Month: May 2015

It is an honor to represent District 6 in the Kansas Senate.

If I can be of service to you or anyone you know, please call my office at 785-296-7375, or email me at [email protected].

In this issue:
• Legislature returns for wrap-up
• Revenue estimates lowered
• April revenue down
• Amendments to K-12 education block grant law
• Changes to labor policy
• Why use green bags?

Legislature returns for wrap-up
Legislators returned to Topeka on April 29 for the wrap-up session. Typically, the wrap-up session lasts four to five days, although it will likely take longer this year. In the upcoming days (or weeks), we still have to come to a compromise on taxes and the budget. In addition, there are a few pieces of legislation and the governor’s veto of the bill that affects the ride-share company, Uber, to consider. As proposals move forward, I will consider any plan that is fair and equitable, while putting the needs of middle-class families like yours and mine first.

Revenue estimates lowered
Earlier this month, a group of economic experts updated their predictions for the amount of revenue the state would collect for the remainder of the fiscal year and into the next. Based on the steady decline of revenue reported by the state, the group lowered its estimates. They now predict the state will only collect $5.7 billion in revenue. This is nearly $100 million less than what the group estimated back in November 2014.

The Senate has approved a budget that spends nearly $6.5 billion. With the latest revenue estimate, there is now a budget hole of nearly $800 million.

In 2014, the state saw a drop in revenue of $688 million – an amount greater than what the state experienced during the three years of the Great Recession. In fact, a report recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that Kansas saw the third-largest drop in revenue in the country after Alaska and Delaware. The country as a whole saw a 2.2 percent growth in revenue, but Kansas experienced a 3.8 percent decrease.

All of this can be attributed to Gov. Brownback’s reckless and failed economic experiment.

April revenue down
Tax receipts for the month of April are down $4.4 million, according to a release issued by the Kansas Department of Revenue.

To avoid additional budget issues for the remaining months of the current fiscal year, individual income tax receipts need to equal $721 million for April, May, and June. We know now that we came in below estimates for April so the receipts for May and June have that much more to make up in order to meet estimates.

Secretary of Revenue Nick Jordan has indicated there are boxes of tax filings still waiting to be processed. It is unknown whether the envelopes in those boxes contain checks or will require refunds from the state. Due to budget cuts from Gov. Brownback’s failed economic experiment, the department is understaffed and has been unable to complete the work that is usually done by this point.

Amendments to K-12 education block grant law
Legislation that makes changes to the block grants that passed earlier this session has been introduced and referred to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. Senate Bill 300 makes the following changes:

• It requires school districts to allow out-of-district transfer students who were enrolled during the 2014-2015 school year to be enrolled for the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 school years. These are the same school years the block grants would be in effect. This specifically responds to the school districts that have announced changes in their policies regarding out-of-district transfers. Since the block grant funding provides a set amount for two years and does not fluctuate with enrollment, some districts have decided to not allow additional transfers for the next two school years. However, they were not going to deny those who have already been attending.
• It prohibits the use of state funds for students enrolled in virtual programs who are not residents of Kansas. This corrects a piece of the law that is being described as a drafting error.
• It allows districts who see a decrease in assessed valuation by 25 percent between 2015 and 2016 to receive local option budget and capital outlay state aid based on the lower assessed value. School districts will then receive more aid for the current year, and that will be the amount included in the block grant for the districts for the next two years.
• It stipulates that bond issues passed in elections held prior to July 1, 2015, will receive state aid based on the higher levels, but those passed from elections held after July 1, 2015, will receive a lower amount of state aid.
Given the speed at which this bill became a law, there’s no surprise that there is already a need to make corrections.

Changes to labor policy
On a vote of 29-11, the Senate approved Thursday the conference committee report that changes the unemployment insurance program, allows political patronage, and jeopardizes $18 million in federal funds.

Senate Bill 154 repeals the requirement of hiring workers in the unemployment insurance department based on merit exams. The bill decreases the employer contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and simultaneously caps the maximum weekly unemployment insurance benefit available to a Kansas worker who has fallen on hard times.The bill caps the state’s maximum unemployment benefit at the current level of $474 a week or 55% of the average weekly wages paid to employees in insured work during the previous calendar year, starting July 1, 2015. Finally, it repeals requirements for employees of the unemployment insurance department to not be active in partisan politics and to remain nonpartisan.

I voted against this piece of legislation.

Failing to expand Medicaid proves costly

Despite the overwhelming support for Medicaid Expansion, the Kansas Legislature will take no further action on the legislation this year. Failing to expand Medicaid is taking a toll on Kansas’ healthcare providers and on the state’s economy.

Rejecting expansion has:
• Cost the state more than $475 million
• Kept more than 150,000 Kansans from receiving healthcare coverage
• Prevented an estimated 3,800 new jobs

Why should I use green bags?
• According to the Wall Street Journal the United States is using 100 billion plastic bags each year which requires some 12 million barrels of petroleum to produce.
• A single family unit of 4 people will actually save 18 plastic bags a week from being used and wasted if they choose to rely on green bags which are reusable products. The savings add up over time: 72 bags in a month, 864 bags a year, and 8,640 bags in a decade!
• Plastic takes forever to decompose and it will never go through the process completely. Essentially, through a process known as photo degradation, plastic will only break down into pieces that are smaller and smaller, but will never disappear.
I keep them in my car and then I always have them on hand.