Month: January 2015

Legislative update from Sen. Pat Pettey

Sen. Pat Pettey
Sen. Pat Pettey

Legislative update from Sen. Pat Pettey, D-6th Dist.

Jan. 20, 2015
In this issue:

• 2015 session convenes
• New committee assignment
• Governor delivers Inaugural Address
• Governor delivers State of the State Message
• Democrats respond
• Budget outlined
• Kansas ranks Among the “Terrible Ten” for regressive taxes
• President Obama’s visit

2015 session convenes

The 2015 legislative session is underway. Legislators ceremoniously convened Monday, Jan. 12, and awaited the annual State of the State address on Thursday, Jan. 15. Committees continue to meet this week to review proposed legislation.

Legislators will have full plates this year, as we debate a number of important issues including education funding and the budget deficits created by the governor’s reckless economic experiment.

I welcome your input on any of these issues. Please feel free to visit or contact me at 785-296-7375, if you should have any questions. Or stop by my legislative office, located in room 125-E of the Topeka Statehouse.

Daily calendars, committee and district information, and full text and summaries of bills are all available online at www.kslegislature.org. To hear legislative proceedings, just click on “Listen in Live.”

New committee assignment

Senate leadership created a new committee to help relieve the Judiciary committee’s workload. This committee is the Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee. I am serving on this committee as the ranking member. I am the only Democrat who serves on this seven-person committee. The committee meets daily at 9:30 a.m.

Governor delivers inaugural address

Gov. Brownback was sworn in for his second term on Monday and delivered his Inaugural address. While he finally recognized that the state is facing severe economic problems, he gave blame to a “crisis of the family” rather than taking responsibility for the results of his disastrous economic experiment.

There is a big difference between a “crisis of the family” and a “family in crisis.” The governor’s policies have created the latter. Gov. Brownback needs to recognize the impact his tax policy has had on average, hardworking Kansans.

Governor delivers state of the state message

On Thursday, Jan. 15, Gov. Sam Brownback delivered his fifth State of the State Address before a joint session of Senate and House members, cabinet secretaries and dozens of state dignitaries.

In his speech, Gov. Brownback outlined his 2015 legislative priorities, including:
• Overhauling the school finance formula
• Continuing on the “glide path to zero” income taxes
• Moving local elections to November
• Changes to the selection of Supreme Court justices

Unlike in his Inaugural address, the governor placed blame on the state’s self-imposed budget crisis on the “increases in K-12 spending since Fiscal Year 2014.” The reality is Brownback and his allies have cut statewide funding by nearly $442 million over the past three years.

From 2007 to 2009, the state lost $600 million due to the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Last year, our state’s revenue dropped by $700 million and it is the direct result of Gov. Brownback’s disastrous “real live experiment.”

Democrats respond: The state of our state is bad

As is tradition, the minority party outlined its own legislative priorities during an official response to the State of the State. This year, the response was given by Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley.

The Kansas Legislature faces one of the most serious and significant situations the state has seen in a long time, if ever. Democrats remain committed to finding real solutions that embrace our shared Kansas values:

• Ensuring all Kansas children – regardless of where they live or how much money their parents make – receive the first class education they deserve.
• Creating good paying, quality jobs that allow Kansans to support their families. This means continuing to oppose raids of the highway funds. Studies have shown our current transportation plan will create 175,000 jobs. This is more certain that what might be created by the governor’s experiment.
• Easing the burden on low-income and middle-class families as well as those living on fixed incomes.
• Maintaining a solvent pension fund for Kansas public employees.
• Opposing further cuts to important state investments that have yet to recover from the Great Recession.

I also remain committed to being fiscally responsible and making sure everyone pays their fair share. I believe our state will prosper when we invest in the people of Kansas.

Budget revisions outlined

Gov. Brownback released his proposal for the FY 2016 and FY 2017 budget on Friday, Jan. 16. The proposal includes some very concerning components, including eliminating the school finance formula established in 1992 and replacing it with a block grant. However, very little information is provided as to how the grant would work. It is very likely, though, that would significantly increase the burden at the local level – property taxes.

I’ll do my best to keep you up-to-date in the coming weeks as legislators begin to work through specific budget issues. In the meantime, to access the Governor’s Budget Report in full, visit the Kansas Division of Budget’s website at http://budget.ks.gov.

Kansas ranks 9th for regressive taxes: report

A 2015 report released by the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy that evaluates fairness of state and local tax systems by measuring the taxes paid by different income groups ranked Kansas as the ninth in their list of “terrible ten” most regressive tax state. The report found that in Kansas the poorest 20 percent pay more than 11 percent of their income to taxes—three times what the top 1 percent of earners pay in taxes on their income.

President Obama’s visit

I am honored to have the opportunity to attend the speech that President Obama will be delivering at the University of Kansas on Thursday. I look forward to providing all of you with highlights of his speech in my next newsletter.

Expect changes next year in KCKCC’s medical assistant program

by Kelly Rogge
Changes are coming to the Kansas City Kansas Community College Medical Assistant Program, and those changes will allow even more students to enroll in the growing program.

Starting with the 2015-2016 academic year, 20 students will be accepted into the Medical Assistant Program’s Day session and 15 additional students will be accepted into the newly created night program. Then, in spring 2016, an additional 20 students will be accepted into a second day session. Currently, enrollment for the program has only been opened once a year to 20 students.

“We needed to look at expanding the program due to the high demand of students wanting in the program,” said Timothy Doerr, program coordinator. “In the last two years, we have lost 20-30 students because we only had so many slots available. It is definitely one of the fastest growing allied health professions right now.”

The 12-18 month certificate program helps students to gain the necessary skills needed to work in a clinical or administrative position. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the annual median salary for medical assistants was $28,860 in 2010 with the top 10 percent earning more than $40,000 each year.

In addition, employment is expected to grow by 31 percent this decade as doctors turn over more of the clinical and administrative responsibilities to medical assistants. The program is recognized by two of the National Certification groups as a recognized training program – The American Medical Technologist (AMT) and the National Healthcareers Association (NHA).

KCKCC’s program will move to 39 credit hours this fall, which includes a required externship. This is a change from the current 41 required credit hours. The change is being made to address previous alignment issues. In addition, program staff will be going through the accreditation process over the next year. If successful, KCKCC’s Medical Assistant program would be one of two in the Kansas City area with accreditation.

Another big change to KCKCC’s program this fall is admission. Currently, the Medical Assistant Program has an open admission policy. However, beginning next fall, students will be selected through an application process.

In addition to meeting admission requirements to KCKCC, students must have a high school diploma or GED, take the COMPASS placement test and earn a reading score of at least 65, have taken at least 15 credit hours of college-level course work with a grade point average of 2.0 or higher and participate in a brief interview. For those students with less than 15 hours of prior college course work, a high school diploma and a high school GPA of at least 2.5 can be used.

Along with the application, references and official copies of high school and college transcripts must be submitted. Applications are due April 20 and interviews will be conducted the week of May 11. Entrance notifications will be made June 22 to 30.

“In the past, admission was basically first come, first accepted. We were not necessarily getting some of the most successful students into our program, so a few weeks in, we would have students drop out of the program,” Doerr said. “Changing the admission process will allow us to better make sure that the students in the program will stay with the program.”

There are three open house events scheduled in the next few months to help potential students learn about the Medical Assistant Program and to help with the admission process. Dates include:
• Jan. 29 – 4 to 5:30 p.m. at KCKCC-TEC
• Feb. 25 – 4 to 5:30 p.m. at KCKCC-TEC
• March 25 – 4 to 5:30 p.m. at KCKCC-TEC

“We had 70 percent of our students take the national certification exam with 100 percent of those passing. Certification is not necessarily required, but a lot of employers want it,” Doerr said. “Another note is that our program is one of the most economical in the area.”

For more information about KCKCC’s Medical Assistant Program, call 913-288-7861 or email Timothy Doerr directly at [email protected]. Those interested in the program can get an application at KCKCC-TEC, 6565 State Ave.

Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

Sunny day ahead, forecast says

A mostly sunny day with a high near 39 is ahead today, according to the National Weather Service.

Tonight, it will be mostly clear, with a low around 24.

On Friday, expect sunny skies and a high near 48, the weather service said. Friday night, the low will be around 30.

The weather service said Saturday will be sunny with a high near 53. A west northwest wind will be 7 to 9 mph. Saturday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 37.

Sunday’s forecast is mostly sunny, with a high near 57, according to the weather service. Sunday night, the forecast is partly cloudy with a low of 34.

On Monday, it will be mostly sunny with a high near 50, the weather service said. Monday night’s low will be around 34.

On Tuesday, the high will be 58, the weather service said. Wednesday, the high will be near 53.