House Punts Farm Bill Over E15, Pesticide Fight

E15 Splits From Farm Bill, Heads to Solo Vote

K-State Student Dies After Fraternity Window Fall

Sedgwick Planners Defer 1,500-Acre Solar Decision

Wichita Biomedical Campus Nears Phase One Finish

House Punts Farm Bill Over E15, Pesticide Fight

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House delayed its vote on a five-year farm bill Wednesday after Republican disputes over ethanol and pesticide provisions stalled the package on the floor. Speaker Mike Johnson agreed to push final action back roughly two weeks following a prolonged procedural vote that exposed divisions over a year-round E15 amendment and language shielding pesticide makers from liability. The farm bill is sweeping legislation reauthorized roughly every five years that sets federal policy on commodity supports, crop insurance, conservation programs and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Kansas, the nation's top wheat producer and a leading sorghum, beef and corn state, has direct stakes in nearly every title of the bill, from reference prices for grain producers to conservation dollars for rural counties. All three Kansas Republicans — Reps. Tracey Mann, Derek Schmidt and Ron Estes — voted with the majority to adopt the 216-210 rule, while Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids voted against it along with the rest of the minority. The package also carries provisions extending FISA surveillance authority and funding for immigration enforcement, which leaders now plan to take up before returning to agriculture policy.

Politico · The Hill · DTN

E15 Splits From Farm Bill, Heads to Solo Vote

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on Wednesday pulled year-round E15 sales out of the 2026 Farm Bill and signaled a separate House floor vote on the ethanol measure in the coming days. The Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, sponsored by Rep. Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn., would let gasoline blended with up to 15% ethanol be sold year-round by extending the same 1-pound Reid vapor pressure waiver currently allowed for E10. Under existing law, E15 generally cannot be sold during the June 1 to Sept. 15 summer driving season because of Clean Air Act volatility limits, leaving the EPA to issue temporary emergency waivers each year. House Republicans split over the measure after the Congressional Budget Office said it could cost in the single-digit billions and after small-refinery interests pushed back on changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard's hardship exemption program. Kansas has direct stakes in the outcome: the state ranks among the top corn and ethanol producers in the country, and Gov. Laura Kelly on April 27 signed SB 82, which creates a 5-cent-per-gallon tax credit for retailers selling E15 or higher ethanol blends. If approved, the federal change would clear the way for the year-round retail sales that the new state credit is built to encourage.

Ethanol Producer Magazine

K-State Student Dies After Fraternity Window Fall

MANHATTAN, Kan. — A 19-year-old Kansas State University student died after falling from a second-story window of his fraternity house over the weekend. Jack Fleischaker fell from the Sigma Chi fraternity around 3:15 a.m. Saturday, suffered head injuries and was taken to Stormont Vail Health in Topeka, where he later died, according to a source close to the family cited by the Manhattan Mercury. The Riley County Police Department said the incident is under investigation, including whether alcohol was involved. K-State said it has offered support to the family and to fraternity members and is reviewing the available information to determine the next steps under university policy. Fleischaker was a finance major from Overland Park and a Blue Valley Northwest High School graduate who served on the Sigma Chi leadership team, and his family chose to donate his organs. He is survived by his parents and twin sister.

KAKE · Manhattan Mercury

Sedgwick Planners Defer 1,500-Acre Solar Decision

WICHITA, Kan. — The Metropolitan Area Planning Commission deferred a decision Wednesday on an almost 1,500-acre solar project proposed for southwest of Wichita, scheduling further consideration for June 11. Mission Clean Energy is seeking approval to install 600,000 solar panels and a battery storage system on what is now farmland, with construction projected to begin in roughly two years if approved. Project representative Ethan Frazier told commissioners the development would generate $79 million to $129 million in tax revenue over a lifespan of more than 40 years and would use less than 0.3% of available farmland in Sedgwick County. Dozens spoke during the four-hour hearing, with most opposing the project on grounds of environmental impact and property values while supporters described the proposal as progress for the area. The Sedgwick County Commission placed a one-year moratorium on new battery energy storage applications March 11, but Mission's filing predates the moratorium, as does a separate company's application that is due for a hearing in mid-to-late May. Commission staff said power from the site would be sold to Evergy because the lease as drafted bars direct sales to private buyers.

KAKE

Wichita Biomedical Campus Nears Phase One Finish

WICHITA, Kan. — Construction of the $300 million Wichita Biomedical Campus is approaching completion on its eight-story, 471,000-square-foot first phase, with crews installing terracotta cladding on the exterior and drywall, paint and tile inside. The downtown facility at Broadway and William streets is a partnership among Wichita State University, WSU Tech and the University of Kansas, designed to combine WSU's College of Health Professions and Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, WSU Tech's health care programs, and the Wichita campuses of KU's School of Medicine and School of Pharmacy under one roof. Phase one accounts for $222 million of the total cost and is on track to be substantially complete by the end of 2026, with staff moving in during spring 2027 and classes set to begin that year. The building is designed to accommodate roughly 3,000 students and 200 faculty and staff, with a fifth-floor shared simulation center that includes patient exam rooms and movable-wall simulation suites. State funding has totaled about $205 million to date, including $190 million from the Kansas Legislature and $15 million from the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services through federal pandemic relief. The Kansas Board of Regents has also approved a Wichita State request for a $5 million feasibility study on a possible state dental school as a future Phase II addition.

KSN

Sources

1. Politico / The Hill / DTN
2. Ethanol Producer Magazine
3. KAKE
4. KAKE
5. KSN

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