Month: March 2017

Legislative newsletter from Rep. Pam Curtis, D-32nd Dist.

Rep. Pam Curtis

by Rep. Pam Curtis

I continue to push for the Kansas House to pass legislation to allow prevailing wage be paid on public projects. On Thursday I offered an amendment on the floor to allow prevailing wage be paid on state public projects.

Numerous studies have been conducted that show the benefits of paying prevailing wage to the economic health of our local communities and to our state.

Prevailing wage helps maintain a high quality construction workforce and provide workers with the income needed to provide for themselves and their families. In Wyandotte County we have seen first-hand the benefits of paying prevailing wage, an option that was taken away from local government by the Kansas Legislature three years ago. I will continue to fight to restore the local option for prevailing wage.

House Standing Committees, except for exempt committees, completed their work for the session this past week. We will spend most of the coming week on the House Floor to consider those bills that have passed out of committee.

It is a special honor to serve as your state representative. I both 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 452-S, Kansas Statehouse, 300 SW 10th, Topeka, KS 66612. You can reach me at 785-296-7430 or call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me. Additionally, you can email me at [email protected].

Working for working Kansans

Kansas House Democrats proposed several amendments this week on the floor that would benefit the working men and women of Kansas. These amendments included “Buy American,” which places a preference on buying American products when possible, if those products met or exceeded certain specifications. This would apply to state contracts.

Another proposed amendment offered on the floor was for prevailing wage. This means setting the hourly wage on public projects at the rate paid in the largest city in each county to the majority of workers, laborers and mechanics.

Prevailing wages are established by the Department of Labor and Industries and they are established separately for each county, and are reflective of local wage conditions. The prevailing wage amendment would have applied to state funded projects only. It would ensure safe, trained, financially responsible, stable contractors to complete projects, fair wages, offer local control, and maximize our return on the dollars we invest in our local construction projects.

Unfortunately, these two amendments failed to pass, though both had overwhelming Democratic support.

This week on the House floor

This week, the House has been busy passing numerous bills. The many pieces of legislation ranged on issues from technology to healthcare to agriculture. Find a few of these bills detailed below.

Sub HB 2331: An act concerning information systems and communications; creating the representative Jim Morrison cybersecurity act; relating to digital information security for Kansas executive branch agencies; establishing the Kansas information security office; establishing the cybersecurity state fund and cybersecurity state grant fund in the state treasury, creating the Kansas information technology enterprise. See www.kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/documents/hb2331_01_0000.pdf.

H Sub for SB 60: An act concerning agriculture; relating to the Kansas department of agriculture; certain fees, authorizing the Kansas secretary of agriculture to collect a fee for processing paper documents. See www.kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/documents/sb60_02_0000.pdf.

SB 20: An act concerning financial institutions; relating to certain acts under the administration of the state bank commissioner. See www.kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/sb20/.

H Sub for SB 51: An act concerning controlled substances; the state board of pharmacy; relating to scheduling of controlled substance analogs, controlled substances and new drugs; emergency scheduling. See www.kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/sb51/.

HB 2313: An act concerning the Kansas lottery; dealing with lottery ticket vending machines; repealing the lottery sunset. See www.kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/hb2313/.

HB 2232: An act concerning adult care homes; relating to electronic monitoring. See www.kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/documents/hb2232_00_0000.pdf.

SB 68: An act concerning health and healthcare; relating to hospitals; enacting the Kansas lay caregiver act. See www.kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/sb68/.

HB 2353: An act concerning state contracts and purchases; relating to purchases of products and services from not-for-profit entities; employment of persons with disabilities. See http://kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/HB2353/.

Coming up in the Kansas Legislature
This week, watch for the Medicaid expansion bill to hit the Senate floor. If it passes through the Senate, the bill will then be sent to the governor.

Republicans in the Senate have said they will wait to act on an education finance formula until the House addresses it first. Conversations as to how to solve this issue are underway, with many ideas being introduced. A bill has been proposed this week in the Kansas House, and we expect action on that bill to begin next week.

A tax plan to restore the revenue in Kansas has not yet been enacted. Previously in the session, the House put forth and passed a tax bill, which then passed through the Senate. The bill essentially repealed Gov. Brownback’s “march to zero” tax experiment. The governor vetoed the bill, after which the House overrode his veto. The Senate failed to override by just three votes. A new tax plan should be coming soon from the Senate side.

Women’s History Month

March is Women’s History Month. It’s a time to reflect on women’s contributions to history and to the present, the inaugural holiday beginning in the United States in 1987. Join us this month in standing with and celebrating women in Kansas, across the nation, and the across the world. Read more at http://womenshistorymonth.gov/.

Ninth inning run lets KCKCC sweep pair from Labette

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s ‘thrill-a-minute’ baseball team did it again Sunday.

Trailing Labette 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh, the Blue Devils tied it and then won it 4-3 with a run in the bottom of the ninth – the ninth time in 16 games KCKCC games have been decided by one run including four in extra innings.

Coupled with a 13-3 5-inning win in the opener, the Blue Devils improved to 10-6 in the Jayhawk Conference and pulled back into a fourth place tie with Johnson County. Allen County and Fort Scott top the standings at 12-4 followed by Cowley at 11-5. Home against Saint Mary today at 3 p.m., the Blue Devils resume conference play Thursday when they play host to Highland in a 1 p.m. twin bill.

Chase Redick’s line drive single to leftfield with two out and the bases loaded won the nightcap 4-3 for the Blue Devils. Albert Woodard’s two-out single ignited the winning rally and after a walk to Tyler Pittman, the Cardinals intentionally walked Alex Phillips and Redick foiled the strategy by ripping a 1-1 pitch to left.

Limited to just three hits and four base-runners over the first six innings by Cody Oliphant, the Blue Devils finally broke through in the seventh, scoring three times on a hit batsman and singles by Brandon Green, Josh Schumacher and Pittman.

The rally made a winner out of Turner sophomore righthander Cowan, who turned in his best pitching effort of the season. His pitch count limited early in the season because of an injury last fall, Cowan went the 9-inning distance allowing just seven hits, striking out seven and walking one. After giving up two runs in the first, Cowan allowed only one run and five hits over the final eight innings.

Trailing 2-0 in the opener, the Blue Devils exploded for 13 runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings in the 13-3 win. Southpaw Shae Stephens ran his record to 4-1, allowing six hits while striking out five and walking two.

Josh Schumacher, who had three hits, got the Blue Devils’ scoring started in the third on with a leadoff triple.

After a walk and two errors, Drew Holtgrieve and Easton Fortuna put KCKCC ahead 4-2 with run-scoring singles. Pittman doubled in two runs and Phillips singled in two more in a 6-run fourth inning after the Blue Devils loaded the bases on a single by Brandon Still and bunt hits by Brandon Green and Schumacher.

The Blue Devils then ended it with a 3-run fifth on two walks, a single by Schumacher, double by Woodard and single by Pittman.

Rain continues this week in Wyandotte County

Rainfall amounts through Thursday (National Weather Service graphic)

Rain is in the forecast today and this week in Wyandotte County, according to the National Weather Service.

Today, there is a 40 percent chance of showers, mainly before noon, the weather service said. The high will be near 58, with a north wind of 7 to 9 mph.

Tonight, expect a low of 44 with mostly cloudy skies, and a north northeast wind of 3 to 6 mph, according to the weather service.

Tuesday, it will be mostly cloudy with a high near 2 and an east wind of 5 to 9 mph, the weather service said.

Tuesday night, there is an 80 percent chance of showers, mainly after 1 a.m., according to the weather service. The low will be around 50 with an east wind of 9 to 11 mph. Between a tenth and quarter of an inch of rain is possible.

Wednesday, there is a 90 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m., the weather service said. Some of the strongest storms may produce large hail up to 1 inch in isolated instances, according to the weather service.

More than 1 inch of rain may fall in places, although the Wyandotte County forecast predicts one-half to three-fourths of an inch of rain on Wednesday. River flooding in localized places may become a concern Wednesday into Thursday in areas with the heaviest and longest rainfalls, according to the weather service.

On Wednesday night, there is an 80 percent chance of showers and a thunderstorm, the weather service said. The low will be around 49. Between a quarter and a half-inch of rain is possible.

Thursday, there is a 60 percent chance of showers, mainly before 1 p.m., according to the weather service. The high will be near 56.

Thursday night, it will be mostly cloudy with a low of 40, the weather service said.

Friday, expect partly sunny skies and a high near 55, according to the weather service.

Friday night, there will be partly cloudy skies and a low of 40, the weather service said.

Saturday, it will be partly sunny with a high near 62, according to the weather service.

Saturday night, there is a 50 percent chance of showers with a low of 46, the weather service said.

Sunday, there is a 30 percent chance of showers with a high near 61, according to the weather service.