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January 21 Legislative Update
The second week of the 2010 Legislative Session begins the committee work with public hearings on bills in both the House and Senate. My days are now not only a fury of activity to keep up with committee work, daily calendar, house session, phone calls and e-mails from constituents but also working to keep up with the numerous bills being heard in committees in the House and Senate.
House Taxation Committee
The House Taxation Committee has started the session off with a look back at our state’s tax history.
Committee members have been shown a review of the state’s FY 2009 tax revenue and policy as well as a little history of previous policies and tax and revenue levels. I think understanding where our state’s tax policy has been and how it succeeded or failed provides great insight into how we may want to move forward this year.
Kansas Secretary of Revenue Joan Wagnon also requested the introduction of a number of tax policy bills including two bills to increase the state’s sales tax and cigarette tax as recommended by the Governor in his State of the State address. Other bills she requested would eliminate sales tax exemptions for individual non-profit and religious organizations, labor service, and on residential utilities (electricity, gas, heat and water utilities). The committee introduced the bills and hearings have begun. The first hearing is on HB 2475, an increase of the sales tax which Governor Parkinson asked to be considered in his State of the State. His recommended tax increases have many political challenges to overcome including in hisown, party. Most Kansas Democrats see an increase in sales tax as a “regressive tax” one that burdens the poorest of our state the most. Republican leaders have said they won’t raise taxes this session and will work to find how to live within the revenue available.
I don’t believe the state government can spend us out of this recession. We have got to get our economy growing again. Raising taxes now is probably one of the worse things the Legislature can do. That will only slow our rebound. We need to remain patient and find another $400 million in savings. It won’t be easy but our state has weathered financial storms before and if we all pull together, we will come out stronger.
Parents need to know about
K2.
It is necessary to work onLegislation, HB 2411, that will make synthetic marijuana illegal in Kansas. The man-made chemical is an herbal mixture called K2 and produces a high very similar to marijuana.
K2 has been marketed as incense in Lawrence and other cities, but officials say people are smoking it. They say K2 is fast becoming the new drug of choice among high school students and ex-convicts on parole because it is not detectable by the standard drug tests. Whether or not K2 is being sold in Miami County it may be available.
It is very concerning that very little is known about the short or long-term side effects the synthetic cannabinoids found in the K2 because they have not been tested on humans. The chemicals also are more intoxicating than tetrahydrocannadbinol, or THC, which is the ingredient in marijuana that produces a high. So there could be a greater risk of an overdose because the smoker doesn’t know how much of the chemicals are in the K2.
Transportation Committee
A coalition of Insurance, Law
Enforcement, Telephone, and Heath Care Providers testified before our
House Transportation Committee in support of HB 2439
which would ban texting while driving. It is clear that the
practice is very dangerous and the ban would save lives. Our
committee has to work on the details of the language in the bill to get
it right. I also asked for a committee bill that I had sponsored
in the past that would allow law enforcement to cite drivers for
distracted driving.
Our committee also had a briefing from a group, InsureNet, that wants to provide what could be a solution to the uninsured drivers’ issue. It is a nationally and internationally linked system that operates from cameras in law enforcement and on the interstate that is guaranteed to review 80% of the vehicles on our roads the first year. Within 2 seconds registration and insurance information from the tag is run. No information for persons in the car is needed or captured. If the car is legal the file is dropped immediately. If the tag comes back as uninsured a ticket would be issued and mailed. The system would also help find “Hot list” tags (those would be used in Amber Alerts and to find stolen cars). Today, uninsured motorist numbers remain around 19%. This system would cut that by half in the first year.
KDOT Secretary Deb Miller explained the state of affairs at KDOT to our committee. They have eliminated 136 jobs in the last year to be at a total of 3100, compared to 3700 in the early 80’s, and today they cover 10,000 more miles of state serviced highway and roads. To date, KDOT has been cut $229 million dollars (which is a 28% reduction). The next year’s construction spending at this time would be $279 million, which is a lot of money, but to keep the current road condition would require $375 million a year. Also in doubt is when and whether Congress will renew their funding to the states. The funding has expired and has been temporarily funded. It is important to remember that the Federal Fuel tax that is collected in our state and sent to Washington is our money.
Education Committee
Beth Slawson, Reading Specialist, from Cottonwood Elementary in Paola is our 2010 Kansas Regional Teacher of the Year. She spoke to our committee and stressed the importance of the fundamental ability read and how a student’s reading proficiency is directly tied to whether they will graduate or develop behavior problems. Beth said “It is better to invest in our students today than to pay for the results of failed lives.” We should all be proud of Beth for the recognition she has earned for being a dedicated educator.
If you need help or would like to contact me, my office phone number is 785-296-6014. Maureen Stinson, my Legislative Assistant, will know how to find me. You can send E-mail to vickrey@jenevickrey.org or send regular mail to my office address:
Rep. Jene Vickrey, Statehouse, Room 165-W, 300 SW 10th Ave., Topeka, KS 66612