The University of Kansas has an annual budget of about $1.2 billion and an enrollment of 28, 447 on five campuses. It has a substantial impact on the Kansas City region’s economy.
That was the message that Dr. Douglas Girod, the KU chancellor, delivered Wednesday, April 4, at the annual meeting of the Kansas City, Kansas, Area Chamber of Commerce at the Kansas City (Mo.) Marriott Downtown. A reported 850 attended.
This meeting is usually held at the Reardon Convention Center in downtown Kansas City, Kansas; however, a scheduling conflict forced the chamber to look for another venue. The chamber used this opportunity to promote metropolitan cooperation. Both Mayor Sylvester James of Kansas City, Mo., and Mayor David Alvey of Kansas City, Kansas, made brief presentations pledging metropolitan cooperation.
KU’s main campus is in Lawrence; the medical center is in Kansas City, Kansas; and the Edwards Campus is in Overland Park. Other campuses are in Wichita and Salina.
Dr. Girod said only 18 percent of KU’s funding comes from state of Kansas public funds.
Dr. Girod said that the University of Kansas Health System has some 10,430 employees. The hospital became a quasi-independent organization in 1992 and is profitable. Last year the hospital had more than 44,000 admissions. In addition, the KU hospital has cooperative working agreements with St. Francis Hospital in Topeka and the Hays Medical Center.
The KU hospital recently purchased the former EPA Building in downtown Kansas City, Kansas. After extensive remodeling, the building will become a 47-bed psychiatric hospital. The remodeling is expected to last about a year and cost an estimated $61 million.
Dr.Girod cited the designation of the KU hospital as a National Cancer Institute. The approval of a recent application will result in an 11-percent increase in funding. This NCI designation is a cooperative effort with Children’s Mercy Hospital and the Stowers Institute, both in Kansas City, Mo.
Dr. Girod is a native of Salem, Ore. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Davis and his medical degree from the University of California at San Francisco.
Dr. Girod is a member of several professional organizations including the American Head and Neck Society and KC Rising, an agency focused on long-term regional economic growth.
Dr. Girod is the third KU chancellor to have previously served as the chief executive officer at the KU Medical Center. The other two were Dr. Franklin Murphy and Dr. Clarke Wescoe.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is the executive director of Business West.
Facing the No. 1 offensive team in the Jayhawk Conference is no time for defense and pitching to implode, which is what happened to Kansas City Kansas Community College at Fort Scott Saturday.
Twice the Greyhounds came from behind with late inning 3-run rallies, winning the opener 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh and taking the lead in the eighth inning in an error-marred 15-13 second game win.
The losses dropped the fourth place Blue Devils to 13-11 and set up a critical four-game series this week with Neosho County (12-12), one of KCKCC’s closest pursuers along with Coffeyville in the race for an all-important first division finish and a home playoff berth. After a home non-conference doubleheader with Baker University junior varsity Tuesday at 1 p.m., the Blue Devils entertain Neosho Thursday at 1 p.m. before finishing at Chanute on Saturday.
Fort Scott’s sweep kept the Greyhounds (19-5) two games back of Cowley College (21-3) in the Jayhawk with Johnson County (15-9) two games in front of KCKCC in third.
The Blue Devils made the most of just four hits in the opener, building a 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh only to have the Greyhounds score three times. After an inning opening walk, Julian Rivera came on in relief of starter Carlos Soto. Rivera struck out the first man he faced but then issued a walk, a run-scoring single to Collin Fraley and a two-run single to right by Owen Wilson that won it.
Rorey Combs and Gavin Gifford had the big blows for KCKCC. After two walks and a hit batsman loaded the bases in the third, Kevin Santiago’s fly ball scored one run and Combs doubled in two for a 4-0 lead and Gifford made it 5-0 with a leadoff homer in the fourth before Fort Scott started its comeback.
Andrew Morrow belted a two-run home run in the fourth and Ben Kiefer had a solo shot in the fifth for the Greyhounds, who lead the conference in home runs, batting average and slugging percentage. Soto allowed six hits in 6.0 innings, striking out three and walking five.
Gifford homered twice and Jared Goodfellow once and each drove in five runs but it wasn’t enough to overcome seven Blue Devil errors and 12 unearned runs in the 15-13 nightcap.
Gifford’s third home run of the day following a double by Combs and a hit batsman gave KCKCC a 13-12 lead in the eighth inning only to have the Greyhounds score three unearned runs in the bottom of the inning for the win. A walk, single and a pair of two-out errors gave Fort Scott the lead 14-13 and McConnell added a run-scoring double off Gunner Vestal, the Blue Devils third pitcher.
KCKCC jumped off to a 6-0 lead only to have Fort Scott score nine runs in the fourth inning off starter Bret Snider. All were unearned. After two errors and a hit batsman ignited the inning, the Greyhounds got a bases-loaded double from Wilson and a two-run homer by Quinn Waterbury.
However, the Blue Devils came right back to tie it in the fifth on a Brigham Mooney single, walk and Goodfellow’s three-run home run and then went ahead in the sixth 10-9 on Goodfellow’s walk with the bases-loaded. Fort Scott regained the lead 12-10 in the sixth, scoring three times off reliever Allan Brown on two hits, two walks and a pair of errors.
KCKCC took a 1-0 lead in the first on singles by Tyler Pittman and Brandon Still, added two in the second on a walk, Gifford single and Goodfellow double and made it 6-0 in the third in a 3-run uprising capped by Gifford’s first home run of the game.
This marks the final week of the 2018 regular legislative session. On Saturday just after midnight, the House adjourned and will return on April 26, 2018, for the veto session.
There are still some big-ticket items yet to be addressed, such as the budget. The Senate adjournment resolution that was adopted by the House set Sine Die, the last day of the session, for May 4.
It is a special honor to serve as your state representative. I value and appreciate your input on issues facing state government. Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions. My office address is Room 452-S, 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. You can also e-mail me at [email protected].
Education funding
On Monday, the House ran HB 2445. The Kansas Supreme Court gave the Legislature a deadline of April 30, 2018, to present a formula that adequately and equitably funds schools. Many House Democrats had doubts that HB 2445 would satisfy those requirements. Rep. Ed Trimmer introduced an amendment that would adjust for inflation and bring the bill closer to constitutionality, but his amendment was voted down. The bill failed Monday, with a vote count of 55 in favor, 65 opposed.
However, despite that failure, the House again ran HB 2445 on Tuesday. More amendment attempts were made, and the bill passed with a significant jump in yes votes – Monday, there were 55, and Tuesday, 71 votes in favor were up on the board. The House Majority Leader made a motion to pass HB 2445 through on Emergency Final Action.
Normally, the House and Senate vote on a bill, and then vote on that same bill the following legislative day on Final Action. This practice gives legislators 24 hours to consider their initial vote and change it if they choose. It was clear that House Republican Leadership did not want to give the representatives that time to reconsider, and so the Final Action vote was taken immediately after the first vote, passing HB 2445 through the House in one day.
The Kansas Senate – two days after their Leadership declared they refused to work an education bill in their chamber – passed SB 423, a woefully inadequate school finance bill.
On Saturday, the Kansas Legislature reconvened solely to work on education finance. An agreement was made between Senate and House Republicans, and the original House bill, HB 2445, was inserted into SB 423.
This bill passed the House and Senate and will now go to the governor to be signed into law. The bill will then be ruled upon by the Kansas Supreme Court in June. If found unconstitutional, the Kansas legislature will likely be called back for a special session.
Constitutional amendment passed out of committee
On Wednesday evening, the House Judiciary Committee narrowly kicked out HCR 5029, a Constitutional amendment that would strip the Kansas Supreme Court of any role in deciding on the constitutionality of education finance. With a 12-10 vote count, the amendment will now go to the House floor.
The amendment is an attempt by Republican Leadership to distract from the issue at hand: creating an adequate and equitable school funding plan that will provide every child in Kansas with the opportunity for a quality education.
If this amendment should pass, it will eliminate checks and balances in Kansas and weaken the separation of powers that are so important to a fair and transparent government.
The attempt to amend the Constitution would require a two-thirds vote in each chamber, and then must be voted upon by the people of Kansas on the ballot later this year – which does not address any of the issues with school funding that we are facing now.
The amendment will not be worked until the Legislature returns for veto session.
This week on the House floor
This week, the House worked multiple Conference Committee Reports and Concur – Non-Concurs. These are bills that have already passed through the House or the Senate, been sent to a Conference Committee to find a compromise that suits both chambers, and then come back to the floor for a final vote.
A few of these include:
SB 272: Requires drivers of motor vehicles to take certain actions when approaching a stationary waste collection vehicle obviously and actually engaged in waste collection and displaying hazard warning signal lamps as required.
SB 375: Adds specified exemptions to limits on vehicle weights and lengths.
HB 2606: Specifies vision test requirements for qualifying applicants for electronic online driver’s license renewal.
HB 2454: Amends various statutes related to juvenile offenders.
SB 282: Amends the Uniform Controlled Substances Act and certain statutes pertaining to crimes involving controlled substances. The bill would amend the definition of “marijuana” and authorize the sale of certain CBD products.
SB 307: Amends the Kansas Amusement Ride Act.
SB 217: Replaces the term “mentally retarded and other handicapped persons” in statutes with “individuals with intellectual or other disabilities” in accordance with current law.
To see other Conference Committee Reports and Concur/Non Concurs from the week, visit http://kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/chamber/house/calendar/2018/4/
Resources
My Legislative Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/PamCurtisKCK/
My Twitter Account, https://twitter.com/pcurtiskck
My Website, http://www.curtisforkck.com/
Kansas Legislature Website, http://kslegislature.org/li/
Rep. Pam Curtis represents the 32nd District in Kansas City, Kansas.
