USPS audit shows deficiencies in KC metro operations

Posted on by Bryan Richardson

A recent United States Postal Service audit revealed that the Kansas City metro’s delivery operations are inefficient, including at two Kansas locations.

The postal service’s Office of Inspector General performed audits at the Kansas City Processing and Distribution Center and delivery units in Mission; Kansas City, Kansas; and Kansas City, Missouri, during the week of May 13.

Kansas’ offices — Robert L. Roberts Station (Kansas City) and Shawnee Mission Post Office (Mission) — had deficiencies in all five areas of review: delayed mail, package scanning, arrow keys, carrier timekeeping and property conditions, according to the audit.

Auditors said they selected the locations because of concerns raised by U.S. Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo.

The audit reaffirmed the persistent mail delivery problems, Marshall said in a news release Monday. He said Kansans deserve “consistent and reliable” services.

“I hope the USPS will take these findings and implement real solutions to these problems. Until this is addressed, our team will continue to sound the alarm,” Marshall said. “We know the problems now, we need solutions.”

The distribution center in Kansas City, Missouri, had 103,273 outbound trips from April 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024.

About 53.7% of those trips were late (28,026), canceled (24,782) or extra (2,665).

Management at the Kansas post offices said the delays from the distribution center affected the offices’ operations, resulting in late mail delivery on their end.

The audit also found that the post offices didn’t properly manage their arrow keys used to open various mailbox types, which auditors said increases the risk of mail theft.

At the Kansas City office, auditors said 12 of the 47 keys at the unit weren’t on the list and eight of the 43 keys couldn’t be located.

At the Mission office, auditors said nine of the 50 keys were not on the list and seven of the 48 keys on the list could not be located.

Post office administrators for the Kansas City metro agreed with the audit’s findings.

Marshall said a second report, with details on solutions to address the issues, would come in mid-September.

Bryan Richardson is the managing editor at State Affairs Pro Kansas/Hawver’s Capitol Report. Reach him at [email protected] or on X @RichInNews.

Indiana budget future cloudy with slow tax growth, Medicaid cost jump

Posted on by Tom Davies

Slow growth in tax collections over the past year and a big jump in Medicaid expenses took a bite out of Indiana’s state government surplus.

Indiana’s fiscal year report released Tuesday showed the state ended June 30 with $2.55 billion in cash reserves — a figure down by $375 million, or 13%, from a year ago.

The overall surplus is expected to shrink by about $200 million more in the coming year.

That could make it difficult for the Legislature to give significant funding increases to schools and other programs when a new two-year state budget is debated in 2025 with a new governor in office.

State Office of Management and Budget Director Cris Johnston said he believed prudent budgeting by the Legislature has left the state with sufficient surpluses.

“These reserves, which are still at the 10% to 12% range, I think, give us the confidence that we’ll still be able to deliver on services,” said Johnston, who is Gov. Eric Holcomb’s top fiscal adviser. “We’ve been waiting for this severe recession for the last couple of years and it hasn’t really happened. So we’ll see what happens. People are looking a lot at interest rates and consumer spending. I’m confident going into the next budget session and I think we’ve got all the tools set up to continue that fiscal discipline.”

Possible warning signs ahead

The three main sources of state revenue — sales, individual income and corporate income taxes — grew less than 1% from the previous year and came in about 3% less than the projections that legislators used in drafting the current state budget in 2023.

Continue reading “Indiana budget future cloudy with slow tax growth, Medicaid cost jump”

Statehouse Briefs: Flags at half-staff to honor late Speaker Barkis

Posted on by Brett Stover

Flags at state facilities will be lowered to half-staff to honor late Speaker Marvin Barkis, Gov. Laura Kelly ordered Tuesday.

Kelly ordered the flags lowered from now until sundown the day Barkis is buried. The former representative’s obituary does not include a funeral date, but a celebration of life is scheduled for Oct. 11 in Paola.

Barkis died July 19 at the age of 81. He served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1978 until 1993.

During the last two years of his tenure, Barkis led the chamber as Kansas’ last Democratic speaker of the House. He was one of only three members of his party to hold the position.

In a statement, the governor offered her condolences to Barkis’ family and praised his work on school and family issues.

“His contributions to our state will not be forgotten,” Kelly said.

$1.3M in art grants announced

Nearly $1.3 million in Kansas Arts Commission grants was awarded Tuesday to 108 recipients in 42 counties.

Lt. Gov. David Toland, who also serves as secretary of commerce, announced the awards Tuesday.

“It is important for the state to engage, connect and support the abundant creativity that can be found throughout Kansas,” he said in a news release.

Funding for the art grants comes from the Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. According to the release, the money will support art projects including museums, murals, music and more.

The 108 grants came in four categories:

  • Arts Everywhere: Programs, exhibitions and other arts and cultural projects
  • General Operating Support: Funding an arts organization’s budget
  • Visiting Artists: Bringing professional artists to Kansas audiences
  • Public Art and Murals: Public installations that highlight local communities

As of 2022, arts and cultural production made up 2.2% of the state’s gross domestic product, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The industry contributes more than 41,000 jobs.

Brett Stover is a Statehouse reporter at State Affairs Pro Kansas/Hawver’s Capitol Report. Reach him at [email protected] or on X @BrettStoverKS.

Tennessee government ‘citizen-facing’ systems back to near normal after national meltdown

Posted on by Andy Sher

Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration officials say nearly all of the state’s “citizen-facing” systems are up and running following last weekend’s national meltdown caused by a defective software update sent by global cybersecurity leader CloudStrike to Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

“At this point, we can confirm that 99% of our citizen-facing systems were up by the end of the weekend,” department spokeswoman Gina Long said.

Finance Commissioner Jim Bryson said CrowdStrike had a “major impact” on the state along with companies across the country. 

“We worked all through the weekend to get our servers and our individual workstations up,” Bryson said as he left a State Building Commission subcommittee meeting with state Treasurer David Lillard and Comptroller Jason Mumpower on Monday.

“We’re making a lot of progress on it. We still have a lot to do,” he said. “But we’re working on it very hard and we have a lot of people dedicated to it.”

Bryson also said CloudStrike and Microsoft have worked with the state to “help us develop ways to get people up faster.” It’s been a “very manual process,” he added.

Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security spokesman Wes Moster said Driver Services Centers had “sporadic” impacts. By Monday all centers were operating normally, he said.

Treasurer Lillard quipped that “it hasn’t affected our operations except to the extent we’ve had some screens show the ‘blue screen of death.’” But he said his IT team worked through everything with the help of F&A’s Strategic Technology Solutions office. Lillard described it as a “minor irritation the other day, but that’s all.”

“Not a disaster,” the treasurer added.

“And we haven’t gotten anybody stuck in other cities that can’t get home that I know of,” Lillard said, alluding to fellow Republicans who were hit by the outage as they sought to leave Sunday from the Republican National Convention. “We’re fortunate, just lucky is what we are.”

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Ooltewah, was said to have shelled out $2,900 for cab fare to ferry himself and others from Milwaukee back to Southeast Tennessee.

Delta, American, United and Allegiant airlines were affected by the glitch. Southwest Airlines was not.

Mumpower said his office uses different software, so the meltdown didn’t affect his staffers.

“We for audit purposes have for years been on a different system than other state agencies,” he said.

But the comptroller is not exactly lording over other agencies’ woes.

“It’ll be us with the way this stuff goes,” he said. “Just not this time.”

Indiana DNC delegation endorses Harris

Posted on by Jarred Meeks

Indiana’s Democratic National Convention delegation on Monday unanimously voted to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential candidacy, the state party said.

Indiana’s 88 delegates, originally pledged to President Joe Biden, are unbound to any specific candidate after he announced Sunday he was leaving the race.

Their endorsement comes as Democrats across the country have moved to support Harris in the last two days.

After receiving Biden’s endorsement, Harris, the presumed front-runner for the party’s nomination, has since collected endorsements from other prominent party members, including U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The Associated Press reported Monday that Harris has secured enough delegates’ support to win her party’s nomination.

The delegation supported Harris “so that she can continue the legacy of unprecedented job growth, historically low unemployment, and fighting for reproductive freedom in all 50 states,” Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl said in a news release.

The party also announced Monday that former U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly will serve as the state’s delegation chair at the convention, which is scheduled for Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.

Contact Jarred Meeks on X @jarredsmeeks or email him at [email protected].

 Kamala Harris’ presidential bid reinvigorates Georgia Democrats

Posted on by Tammy Joyner

Georgia Democrats have gained new momentum heading into the November election, propelled by President Joe Biden’s decision to bow out of his reelection bid and hand the reins to Vice President Kamala Harris.

The historic decision, announced Sunday, is expected to prove pivotal in the national and state political arenas and breathe new life and purpose into statewide elections in Georgia, political observers and legislators said. 

By Monday afternoon, the Georgia Senate Democrats publicly endorsed Harris on X. She also received endorsements from over half the national Democratic delegates she needs to secure her party’s nomination.

Harris has visited Georgia at least four times this year stumping for Biden, urging Georgians to “get the word out” about the White House economic agenda and get out “into the streets.”

“This shakes it up,” University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock told State Affairs about Harris’ entry into the presidential race.

Josh McKoon, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, said Harris has a “very similar campaign” to Biden’s. 

“Obviously she owns the record that has been compiled [by the Biden administration] over the last three and a half years,” McKoon told State Affairs. “I don’t see much of a difference, other than I’m sure we’ll be having an honest conversation about her record of putting young Black men in prison for nonviolent drug offenses as a prosecutor in California, and contrasting that with President Trump’s championing the First Step Act to give people shorter sentences so they can rebuild their lives and be fully rehabilitated and become productive members of society. Other than that, I don’t see a really big change in terms of what the issues are that we’ll be talking about and how we’ll be going about turning out our voters.”

Continue reading ” Kamala Harris’ presidential bid reinvigorates Georgia Democrats”

Wake Up Call for Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff
Arizona’s political community reacts to President Biden dropping out of race Capitol Media Services The Sunday announcement by Joe Biden that he was not running for reelection and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris produced a flurry of reaction on social media from Arizona politicians, elected officials and groups. Joe Biden has dropped out. Here’s what it means for Arizona ballots. AZ Mirror President Joe Biden has dropped out of the 2024 race but what does that mean for Arizona’s November ballot?  Sen. Kelly, delegates, ballot deadlines: 4 Arizona election questions answered now that Biden has dropped out AZ Luminaria resident Joe Biden’s announcement July 21 of his decision to drop out of the U.S. presidential race has prompted a flurry of concerns and questions in Arizona, including how the Democratic National Convention will work, who will become the party’s nominee, and who will be that nominee’s choice for vice president.  Arizona Democratic Party officially pledges support to Harris; delegates still up in the air AZ Family The Arizona Democratic Party has pledged its support to Kamala Harris as the party continues to unify around the presumptive nominee. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs endorses Kamala Harris Fox 10 Phoenix A day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs put her support behind the vice president. Arizona Tax Court Must Consider Contract in Power Plant Tax Case Bloomberg A tax court must consider whether a power-purchase agreement affects the value of a plant because the agreement could generate a potentially relevant source of income, the Arizona Supreme Court said Monday. Harris has some good VP choices. The best one is Mark Kelly The Washington Post As the Democratic Party coalesces around Vice President Harris to be its nominee following President Biden’s withdrawal from the race on Sunday, attention is quickly turning to the next matter at hand: Who should she pick for a running mate? There's a deep bench of Democrats to replace Sen. Mark Kelly if he becomes VP Arizona Republic For the first time in a while, Arizona Democrats have a solid pool of leaders to replace U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly — if need be Sen. Justine Wadsack is popped for doing 71 in a 35 zone. Naturally, she sees a conspiracy Arizona Republic The most eye-popping part of the latest news about Sen. Justine Wadsack, alleged criminal speeder, is not the way she tried to use her status as a state senator to wiggle out of a traffic ticket. The reason to tap Mark Kelly for VP that no one's talking about Arizona Republic We forget sometimes that politicians are people, and in doing so, we misjudge their ability to govern because we base our support on the politics instead of the person.

GOP Registry member: AG’s reluctance to conduct prompt investigations ‘reprehensible’

Posted on by Erik Schelzig

Tennessee Registry of Election Finance members on Tuesday bristled at a letter from state Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office pushing back against members’ complaints that its investigations were taking too long.

A 2023 state law gave the Registry the option of referring complaints to the attorney general’s office. But Deputy AG Andrew Coulam noted in the letter that the law did not include any new funding to conduct probes. 

“As you know, the AG’s Office is not an investigative agency — it is a law firm with only three investigators who specialize in consumer and Medicaid fraud investigations in support of the Office’s enforcement of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act and Tennessee Medicaid False Claims Act,” he wrote. “This Office pursues excellence in all its work, and with shared and finite resources is certainly the case with our investigators — we may sometimes have to sacrifice speed for a job well done.”

The AG tries to complete Registry requests within 90 days, but sometimes investigations take longer, Coulam wrote.

“If the Registry is not satisfied with this timeline, please keep in mind that its referrals to this Office are optional, not mandatory,” he said.

Registry members weren’t pleased with the missive.

“I’m a little distraught with the attorney general’s office not just say no, but you’re not important,” said Republican member Tom Lawless.. “And the things you do involving electoral integrity and transparency aren’t important enough to the people of Tennessee. I find that repugnant. It’s reprehensible.”

Registry Chair Hank Fincher, a Democrat, said understands that Skrmetti’s office is a law firm that has to manage its resources. But he said the letter “strikes the wrong tone.”.

“It was unnecessary and really did seem like an abdication of responsibility that’s not warranted by statute or even good policy,” Fincher said.

David Golden, a Republican panel member, said it wasn’t the best use of staff time to draft a formal response to the letter from the attorney general’s office. But he said it will become incumbent on the Registry to issue more of its own show-cause hearings and subpoenas.

“We are stuck with those limited tools we have, “ Golden said. “I feel bad in advance for the people who are going to get asked to come talk to us who might not have to otherwise.” 

“There’s an advantage to tying things up quickly, particularly during election season,” he said. “I’m not sure that’s going to happen going forward.”

Kansas Daily News Wire July 23, 2024

Posted on by State Affairs

Welcome to the Kansas Daily News Wire, your daily roundup of top state and political stories from newsrooms across Kansas. — Hawver’s Capitol Report/State Affairs

STATE

‘We are all united’: Kansas Democratic delegates back Harris: Kansas’ delegates to the Democratic National Convention are backing Vice President Kamala Harris after a Monday meeting. That pledge from the state’s 39 Democratic delegates, along with thousands more from delegates nationwide, gives Harris enough support to win the nomination on the first ballot when the party holds its convention in Chicago. (Stover, State Affairs)

Miss Kansas called out her abuser in public. Her campaign against domestic violence is going viral: A newly posted video of Miss Kansas calling out her domestic violence abuser from the stage the night she was crowned is whipping up a maelstrom of support on social media. (Associated Press)

Kelly endorses Harris as Kansas reacts to Biden’s decision to drop out: Gov. Laura Kelly joined a growing list of Democratic leaders endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as Kansas reacts to President Joe Biden’s decision to leave the race. (Stover, Resnick, State Affairs)

More than 4,000 Wichita voters told their polling site is changing for Aug. 6 primary: Approximately 4,100 Wichita voters who usually cast their ballots at Heart of Christ Church are being notified of a temporary change that assigns them instead to vote at Linwood Recreation Center for the Aug. 6 primary. (The Wichita Eagle)

Statehouse Briefs: Kelly attends global aviation summit near London: Gov. Laura Kelly on Monday attended the first day of a weeklong global aviation summit in England. (Resnick, State Affairs)

LOCAL

Southwest Shawnee County car crash kills Topeka Metro board member Chance Lucas: Chance M. Lucas, 28, of Topeka, died in a crash discovered early Sunday morning when the car he was driving struck a tree near S.W. 33rd and Auburn Road, Shawnee County Sheriff Brian C. Hill announced Monday. (Topeka Capital-Journal)

In first year of open enrollment, Olathe accepts 70+ out-of-district transfers: The Olathe School District has approved 72 out-of-district transfer applications for the upcoming school year. (Johnson County Post)

Topeka man federally charged with embezzlement: 39-year-old Topekan Matthew Waits made an initial appearance Monday before a judge after a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging him with financial fraud. Waits is charged with one count of thefts concerning a program receiving federal funds. (KAKE)

Van Go’s young artists to unveil custom benches at annual ceremony: Young artists in Lawrence arts organization Van Go will soon unveil 21 custom benches they designed and painted. (The Lawrence Times)

City of Topeka opens community survey for input on police chief selection: The City of Topeka is also looking for your input on the selection of a new police chief. (WIBW) 

FIRST LOOK: Poll shows public support for constitutional convention

Posted on by Jeremy Alford

It ain’t over till it’s over.

That’s the war cry from the Pelican Institute, which will unveil a new poll in a press release today showing broad public support for a constitutional convention in the coming weeks and a proposed, revamped Louisiana charter on the fall ballot.

Conducted by Illinois-based Cor Strategies July 16-19, the survey found that “nearly 60 percent of Louisianans are in favor of a constitutional convention to address the state’s outdated and convoluted constitution… (with) support among Republicans (75 percent) and considerable backing from Independents (54 percent).”

With its poll, Pelican hopes to offer a three-point argument in favor of a constitutional convention:

1.) The presidential election is an ideal time for voters to ratify or reject a new constitution. A high turnout ensures “broad participation and legitimacy.”

2.) Streamlining the Louisiana Constitution ahead of the 2025 fiscal session would enable the Legislature to “debate and implement optimal tax and budget policies without the constraints of the current document.”

3.) Voters get the final word.

“The poll speaks for itself,” said Pelican Institute CEO Daniel Erspamer. “Louisianans show broad support for a constitutional convention, and reform is popular among voters. This move towards a simpler constitution promises a roadmap for a booming economy, enhanced job opportunities and a safeguarded future for our children. It’s time for Louisiana’s ‘Comeback Story,’ defined by the people, for the people.” 

Businessman and conservative donor Lane Grigsby recently asked lawmakers to hold a far-reaching constitutional convention, after the Senate blocked such a move during this year’s regular session. Grigsby included specific examples of changes in his appeal, including a plan to move parts of the Constitution into statute to give the Legislature more financial flexibility.

Revenue Secretary Richard Nelson, meanwhile, wants a special session to scrutinize Article VII, which covers finance and taxation issues, and nothing else. Nelson envisions a two-week session in August, preceded by committee hearings, and followed by a public vote on an amendment package.

Time, however, is not on the side of architects. According to Secretary of State Nancy Landry, constitutional revisions must reach her desk by Aug. 23 if lawmakers want the proposals to appear on the Nov. 5 presidential ballot.

Based on Pelican’s poll, about 45 percent of respondents were familiar with the ongoing conversations in Baton Rouge about constitutional reforms.

The poll and its findings, along with a press release, will be made public by the Pelican Institute later this morning.

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