KS - July 1 2025
Senators Back Trump Bill; ICE Contract Awarded; Kansas Tourism Grants; Bill Boosts Farmers; Troopers Seize Cash
Kansas, Missouri Senators Back Trump's Tax and Spending Bill
ICE Awards $4.2M Monthly Contract for Leavenworth Prison Without Bidding
Kansas Awards Nearly $600K in Tourism Development Grants
Agriculture Secretary Says Trump Bill Will Boost Kansas Farmers
Troopers Seize $153K on I-70, Dispute Travelers' Prostitution Claims
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1. Kansas, Missouri Senators Back Trump's Tax and Spending Bill
Kansas and Missouri senators on Tuesday voted to pass President Donald Trump's mega-bill that slashes taxes and social safety net programs. Every senator from both sides of the state line supported the bill, which the Republican president dubbed his "big, beautiful bill." The legislation narrowly passed the U.S. Senate on a vote of 51 to 50, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tiebreaking vote, and now heads to the U.S. House. The spending bill has faced fierce resistance for its impact on the national debt and cuts to social safety net programs, such as Medicaid, which could lead to a decrease in rural hospital funding.
KC Star
2. ICE Awards $4.2M Monthly Contract for Leavenworth Prison Without Bidding
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement used the pretense of a national emergency to justify a secret, no-bid contract with CoreCivic that would pay the company $4.2 million per month to house detained immigrants at its vacant Leavenworth prison. ICE filed internal paperwork citing President Donald Trump's declaration of a "national emergency at the southern border" to bypass normal bidding processes, saying the situation "poses significant public safety risks." Immigration advocates have opposed CoreCivic's plans to reopen the Leavenworth facility due to the company's track record of abuse and neglect of prisoners and concerns about the nationwide crackdown by ICE agents.
Kansas Reflector
3. Kansas Awards Nearly $600K in Tourism Development Grants
Kansas Lt. Gov. David Toland announced almost $600,000 in new Tourism Attraction Development Grant funding, pushing the total awarded this fiscal year to more than $1 million. The new grants will support 32 communities through 21 projects aimed at developing new or enhancing existing tourism attractions across the state. Recipients will contribute more than $8 million in matching funds for the projects, which once complete will contribute nearly $16 million in total investment, according to a Kansas Department of Commerce news release.
Capital-Journal
4. Agriculture Secretary Says Trump Bill Will Boost Kansas Farmers
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins published an opinion piece in Newsweek arguing that the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) will empower farmers and ranchers by cutting taxes for farmers by over $10 billion and preventing the death tax from hitting 2 million family-owned farms. Rollins said the bill increases the farmer safety net, crop insurance, and trade programs over the next decade while implementing work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The agriculture secretary emphasized that 97 percent of agricultural counties voted for President Trump and the bill will allow USDA to return to its "core mission of putting Farmers First."
USDA/Newsweek
5. Troopers Seize $153K on I-70, Dispute Travelers' Prostitution Claims
Two travelers through Kansas claimed the $153,000 in their possession was payment for prostitution, but state troopers say the cash was proceeds from drug smuggling along Interstate 70. Kansas Highway Patrol seized two bags of cash during a December 12 traffic stop on I-70 near Russell, about two and a half hours west of Topeka, with one bag containing about $103,000 and the other about $50,000. The money is now part of a civil asset forfeiture case filed June 26 by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Wichita, though no criminal charges have been filed against the two women named in court documents.
Capital-Journal
See July 4th column from our wonderful Hutchinson editor:
Teri Hansen
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Sources
Contact: greg@loql.ai
