By NICK BUDD
Hays Post

State Rep. Sue Boldra is making history in Topeka in this year’s legislative session.

For the first time in state history, the Agricultural Committee’s leadership caucus includes three women. Boldra, a Hays Republican, is serving as vice chairwoman along with Chairwoman Sharon Schwartz, R-Washington, and Rep. Ponka-We Victors, D-Wichita, the ranking minority member on the committee.

“I’m very excited to be a member of the leadership team,” Boldra said. “(The committee) is one of the biggest opportunities in Kansas.”

The leadership spot was vacated after Rep. Kyle Hoffman, R-Coldwater, was named chair of the Agricultural Budget Committee, which led to Boldra’s appointment as vice-chair after sitting in as a member over the past two years during her first term.

The committee’s legislative agenda includes new amendments to the Kansas Pet Animal Act, new regulations for individuals who raise domesticated deer and elk, a bill that would prohibit the use of carbon monoxide death chambers and several bills that aim to tackle the water shortage in the state.

“Water is going to take up a majority of our time,” Boldra said. “That’s going to be a very important issue, and I don’t know how much we’ll get out of the committee, but we’re having a lot of meetings and listening to a lot of bills that are aimed at our water supply problem.”

The committee has held hearings for bills that would change the interest rate for storing water in the state’s public water supply and a piece of legislation that would give Kansas’ chief engineer the power to allow augmentation to secure water.

Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill, is also a member of the agricultural committee.