Good Morning Everyone:
It has been a crazy and hectic week at the capitol. We have been debating bills on the floor, attending conference committees to see if both houses can reach a compromise on legislation and attending regular committee meetings on a moment’s notice. The plan is for us to be able to go home later this afternoon for the legislative break, returning on April 27 for the veto session. The Senate and House have each passed their own budget bills and the conference committees should be meeting over the break to see if they can craft a compromise budget that both houses could support. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee I will have to come back to Topeka on April 20 & 21 for a committee meeting and as a member of the Kansas Electric Transmission Authority Board I will be attending the Southwest Power Pool meeting in Tulsa on April 25 & 26.
Our legislative office in Topeka will be closed during the break and I won’t send another legislative update until the veto session. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Best,
Kelly
Legislative Update
Week 12
Senator Kelly Kultala
April 1, 2011
IN THIS ISSUE:
· Regular Session Adjourns
· District Happenings
· Google High Speed Comes to KCK
· FY2012 Budget
· Transportation Legislation Passes
· Scrap Metal
· Regents Study
· County Health Rankings
· Important State Phone Numbers
REGULAR SESSION ADJOURNS
The 2011 regular session adjourned this week after passing a state budget and numerous conference committee reports. On April 27th, legislators will return for veto session, when any vetoes by the Governor will be considered. I will keep you updated as these decisions are finalized in the coming weeks.
All House and Senate sessions are open to the public. And live broadcasts of Senate and House proceedings can be found at www.kslegislature.org. To hear legislative proceedings, just click on the “Listen in Live” link.
I am honored to serve as your Senator. My office is located in room 124-E. Please feel free to visit or to contact me at 785-296-7357, if you should have any questions.
DISTRICT HAPPENINGS
· Organizers of the Grinter Place Friends Farmer’s Market are seeking growers, egg producers, pie bakers, jam and jelly makers, and crafters to participate in the market between June 4 and November 6 at the Grinter Place Friend’s Visitor’s Center, 1400 S. 78th St., Kansas City, Kan. An application and more guidelines can be found at web.me.com/photographybynoah/GPF_Farmers_Market.
· Piper Spring craft show will be held on May 7 at Piper High School, 4400 N. 107th, Kansas City, Kansas sponsored by the Piper Community Education Association. For more info contact Karen at 913-721-3243 or visit www.pipercommunityed.com.
· The Kansas Sampler Festival will be held in Leavenworth on May 7 & 8. The Sampler gives communities the chance to display their unique qualities. For more info contact 913-417-7575 or go to kansassampler.org.
· The Annual KCK Kiwanis West Bike Rodeo will be held on Saturday, May 7, from 9 a.m. to noon in the parking lot and entrance area of Schlitterbahn Kansas City Waterpark, 9400 State Ave., Kansas City, KS.
· Free health screenings at Kansas City, Kansas Community College Health Fair on Thursday, April 14 from 9 am – 3 pm in the lower level of the Jewell Center.
GOOGLE HIGH SPEED COMES TO KCK
Google announced this week its selection of Kansas City, Kansas, as the location for its ultra high-speed fiber project. Google unveiled their plan a year ago to build and study the use of ultra-high speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the country. A little more than 1,100 cities across the nation applied for this unique and innovative partnership.
The Google project will bring internet capacity of 1 gigabyte to KCK in 2012. That equals 1,000 megabytes. Most of us only have access to 5 or 10 megabytes. You will be able to download a full length feature movie in high definition in 5 minutes. Many kinds of companies, which rely on the internet, will be looking to move to KCK and Wyandotte County. Google will provide the service to all schools and universities for free
The economic development deal isn’t like any other. Google is paying for everything. There aren’t any tax abatements or tax increment financing…no public subsidy what-so-ever.
FY2012 BUDGET
After nearly four hours of debate on Tuesday, the Kansas Senate approved a FY2012 state budget. The Senate voted 36-3 for the budget, which leaves an $8.1 million ending balance next fiscal year.
Key provisions in the Senate’s budget bill include:
· EARLY CHILDHOOD: Restores funding for Early Head Start and protects funding for Parents as Teachers.
· MENTAL HEALTH: Restores funding for mental health services back to 2011 funding levels.
· ELDERLY: Protects services for senior citizens, including funding for home-based nursing care so that Kansas seniors can continue to stay in their own homes if they wish to do so, and adds $43 million for nursing home-based care for the elderly.
· K-12 SCHOOLS: Minimizes the cuts to our local schools and maintains special education maintenance of effort funds, which if lapsed, would force the state to forfeit more than $100 million in federal matching funds.
· COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES: Stabilizes funding for Kansas universities, community colleges and technical colleges, including adding $15 million in matching grants to support research being performed at KU Medical Center (cancer prevention), Wichita State University (aviation) and K-State (animal health).
· DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED: Fully funds waivers for the developmentally disabled and provides $6 million in additional funds to help alleviate the number of disabled Kansans on the waiting lists for services. The Kansas Neurological Institute (KNI) would also remain open under the Senate’s plan.
· STATE SALARIES: Reduces pay for legislators by 7.5%, while maintaining a long-overdue undermarket pay adjustment for dedicated state employees earning less than their private sector counterparts.
While this budget plan required tough choices, I believe it is our best option for balancing our state budget without cutting too deeply into essential state services.
Because the House has their own budget plan, a conference committee will be appointed to draft a compromise bill. I will keep you up-to-date as the conference committee begins to deliberate.
TRANSPORTATION LEGISLATION PASSES
Several transportation issues in HB 2192 have passed both houses and will be going to the Governor for signature.
· “Dead red” – would allow the driver of a motorcycle or the rider of a bicycle to proceed through a steady red signal, subject to other traffic rules governing right of way, if the red light has failed to change to green within a reasonable period of time.
· Passing Bicycles – would require the driver of a vehicle overtaking a bicycle to pass that bicycle on the left no less than three feet away from the bicycle. It would allow the vehicle to pass a bicycle in a no-passing zone only when it is safe to do so.
· Raising the speed limit to 75 mph in certain areas – increases the maximum lawful speed limit to 75 mph on any separated multilane highway, as designated by the Secretary of Transportation.
· Seat belt law court costs – clarifies that no court costs are to be applied to seat belt violations and would remove outdated language.
SCRAP METAL
The Senate has approved a bill strengthening penalties for scrap metal theft. Under current law, individuals convicted of scrap metal theft can only be fined the cost of the stolen metal. HB 2312 allows fines for either the cost of the stolen goods or the cost to repair the damaged property, whichever is higher.
HB2312 also requires scrap metal dealers to register with city officials. Dealers caught purchasing scrap metal without being registered would be subject to a nonperson misdemeanor.
Scrap metal theft has been a problem for many years. Stolen scrap metal – especially copper – can be resold for thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, when the metal is taken from a building or construction site, it often leaves thousands of dollars worth of damage for the owner. Creating a dealer paper trail and increasing penalties are both good steps to deter future theft.
REGENTS STUDY
The Kansas Board of Regents presented findings of a new study to legislators on Wednesday morning. The study showed the overwhelming impact our Regents Universities have had on in-state job creation and economic development. Here are some of the highlights:
· Regents schools have supported 95,327 Kansas jobs in 2010 with a total payroll of $3.4 billion.
· Regents schools generated $485 million in state and local taxes. For every $1 in taxes paid by Regents schools, $11.94 was circulated into the Kansas economy.
· Although Kansas has suffered a population decrease over the last four decades, every Kansas county with a Regents University has seen a population increase.
· Total impact on our District:
o District 5 - Leavenworth: $23.1 million, Wyandotte: $601 million
The Kansas Board of Regents clearly has had a positive economic impact on our local communities. I hope to continue working with our local community colleges and universities to find ways to create more economic development opportunities for our state.
COUNTY HEALTH RANKINGS
The County Health Rankings Project has released its 2011 report, ranking every county in the nation based on health and wellness. Rankings are based on a variety of variables, including individual health behaviors, social and economic factors, quality health care, and the environment.
Here are the rankings for Kansas:
Detailed information for each county is available at the County Health Ranking’s Website: http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/kansas.
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