In the News
Without federal aid from the American Rescue Plan, some Overland Park business owners said they wouldn't have made it through the past year.
"We shut down completely for about a month at the beginning of the pandemic, and that federal aid helped us deal with outstanding bills and be able to bring staff back," Elaine Van Buskirk and Jan Knobel, co-owners of The Upper Crust, said in a news release. "Now, we're back to baking and serving the community we love full-time."
Federal money from a $715 billion infrastructure bill approved by the U.S. House Thursday could make the project to expand U.S. Highway 69 in Overland Park richer, if the measure survives an eventual Senate conference.
The prospective $15 million injection —plus a state match — is targeted specifically at the 167th Street interchange.
The House vote came a week after the Overland Park City County voted to approve adding express toll lanes on U.S. 69 as the preferred way to deal with growing congestion on what has become Kansas's busiest highway.
A new interchange in Johnson County and electric buses for Kansas City are in the new infrastructure bill being considered by the House Wednesday.
Area lawmakers are in important positions to decide the fate of the bill. This is money for roads, bridges and promoting climate change. U.S. Rep. Sam Graves is the top Republican on the House Infrastructure Committee and U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat, is the vice chair.
"I think what we're seeing, in my view, is some real momentum getting built up," Davids said.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Wednesday launched public-service announcements about COVID-19, reflecting officials' fears that people who travel over the Fourth of July holiday will return with the fast-spreading delta variant.
Rep. Davids joined Alex Witt on Sunday, June 27 to speak on the new bipartisan infrastructure framework, the American Families Plan, the Child Tax Credit, the January 6th House Select Committee, and Pride at the White House.
When Democrat Sharice Davids was elected in 2018 as a U.S. representative for Kansas' third congressional district, she became the first openly gay congressperson to represent her state.
"I will say one of the first times that I realized that I wanted to be at least more informed, if not more engaged, was when Missouri passed the constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman," Davids said, "and I just remember being so both heartbroken and also upset, but I didn't realize that so many people were going to vote in favor of that constitutional amendment."
When Democrat Sharice Davids was elected in 2018 as a U.S. representative for Kansas' third congressional district, she became the first openly gay congressperson to represent her state.
"I will say one of the first times that I realized that I wanted to be at least more informed, if not more engaged, was when Missouri passed the constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman," Davids said, "and I just remember being so both heartbroken and also upset, but I didn't realize that so many people were going to vote in favor of that constitutional amendment."
"As long as we keep pushing for it, we'll get to that place." Representative Sharice Davids discusses the importance of fighting for equality and representation in Washington.
In Kansas, small business owners struggle to adapt to a changing economy and modernization during COVID-19. Congresswoman Sharice Davids is working to support these owners through community lending, funding, and tech resources. Tune in as she speaks with Gene Marks about the four bills she's sponsoring to help rebuild local small businesses and the economy.
U.S. Senators Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran as well as U.S. Representative Sharice Davids last week announced that the U.S. Department of Labor has awarded more than $1.2 million in funding to the Local Workforce Investment Area III Inc. in Lenexa.
The grant will help youth ages 16-24 who are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the labor market to obtain employment in in-demand industries. Here are some thoughts from each of the congressmembers.
Rep. Sharice Davids: