Category: Opinions

Opinion column

by Rep. Pam Curtis, D-32nd Dist.

The Kansas 2020 Legislative Session is in full swing, it was a very busy week, with much of the work still being done in committees as we hear and work bills to advance forward. We are just two weeks away from Turnaround Day when non-exempt committee bills must pass from the House to the Senate or Senate to the House for consideration.

During the session organizations, individuals and advocates fill the Capitol to participate in the process. Kansas Wealth Day, Environmental Advocacy and Education, was held on Monday bringing together organizations, advocates and legislators to learn about and advocate for water, energy, air, land, transportation and health.

It was so good to see my friends from Friends of Yates at the Capitol for KCSDV’s Advocacy Day. They joined coalition members from across the state to spend the day educating legislators and the public about the services their organizations provide to victims and survivors. I am very thankful for the work they do every day in our communities.

The Wyandotte County-Leavenworth County Delegation Luncheon this week was with the Kansas City, Kansas, Chamber of Commerce. We appreciate the presentation from the KCK Chamber on their legislative priorities and the discussion that followed on matters before the Kansas Legislature.

Weekly lunch and learns are very helpful with our work in the Kansas Legislature. This week Patrick Hubble was the guest speaker at the House Democratic Caucus Thursday Summit. The topic was railroads, which are an important part of Kansas history. Rail service, particularly freight, continues to be important to Kansas today with major railroads, along with regional and shortline carriers, operating key routes within the state. Many of my family members worked for the railroad including my dad, my Grandpa Horton and Grandpa Shirley. I still love hearing the train whistles, hearing the cars bump against each other and have such fond memories of the many trips we took riding the train. Here is a link to learn more about the history of railroads in Kansas: https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/railroad-industry-in-kansas/17156.

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 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 email me at pam.curtis@house.ks.gov.

Response to constitutional amendment failure
As soon as the constitutional amendment regarding abortion failed to receive the two-thirds vote required for passage in the House, Senate President Susan Wagle announced she was pulling any bill that could be germane to Medicaid expansion back into committee. The Senate Majority Leader, Jim Denning, responded to that announcement with a tweet calling Wagle an obstructionist and accusing her of not following the legislative process. It is unfortunate that Medicaid expansion, that would help so many Kansans that fall in the coverage gap, is being held hostage by those trying to force a different outcome on the constitutional amendment.

House Democratic caucus rolls out 2020 agenda
On Thursday, the House Democratic Caucus held a press conference to roll out their 2020 policy agenda and priorities. Minority Leader, Rep. Sawyer, spoke alongside a number of Democratic representatives on the five policy objectives: affordable, quality healthcare; investing in children; supporting workers and families; equal opportunity for all; and investing in a sustainable future. It was my privilege to participate and talk about supporting our working Kansans and their families. House Democrats have introduced many bills under each of these categories. Here is a link to watch the video of the press conference, https://www.facebook.com/kshousedems/videos/138081804016001/UzpfSTY5MDM4MDY5NjoxMDE2Mjg1NTU2Mjc2NTY5Nw/.

Hearings
In House Commerce, Labor and Economic Development Committee a hearing was held on an anti-labor union bill (HB 2586) that would affect payroll deduction for union dues. Most of those testifying in support of the bill are not from Kansas and are not from right to work states. There was no testimony in support of this bill from anyone in Kansas that would be directly affected. We did hear from a number of Kansans opposed to this bill stating that it is not needed. The fate of the middle class is directly tied to the strength of our unions and strong unions are an important part of the balance for income equality. Democrats have always stood in support of unions and we will continue to do so.
HB 2385 – Designating the polka as the official state dance will have a hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 19, in the House Federal and State Affairs Committee. I thought this might be of interest to my Polish friends, particularly those I grew up with on Polish Hill in KCK. Here is a link to the bill page which includes instructions in case you want to testify or send a letter or email in support of the bill: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2019_20/measures/hb2385/.

Looking ahead
We hope to get past the current gridlock regarding Medicaid expansion. Though the constitutional amendment failed in the House last week, it is fully expected to come back at some point during the session. Coming up in two weeks is turnaround – when we will be on the floor all day long dealing with bills the Senate has sent over to the House.

Bills passed through the House floor
We took our third final action vote Monday on HB 2466, enacting the Kansas taxpayer protection act and requiring the signature and tax identification number of paid preparers on income tax returns, it passed 118-1.

State Library
Learn online with Universal Class
Universal Class https://kslib.info/uclass is an online resource provided by the State Library of Kansas. Universal Class offers over 500 lifelong learning courses in more than 30 areas of study at no charge. Join a full course with instructors and readings or just watch the lecture videos to brush up on a topic. The wide range of courses offers something for everyone: from accounting to yoga, babysitting to parenting, cake decorating to computer training.

State of Kansas Fun Fact: In 1990, Kansas produced enough wheat to give everyone on earth 6 loaves of bread (33 billion loaves). Thus, Kansas is known as the Wheat State for a reason.

Resources
My Legislative Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/PamCurtisKCK/?ref=bookmarks
My Twitter Account , https://twitter.com/pcurtiskck.
My Website, https://www.curtisforkck.com/?utm_campaign=2020ksleg4&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pamcurtis.
Kansas Legislature Website, http://kslegislature.org/li/.

Views

Opinion column

by Murrel Bland

Conservative and moderate forces are at odds in the Kansas Legislature this session. At least that is the way Mike Taylor, the lobbyist for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, sees it.

Taylor discussed the issue at the monthly meeting of the Legislative Committee at the Chamber of Commerce office Friday morning, Feb. 14.

Earlier this year, after very extensive negotiations, Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, and Sen. Jim Denning, a moderate Republican from Overland Park, worked out a compromise that would allow Medicaid expansion for as many as 150,000 poor Kansans.

Supporters of the proposed legislation, including Democrats, explain expanded Medicaid would help struggling rural Kansas hospitals. Conservatives opposing the legislation argued that the proposal did not require abled-bodied persons receiving the service to work. A substantial number of persons from Wyandotte County would be covered by the proposed legislation.

Another issue being promoted by conservative anti-abortion supporters is a proposed state constitutional amendment. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled last April that the Kansas Constitution protects access of abortion as a fundamental right. The anti-abortion supporters want to amend the Kansas Constitution by placing the issue on the August 2020 primary election ballot.

Taylor said conservatives believe there will be a better chance of passing the anti-abortion amendment during the primary election. But the conservatives will have to find a few more legislators who would support the anti-abortion amendment. They need 84 votes among Kansas House members to place the issue on the ballot. Maybe conservatives will work a swap—support of the anti-abortion amendment for the Medicaid expansion.

There are other political reasons why conservative legislators favor a primary vote on the anti-abortion issue; that would attract a strong conservative turnout and also help assure their election success, Taylor said.

Sen. Susan Wagle, the president of the Kansas Senate and an ultra-conservative Republican, is playing hardball politics. She opposes Medicaid expansion. She recently pulled some 13 bills from the Senate floor that could have been used for Medicaid expansion. She said there will be no discussion on Medicaid expansion until the anti-abortion amendment is passed.

Sen. Wagle is running for the U.S. Senate, hoping to succeed Sen. Pat Roberts.

Taylor said he is concerned about the renewal of Star bonds (sales tax revenue bonds) legislation. Star bonds were key to the success of development in Village West including the Legends Outlet. With Star bonds, sales tax money that would otherwise go to state and local government is used to pay infrastructure costs.

Although Star bonds were used correctly and successfully in Wyandotte County, there were reports of abuse in other locations. Taylor said although Star bonds have been approved for the American Royal complex in Village West, if the program is discontinued, there would be no mechanism to administer the bonds. That would kill the American Royal project, Taylor said.

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

Opinion column

by Rep. Pam Curtis, D-32nd Dist.

On Monday, the Greater Kansas City Chamber held a luncheon for legislators at the Capitol. Joe Reardon, president-CEO, and his team gave an excellent presentation about the Kansas City region’s economic importance to Kansas.

Much of the information they provided is available online in the new Greater KC Report at https://dashboards.mysidewalk.com/the-kansas-city-report. There were a lot of good questions and discussion about the opportunities and challenges facing the region. We very much appreciate the opportunity to have these important dialogues.

We had a very special Wyandotte County-Leavenworth County Delegation Luncheon on Tuesday. KCKPS students, who were at the Statehouse for Citizen Lobby Day, joined us to hear a presentation from Kansas University Health Systems.

It was great to have the students join us to learn about the new campus on Strawberry Hill where adult mental and behavioral health inpatient services are offered. We also heard about the new proton cancer treatment. KU Health Systems will be the first in the region to provide lifesaving proton therapy in Kansas City to cancer patients.

It was a pleasure to attend the annual Travel Industry Association of Kansas (TIAK) celebration “Destination Statehouse” on Wednesday. It was an enjoyable evening learning more about the attractions in Kansas and the economic benefit of the travel and tourism industry to our state. I was stumped by one of the trivia questions. “Do you know how much a buffalo hunter in the 1800s made a day?” My three guesses were way off – surprisingly the answer was $100 a day.

Aaron Coleman, a student at Johnson County Community College and my nephew, spent the day “shadowing” me to learn and experience firsthand the legislative process. If you are interested or know of a student that would be interested in spending a day or part of a day with me at the Statehouse please let me know.

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 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 pam.curtis@house.ks.gov

First vote of the 2020 session
The first vote on the House Floor of the 2020 Session was taken on Monday. HB 2426 will make technical amendments to provisions in the Code of Civil Procedure, Small Claims Procedure Act, and Code of Civil Procedure for Limited Actions to update and standardize statutory references. This bill was introduced by Rep. Highberger and passed through final action 114-0.

Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl win
Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs on their Super Bowl win. The Kansas City Chiefs won the 54th Super Bowl, on the 50th anniversary of their first championship. In celebration of the win, a parade took place in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday. Because of the historic win, Speaker of the House Ryckman and Senate President Wagle closed the state legislature to allow legislators to attend the celebration.

COLA day at the capital
Members of the Kansas Coalition of Public Retirees gathered at the Statehouse this week for “COLA” day. Retirees spent the day talking with lawmakers about the need for a cost of living raise for those receiving benefits and urging support for HB2100. It has been 22 years since KPERS recipients have received a cost of living adjustment while at the same time the Consumer Price Index has risen by approximately 54 percent. It is important that we keep the promise to our public service employees including those that are currently working and depending on KPERS for their future retirement as well as those retirees who without cost of living adjustments struggle to make ends meet in the very communities they protected and served.

Constitutional amendment goes to final action
The proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution (SCR 1613) that would strip women of their bodily autonomy was debated on the House Floor Thursday morning. During the debate a “gut and go” amendment was brought forth that would have replaced the text of the constitutional amendment with the language in HCR 5004, a bill which grants personhood to all humans beginning at fertilization, effectively banning all abortion and making miscarriages a crime. The germaneness of said amendment was challenged and the rules committee ruled it not germane.

SCR 1613 was then moved to be recommended for passage. Moving any bill from general orders to final action requires a simple majority, whereas on final action, a Constitutional amendment requires two-thirds of the body’s votes, or 84 yes votes. The vote passed out of general orders 80-41. Friday, after being held in Call of the House for nearly six hours, the amendment failed 80-43 during final action.

House Appropriations begins to examine budget
The House Appropriations Committee has begun reviewing the governor’s budget proposal. Two policy pieces within the proposal particularly stand out as necessary and logical for Kansans.

The first is targeted food sales tax relief. Kansas has the highest food sales tax in the nation. This policy will replace the current non-refundable food sales tax credit with a new refundable food sales tax credit. If approved the measure will return $63 million back to the people of Kansas.

The other policy goal of the governor is property tax relief. This resumes transfers from the State General Fund back to the Local Ad Valorem, returning property taxes back to local communities.

State Library

Explora https://kslib.info/students is an online resource available from the State Library of Kansas. Click on the grade-appropriate icon for assistance with Middle School or High School homework or class assignments. Explora delivers high-quality articles from reputable publishers with no pop-ups or ads. Reading level indicators allow selection of material that matches students’ reading abilities. Broad topic overviews provide students with a starting point for their research.

Resources
My Legislative Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/PamCurtisKCK/?ref=bookmarks
My Twitter Account , https://twitter.com/pcurtiskck.
My Website, https://www.curtisforkck.com/?utm_campaign=2020ksleg4&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pamcurtis.

Kansas Legislature Website, http://kslegislature.org/li/.