdoing in local government and make it easier for local law enforcement to access the Life-Saving drug Narcan to combat opioid overdoses.

Lots to discuss this week and all of these latest developments in Topeka.

We have this week Wichita Eagle Opinion Editor Dion Lefler, owner of the Cato Consulting Group, Ben Davis, Sedgwick County Commissioner Stephanie Wise, and Janet Silva Renteria, the executive director of Wichita based International Rescue Committee.

Thank you all for joining us this week.

Lots to talk about here.

Dion, I'll start with you.

I know you're chomping at the bit.

Year round fireworks, especially in Wichita, has been a controversial issue.

There's there seems to be no middle ground either people want to ban them completely or people want to allow them.

Yeah.

I mean, it's it's a fight we've had forever.

One of the things about this bill is that the cities will still be able to, have regulations on when you can use them.

But as we know, in Wichita, such regulations are never followed by anyone.

So, you know, it's going to be a it's going to be a different scenario.

I mean, we we've had, well, as we all know, the 4th of July in Wichita is kind of like being in a war zone.

And, so hopefully, you know, people will dial it back a little bit, during other periods.

But, you know, who knows what's going to happen.

Let me move over to Stephanie.

What is Sedgwick County commissioner?

I don't I don't think you've had a chance to delve into this one yet.

As a as a relatively new Sedgwick County commissioner.

But what do you think about fireworks?

I mean, it's a controversial issue, for sure.

Yeah.

I mean, I think fireworks are fun.

They can also be dangerous.

So I think having, some order to it's probably, a healthy conversation, but fireworks is not something that we've been talking about in the Sedgwick County government space.

But as a someone that celebrates the 4th of July, I appreciate it on that day, as someone as a mother of younger kids, when they were babies, I did not appreciate it off of, 4th of July.

So, it's an interesting thing to, to focus on.

I think there's other issues that are a little bit more, pertinent and exciting, but that's something we I mean, fireworks is safety is important, so we need to talk about it.

Ben Davis I'll move on with with blackout license plates.

That's another issue that the legislature is actually allowing a lot more personalized license tags this year.

Yeah.

I don't know what all the controversy is about.

It seems like Kansas is just kind of jumping on the license plate bandwagon, whatever bandwagon that might be, no pun intended.

So, I mean, yeah, go right ahead.

Knock yourself out with the black license plates.

I thought some of the more interesting bills, those that were vetoed, those that got passed, I was interested very much in the whistleblower protection law.

I think that was very interesting.

I was glad to see that happen.

As a political consultant, I was glad to see that they upped the limit.

That candidates can raise.

I thought the $500 limit for, you know, for local state candidates was just far too low.

Frankly, I'd like to just see them eliminate the limit altogether.

There has to be mandatory reporting for transparency purposes.

This is a freedom issue.

Let people give however much they want, and let the candidates, you know, make their case to the public on it.

But, yeah, it was a start to see there were plenty of other bills in there, some that I thought were very kind of benign and perfunctory, others that I think we really needed.

Another big one was, that veto that was overridden by the governor was, the child support payments now provided from conception.

Any any any thoughts about that?

Before I move into that, I like to comment on something that you said and me being a community member and, being, in the front sometimes in some, supporting some elected officials or candidates.

I would say that having a limit definitely will impact those with, less resources, which if, if I decide to run as a member of the community because I know what how important it is to have representation, probably I wouldn't be able to raise what somebody else who has more power within the community because of who they associate.

So I think that's something that is something to keep in mind, because some of us may not have that luxury of having access to.

So having a limit, reasonable limit will be more, of inclusive of people who can run.

So that that will be something that I will mention related to the, to the other aspect.

I do believe that it is important to keep, the child support out of point because and something that it was mentioned, it was because now a pro-life pro, you know, that that kind of brings that question because if I am paying for it for, an unborn, that means that they they have constitutional rights.

So that's kind of what it's controversial about.

And maybe, the way that it can be is basically the way I understand it was granting personhood to a fetus.

Is that correct, Diane?

Yeah.

Basically it is, and, you know, this this was a good idea as far as you know, if a man gets a woman pregnant, I see no reason why he shouldn't have to pay for some of the prenatal stuff.

That that that makes absolute sense.

And frankly, I don't even mind giving a tax credit to, to a pregnant couple, you know, to help them get on the way to raising their, their baby.

But, when you tie it into, that the unborn fetus is a human being, you're getting into some really dangerous ground there because, you know, there's just for some reason, our legislature just cannot accept that 60% of the people in this state don't want an abortion ban.

And that was shown in the in the value of them both election.

And it's been in the polls, you know, consistently as long as I've been here.

So really, you know, it would be better if, if they just had made a law that said, you know, if you get a if you're if you got a woman pregnant, you got to pay, you know, been any response.

Yeah.

I mean, we don't need to get into value.

But I would argue that that's what that whole vote was about.

I think this was smart legislation that was actually introduced by a Democrat.

So let that be known.

And I think that a lot of Democrats here or pro-choice are speaking out of both sides of their mouth.

They want more men to have responsibility.

But yet but the legislation is on the table, and I would say this 60% or not, I would say the people who are on the pro-choice side are just unwilling to recognize the fact that you're having to protect something.

You can use whatever nomenclature you want.

We can get into the semantics of it.

But at the end of the day, what you get is a baby.

And this is this would have been a bill that is going to bring more responsibility to the table from fathers, which I think we absolutely need to.

Many of these mothers find themselves alone with no resources.

And this is what we've been hearing forever.

You start doing this with abortion, and you're going to leave all these women with no resources.

And what are you going to do?

You say you're pro-life, but yet you're only pro birth.

This was a good step in the right direction that had bipartisan support.

And I think it was wrong for the governor to veto that had nothing to do with an abortion ban.

One other that I want to give the floor to, Stephanie.

The Senate Bill 29, removes county authority to prohibit public gatherings to control infectious or contagious diseases, basically removing you as a county commissioner, basically removing county authority to have control over public gatherings, obviously dating back to the pandemic.

Here.

Tell me your thoughts about that.

I mean, I think that I think that's healthy.

I think church needs to happen if people want to get together with family.

If we mentioned the concert, I everyone knows their responsibility and how to take care of themselves.

I think we've been through a pandemic.

It was our first time.

So I think we did and people did as best as they could do.

Now citizens have a better view of that.

I think government has a better view of that.

Of of how far can government, control or overreach into telling us what we can or cannot gather?

Right.

So my mom turned 60 during Covid 19.

We didn't even celebrate her her birthday.

We knew our responsibilities together, small as a family.

But, now we know.

And I think there's been so much that has been learned since then, that I'm okay with Sedgwick County not having that, control over people gathering.

So it's interesting that it's coming back up and, and here we are talking about it.

You're probably going to bring it up.

Measles.

So yeah, we will talk about measles here in a little bit.

There is concern and confusion in southwest Kansas.

Immigration advocates are sounding the alarm that targeted detainment were happening in towns like Garden City and Liberal involving multiple law enforcement agencies.

Governor Kelly says she was not alerted to these raids.

Other officials are offering differing views and accounts of what's actually happening.

Cakes Nick Nelson reports.

They are looking for people in the community with a targeted list.

And they are definitely going to homes.

They're going to businesses.

And they are also doing, traffic stops for a few of those instances.

Isidro Marino is a community advocate for the Kansas Immigration Coalition, who says immigration detain minutes are actively happening in southwest Kansas towns like Garden City and Liberal.

Moreno says he believes these officers are federal, state and local law enforcement who are conducting the immigration raids.

We've also confirmed through two people that the KBI has also been involved in at least Garden cities immigration operations, city with Ice.

So, some people were also able to identify, ISIS collaboration along with, some KPIs, vest being identifiable.

In some of the situations, we contacted the KBI, which told us the agency isn't involved in any Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity going on in the area.

We also contacted both the Garden City Police Department and the Finney County Sheriff's Office to comment on the matter, Gcpd tells us in an email.

We have had federal law enforcement partners housed in Garden City for over 15 years.

The Finney County Sheriff's Office referred us to the Department of Homeland Security.

Moreno says there's confusion and fear in the area's immigrant communities, and says the federal government should be taking a different approach.

We're jeopardizing their safety, because they don't have that legal status.

While we're conducting Ice operations.

So, I think we really need to address all the issues together.

I think it really just comes back to comprehensive immigration reform and being really empathetic in the way that is, done.

You know, I'll start with you, the federal government and this is clearly coming from the new policies of President Trump.

The federal government has claimed from day one that these raids are targeting only those who are considered dangerous.

Do you think that's the case?

Do you agree with that?

And criminals.

Okay, tell me why.

And first, I think we need to identify what crime means to the new administration.

A crime could be just crossing the border.

Which is not even a felony.

It's a civic crime.

So within that, I feel like a lot of people have been targeted because they're undocumented, not because they're criminals.

And we have seen that in southwest Kansas.

We have seen that in Wichita.

I am actually part of the Kansas, Immigration Coalition, and we have been receiving a lot of calls.

Today has been a very chaotic day because of the purple ending for Cuban Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and people from Haiti.

And their parole status is ending April 25th.

That means that all of those people that were allowed, because it was, it was proving that they were fleeing from violence from their countries or a certain situation, and they were here legally.

Now they're not.

And we're talking about hundreds of thousands.

So now they're going to be, you know, put up for the rotation.

So no, the administration is not being only targeting criminals.

They are targeting every single member of our community.

That looks like me.

And we've also seen in the last couple of weeks, especially in a high, at least one high profile case of a mistake, a serious mistake being made as well.

Yes, this is happening.

Across the the United States and, families are in fear.

We're receiving calls every single day of families just afraid of doing just the basic.

We receive a call from one young man who is in high school, and he said, what am I going to do if my mother is deported?

Who is going to pick up my my little sister from elementary school?

So this is what we're witnessing with their families.

So the community is suffering.

Ben Davis, tell me your thoughts on on this.

Yeah.

I mean, look, the Biden administration, lied, broke the law and allowed at least ten, probably in excess of 10 million illegal aliens to cross the border and come into the United States illegally.

For years, they lied about, the protection of the border.

They lied about the number of people coming in.

They lied about people who were taking advantage of a very specific, very tailored asylum policy to have this broad blanket, thing to allow millions more people, hundreds of thousands more people coming in.

This is what President Trump campaigned on.

They were unequivocal.

They were clear, the borders are.

Immigration czar Tom Homan was very, very clear about what this policy would look like.

They are prioritizing people, the Ms. 13 gang and others.

There has been one case, one case in New York, and I think the verdict is still out on that.

In terms of the facts, whether or not we're knowing everything for certain.

Sure.

Part of what the Supreme Court said is this this person is going to come in.

They're starting to do more fact finding on this whole scenario.

So we've not heard the last word on this.

But the Biden administration caused this chaos.

We should not lose track of that.

They caused this chaos by allowing tens, at least 10 million illegal aliens to cross the border, illegally harbored here in the United States.

President Trump campaigned on this.

They're following through on that campaign promise.

And they won the popular vote and the Electoral College vote.

A majority of Kansans voted for this.

And this is what we're seeing.

And the promises made, promises kept from the Trump administration.

I will definitely disagree with what you're saying.

One is because asylum seekers, this is the right of coming to the border and asking to get in.

What what the what is wrong right now?

Our immigration system has been broken for years, so I wouldn't necessarily just blame it on one president.

It has been historically.

It's been broken.

It's broken for years.

But what we saw were low border crossings, an exponential rise in border crossings that cannot be denied.

We have all the official records.

No one has a right to enter this country.

An asylum seeker, an asylum seeker is given a privilege.

And I agree with the asylum program as it is, the law has been drafted.

I do not agree with how it was abused by the Biden administration.

No one has a right to enter this country, especially no one has a right to enter this country illegally.

And the Trump administration campaigned on that.

And that's the policy that's being enacted.

Right.

Well, they also have a country, Diane.

Go ahead.

I don't live in a country where officials can show up in the middle of the night, snatch you from your home or wherever you are, and send you to a an El Salvadoran concentration camp.

And you never get out.

And you didn't get a hearing, you didn't get a trial, you didn't commit a crime.

It's just ridiculous supporting all the people that we've had now on record.

Child rapists.

Oh, just killed whatever.

Oh, so you're saying that these people don't exist, that they've not done.

They're committed?

No, I'm saying that they are a tiny fraction of the people that we're talking about.

Give me a break.

We're talking we're talking about thousands.

If we're talking about fruit pickers, we're talking about hotel maids.

We're not.

No, we're not, we're not.

We're top ten.

Over 10 million people in this country within the last 40 years.

All 10 million of those are murderers and rapists.

No.

Are they good?

That is not okay.

Let me interrupt.

Here.

Let me interrupt.

Here.

Hold on, not hold out.

We've had thousands being deported.

Not million so far.

You need to look at the numbers.

We're not talking about fruit pickers.

A lot of these people will probably self-deport over time.

That's.

But they're taking a very firm stay in making the country so miserable that nobody wants to come here.

Okay.

Let me let me interject.

I did do some research trying to I did see one story out of Bakersfield, California, just within the last couple of days where these similar raids were happening in the Bakersfield area.

They arrested 78 people.

They at the beginning, the the the reason was we were targeted again, like usual.

We were targeting criminals and dangerous people.

A group called Calmatters investigated, and they claim that out of the 78 people that were arrested and taken and started deportation process that started, 77 of them actually had no criminal history whatsoever.

All it took was one.

They found the one.

They realized that everybody in there had broken the law.

77 people are now and they're deporting them.

No, but I'm sorry.

It's this is not just a civil crime.

This is also this is also under criminal code.

They found one person.

There were obviously many of them that were here illegally.

And so all of them are being deported.

This was going to happen.

This was always going to be the policy.

And again, you can say you don't want to live in a country like this or not.

Elections matter, democracy matters.

And democracy won last November.

And this is the policy that we have.

Like it or not.

Exactly, exactly.

Followed the rule was not being followed by true at all.

Okay.

Not true at all.

Calm down.

The Sabine and hold on court has validated the Trump administration saying they have complete authority to deport these people.

Supreme court said, go get that guy.

I'll have one guy.

I don't have to worry about that.

I do need to move on, though.

We do.

I we do need to talk about measles cases.

Measles cases are still on the rise in Kansas, now reaching 32 confirmed infections.

Health officials are pointing to declining vaccination rates in school children across affected counties.

Cake's Lily O'Brien explores the concerning trend, the risks involved and why some parents remain hesitant with confirmed cases of measles in more than half a dozen Kansas counties.

So is a dip in children receiving vaccines required for school entry.

The state of Kansas requires a handful of vaccines for kindergartners to start school, but over the years, vaccination rates have dipped below herd immunity.

That may have been also affected by, the distrust and uncertainty.

With Covid being so novel and everything changing as religious exemptions have loosened up, those, the rate of vaccine has been decreasing.

Gray County is one of the southwestern Kansas counties with cases of measles between the 2019 2020 and 2023 2024 academic school year, MMR vaccine rates dropped from 94% to 66%.

Sedgwick County's health director, Adrian Byrne, says the consequences go beyond just the physical symptoms.

21 days is needed to go through two cycles of, incubation.

Most of the confirmed cases of measles have been in children, so an infection means going almost a month without school.

Still, some parents are wary of the shot, like one Sedgwick County mom.

Kristen.

I think if you ask one question about it, they're like, you're crazy.

And that's there.

I think there's a stigma.

I think you're not supposed to ask questions.

You're supposed to do what they say.

In a surprising move, longtime vaccine skeptic and secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy Jr, took to the social media platform to encourage people to get the vaccine.

He says the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine.

I think that the numbers are telling that it's easy to say that the measles vaccine doesn't work when you don't have outbreaks, and areas around the country, but as that has been occurring, the data speaks for itself.

Stephanie Wise, we've been through this before with, you know, the pandemic and personal rights, personal liberties, religious liberties.

It's a fine line that we that we have to think about.

Yeah, I think, the focus needs to be on keeping people healthy.

And so from the health department standpoint, they are here for community health and making sure that people who are either underinsured or non insured have access to these vaccinations.

And I think what we're seeing is that people are really skeptical now.

They're looking into things they, don't want to just take any, any shot that's been recommended.

And so they're looking into it.

And I think they should, be educated, know what they're getting, vaccinated on make that personal choice.

But it's important that we have it available and that we're building trust with the public that this is a, the measles, shot specifically is something that is being encouraged.

And it does have, the, the historical proof of research and, success.

All right.

So in our last story today, a Wichita City Council member has been found in violation of the city's ethics code, but he will not face any penalties.

The Wichita Ethics Board has ruled.

Councilman Brandon Johnson acted inappropriately during a January altercation with State Representative Ford car at a Topeka bar.

The two exchanged heated words over the government's response to massive groundwater contamination in their districts.

Though witnesses testified the car repeatedly provoked the situation.

The board says Johnson failed to de-escalate and used vulgar language.

Meanwhile, Car is under separate scrutiny at the state level.

A House committee reviewed allegations of violent rhetoric and behavior, including the bar incident and at a restaurant dispute.

The committee deadlocked along party lines, taking no immediate action.

Carr defends himself.

He's saying cultural differences played a role and denied being the aggressor.

A final report on the investigation is still pending.

Dion, let me start with you.

Ford car is no stranger to controversy in the house over his actions.

When when does this become a pattern of behavior?

Well, I think it is a pattern of behavior.

The question is, does that pattern of behavior rise to the level of of, like, throwing him out of the legislature?

And, you know, I'm I'm not prepared to make a judgment on that at this, that video, in that video, in the bar is I was there damning the content.

Tell us about it.

Was there?

It was very heated.

It didn't start.

Instantly it built up and there was a lot of, words exchanged before it got to the level that everybody sees in the video.

It did not have to go that far in.

There was an aggressor.

There was one that probably should have walked away, maybe a little bit sooner.

But it was there was definitely an aggressor there.

Any any thoughts here?

Well, I think, as elected officials and, with all respect to everyone, you know, I do feel that sometimes, we do have to escalate and, take really think about the, the public eye because one is representatives that we look out for in that and I'm talking about on both sides of the aisle because we have seen it on both sides.

And I just hope that consequences are safer for everybody involved.

And Ben Davis, I'll give you the last word.

You had kind of a reaction there when he claims cultural differences that are.

That's nonsense.

Yeah, but Ford car is a race baiter and he always goes to the race card.

He's a menace to his colleagues.

He does not represent anything regarding Kansas or the values of this state at all.

And it's a real shame that the Kansas Democrat Party is so spineless that they will not condemn his actions d caucus him and throw him out.

Yeah, you just say whoever gets elected, it's okay.

Okay, fine.

I guess.

But if we're if we're having if we're having brawls, fine.

I mean, keep it keep him in there.

But he should definitely be.

He should definitely be condemned by his colleagues.

I think it's ridiculous that Henry Halvorson did not press charges.

He was physically assaulted by their colleagues.

But does it mean that he was physically assaulted by Ford car?

And then Ford car tries to to tries to deflect by playing the race card.

All right.

And we'll have to leave it at that.

That is a wrap for this week.

Thank you so much to Dion Lefler, Ben Davis, Stephanie Wise and Jenny Silver Renteria for joining us today.

Thanks also to cake and CSN for sharing their materials with us.

I'm Jaron Cirillo.

Thanks for watching.

We'll see you again next week.