THE TRUTH REPORT
A Weekly Rundown of Important Activity in Topeka, from a Principled Perspective
Week Three - February 4, 2020
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government.
– Thomas Jefferson
FACTS OF THE MATTER
The Facts of the Matter is a feature in The Truth Report each week, highlighting important information, some of which is not always reported or emphasized in the mainstream press:
  • The Value Them Both Amendment Does NOT Ban Abortion. Some on the left contend that the Value Them Both Amendment bans abortion. It does not. It simply returns the laws in Kansas to where they were before the extreme Hodes ruling, which threatens every pro-life law in the state ever passed.
  • Medicaid Expansion Pushes Tens of Thousands Off Private Insurance. Expanding Medicaid would cause approximately 55,000 Kansans who currently purchase their own insurance through the private market to be automatically shifted to Medicaid according to the Kansas Health Institute.
  • Kansas Has 22 Years of Lifesaving Limits on Abortion. As President Susan Wagle mentioned in her speech carrying the Value Them Both Amendment, Kansas has been adopting lifesaving limits on abortion dating back to 1997. Kansans for Life has a helpful timeline on the subject, which you can view by clicking here.
NEWS & VIEWS
News & Views is a weekly collection of relevant news items and editorials regarding what's going on in Topeka and around the State of Kansas.
Medicaid Expansion Won’t Save Rural Hospitals
The Sentinel

Key Excerpt:
Preventing rural hospitals from closing is one of the main arguments legislators face in the less-populated areas of Kansas, but a study done for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment disproves that theory. Most of the money would go to large, urban hospitals; many rural hospitals would receive less than $1 million, including a long list that would receive less than $250,000.
Truth Report Archive
Check out past Truth Reports in the Truth Report Archive by clicking here.
Transparency Center: Follow the Kansas Legislature
You can view video streaming of both chambers via the Kansas Legislature YouTube page. In addition, many committees are now audio streamed. Finally, the Kansas Legislature website remains a great resource. Here are the relevant links:


YouTube Streaming: http://bit.ly/2CZj9O0


Spending: Ever curious about how your tax dollars are spent, particularly on items like government salaries? Then look no further than KS OpenGov, a large database of hundreds of reports at the state, city, and school district level. 

Get there by clicking here:  http://www.kansasopengov.org/kog/databank
ObamaCare Medicaid Expansion Hearings Continue
This week, the Senate Public Health & Welfare Committee heard testimony from those opposed to Medicaid Expansion, and concluded the initial round of hearings on Thursday. Opponents ranged from health care expert Beverly Gossage to the Kansas Chamber to Americans for Prosperity to a host of grassroots groups from Johnson County.

The Kansas Truth Caucus has created a one-stop-shop for information regarding the effort to stop ObamaCare/Medicaid Expansion in Kansas. It contains articles and studies regarding the issue that can help correct misleading information: You can visit it by clicking here . 
Value Them Both: Constitutional Amendment Passes Kansas Senate 28-12
After several hours of debate and fending off amendments (mostly from Democrats), the Kansas Senate passed the Value Them Both Amendment by a vote of 28-12. Susan Wagle carried the bill and was assisted by Senator Eric Rucker in masterfully answering both the legal and philosophical questions regarding the amendment.

More about the “Value Them Both” effort to pass a Constitutional Amendment can be found here: www.kansasamendment.com.

Here are some basic facts about the Value Them Both Amendment:

  • The Value Them Both Constitutional Amendment was introduced by a coalition of several pro-life organizations including the Family Policy Alliance of Kansas, the Kansas Catholic Conference, Concerned Women for America of Kansas and Kansans for Life.
  • Value Them Both was crafted to restore to the people of Kansas, through their elected officials, the ability to halt what could soon be an unlimited abortion industry. • Value Them Both lets the people regulate abortion through their elected officials. It is not a ban.
  • Because of the 2019 Kansas Supreme Court ruling, broadly supported regulations could be struck down - such as restrictions on late-term abortion, the prohibition of taxpayer-funded abortion, parental notification requirements, and clinic safety standards.
  • Unlimited and unregulated abortion hurt women and babies.
  • Value Them Both respects laws already adopted by Kansans such as a ban on late-term dismemberment abortions and informed consent. Every woman has a right to basic health and safety standards.

The Kansas Truth Caucus has launched a resource on the VTB amendment which you can view by clicking here.
Majority Leader Dan Hawkins Talks with Beverly Gossage about Health Care Issues 
Nationally renowned health care policy expert Beverly Gossage, a well-known advocate for free market health care reform, sat down with Majority Leader Dan Hawkins in a series of videos dealing with several subjects related to health policy. They are listed and linked below:


We will keep these as a consistent part of the Truth Report so you can refer to them in the future!  
Wallet Watch
From time to time, the Truth Report will have a “Wallet Watch”, where we examine efforts to remove money from the wallets of hard-working Kansans. 

According to the Foundation for Government Accountability, “the Medicaid Pac-Man is devouring state budgets.” The program has ballooned in size, and 40% are able-bodied adults. This is resulting in a strain on state budgets, which can lead to tax increases down the road as both the federal government and states must step up to meet the burden. You can read about this “Pac Man’ effect by clicking here.