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Congressman favors Apple in privacy dispute

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Opinion
by Murrel Bland

Tim Cook, the boss at Apple, has made headlines in the past few days in opposing a federal court order that wants private information from an iPhone that was owned by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook. Cook has an ally in U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-3rd Dist.

The congressman expressed his views on the Apple controversy and other issues Friday, Feb. 19, at a meeting of the Congressional Forum at the Reardon Convention Center, Kansas City, Kan.

Cook, in a letter made public recently, said that privacy was fundamental to all of Apple’s products. On the other side of the issue, Eileen Decker, a U.S. attorney for Central California, said, “We will leave no stone unturned as we gather as much information and evidence possible. These victims and families deserve nothing less.”

Cook’s stand has set off a debate of security versus privacy. Cook said that Apple has never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of its products or services.

The federal court in Riverside, Calif., has given Apple an order to disable the feature that wipes the data from the phone by Friday, Feb. 26. That way the federal government could attempt to crack the code using millions of combinations.

The congressman said he was concerned about the creation of a “backdoor” with such devices that not only would violate an individual’s privacy concerns, but also could make information open to foreign enemies.

The congressman said he voted for the recent appropriations bill, which provide increased funding for the National Institute of Health. This is particularly important so research can move ahead on Alzheimer’s disease, the congressman said. He said it is estimated that unless a cure can be found for Alzheimer’s, it could cost more than $1 trillion to care for such patients by 2050.

Rep. Yoder said it will be important to do two things to help the private sector to grow—reduce regulation and cut the federal debt. He cited the recent U.S. Supreme Court victory for ratepayers of utilities. The 5-4 ruling blocks the Environmental Protection Agency in its effort to combat global warming by regulating coal-fired-plants.

The congressman was asked who he might consider a suitable successor to Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia who died recently while on a hunting trip in Texas.

The congressman said the person appointed should be someone who has conservative values and has a narrow interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.

Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is executive director of Business West.

Following the UG money distributions

Window on the West
Opinion column

by Mary Rupert

The Unified Government will be giving away more money and making decisions about spending or saving more money this year than in past years.

Here is an update on some of the funds expected to come in to the Unified Government.

CDBG and budget public hearing Thursday: Community residents traditionally turn out to tell the UG Commission, during a public hearing, about what they want in services and what is needed in their area. Community Development Block Grant funds are sometimes available for specific uses, and sometimes the UG will fund projects out of its regular budget.

The CDBG and budget public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, in the Commission Chambers, lobby level, City Hall, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kan. It is the first public budget hearing for the year. For more information on this meeting, see http://www.wycokck.org/uploadedFiles/Articles/Public%20Hearing%20Notice%202%2025%202016%20final.pdf.

Sales tax millions: Mayor Mark Holland has gathered information with town hall meetings in each commission district about what the residents want to see happen with the sales tax income anticipated to be about $12 to $13 million as the STAR bonds are completed in 2017 at the Legends Outlets. Businesses want to be part of the town hall process now. In March, more meetings are scheduled so that business representatives can comment on what they would like to see done with the money. (See below for details.)

$1.25 million in community charitable grant fund: The Hollywood Casino charitable grant funds of $500,000 are in a different category, outside the regular budget process. This year, the UG Commission decided to add $750,000 in a Schlitterbahn charitable contribution to the pot to make $1.25 million that commissioners will approve for charitable purposes in Wyandotte County.

In a compromise approved Feb. 4, the commission agreed to have the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation do more screening of applicants before they come back to the commissioners, who will make a final decision. Each commissioner (and the mayor) will control one-eleventh of the fund to give to charitable purposes this year.

Schlitterbahn proposal and potential conflicts of interest

In a letter accompanying its $750,000 charitable contribution, a Schlitterbahn owner asked that $500,000 go toward the downtown Healthy Campus project, $50,000 for the Urban Scholastic Center at at 29th and Minnesota, $50,000 to the West Kiwanis KCK Club, and the remaining $150,000 for the commission to decide.

The UG Commission did not approve that request on Feb. 4. Instead, all the money was placed together with the Hollywood Casino funds into a charitable contributions fund, with the UG Commission making the decision on how much recipients would receive.

That does not mean that the Healthy Campus, Kiwanis and Urban Scholastic Center will not be funded – they might be funded if they apply and if individual commissioners decide to allot funds to them.

Commissioner Ann Murguia on Feb. 4 stated that she checked the UG-Schlitterbahn development agreement about the contribution, and it stated the UG would make the decision on where the charitable funds will be spent. She said at the meeting that the UG Commission had been very intentional about making sure everyone has the same access to these charitable dollars, and that’s why she supported them going through the same application process as the other funds.

The $750,000 contribution is a one-time contribution including funds for past years, according to UG officials, as Schlitterbahn had signed an agreement some years ago with the UG to make an annual contribution. Next year’s Schlitterbahn contribution is expected to be about $100,000, UG officials said.

The commission had been split on how to handle the charitable contributions before a compromise was worked out. Commissioner Melissa Bynum did not support commissioners directly making the decisions on the funds. There also was some support for the former method of an advisory committee to make the preliminary decisions, which would then come to the commission for approval.

However, the commission changed that process previously after some other commissioners said their districts were being ignored and not receiving any of the funds.

Commissioners Bynum and Jane Philbrook said at the Feb. 4 meeting that they were members of the Kiwanis club mentioned in the Schlitterbahn letter, but they were not on the board of directors making decisions for that group.

That received a response from Commissioner Murguia, who was criticized last July by the mayor when her name appeared as an adviser to an Argentine group applying for CDBG funding. Commissioner Murguia told the two commissioners that she was “telling you as your friend” that it was very important that their names not appear on the application if the organization submits a request for funding.

Commissioner Hal Walker opposed the Healthy Campus receiving a $500,000 donation off the top of the $750,000 fund. He said the commission has already voted to give the Healthy Campus $6 million if it comes up with a matching amount in contributions. He said if the Healthy Campus comes within $500,000 of the amount it is trying to raise, he would vote to issue that much in additional debt for it.

“But this is money we can do more good with right now,” he said, referring to using the Schlitterbahn contribution money for smaller projects around the community.

To view the Feb. 4 meeting, visit this website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UW67cXs19M.

To see the Hollywood Casino grant applications from last year, visit https://www.wycokck.org/uploadedFiles/Hollywood_Casino/Final%20Casino%20Grants%202015(1).pdf.

Business representatives scheduled to meet about STAR bond funds

The estimated $12-13 million becoming available to the UG in 2017 from sales taxes at The Legends Outlets have been the topic of the mayor’s town hall meetings, as well as a business meeting coming up in March.

Should they spend it on a landmark project such as the downtown Healthy Campus, or should it go back to the taxpayers as a reduction in property taxes? Should it be used to build a new juvenile jail or to build sidewalks? Should it be spent to satisfy a consent agreement with the U.S. Justice Department over the city’s stormwater and sewer management, or should it be put into the UG’s reserves to make their interest rates decrease when they borrow money? Will they upgrade the fire stations, or will they build new bike paths?

One thing is certain, the UG doesn’t support using its share of the STAR bond payoff windfall to fund the American Royal moving to Wyandotte County Park at Bonner Springs (near 126th and State), UG lobbyist Mike Taylor said last week. The UG would not be against the state of Kansas using its share of the sales taxes for the project, but that was opposed last week in the Legislature.

Business representatives here asked for a Listening Tour meeting for business, and one has been scheduled at 11:15 a.m. Thursday, March 10, at General Motors, Fairfax area of Kansas City, Kan., with the Fairfax Industrial Association as the sponsor. Another meeting was scheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 30, at the West Wyandotte Library, 1737 N. 82nd, with Business West as the sponsor.

Videos of the mayor’s Listening Tour in each commission district are online at http://www.wycokck.org/Listen/.

To reach Mary Rupert, editor, email [email protected].

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.