Month: October 2017

by Jim McLean, Kansas News Service

A female former legislative staff member is charging that sexual harassment is widespread at the Kansas Statehouse.

Abbie Hodgson, who served as chief of staff to House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs, was one of several women quoted in an article about sexual harassment in Statehouses across the country published Wednesday by The Hill, a Washington, D.C., publication that covers government and politics.

In an interview Wednesday with the Kansas News Service, Hodgson said sexual harassment was “rampant” during her almost three years working in the minority leader’s office. It ranged from inappropriate comments and touching to explicit demands for sex, she said.

“It rose to a level which I found shocking both in terms of the number of individuals who were perpetrators and how often it occurred,” Hodgson said.

Hodgson, who left her Statehouse job in 2016 and now works for a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization, said she also was “shocked” to learn that some lawmakers routinely had interns, many of them underage and female, chauffer them to after-hours social events.

“I can’t tell you how incensed I was when I found out that legislators were doing that,” she said. “This is supposed to be an educational opportunity for these young women and young men, and the fact that legislators were taking advantage of them and asking them to do that alarmed me, particularly given the predatory nature of the legislators who did it.”

Burroughs told The Hill that as soon as he learned of the practice he stopped it.

“Allegations were brought to our attention over the years, yes,” Burroughs said. “Although there’s no formal procedures when allegations of that type come forward, these are issues I take very seriously.”

But Hodgson said Burroughs didn’t do enough.

“I didn’t find his responses to be satisfactory at the time and I don’t find them to be satisfactory now,” she said. “He was in a position of leadership. And I think he had an obligation to the staff, to the interns and other legislators to do more than to simply tell someone to ‘knock it off.’”

Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.

See more at http://kcur.org/post/sexual-harassment-rampant-kansas-statehouse-according-former-staffer.

Kansas Lottery games are changing this weekend.

The changes include a new version of Mega Millions launched after the Friday, Oct. 27, drawing, in which the ticket price will increase to $2, and the jackpots will be bigger; and the end of the Hot Lotto game after the Oct. 28 drawing.

According to a news release from the Kansas Lottery, Mega Millions’ first draw under the new program will be Oct. 31. There will be larger starting jackpots, with a minimum of $40 million. Currently the minimum is $15 million. There will also be higher average jackpots with faster rolls; better odds for the $1 million prize; and a $3 option for two plays to win the jackpot only, according to the Kansas Lottery.

The last drawing for Hot Lotto, which is being eliminated, is Saturday, Oct. 28, according to the lottery news release. Players will have 365 days from the date of a Hot Lotto drawing to claim prizes or submit winning and non-winning tickets in the Kansas Lottery PlayOn Players Loyalty program.

If the $12.16 million Hot Lotto jackpot is not hit Saturday, the money will roll into the starting jackpot of the new Lotto America game, according to the lottery news release. The new Lotto America, a $1 game, will have a $15 million annuity jackpot and will start Nov. 12.

by Celia Llopis-Jepsen, Kansas News Service

A U.S. Senate committee has given the green light for the full chamber to proceed with a vote on Gov. Sam Brownback’s confirmation to an ambassador-at-large position.

Approval by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the position relating to international religious freedom was the first hurdle after President Donald Trump picked Brownback for the role in July.

A spokesperson for the committee said the vote was 11-10 along party lines, with Republican members approving and Democrats opposed.

“I appreciate the work and support of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and thank them for voting on my nomination favorably,” Brownback said Thursday morning on Twitter.

A spokeswoman for the governor said his office does not know when the full Senate will vote on his confirmation. She said the governor did not have a comment on the development beyond his Twitter post.

If confirmed, Brownback will head the Office of International Religious Freedom within the State Department and Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer will become Kansas governor.

U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, on Thursday praised the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s vote.

“I am pleased the Foreign Relations Committee has approved Senator Brownback’s nomination,” Roberts said in an email via his spokeswoman, “and I urge my colleagues not to delay his confirmation by the full Senate so he may get to work fighting religious persecution around the world.”

At a news conference after his nomination was announced in July, the governor expressed deep concern about religious persecution, saying it struck him that he had taken communion earlier that day, but not everyone could do so as easily.

“Something that is simple and done by millions of Americans every day,” he said, “but that if other people do it in different parts of the world, they risk their lives.”

Asked at the time whether he had any concerns about the Trump administration’s willingness to pursue fair treatment around the world for non-Christians, Brownback said he did not.

“I know they’re interested in the issues of religious liberty and religious freedom,” he said of the Trump administration. “That’s been clearly communicated, and it’s for all faiths.”

The Trump administration has faced legal challenges and allegations of discrimination over a ban on travel from several predominantly Muslim countries.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.

See more at http://kcur.org/post/brownback-s-nomination-ambassador-advances-us-senate.