Category: Opinions

Legislative update from Sen. Pat Pettey

Legislative update from Sen. Pat Pettey, D-6th Dist.

April 4, 2014

In this issue:

• Senate adjourns this week

• School finance

• Community forum

• Kansas Health Institute

• Health information

Senate adjourns this week  

Legislators worked long days this week finishing legislative business before the session break.

The session is scheduled to end April 4.

After this date, bills that haven’t passed both chambers can no longer be debated although certain bills are exempt from this deadline.

Following a short break, legislators will return for the veto session in late April. At that time, exempt bills, conference reports, and any vetoes by the governor will be considered.

If you have any questions about any of the legislation being considered, feel free to contact my office at 785-296-7375 or stop by my legislative office, located in 125-E of the Topeka Statehouse. My assistant’s name is Jennifer Parson.

School finance  

The Senate will likely not finish today, but will convene again on Saturday, April 5, to work school funding legislation in response to the Gannon decision handed down by the Supreme Court.

I have voted “no” on this legislation, and join with Sen. Anthony Hensley in his explanation of that “no” vote, offered on the Senate floor:

“Madam President:

“I vote no on HB 2506.

“Less than one month ago the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed that the legislature has created an unconstitutional school finance system and then was the time to fix it. They told us to resolve inequities by fully funding capital outlay and local option budget equalization.

“Unfortunately, we have waited until the final two days of the legislative session to address this issue. When the equity issue should have been this legislature’s first and foremost priority.

“It is absurd that we are discussing more cuts to important areas of education – at-risk, virtual schools, transportation – to fix this. More cuts are not the solution.

“This bill makes unnecessary and unvetted new education policy such as blocking the implementation of the Common Core standards, creating a corporate tax scholarship credit, eliminating due process for teachers, and establishing a property tax credit without a fiscal note for families using private schools.

“The school finance formula is not broken and should not be changed. The formula is underfunded. And, if we really want to put money into the classroom, we should be restoring the cuts and raising the base state aid per pupil.”

– Anthony Hensley

This session on the Senate floor continued until 1:45 a.m. Friday morning. We debated the education funding bill for 6 hours.

Update from the House (from the Topeka Capital-Journal):

Both Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, and his Democratic challenger, House Minority Leader Paul Davis, urged the House to pass a compromise school finance bill Friday, in a bipartisan effort.

“While I was hoping to vote for a little bit better product, this does address the most important issue court set before us, which is that we need to fund the equalization pats of the (K-12 funding) formula,” Davis said about Senate Bill 218. To read this story, visit http://m.cjonline.com/news/2014-04-04/house-oks-bipartisan-school-finance-bill.

Community forum  

Members of the Wyandotte County legislative delegation will participate in a Town Hall Forum sponsored by the Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce. The forum will be held from 9 to 10:30 a.m. April 12, at the West Wyandotte Public Library, 1737 N 82nd St., Kansas City, Kan. All are welcome to attend, and I hope to see you there. I look forward to the opportunity to speak with you and answer any questions you may have about this legislative session.

Kansas Health Institute  

According to the 2014 Rankings, the five healthiest counties in Kansas, starting with the most healthy, are Johnson, followed by Riley, Pottawatomie, Waubaunsee and Stevens. The five counties in the poorest health, starting with the least healthy, are Woodson, Elk, Wyandotte, Chautaqua, and Decatur.

The Rankings provide county-to-county comparisons within a state. In Kansas, this year’s Rankings show that within communities that rank lowest, babies are 50 percent more likely to have low birth weight and children are more than four times more likely to live in poverty than in communities that rank at the top.

Health information

From the American Heart Association:

“Children consume 45 percent more snack food when exposed to food advertising. 34 percent of food products in ads targeting children and teens are candy and snacks.”

3rd District campaign calls on women for support base

Window on the West

Opinion column

by Mary Rupert

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-3rd Dist., reported $2 million cash on hand to spend on his campaign at the end of 2013, according to campaign finance reports.

One of his Democratic challengers is Kelly Kultala of the Piper area of Kansas City, Kan., and I did not see any campaign finance reports for her on file yet at the federal level. But her fundraising has begun, and Kultala’s campaign treasurer, former Mayor Carol Marinovich, has been sending out fundraising emails.

One fundraising email, sent in late March to potential contributors who are women, was titled “Beyond the Boys’ Club,” and appeals to women, saying Kultala will focus on the “fight for equality and issues important to Kansas women and families.”

Kultala’s campaign manager, Jacob Becklund, began working a few weeks ago, having formerly worked for campaigns in Virginia and Colorado. He said he expected to see a lot of women supporting Kultala in this campaign.

So far Kultala is the only female in the campaign for 3rd District. Kultala will face Democrat Reggie Marselus of Johnson County in the primary.

One of the unexpected results of the Kultala fundraising email is that Unified Government Commissioner Ann Murguia has been getting a lot of emails forwarded to her from her acquaintances asking questions such as, “Can this be done?” That’s because the fundraising email is signed “Carol Marinovich, Mayor/CEO of the Unified Government,” not using the word “former” Mayor Marinovich.

Becklund said the title may have been an oversight on their part, and he added that many people keep their titles when they leave office.

That’s generally correct as many news stories often refer simply to “President Carter,” for example, instead of “former President Carter,” assuming that everyone knows he is a former president.

Titles, though, have been a big issue this year at the Unified Government, where a commissioner allegedly was using his title while conducting personal business, which is not allowed by the UG’s Code of Ethics. After glancing at the Code of Ethics, I saw this rule clearly does not apply to people who are no longer in office, so it would have no effect in this instance.

There’s no question that nearly all regular voters should know that Marinovich hasn’t been mayor since 2005, when Joe Reardon was elected, and that the current mayor is Mark Holland, who became mayor in 2013.  Those who don’t know who the mayor is probably will not be voting, anyway.

Marinovich was the first woman elected mayor of Kansas City, Kan.-Wyandotte County, and Kultala will be trying to be elected the second woman serving in the U.S. House from the 3rd District in Kansas. Jan Meyers was the first.

It will be hard to tell what Kultala’s biggest obstacle will be – whether it is that she is a woman running for office, whether it is that she is a Democrat in a district where there are a lot more Republicans, or whether it is that she is from Wyandotte County when most of the district’s voters are in Johnson County. But it now appears she has some skilled persons working in her campaign that will give her a fighting chance.

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

Legislative update from Rep. Pam Curtis

Rep. Pam Curtis

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

The Legislature stayed very busy last week, as we debated and voted on the House floor all day Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Complete daily calendars are available at www.kslegislature.org along with other useful information.  I am also working to keep constituents more informed via Facebook and Twitter, so be sure to follow me at https://www.facebook.com/PamCurtisKCK and https://twitter.com/pcurtiskck . I am privileged and honored to be your voice in the Kansas Capitol. If I can ever be of assistance to you, please feel free to contact me at home or in Topeka.

In this issue:

• Buy American amendment proposed

• House rejects Senate decision to strike down energy standards

• House adopts proposed amendment to the Constitution on charitable raffles

• Nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities releases new report on Kansas tax policy

• House passes Student Data Privacy bill

• Stay in touch

House Dems propose Buy American Act

On Tuesday, the House voted on HB 2675. HB 2675 revises the provisions of the State Use Law as it pertains to certified businesses and negotiating committees.

The bill passed on the floor, but an important amendment to HB 2675 was rejected. The amendment, introduced by Rep. Whipple, was created in an attempt to implement the Kansas Buy American Act.

The amendment would require any public building or public work contract made by a state agency must use goods that are manufactured in the United States, under the oversight of the Department of Administration.

Exceptions would be made in cases where it is found that needed U.S.-made materials are not sufficiently produced or readily available, or that the inclusion of domestic materials would increase the project cost by more than 25 percent.

I voted yes on the Whipple Amendment to HB 2675 because I believe that Buy American provisions are helpful in creating jobs and would be beneficial to our nation’s economy.

Resources for public projects funded by taxpayers’ dollars should be purchased from America, and specifically Kansas when possible.

Since 2001, America has lost more than 2.5 million manufacturing jobs.  Kansas has seen a 12 percent decline in manufacturing jobs.  The amendment was rejected on a voice vote 52 – 70.

House rejects Senate decision to strike down energy standards

On Tuesday, March 25, the Kansas Senate voted 25-15 to repeal existing energy standards regarding renewable energy.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted on whether to concur with the Senate’s decision.

Current law requires utility companies to obtain 15 percent of power through renewable sources by 2015, and 20 percent by 2020.

With states moving toward renewable energy regulation, many see the repeal as a step backwards for the energy industry and, most importantly, the Kansas economy.

Many representatives from both sides of the aisle, including several from western Kansas, came down to the well to speak in favor of Renewable Portfolio Standards.

Rep. Ewy of Jetmore, Kan., said he knew firsthand of families that have been able to come back to western Kansas because of wind farms.

Opponents of the law argued that the wind industry should stand on its own.

Rep. Marc Rhoades claimed that the law raises utility costs for citizens by 40 percent. Americans for Prosperity claim that rates have risen 15 percent under the RPS. This is all untrue. Kansas electricity prices may have risen since 2009, but according to the Kansas Corporation Commission, the RPS is not the main culprit.

In a Retail Rate Report released this month, the KCC attributed wind power’s impact on rates at less than two-tenths of a cent. The motion to concur with the Senate’s decision was rejected 44-77, keeping current law intact.

House adopts proposed amendment to the Constitution on charitable raffles

In November, voters will have the opportunity to vote on a constitutional amendment to allow charitable raffles for certain non-profits including religious, fraternal, educational, and veterans organizations.

The Constitution will be changed if the proposed amendment receives a simple majority. Here is a link to read about SCR 1618: http://kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/supp_note_scr1618_02_0000.pdf

Nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities releases new report on Kansas tax policy

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, an organization that studies fiscal policy and public programs that affect low-and moderate-income families and individuals, released a new report entitled “Lessons for Other States from Kansas’ Massive Income Tax Cuts.”

The report uses our state as a “cautionary tale,” stating that the shot of adrenaline to the economy that Gov. Brownback promised is failing.

According to the report, the tax cuts enacted in 2012 have diminished state revenue, damaged state programs, harmed the poor, and haven’t brought promised jobs and economic growth to the state.

One of the numbers that stands out in the report is that if Gov. Brownback’s future recommendations are adopted, we will have cut per-pupil spending by 17 percent (adjusted for inflation) since the start of the recession.

Below is a link to the report that clearly states the serious issues that our state is encountering, in the short term and in the long term, under Gov. Brownback’s reckless tax plan. http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=4110.

House passes Student Data Privacy bill

The House debated SB 367, the student data privacy protection bill.

The bill provides restrictions on what data contained in a student’s educational record can be disclosed, and to whom it may be disclosed.

It requires that any student data submitted to and maintained by a statewide longitudinal student data system could be disclosed only to certain individuals or organizations Rep. Rothlisberg offered 2 amendments.

The first would require school districts to count and report the number of children of undocumented workers being educated. The amendment was declared not germane and it was withdrawn.  The second amendment would have defunded the KIDS data system at the state Department of Education. Rothlisberg argued that we “did not need to gather dossiers on the kids.” This amendment drew sharp opposition. It was overwhelmingly voted down. The bill was then advanced and later passed on final action 119 – 4.

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 173-W, 300 SW 10th, Topeka, KS 66612.  You can reach me at 785-296-7371 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.