In the News
There's a lot going on in Washington. We speak with Kansas Congresswoman Sharice Davids about the role she's playing in stories making the biggest headlines.
President Joe Biden signed a $1.7 trillion spending package into law last month — and millions of it are headed to Johnson County.
The federal funding includes $14.2 million in requests from Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids and $43 million for the University of Kansas Cancer Center secured by Sen. Jerry Moran.
Here's a look at the projects getting federal funding in 2023:
KU Medical Center: $10 million
The Federal Communications Commission's state-by-state map of broadband availability didn't capture the potential of 1 million Kansans living in regions without adequate high-speed service, University of Kansas researchers said.
Change is needed to avoid another airline meltdown that impacted millions of people over Christmas weekend, according to one group of lawmakers.
Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids and other members of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee sent a letter asking the Department of Transportation to make sure Southwest Airlines is held accountable for the issues it caused.
The U.S. House is set to convene at noon today for a third day of voting to try and select a Speaker for the 118th Congress.
Rep. Sharice Davids, who represents Johnson County, voiced frustration Wednesday with the stalled start.
"I am in Congress to get things done for the people of Kansas, but unfortunately that work has been delayed by the new Republican majority's failure to choose a leader," Davids said in a statement Wednesday.
Kansas' congressional delegation was split in their approach to a $1.7 trillion spending package signed into law by President Joe Biden, with some supporting the bill while others criticized it as wasteful government spending.
The measure passed the U.S. House on Friday, just one day after the U.S. Senate gave the bill its stamp of approval. The effort came shortly before the current funding structure was set to expire on Dec. 23, avoiding a government shutdown.
Access to health care for Native Americans and Alaska Natives will be bolstered with funding included in a massive government spending bill awaiting President Joe Biden's signature.
The U.S. House passed the measure Friday, avoiding a government shutdown and providing more certainty for a federal agency that delivers health care to more than 2.5 million people.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., today announced five federal grants for Wyandotte County projects.
They were among 14 grants totaling $31.2 million in the 3rd District.
Each of the Davids-requested projects were submitted in tandem with local officials and selected for their potential to improve health and safety in the community, tackle climate change, and bring economic opportunity to the 3rd District, according to Rep. Davids' office. Appropriations requests are subject to strict transparency and accountability rules.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids celebrated adoption of federal legislation strengthening legal protection for same-sex and interracial marriages that was opposed by the five Republicans in the Kansas congressional delegation.
Davids, who serves the predominantly urban 3rd District, said the bipartisan measure sent to President Joe Biden would "enshrine marriage equality" in federal law by repealing the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as the exclusive union between a man and woman.
Congress has sent a bill protecting gay and interracial marriage to President Joe Biden, and only one Kansan voted for it.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Roeland Park, was the only member of the Kansas congressional delegation to vote for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. Davids was one of many co-sponsors of the legislation.
She and other supporters of the legislation said they were inspired by to act after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson that overturned federal abortion protections in Roe v. Wade.