Governor Sam Brownback signed 22 bills into law on Wednesday, bringing the total number of bills signed by the governor during the 2013 Legislative Session to 68.
· HB 2012 extends certain Kansas Open Records Act exceptions that had been set to expire July 1, 2013 for five more years and provides that an exception no longer would be subject to review and expiration if the Legislature twice has reviewed and continued the exception or reviews and continues the exception during the 2013 Legislative Session or thereafter.
· HB 2083 revises the Public Employer-Employee Relations Act by shifting the costs associated with public employee elections and fact-finding or mediation from the Department of Labor to the parties involved.
· HB 2106 removes the prohibition that an insurer may not change the terms and conditions of a portable electronics insurance policy more than once in any six-month period. The new law also deletes references within the statute that refer to the removed language.
· HB 2135 clarifies any and all housing developments and related improvements located on U.S. military installations and used exclusively or primarily by military personnel and their families are exempt from property taxation, retroactive to tax year 2006.
· HB 2144 repeals outdated laws concerning juveniles, including the repeal of a statute concerning jurisdiction and placement of juvenile offenders with the Department for Children and Families or the Juvenile Justice Authority, and a statute concerning records of certain juveniles in the possession of law enforcement and municipal courts.
· HB 2160 extends for two years a provider assessment on licensed beds in skilled nursing care facilities and makes technical changes to update agency references to the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services.
· HB 2200 establishes the Office of Information Technology Services, headed by the
Executive Chief Information Technology Officer (ECITO), an appointee of the Governor, and eliminatesthe Division of Information Systems and Communications (DISC) and the position of Director of DISC. All responsibilities of DISC are transferred to the Office of Information Technology Services.
· HB 2203 enacts Kansas Preservation of Religious Freedom Act. It provides that the government shall not substantially burden a person’s civil right to exercise religion and protects religious liberty and prohibits encroachments upon this liberty – unless the government clearly and convincingly demonstrates that the burden serves a compelling governmental interest.
· Sub. for HB 2207 amends provisions of the law dealing with the regulation of confined
animal feeding facilities (CAFOs) by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment including requiring any CAFO with an animal unit capacity of 300 or more must register with the KDHE Secretary and pay a fee of $25.
· HB 2212 allows veterans’ service organizations to apply both monetary and nonmonetary support (called a “match”) in order to continue to qualify for and receive service grants under the Veterans Claims Assistance Program (VCAP). The VCAP Advisory Board will make recommendations on match funding levels. These recommendations will be considered by the Kansas Commission on Veterans Affairs.
· HB 2217 creates the crime of female genital mutilation, a severity level 3, person felony.
· HB 2221 establishes the Equal Access Act for professional employees’ organizations and modifies the Professional Negotiations Act.
· HB 2228 reduces the employer’s contribution rate to 0.85 percent from July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2015 int the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System and institutes a moratorium on all payments by KPERS participating employers from April 1 to June 30, 2013, in order to make the statutory change approved by the 2012 Legislature in enacted House Sub. for SB 294 (the 2012 appropriations bill).
· HB 2278 enhances the penalty for theft or burglary of a firearm including making theft of a firearm valued at less than $25,000 a severity level 9.
· HB 2294 amends the Kansas Uniform Securities Act by updating references to the
Federal Securities Act of 1933 that are no longer accurate and by updating other federal references in the statutes with appropriate section numbers and headings.
· HB 2302 allows the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to require fingerprinting and state and national criminal history record checks for any person offered employment in and any employee of the Office of Laboratory Services who will have access to a secured biological laboratory.
· HB 2322 amends state law and clarifies references or designations in law to reflect a name change of the Division of Health of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to the Division of Public Health.
· HB 2326 exempts Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Internet Protocol enabled service
(IP-enabled service), or both from the jurisdiction, regulation, or supervision of the state or any political subdivision. VoIP shall be subject to the requirements of the Kansas Universal Service Fund and the requirements of the Kansas 911 Act.
· HB 2353 adds a synthetic cannabinoid, commonly known as UR-144, to the list of schedule I controlled substances.
· HB 2368 amends state law to reflect a name change from the Governor’s Mental Health Services Planning Council to the Governor’s Behavioral Health Services Planning Council; replaces the term “mental health” with “behavioral health”; adds nine members and adjusts the membership and prescribes the requirements for appointment.
· SB 74 prohibits the Department of Corrections from having a home building program that would compete with manufactured or modular homes constructed privately. The new law does allow the KDOC to continue to provide buildings up to 1,000 square feet to state agencies.
· SB 142 prohibits civil actions for a claim of wrongful life or wrongful birth and prohibits recovery of damages in any civil action for any physical condition of a minor that existed at birth if such damages arise out of a claim that a person’s action or omission contributed to the minor’s mother not obtaining an abortion. The new law also amends the wrongful death statute to include “unborn child” within the definition of “person” for purposes of the statute, which would allow a wrongful death action for the death of an unborn child caused by the wrongful act or omission of another. “Unborn child” is defined as a living individual organism of the species homo sapiens, in utero, at any stage of gestation from fertilization to birth.