This community lost two of its business leaders recently — Jim DeGoler and Terry Eidson. I was pleased to have known both. They were not only successful businessmen; they understood the importance of being community leaders.
I recall working with Jim DeGoler in the mid- and late 1970s when he headed the Chamber of Commerce. The organization was going through a revival that Jim was leading. The chamber hired Bill Little as its executive—a no-nonsense leader who didn’t hesitate to deal directly with community problems. The chamber led the effort to change the patron-riddled city government into a professionally managed organization. That successful effort, with an election in 1982, was a necessary forerunner to the consolidation of city and county governments in 1997.
Jim DeGoler was a successful pharmacist, a company that his father, Harvey DeGoler, founded in 1928. Jim was president of the Kansas City, Kan., Board of Education and Cancer Action. He also was chairman of the board of trustees of Bethany Medical Center.
Terry Eidson was the co-owner of Edison’s Florist. Terry’s parents, Virgil and Pauline Eidson, founded the business in the White Church community. Terry and his wife Aileen Frisch Eidson expanded the business to include a travel agency and tuxedo rental service. I remember spending time, helping them plan marketing programs for their expanding businesses.
Terry Eidson served on the Kansas City, Kan., Board of Public Utilities and the board of the Wyandotte County Fair Association. He also rescued a failing racquetball club with the help of other investors. He sponsored and coached little league ball teams; he had a special interest in teams that his sons and later his grandchildren played on.
Both of these men were graduates of the University of Kansas, Lawrence, served on area bank boards and were active members of the United Methodist Church. I was pleased to have known them and appreciate the many contributions that they made to the community. Both will be missed.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is the executive director of Business West.
Sen. Pat Pettey Legislative update from Sen. Pat Pettey, D-6th Dist.
Jan. 27, 2015
The 2015 legislative session is just getting underway, and I am looking forward to representing our District 6 community in the Kansas Senate. As your senator, one of my top priorities is ensuring that I remain accountable and accessible to the people I serve. In order to do this, I attend community meetings and events. If you have an upcoming neighborhood meeting or event, please let me know. While the Legislature is in Session in Topeka, I remain available to be of service to you, call my office at 785-296-7375, or email me at [email protected].
In this issue:
• Last week at the Capitol
• President Obama’s visit
• Budget update
• Minimum wage
• New state education chief to tour
• Capitol visitor
Last week at the Capitol
With the holiday on Monday, it was a short week at the Capitol. It was spent in committee meetings, where a number of bills now have scheduled hearings.
To track bills, go to www.kslegislature.org and click on the “Bills and Laws” link. You are also welcome to testify before a committee on any issue important to you. A written copy of your testimony is required at least 24 hours prior to the committee hearing.
I welcome your input on any of these issues. Please feel free to visit or contact me at 785-296-7375 if you should have any questions. Or stop by my legislative office, located in room 125 E of the Topeka Statehouse.
The Kansas Association of School Boards also has a calendar of upcoming education hearings, testimony, an archive of news briefs and more! Just go to www.kasb.org and click on the “Advocacy Services” tab.
Daily calendars, committee and district information, and full text and summaries of bills are all available online at www.kslegislature.org. To hear legislative proceedings, just click on “Listen in Live”.
Budget update
After taking the past week to give the governor’s budget proposal fair consideration, there are now more questions than answers, and the answers we do have are problematic. Here are just a few of my objections:
• The governor is proposing to repeal the school finance formula and use block grants until a new formula is developed. The block grants reduce education funding by $127 million.
• The governor’s proposal also relies on continuing the raids on the highway fund, which will only jeopardize future projects and prevents the creation of good, quality jobs. Further, it prevents regular upkeep of our roads.
• The governor proposes to save the state money with the employee pension system (KPERS) by extending the date of when it would be fully funded by 10 years – from 2033 to 2043 – by getting $1.5 billion in bonds. The problem with this is it would end up costing the state $3.7 billion over that ten year period. If the state did not use the bonds, it would cost $9.1 billion.
• The governor proposes continued cuts of 4 percent to all state agencies.
• The governor has proposed a tax plan that further shifts the burden to low income and middle class families.
When it comes to the governor’s budget proposal, the bottom line is that it is simply a Band-Aid on a bullet hole. It does not provide any real solutions because there is nothing to address the reckless economic experiment that created the budget crisis in the first place. You can read more about the budget at http://www.kansasbudget.com/2015/01/the-budget-is-not-fixed-yet.html.
Minimum wage
Senate Democrats introduced a bill yesterday (Jan. 26) that would increase the state’s minimum wage by $3 by 2018. If passed, wages would go up to $8.25 in 2016; $9.25 in 2017; and, $10.25 by Jan. 1, 2018. The bill would also increase wages paid to employees who receive tips and gratuities to $3.08 by January 1, 2018. The senate bill is the same as what has already been introduced in the House of Representatives (House Bill 2012).
New state education chief to tour
Incoming Kansas education commissioner Randy Watson will host community discussions this month and next month on the direction of K-12 education.
He will be in the Greater Kansas City area on Wednesday, Feb. 18, in two different locations:
9-11 a.m. at KCK Central Office
2010 N. 59th St., Kansas City, Kan.
1-3 pm at Olathe Education Center
14160 Black Bob Road, Olathe.
The discussions are open to the public and interested parties are welcome.
Capitol visitor
Matt Payne, Kansas Highway patrolman and former 1st grade student of mine, was here at the Capitol to testify against Senate Bill 9, which would legalize marijuana for health purposes. I love seeing my former students. Matt’s wife teaches at Junction Elementary.
President Obama’s visit
I had the honor of attending President Obama’s speech Thursday at the University of Kansas. He spoke of the importance of high quality child care and early childhood education as well as an increase in minimum wage to help strengthen the middle class. These are all issues I fully support for the people of Kansas.
Rep. Stan Frownfelter
Legislative update from State Rep. Stan Frownfelter, D – 37th Dist.
Swearing in
The 2015 session of the Kansas Legislature began on Monday, Jan. 12, with the swearing in of 125 members of the Kansas House of Representatives. I was sworn in for my 9th session serving District 37. The calendar will remain full over the next few weeks as bills are introduced and committees begin their work. Complete daily calendars are available at www.kslegislature.org. I am working to keep constituents more informed via stan.frownfelter@house .ks.gov.
Brownback delivers inaugural address
Gov. Brownback was sworn in for his second term as Kansas governor on Monday, Jan. 12. In his inaugural address, he finally recognized that the state is facing severe economic problems. I was surprised, however, that he blamed the states’ problems on a “crisis of the family” rather than taking responsibilities for the results of his disastrous economic experiment. He went on to suggest that strengthening our “faith” and “morals” could resolve the self-created fiscal crisis. Rather than blaming Kansas families, I believe we should be working towards solutions that address the issues that affect them the most, such as funding education, creating jobs, and generating a fair tax plan.
Kansas fiscal crisis
For several months now, we have known that Kansas is facing a real fiscal crisis. The non-partisan Consensus Revenue Estimating Group warned the state is facing a budget deficit of nearly $280 million for the 2015 fiscal year. The crisis is a direct result of Brownback’s irresponsible tax experiment which provided tax cuts to the wealthiest Kansans. The shortfall is projected to exceed $648 million during the 2016 fiscal year when additional tax cuts are set to take effect, further shifting the tax burden on to low and middle income families. Last month Gov. Brownback suggested that the state fill the looming budget gap for 2015 by shifting current funds from state agencies to balance the budget. The Governor’s proposal includes:
• Cutting a $40 million scheduled investment to KPERS (Kansas State Employee Retirement System)
• Raiding $96 million from the State Highway Fund, and
• Cutting state agencies budgets to cover the deficit.
In the coming days Gov. Brownback will release his proposed budget for the 2016 and 2017 fiscal year and committee hearings will begin shortly after.
Education
The state of Kansas was founded on a belief that everyone should have access to a quality public education, and our founders ensured we honor that tradition by placing a provision in Kansas’s Constitution requiring a suitable education for all Kansas children. Unfortunately, over the past several years Gov. Brownback and the Kansas Legislature failed to adequately fund K-12 education as schools have closed, test scores have dropped, and teachers have been laid off.
The failure to invest in public education threatens Kansas’ future, as current funding for public education remains equivalent to 1992 levels. As a result, in classrooms across the state schools are continuously asked to do more with less, fewer teachers serve more students, and parents are charged additional fees for their child’s education. The cost of public education is shifting to local taxpayers as school board members are forced to make the difficult decision to raise property taxes.
On Dec. 30 a three-judge panel affirmed that the State of Kansas was not meeting its Constitutional obligation to adequately fund public education. The legislature will now have to address the court ruling during this session. I assure you that I will continue to be a strong and vocal advocate for public schools in the Kansas Legislature.
State of the state
On Thursday, Jan. 15, Gov. Brownback delivered his fifth State of the State Address. The speech was met with great anticipation as the state is facing a budget deficit over $1 billion in the next five years. In fact, this fiscal crisis is worse than what we endured during the Great Recession.
Gov. Brownback has blamed a lot of people for the state’s economic troubles, but nonpartisan economists and budget analysts agree: the Brownback economic experiment is 100 percent to blame.
I didn’t come to Topeka to play politics. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter who made the mess. After years of lagging job growth and cuts to our public schools, all that matters now is that the mess is cleaned up. I want to be part of the solution, but only if Gov. Brownback offers real solutions. That means we must honor our moral obligation– and court order– to restore funding to our schools, protect the investments we know strengthen our economy, and re-establish a responsible, competitive tax code where everyone pays their fair share.
I will certainly approach any proposal the governor offers with an open mind, but the process must begin with him. I look forward to hearing more specifics from Gov. Brownback about his plan to fix his economic experiment in his budget on Friday.
