Month: March 2019

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

Rep. Pam Curtis

by Rep. Pam Curtis

This past week has been especially busy with turnaround deadline on Thursday, Feb. 28th. We are officially halfway through session. Turnaround is when all bills in non-exempt committees must be passed through their committee, and the House.

Only “blessed” bills, outside of the exempt committees may continue to be worked. The Speaker of the House decides which bills will be blessed. After turnaround, we will work the bills that are sent to the House from the Senate. Turnaround rules do not apply to exempt committees, which are: Federal and State Affairs, Taxation, and Appropriations.

On Wednesday, HB 2279 passed the House of Representatives in final action. This is the bill that Rep. Ponka-We Victors and I sponsored to provide better information to victims of domestic violence at the time of arrest so they can make safe decisions. We appreciate everyone’s help in working to reach consensus on language to get this bill passed. The bill now heads to the Senate.

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 at the Statehouse 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]

Brownback tax plan 2.0 Passes House committee, heads to floor
This week, SB 22 passed through the House Taxation Committee. It will head to the floor. This bill is designed to benefit giant, multi-national corporations. At a minimum, this bill is estimated to cost Kansas $187.3 million for fiscal year 2020 alone, however, estimates could be much more. By fiscal year 2022, it’s estimated to cost Kansas upwards of $416 million. This would steal more money out of our state, local economies, and Kansans’ pockets. This is a repeat of the failed Brownback tax plan that was repealed less than two years ago.

Additionally, a 2016 study by a nonpartisan nonprofit, Feeding America, found that the cost of eliminating hunger in Kansas is $185 million. Furthermore, the failed Brownback tax plan left Kansas bankrupt, with crumbling infrastructure, dangerously underfunded state agencies, struggling schools, decreases in Kansans’ pocketbooks, and more. The recent state of emergency declared at El Dorado by the governor and the Kansas Department of Corrections is a prime example of the threats these policies still hold – and how dangerous the passage of another tax experiment will be.

This further calls into question the priorities of our Republican colleagues. We should put Kansans first, instead of more tax handouts to giant, multi-national corporations.

House Democrats reject any legislation that doesn’t put Kansas on a path to fiscal responsibility and that will harm hardworking Kansans. We’ve only just begun to stabilize our economy after the failed Brownback tax plan and cannot go backward.

Link to Feeding America study: http://map.feedingamerica.org/county/2016/overall/kansas

Washington Days state convention
This past weekend was our annual Democratic Convention, Washington Days, held in Topeka. It’s the largest gathering of Democrats in the state. Activities ranged from rallies to caucus meetings and auctions to luncheons – as well as a special dinner with speakers. This year, the featured speakers were Gov. Laura Kelly and Montana Sen. John Tester.
Alongside the festivities, this year is also the biennial election of the chair, vice chair, secretary, and treasurer of the Kansas Democratic Party.

This week on the floor

This week, the House worked several bills on the floor. All of these bills passed through the chamber. They include:

HB 2201: Updates statutory references necessitated by 2012 executive reorganization order No. 41 related to administration of tuberculosis programs.
HB 2215: Kansas state fair board is authorized to create a nonprofit corporation for the benefit of the state fair.
HB 2365: Provides for confidential communications of Kansas National Guard members in peer support counseling sessions.
HB 2006: Requires the Department of Commerce to create a database of economic development incentive program information.
HB 2103: Amends the revised Kansas code for care of children to provide requirements for placement of a child in a qualified residential treatment program.
HB 2290: Creates a crime victims compensation division within the attorney general’s office.
HB 2031: Amends the definition of “service-connected” in the Kansas police and firemen’s retirement system.
HB 2140: Allows agents of the KBI to participate in the Kansas DROP act and extending the sunset date for the act.
HB 2147: Increases bond maturity limitations in the Kansas rural housing incentive district act.
HB 2174: Extends the sunset date of the state use law for five years.
HB 2177: Pertains to the accounting treatment of certain derivative instruments of fixed index annuities.
HB 2191: Amends the procedure for execution of a search warrant for electronically stored information.
HB 2209: Authorizes the state Board of Regents to purchase cybersecurity insurance.
HB 2211: Allows judges to waive or reduce driver’s license reinstatement fees.
HB 2239: Liquor sales by licensees in common consumption areas.
HB 2281: Provides that a court order modifying a criminal sentence only modifies the portion of the sentence referenced by the court and not remaining portions of the original sentence.
HB 2084: Amends the Kansas 911 act.
HB 2126: Regulates the operation of electric-assisted scooters on roads and highways.
HB 2167: Establishes a system for the transfer of certain deer hunting permits to nonresidents.
HB 2168: Authorizes the state Board of Regents to sell and convey certain real property in Cherokee County and Riley County on behalf of Kansas State University.
HB 2174: Extends the sunset date of the state use law for five years.
HB 2177: Pertains to the accounting treatment of certain derivative instruments of fixed index annuities.
HB 2178: Amends the Kansas underground utility damage prevention act.
HB 2185: Clarifies the naturopathic medicine scope of practice to include diagnostic imaging.
HB 2191: Amends the procedure for execution of a search warrant for electronically stored information.
HB 2198: Allows the use of expedited partner therapy to treat a sexually transmitted disease.
HB 2206: Changes the bonding and cost requirements for animals taken into custody under a violation of cruelty to animals.
HB 2209: Authorizes the state Board of Regents to purchase cybersecurity insurance.
HB 2211: Allows judges to waive or reduce driver’s license reinstatement fees.
HB 2214: Changes the definition of a school bus for purposes of the motor-fuel tax law.
HB 2225: Adds on-track train equipment to the circumstances that a vehicle driver must stop at railroad crossings.
HB 2239: Liquor sales by licensees in common consumption areas.
HB 2243: Exempts animal shelters from registration requirements as a charitable organization.
HB 2248: Allows all-terrain vehicles to cross federal or state highways.
HB 2281: Provides that a court order modifying a criminal sentence only modifies the portion of the sentence referenced by the court and not remaining portions of the original sentence.
HB 2290: Creates a crime victims compensation division within the attorney general’s office.
HB 2203: Exempts individuals employed by the Kansas academies of U.S. Department of Defense STARBASE program from KPERS working after retirement requirements and authorizing reimbursement of suspended retirement benefits for certain retirants.
HB 2048: Clarifies the definition of a comparable offense under the Kansas criminal code.
HB 2144: Creates budget and taxing authority of community colleges; articulation of credits; and student residency requirements.
HB 2223: Replaces vineyard permits with producer permits to allow individuals to use a wider variety of agricultural products in the production of wine under such permit.
HB 2336: Clarifies when offenders under the supervision of the secretary of corrections are awarded jail credit.
HB 2360: Concerning background checks of employees and volunteers that have unsupervised access to children, the elderly or individuals with disabilities.
HB 2346: Relating to standards for school-administered vision screenings.
HB 2279: Requires law enforcement officers to provide information about timing of release from custody when an arrest is made following a domestic violence call.

State Library of Kansas
Small business owners and would-be entrepreneurs, as well as others, might be interested in the Small Business Reference Center provided by the State Library of Kansas. It’s a vast resource that provides industry-specific data, sample business plans, marketing guides, business start-up kits, and Nolo legal guides. Business Basics covers starting a business, managing employees and more. This center includes more than 400 full-text magazines with articles that can be printed, saved or emailed and 450 full-text reference books: https://kslib.info/SmBiz

Resources

My Legislative Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/PamCurtisKCK.
My Twitter account, https://twitter.com/pcurtiskck
My website, https://www.curtisforkck.com/
Kansas Legislature website, http://kslegislature.org/

UG Committee to meet tonight

The Unified Government Neighborhood and Community Development Committee is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. Monday, March 4, at the fifth floor conference room, City Hall, 701 N. 7th St.

On the agenda are amendments to the administrative penalty process for code enforcement and increasing the range of penalties. The proposed fines ranges from $100 for a first code enforcement violation to $1,500 for a sixth violation within two years.

Land Bank items on the agenda include:
• 1227 Ann Ave., yard extension, Saul Franco Meza, applicant;
• 1233 Ann Ave., property acquisition, Saul Franco Meza, applicant.
• 748 Seminary St., transfer from Land Bank, Rosedale Development Association, community garden.

According to the agenda, all properties in the Dec. 13, 2018, tax sale that received a bid and were deemed no sales or were not redeemed by a winning bidder will go into the Land Bank. There are more than 100 properties on a list in the agenda that will go into the Land Bank if approved.

These properties are listed on the agenda for the March 4 UG committee meeting, online on p. 36 at https://wycokck.civicclerk.com/web/UserControls/DocPreview.aspx?p=1&aoid=1555.

Items that are approved at the UG committee meeting March 4 will advance to the UG full commission meeting at a later date.

An agenda is posted at www.wycokck.org.

KCKCC to hold academic symposium looking at effects of medical marijuana

by Kelly Rogge, KCKCC

The Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Center for Teaching Excellence’s Academic Symposium series continues March 7 with a look into the growing trend of medical marijuana.

“Marijuana: From Reefer Madness to Medical Acceptance” is from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, March 7, in Upper Jewell on the KCKCC main campus, 7250 State Ave.

The symposium, which is presented by the KCKCC Center for Teaching Excellence, will be led by Linda Warner, LCPC, director of counseling and advocacy at KCKCC and Jackson Warner, Pharm.D. It is free and open to the public.

Warner said she became interested in medical marijuana because of health concerns of her aging parents. She said her mother was seeking information about CBD oil to treat fibromyalgia when the medication she was taking produced intolerable side effects. In addition, her father has Parkinson’s disease and has profound tremors in his hands.

“My siblings suggested that marijuana use could reduce his tremors. This was the beginning of my research into the medicinal properties of cannabis,” Warner said. “My co-presenter at this symposium is my youngest son, Jackson Warner. He is a licensed pharmacist in Kansas and Missouri. I asked Jack a lot of questions about what cannabis products could do to help my parents and any potential harm it could cause. This has led us both to study the latest practices of the clinical use of cannabis as well as evaluate the science behind marijuana research.”

There are four objectives for those who attend the symposium:

• To understand the history of cannabis as a medication and how it came to be classified by the federal government as a Schedule 1 drug, which puts it in the same category as heroin
• Understand the processes around research and development of marijuana for medical use
• To know how medical professionals are treating patients with various types of cannabis products and how that would impact clinical practice in Kansas with the enactment of the proposed HB 2163 legislation
• Assess the pros and cons of the movement from medical marijuana to legal recreational use as has been done in other states.

“Attending this event will help you to ask informed questions if you are considering treatment of an ailment with a cannabis product,” Warner said. “It will give you information to evaluate market place claims for cannabis products, help healthcare professionals know about emerging medical treatments using cannabis and what the proposed state law in Kansas will change. It will allow you to examine data from states that transitioned from medical use to recreational use of legalized marijuana to assess its social impact.”

For more information about this academic symposium or others, contact KCKCC’s Center for Teaching Excellence at 913-288-7121.