2-19-2010 Newsletter
February 19, 2009
“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” President Abraham Lincoln was quoted in the prayer by House Chaplain Brubaker the first day of our work in Topeka this week. It was a timely prayer and good advice for our members. Next week is “Turn Around” which is when a bill that is from a non exempt committee must be passed from the house of origin. The consideration of exempt bills and the bills passed by the other body really turns the heat up for the remainder of the session. Tough decisions will be made and different proposals will be developed by each side of the legislature concerning K-12 funding and other budgets, Tax Policy, Late Term Abortion, Health Care, Smoking Ban, Liquor Sales in convenience and grocery store , a possible gambling bill and numerous other issues.
4 H Citizenship in Action Conference
Miami and Linn County 4-H members: Hannah Kinaman, Seth Diehm, Audrey Diehm and Mercedes Smith took part in the event along with 4-H members from around the state. They participated in a mock legislative session and took on roles of the legislature and worked three bills. Two passed, the texting while driving prohibition and the smoking ban. The third,which failed to pass, was the 1 cent sales tax increase. Monday, they stopped by my office and shared their experiences.
Louisburg and Hillsdale Metro Calling
SB 543 would provide a mechanism to get a full two way metro calling plan in Louisburg and Hillsdale. I gave testimony in committee that the availability of a plan is very important for the economic prosperity of Louisburg and Hillsdale. This is needed for both individuals and businesses. Our businesses would benefit from having an expanded customer base. Often a customer will not call a long distance number and business is lost. It would also provide another tool that would help in recruiting businesses to locate in our area. All of our realtors will verify the impact on potential sales when buyers from the metro area query their being able to make a local call to friends. Another fact for the committee to understand is that Louisburg and Hillsdale are actually surrounded by the rest of Miami County which does have metro calling available. After I left to get back to the Floor of the House, I was glad to see that Jeff Cantrell, Louisburg City Manager and Patsy Boytner, Louisburg Chamber of Commerce, were also at the hearing to testify in favor of the bill.
Illegal Immigration
This week a couple of interesting events happened on the floor of the House. Both were amendments that would affect those who are here illegally. One failed and one was sent back to committee. The first amendment attempted was a “no pay, no play” amendment to a bill pertaining to car insurance. The amendment disallows uninsured motorists from suing for pain and suffering. They would still receive economic damages above sustained loss (property, hospitalization, loss of wages, futures wages). The Amendment failed to pass. Another amendment to a different bill would have created a pilot project to implement a system for employers to verify the legal status of social security numbers. Although that amendment passed, the bill was re-referred back to committee which is another way to kill an amendment. I supported both amendments. We should be looking for ways to decrease costs associated with illegal immigration.
HB 2509 Sexually Violent Predators
This bill would require sexually violent predators to undergo a complete review and evaluation before being allowed to be in a work release program. The assessment would be conducted by the Multidisciplinary Team to determine the suitability of a proposed placement. It is vital that public safety is the first priority and that no risk is taken placing families in danger. When I first heard of this subject and hearing, I checked and made sure there would not be any attempt to overturn the change we made last session that placed a limit on the number of these individuals being placed in Miami County.
Unemployment Contribution Rate Change
HB 2676 would change the amount that positive balance employers pay back to a rate consistent with the rate it should have been. Another result of the struggling economy has been the big increase in the amount being paid from the fund resulting in our Secretary of Human Resources being forced to increase the amount that businesses pay into the fund to keep the fund solvent. At the very beginning of session it was local business owner, Lyle Scott, who explained the “double hit” that his Subway Franchises and business like his have experienced. Not only was there a departure from the experience rating but also employers who hire part- time or have high turnover rates would be paying a increased share. HB 2676 not only would help by returning the experience ratings but also would allow a 90 day grace period for payment to help businesses with their cash flow. The bill would not change the amount of anyone’s benefits. Now the bill will go to the Senate.
New Requirement for School Districts?
HB 2239 doesn’t make any sense at a time like this. The bill would cost over $150,000 to mandate schools to do something they are already doing, reporting detailed budgets. It required only moving the same information into a different format. The original bill also would penalize school districts for failure to complete the requirement correctly. The information can now be found at: http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=3799. The link takes you to the “Budget at a Glance” site. You simply scroll down to the school district number you wish to view. The budgets are available for the previous 5 years as well. I know that you will find great and detailed information at this site. But you can also ask your school board members for any more detail. I am sure they would be glad to answer any question.
Bills That Passed the House This Week:
HB 2226 would allow a grand jury to be requested by a county attorney for off grid felonies.
This could extend privacy to families in high profile violent crimes.
HB 2364 adds flexibility for the court to determine days counted as business days. Would allow days that the court is closed due to weather or other problems to be not counted for legal contract purpose.
HB 2515 would prohibit a municipality requiring the installation of a multi-purpose sprinkler system in a residential property
HB 2410 requires the State Board of Education to remove a student from the districts at-risk count when it is notified that the student was determined by the district’s verification process to be ineligible for free lunches. The number affected would only be the 3% that are pulled out to be audited and only those in the 3% who don’t qualify would be in the reduction in the amount of at-risk funding a district receives. The district would have until January 14th of the school year in question to acquire missing documentation from parents/guardians of a student’s eligibility for free lunches. If able to confirm eligibility, the at-risk funding would not be reduced.
HB 2280 would reduce state aid for capital outlay and capital improvement aid for school districts to
15 % on future projects, a decrease from the current 25%. Rep. Feuerborn offered an amendment that keeps school districts at the current 25% if they haven’t used the capitol improvement aid in the last 10 years.
HB 2601 under current law, if a school district has a free-lunch population between 40 - 50 %, a district receives an additional 6.0 percent weighting. Districts over 50% receive an additional 10.0 percent weighting. A small change in the free-lunch population can cause a district to lose its high density weighting. This bill, as amended, would eliminate those percentages and would provide for a linear transition between 35% to 50%. The provisions of this bill will not take effect until such time as the base aid per pupil reaches at least $ 4492. This would be a better policy for districts like Osawatomie that would lose a large portion of funding if just a few students are lost and they drop straight down to the next funding level.
HB 2547 re-works franchise law concerning Vehicle Dealers and Manufactures. It will protect our Kansas business owners from manufacturer’s requirements that are unreasonable. Testimony in committee revealed that dealerships have been having difficulty collecting on warranty work and promotions while being forced to make costly expansions to their businesses.
HB 2508 makes permanent the current policy that the Parole Board can choose to the maximum deferral period of ten years to review those convicted of violent crimes. This saves victims and their families the pain of reliving a violent crime less often when they have to testify before the Parole Board.
HB 2585 would allow no marriage license fee to be charged in poverty situations. I did not vote for this bill. If a couple can’t budget $69 dollars to purchase a license, should they marry?
HB 2517 requires a domestic violence designation be placed on convictions. Now prosecutors have no record of a history of violence. Repeat offenses indicate that there will be an escalation of the severity of the violence often leading to serious harm or death to the victim. It would enable judges to better respond to domestic cases, including requiring therapy. Work is underway to establish therapy options that would be available if the law goes into effect in July 2011.
You can get copies of all bills and follow their progress by going to the state website: http://www.kslegislature.org/or contact me at 785-296-6014. Maureen Stinson, my Legislative Assistant, always knows where I am.
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