Category: Opinions

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

This past week it was a pleasure to have three students, Daniel, Zel and Daniel, from Bethel Neighborhood Center serve as pages. The students did a great job running errands for legislators and were very attentive during a long floor debate.

Monday, March 16, marks day 60 of the Kansas Legislature’s 90-day session. Last week the House of Representatives narrowly passed House Substitute for Senate Bill 7 that fundamentally changes the way public education is funded in Kansas. I voted no on this bill. The bill eliminates the school finance formula, and allocates in its place the Governor’s block grant program for 2016 and 2017. I will continue to stand up and fight for public education in Topeka. Please talk to your family, your friends, and your neighbors about the importance of education to the future of our children, our state, and our economy.

It remains an incredible honor to represent our community in the Kansas House of Representatives. While the Legislature is in Session, I do my best to stay in touch and keep you informed by email, and I spend countless hours every week helping my constituents solve problems. If I can be of service to you or anyone you know please call my office at 785-296-7371 or email me at [email protected]

Block grants
After just one week of debate, on a vote of 64-57, the Kansas House of Representatives passed the largest education reform in over twenty years. House Substitute for Senate Bill 7 eliminates the school finance formula, and allocates in its place the Governor’s block grant program for 2016 and 2017.

I voted against the legislation because I consider educating our children to be one of the most important things state government does. The bill, which was unnecessarily fast tracked in the House, does not meet the needs of Kansas schools districts because it:

Eliminates the current education formula
The block grant formula eliminates the weightings to account for growing or shrinking enrollment, at-risk and bi-lingual students, high transportation costs, career and vocational-technical programs, among others. The current formula must meet the needs of almost 300 different school districts in our state, each with their own set of unique challenges. The problem with the funding formula was not that it was broken, but that it wasn’t fully funded.

Decreases education funding
The Governor’s education plan does nothing to address the issue that our schools have been perpetually underfunded for more than five years. The plan freezes funding for two consecutive years at current levels, forcing school districts to absorb the cost. According to the Kansas Department of Education, our district alone would lose more than $XX dollars, a cut our schools cannot afford.

Creates inequalities among districts
This legislation pits poor districts against wealthy districts and rural districts against urban districts. Students in Kansas City will not have access to the same resources as students in Johnson County. That is unfair to Kansas schools and bad for the Kansas economy.

The bill will now go to the Senate for final approval on Monday, and then to the governor’s desk for signature. I urge you to contact the Governor’s Office at 785-368-8500 and ask him to veto the bill. It is time for Kansas to make fair and adequate funding a priority. Our children, the future of Kansas, deserve better.

Budget overview
Despite the legislature being in session for over two months now, we have yet to see a comprehensive budget bill that addresses the $600 million deficit that was created by the Governor’s failed economic experiment. In the coming weeks, however, the budget will again become a priority as we are confronted with difficult decisions about the future of our state. As the budget process moves forward, I will consider any sustainable plan that is fair and equitable for Kansas families.

Repeal of exemption would raise property taxes
In an effort to fill the projected $600 million budget hole, the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee heard a bill that would reinstate $45 million in property taxes on Kansas homeowners. The bill would repeal a statewide exemption of the first $20,000 of the appraised value of residential property.

The tax, which is regressive in nature, is uniformly applied to all Kansas homeowners regardless of the cost of their home. Lower income Kansans will be forced to pay a larger portion of their annual income than their wealthier counterparts. This is yet another example of how the poorest Kansans are being forced to bear the cost of the Governor’s failed economic experiment.

Changes to TANF/SNAP
The House Commerce, Labor and Economic Committee approved a bill this week that changes the way two social service programs, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), are administered by the state. There are numerous changes to the programs, but some of the most concerning include:

-Prohibiting the use of federal or state funds to promote and assist enrollment
-Reducing the lifetime limit on TANF benefits from 48 months to 36 months
-Restricting eligibility for citizens with previous drug offenses.

The proposed changes will make TANF and SNAP less accessible for Kansans who need assistance during a time when poverty in Kansas is increasing. This places additional burden on people willing to work hard and play by the rules, but sometimes need a little help.

Renewable Portfolio Standards ‘RPS’
A measure to sunset the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard at the end of 2015 was heard in committees of both chambers this week. Passed in 2009, the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requires major electrical companies to harvest ten percent of their energy from renewable sources. Under the 2009 legislation that percentage is scheduled to grow to fifteen percent in 2016, and twenty percent in 2020.

If the legislature repeals RPS, the minimum industry standards for renewable energy sources will be eliminated. Those in favor of keeping RPS argue it is essential to the continued success of Kansas’ alternative energy markets – in particular wind energy, which accounts for over 13,000 jobs in Kansas.

Fantasy Football
Fantasy Football fans in Kansas may soon have something to cheer about. According to the Racing and Gaming Commission, Fantasy Football Leagues that disburse money as awards are considered lotteries and are therefore illegal under Kansas law. A bill in the House makes participation in Fantasy Leagues legal by changing their designation from a lottery to a game of skill.

Changes to conceal and carry laws
A hearing was held in the Senate on a bill that would abolish Kansas’ permit requirement to conceal and carry a fireman. Current state law requires individuals to submit an application, complete firearm safety training courses, and pass a background screening. The measure in the Kansas Senate would remove all existing requirements and will make it legal for almost anyone to conceal and carry without a permit.

Medicaid expansion
The House Health and Human Services Committee will hold hearings on March 18 & 19 on a bill that would extend coverage to more Kansans through Medicaid expansion. Expanding health care coverage would help lower uncompensated care. A healthy workforce is more productive and leads to a growing state economy, more local jobs and more spending.

It is an honor to represent District 6 in the Kansas Senate.
If I can be of service to you, or anyone you know, please call my office at 785-296-7375, or email me at [email protected].

In this issue:
• Block grant details
• KPERS bonding

The House and Senate Leadership released their plan for a two-year block grant for K- 12 public schools. They said it would provide stability for education funding and put more money in the classrooms. That is not true. I’m writing today so you can have the details on the block grant proposal. The House Appropriations had a hearing on Monday and Senate Ways and Means will be having a hearing today. It is likely this bill will be on final action by the end of the week.

Block grant cuts funding

House and Senate leaders announced a bill to move from the current K-12 school funding formula to a block grant plan for the next two years (SB173/HB2403). During that time the legislature will develop a new funding formula. However, the bill has no sunset, so it can’t become permanent.

Here are the details of the bill:
• They claimed the bill would add $300 million to school funding by 2017. When we dug into it, we found that $129 million of the $300 million was for increases ordered by the courts and approved already last year. Most of the remaining $171 million is KPERS employer payments, which will now be taken from the block grants. No “new” money for schools- and some of the $129 million is going away.

• They plan to allow transferring of monies between funds. Some funds will still be restricted, like bond and interest funds and special education. The problem is that monies used now to provide specific services (like programs for at-risk students, bi-lingual students or technical education students) will now likely have to be used to just keep the doors open and lights on. This could mean the end of all day kindergarten and 4 year old at-risk preschool, just to name a couple of things.

• There is nothing in the block grants to automatically allow for growth in student population. Schools with extraordinary growth can apply separately for some money from an Extraordinary Need Fund, to be determined by a legislative group. Nearly $30 million in current funding is taken from school districts for this fund.

• The bill restores the $28 million the Governor just cut from base state aid in his February allotments. However, it cuts $51 million from LOB equalization and capital outlay aid. So in effect, the school districts now have a larger cut to deal with before June 30, and have to cut in different accounts than they were told last month. Low-property value districts were hurt the worst with this new LOB-capital outlay formula. The richest districts got more money.

• If the state reduces what your district gets for LOB aid going forward, it can be recovered by raising local property taxes. Some districts can cover that kind of loss with reserve funds to get through June 30. All districts in our area are getting an LOB aid cut. If reserve funds are used to cover the cuts this year, there will likely be property tax increases next year to keep afloat.

• There will be a change to calculating aid for bond and interest aid after July 1. Current bonds are not impacted. However, in the past the state provided help to furnish new buildings and that is gone.

The governor says the current formula is too complex and doesn’t have enough flexibility or certainty. In my opinion, the current formula is fine. The uncertainty has come about because the legislature has failed to fund the formula for a number of years.

The bottom line is the block grant forces local school districts to raise taxes to keep the same funding they have today. It’s a tax shift to property taxes. It is dis-equalizing, punishing poor districts the most. And it is likely unconstitutional. They put this bill on the fast track.

One of the most worrisome parts of the block grant parts of the block grant proposal is that it hurts the districts with low property value districts. The LOB aid and capital outlay aid are aimed at equalizing property values across the state and those funds are getting the biggest cuts. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that 80% of the poorest districts would lose equalization money while 90% of the richest districts gain funding. The courts ordered the legislature to pay the equalization money- so kids in every Kansas zip code could get a good education. The block grant proposal flies in the face of the court order and the Kansas Constitution.

Update: House Appropriations did amend the school finance bill into Senate Bill 7. The only place this bill will be worked is on the House floor. This is called “gut and go” and is totally against the process.

Alexis Her, Briana Soto and Sandra Velasquez, students from Turner High School, joined me here at the Capitol as Senate Pages on March 5.

KPERS borrowing

The Senate passed SB168 last week to bond $1.5 billion to shore up the KPERS fund. With the shortfall in revenues, the state cannot make its employer payment to the fund. The idea is to sell bonds at a rate below 5%, then take the money and invest it and make a profit. Historically, KPERS funds have earned about 8%. The profit would make the KPERS employer payments.

Financial experts are raising red flags about this approach. They are saying that jumping into the market when it is at a all-time high is not a good strategy. The debt service on the $1.5 billion would be about $90 million, and we would owe that whether we made a profit on the bond money or not. The Government Finance Officers Association recommended that such deals be avoided as they are too risky.

I am pictured with winners of kchealthy kids “I Am Here” youth photo contest at the awards ceremony held earlier this week. They are Antonio Droge and his 8th grade class at Rosedale Middle School.

Kansas State Board of Education member Janet Waugh with me at the Kansas Democratic Party’s Washington Days last weekend.

Legislative update from Rep. Stan Frownfelter, D-37th Dist.

Under the Dome
February revenue numbers
Parents as Teachers
K-12 block grants
Changes to school board elections

Under the Dome
This has been a short week in the Legislature, because we had Monday and Tuesday off to spend time at home with our constituents. I look for things to start picking up speed in the coming weeks as we begin debating school finance and eventually a budget.

February revenue numbers
Revenue numbers were slightly above estimates in February, marking the first time in seven months incoming state revenue has met or exceeded projections. The state remains $37 million below estimates for the fiscal year with four months remaining.

While the governor and the legislature have cut more than $300 million from state agencies and public education already this fiscal year, the state still faces a budget shortfall of more than $600 million next year.

The state is constitutionally prohibited from running a deficit, so creating a balanced budget is a top priority this legislative session. Unfortunately, we are halfway through the session and have yet to see a comprehensive budget bill.

Moving forward I will consider any budget plan that is fair, equitable, and sustainable and puts the needs of middle class families first. The future success of our state depends upon providing our children with a high-quality education, creating good paying jobs, and investing in the growth and development of our state’s economy.

Parents as Teachers
An informational hearing was held in the House Social Services Budget Committee this week to determine if the state would eliminate its $7.2 million contribution to the Parents as Teachers program. The program, which offers services to at risk youth and their families, is aimed at combating childhood poverty and preparing young children for school. Eliminating the state’s contribution would significantly hamper or eliminate local school districts’ abilities to provide services to an already underserved population of Kansas citizens. Parents as Teachers plays a vital role in our communities, and it is imperative that its funding is preserved.

K-12 block grants
On Thursday Republican lawmakers finally rolled out their education plan. The proposal eliminates base state aid per pupil and instead allocates funds in the form of a block grant, or a lump sum, to each district for fiscal years 2016 and 2017.

I have several concerns about the plan:
• It does not significantly increase funding to schools, and therefore does not address a recent Court order to increase funding.
• It is still unclear how funds will be calculated and distributed, but it will not account for changes in district enrollment.
• It does away with districts weightings that account for local needs such as busing, special education, and bilingual programs. Failing to factor in these costs generates inequality between districts across the state.

The proposed plan comes at the recommendation of Governor Brownback, who has outlined changing the school finance formula as one of his top legislative priorities. The problem with the current formula is not its structure, but rather inadequate funding allocated by the Legislature.

Changes to school board elections
On Thursday the House Education Committee held a hearing on House Bill 2345, which would prevent anyone employed by a school district or the Department of Education from being elected to a local school board. It also prohibits any school employee’s spouse, sibling, parent, or roommate from running for a school board. This bill seeks to unnecessarily limit who is eligible to run for school board and could potentially disqualify competent candidates.

Keep in touch
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. Additional, you can e-mail me at [email protected]. You can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org.