In the News
As we gather this Fourth of July with friends and family, we might celebrate with fireworks, parades and burgers — myself included — but what we're really celebrating are our American values. This is a nation of innovators, of doers and makers, and it has been since the first Independence Day. But over the last few decades, we've lost jobs — lost entire industries — overseas. That became unavoidably clear as the pandemic upended the global economy and tangled supply chains.
The House of Representatives approved a firearm and mental health bill hatched in the Senate intended to reduce the growing number of mass shootings in the country.
The bill passed the House with mainly Democratic support. The bill passed by a 234-193 margin with 14 Republicans joining all 220 Democrats in passage.
Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, "proudly" voted to pass the legislation with hopes it will "protect Kansas children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across the country."
Representative Sharice Davids released the following statement after the House Natural Resources Committee advanced her bipartisan bill, H.R. 5444 the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, through markup:
About $20 million in federal funds is headed to 17 Kansas institutions to research how the Sunflower State's infrastructure can better support residents before and after a natural disaster.
On Tuesday, June 14, U.S. Congresswoman Sharice Davids (D-KS) says the U.S. National Science Foundation awarded $20 million to support a new 5-year statewide initiative to ensure Kansas' infrastructure can support all communities before and after a disaster.
On Monday June 13, Representative Sharice Davids was recommended to serve on the House Agriculture Committee by the House Democratic Steering & Policy Committee.
She is also Vice Chair of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and on the Small Business Committee, chairing the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has allocated $23.9 million in federal funds for the long-anticipated Upper Turkey Creek levee project, a major step in combating flooding issues that have bedeviled the city and downtown Merriam businesses for decades.
Why it matters: The Army Corps funding is part of a broader effort to remove downtown Merriam — including residences and businesses — from the floodplain.
More federal funding has been secured to help lift downtown Merriam out of a floodplain.
Monday, Kansas 3rd Congressional District Rep. Sharice Davids announced $23.9 million will be allocated to the Upper Turkey Creek Flood Mitigation project.
"Certainty, safety, and opportunity: that's what this project signifies. And with this new investment from the bipartisan infrastructure law, we will be able to take action on plans to lift downtown Merriam out of the floodplain and protect hundreds of homes and businesses from flooding," Davids said.
Kansans who have been victims of pandemic relief-related fraud, including some Johnson Countians, may soon have a longer window in which to potentially seek justice.
What happened: On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills co-sponsored by Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids that extend the statute of limitations on two particular types of pandemic-era fraud cases.
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has called on the U.S. Senate to pass a bill proposed by Senator Jerry Moran to better care for veterans exposed to deadly toxins during their military service.