February 2016 – Page 41 – Welcome to Wyandotte Daily!

Legislative newsletter from Rep. Stan Frownfelter

by Rep. Stan Frownfelter, D-37th Dist.

It was a busy week in the Legislature this week. Both the House and the Senate debated and passed their versions of the budget this week.

Passing a budget is one of the few actual Constitutional requirements of the Legislature. We should expect both budgets to be voted on in the opposite chamber in the coming weeks.

Legislative committees continue to meet and hold hearings on various bills. Also expected in the coming weeks are hearings on the efficiency study (a study done by an outside auditor looking for savings) and their recommendations. All said, the pace has really picked up.

Court rules Legislature underfunding education

On Thursday, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that K-12 education funding levels violate the state Constitution. This case dealt with the issue of equality. The state Constitution requires the Legislature to provide funding to the school districts in an equitable manner so that not one school district has more funding than another. The Legislature eliminated the old school funding formula and replaced it with a block grant system. The school districts challenged the block grant as not allocating funds equitably.

The court has instructed the Legislature to create a funding formula by June 30th. The court did not provide a specific amount the Legislature must come up but it is estimated the amount is near $70 million for this school year.

This opinion was the first of two anticipated opinions in the school finance case. The remaining opinion is on the issue of adequacy and should be settled by the court later this year, most likely in the fall. The state Constitution requires the Legislature to “adequately” fund k-12 schools and the anticipated second opinion will deal with that issue.

Funding of our schools has been cut several times the last few years and we are starting to see the results. Schools are closing, teachers are fleeing the state, and districts have to make tough choices on what programs to offer students in light of continued budget cuts. I strongly support public education in this state and I applaud this decision.

House passes budget

With a $170 million shortfall the House debated and passed a budget this week. The final vote was close, passing 68-56, but all Democrats voted against this budget. The budget relies on more sweeps from the state Highway Fund and KPERS something that has been done time and time again and does not address the growing public safety needs of our state.

The Senate also passed their budget bill this week as well and it is fairly similar to the version the House passed. Look for each budget to be voted on in the opposite chamber in the coming weeks.

The budget does nothing to move Kansas forward. Rather than producing a budget based on sound economic policies and addressing our current economic situation this budget continues the mismanagement of this state. I voted no on this budget.

Lots of action in House Education Committee

The House Education Committee held several hearings this session that would greatly affect public education is Kansas. For instance, as we talked about last week, the committee debated a bill that would consolidate many school districts (from the current 286 to 132). Many rural districts would be consolidated under this bill. The bill received strong opposition from school districts, teachers and parents. The committee has not actually voted on the bill yet, and the chair has indicated he will not hold a vote on it, but we will keep our eyes open for that.

Also considered in the House Education Committee was a bill that removed due process rights for teachers and professors of two-year colleges. This bill received strong opposition in committee as well from professors and administrators. The committee has not voted on the bill yet but it is expected to in the coming weeks.

A bill that was in committee was one that removed all funding for school gifted programs. The bill received lots of backlash from the public and schools, so much so, the legislator who introduced the bill eventually withdrew it from consideration.

Each of these bills is a continuation of the attacks on teachers and education in our state that we have seen from legislators the last few years. These years of attacks have taken a toll on our schools. This has had real consequences for the quality of education our children receive. This mismanagement and attacks has harmed our children’s education and has forced schools to close, created larger class sizes, has caused local property taxes to rise and quality teachers to flee the state. Our children’s education will continue to suffer under this mismanagement and attacks.

Democrats unveil public safety bills

This week Democrats championed bills to improve public safety for Kansans. Due to years of mismanagement by the governor and the Republican legislature we have real safety concerns in our state.

The bills Democrats support:
• Senate Bill 350: Giving the Highway Patrol the needed funds to address the trooper shortage. To create a staffing and training fund for the Kansas Highway Patrol. Currently, there are dangerously low amounts of troopers in our state due to trooper turnover and a lack of funding to hire additional troopers. The reason for the turnover, as the head of the Highway Patrol has stated, is pay has been stagnant for years and many troopers have left the force to serve in other states or other communities where the pay is more competitive.
• House Bill 2559: Establishes minimum staffing levels for state agencies/facilities to maintain security and safety. There have been several safety incidents in our prisons due to the lack of Corrections Officers. Just like the troopers, Corrections Officers have been leaving the state looking for better opportunities. Also, staffing shortages has created a safety concern at our state hospitals. Due to the staff shortages one state hospital has lost the ability to receive Medicare funds.
• House Bill 2452: Prohibits giving, selling, or transferring any firearm to a person who is identified in the terrorist screening database, or any other database, maintained by the FBI. Keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists is a common sense solution to help keep Kansans safe.

Keeping the people of Kansas safe should be job one for any governor and every legislator and that is why we are busy introducing proven, common sense fixes to our state’s growing public safety problems.

Keep in touch

It is a special honor to serve as your state representative. I value and need your input on the various issues facing state government. Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions. My office address is Room 174-W, 300 SW 10th, Topeka, KS 66612. You can reach me at 785-296-7691 or call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me. Additionally, you can email me at [email protected]. You can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org.

Sister Souljah to appear at KCK Library April 16

Kansas City, Kan., Public Library will be the host of bestselling author Sister Souljah as part of the tour for her latest book, “A Moment of Silence: Midnight III.”

The event will take place April 16 at the Main Library, 625 Minnesota Ave. Sister Souljah will discuss her books, writing process, and inspiration. There will be a book signing following the discussion.

Activist, educator, hip hop artist, and bestselling author Sister Souljah is best known for her autobiography, “No Disrespect,” and her novel, “The Coldest Winter Ever.” As a community activist, she participated in the anti-apartheid movement, organized rallies against racially motivated crimes, created the African Youth Survival Camp, and worked as the executive director of Daddy’s House Social Programs. She is a graduate of Rutgers University and was also educated at Cornell University and University of Salamanca.

Seating for the event is limited, so those interested in attending are asked to register to [email protected]. The first 250 people to arrive will receive a free copy of “A Moment of Silence: Midnight III.” More information about the event can be found at www.kckpl.org.

Settlement reached with wire transfer company to protect consumers

A settlement reached last week will require a national wire transfer company to change its business practices to make it harder for defrauded consumers to wire money to scammers, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced.

Schmidt, along with the attorneys general of 48 other states and the District of Columbia, reached the agreement with MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc. The settlement was the result of a multistate investigation into complaints from consumers who used MoneyGram’s wire transfer service to send money to third parties who were involved in schemes to defraud consumers.

“Con artists use a wide variety of schemes to trick consumers into wiring them money,” Schmidt said. “These range from the heartless ‘grandparent or relative in distress’ scam to lottery and contest scams in which consumers are told they have won a large sum of money but must first wire money to pay required taxes or fees before receiving their winnings. Consumers who receive solicitations from strangers promising big winnings should toss those letters in the trash, delete the e-mail or hang up the phone. And consumers who are contacted about a grandchild, friend or family member in distress should reach out separately to the friend or family members to independently verify that the relative is actually in need of assistance.”

Schmidt noted that con artists often target senior citizens and vulnerable consumers with a nearly unlimited variety of scams, but a common feature often is asking the consumer to send the money by wire transfer.

“The con artists know that once the money is wired offshore, it becomes very, very difficult to get it back,” Schmidt said. “So this settlement is focused on making sure this wire transfer company is watching out for its vulnerable customers and taking reasonable steps to identify and prevent fraud-induced wire transfers before they are sent.”

Under the settlement agreement, MoneyGram has agreed to maintain and continue to improve a comprehensive and robust anti-fraud compliance program designed to prevent its systems from being used for fraud. Part of the company’s renewed effort will focus on providing more warnings to consumers and improving training for the company’s agents to help them identify requested transfers that likely are induced by fraud. Restitution payments will be made to identified consumers who previously filed complaints with MoneyGram related to fraud induced money transfers and have not already received payment.

The settlement provides for a third party administrator who will review MoneyGram records and send notices regarding restitution to all consumers who are eligible to receive restitution under this settlement. Generally, consumers who are eligible for restitution previously filed complaints with MoneyGram between July 1, 2008, and Aug. 31, 2009, regarding fraud induced transfers sent from the U.S. to foreign countries other than Canada.

Kansas consumers who wish to learn more about this settlement may visit the attorney general’s consumer protection website at www.InYourCornerKansas.org or call 800-432-2310.