By Amelia Arvesen
KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA — Wind farm supporters urged lawmakers Tuesday to retain current laws that require utility companies to generate or purchase renewable energy by the year 2020.

Wind farm supporters opposed Senate Bill 253, which would discontinue the Renewable Energy Standards Act by the end of the year. The act requires major electricity companies like Westar Energy to generate at least 10 percent of energy from renewable sources.

The second part of the legislation would cancel the scheduled Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) increases to 15 percent by 2016 and 20 percent by 2020.

Kimberly Svaty of The Wind Coalition said passing the bill would remove an effective policy. She said the standards attract global investors and new business to Kansas. Svaty also said it would be a missed opportunity to create more jobs.

“The states with favorable environments win capital investment,” Svaty said.

Bruce Graham, Wind Energy Department chair at Cloud Community College in Concordia, said the student employment rate at the college for wind energy technician positions is 100 percent.

Proponents of the bill said the standard creates higher utility rates. Roger Woods with Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political advocacy group, said the current policy restricts flexibility in the market. He said states with RPS mandates average 27 percent higher electricity prices than states without.

“There is sufficient wind energy production in Kansas for any business to meet their renewable goals without RPS mandates,” Woods said.

Mike O’Neal, chief executive officer of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, is a proponent for the bill. He said he supports the development of market-driven energy technologies, including wind but also urged the committee to consider the costs to counties of investing in renewable energy.

“We don’t need a mandate in Kansas for the wind to blow,” O’Neal said.

In 2009, Kansas became the last of 31 states to adopt the Renewable Energy Standards Act. In 2013, Kansas was the ninth ranked state for installed wind capacity with 1,700 turbines, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

The committee decided to extend the hearing until Wednesday to hear the remaining testimonies.

Amelia Arvesen is a University of Kansas senior from San Ramon, Calif., majoring in journalism.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas House committee has approved changes in rules for social service programs that would require the state to include photo identification on benefit cards.

A bill endorsed Wednesday by the House Commerce, Labor and Economic Development Committee largely puts into state law policies enacted by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration.

They include a requirement that able-bodied adults seeking food stamps or cash assistance be employed or looking for work.

The committee also decreased the lifetime limit on cash assistance from four years to three years and required photo IDs on benefit cards to prevent people trading the cards for cash.

Some advocates for the needy argue that the measure will make it harder for families to climb out of poverty.

The bill goes next to the House for debate.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A $17-million renovation has wrapped up on a 1913 Hutchinson building that once featured a department store.

The Hutchinson News reports that a dedication ceremony is planned for Thursday night for the Wiley Building. The nine-story structure has been transformed into two floors of commercial space and 73 apartments with the help of state and federal tax credits.

In the building’s first year, an estimated 1.5 million people walked through its doors. But by the mid-1980s, the store was suffering because of competition from the Hutchinson Mall. The Wileys closed the downtown department store in June 1985, and the building had been mostly vacant since 2002.

Renovations began in December 2012 with the gutting of the interior.

NICHOLAS CLAYTON, Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Senate has confirmed Kathryn Gardner to the state Court of Appeals.

The Senate confirmed Gardner on a 31-9 vote Wednesday. She was appointed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and previously served as the law clerk for U.S. District Judge Sam Crow since 2000.

She also spent 12 years as a practicing lawyer in Wichita and two years as an assistant state attorney general.

Republican Sen. Jeff King of Independence cast the only GOP vote against Gardner’s confirmation. After the Senate session, said he voted against her because he thought she was not sufficiently qualified compared to other potential nominees.

Brownback said in a statement after the vote that he was pleased with the Senate’s action and said Gardner will respect Kansas values on the bench.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Research spending at the University of Kansas has seen its strongest four-year span ever, but the overall outlook is not good.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the school’s externally sponsored research expenditures at all of its campuses totaled more than $1 billion. The university’s expenditures from all sources, however, fell during fiscal year 2014 due to the federal budget sequester and declining purchasing power for federally funded research

According to the university, externally sponsored expenditures totaled $238.8 million last year, compared with $260.5 million in 2013 and $275.2 million in 2012. The school said that was a high point under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The university says that it receives about 85 percent of its research support from the federal government. The university says that it is looking to other sources for funding.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bill approved by a Kansas Senate committee would prevent public colleges from acting against student religious groups for allowing only believers to be leaders or requiring members to follow a code of conduct.

The Judiciary Committee’s endorsement Wednesday sends the measure to the full Senate for debate.

Committee Chairman and Independence Republican Jeff King said the bill is a response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2010. The ruling allowed universities to adopt anti-bias policies requiring such groups to accept anyone who wants to join, regardless of whether they follow a group’s beliefs.

The bill would prevent state universities and colleges from denying recognition or benefits to groups that don’t have such policies.

The measure is opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

ARMA – Three people were injured in an accident just after 8 a.m. on Wednesday in Crawford County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2012 Dodge Charger driven by Brandy Lakey, 37, Girard, was southbound on 230th Road at County Road 630 one mile south of the Arma High School.

The vehicle crossed the centerline and struck a 2011 Dodge Nitro driven by Gloria Rethorst, 42, Pittsburg.

Rethorst, Lakey and an 11-year-old passenger in the Charger were transported to Via Christi in Pittsburg.

The KHP reported Lakey was not wearing a seat belt.

SALINA -Fire crews from across central Kansas are working to stop grass fires. The majority of the fires started as controlled burns and became unmanageable.

The largest fire is in McPherson County. The McPherson County Sheriff’s office said multiple fire crews are on the scene of the blaze at Sioux Road and 2nd Avenue

In Saline County fire crews three and seven are fighting the fire near Lightville and Pleasant Hil Road.

Crews Two and Six are on the scene of a fire at Lightville and Hedberg.

In Dickinson County fires have been reported at Eden Road and Old Highway 40, Union Road and old 40, at 617 Old Highway 40 near the Abilene Greyhound Park, and near Interstate 70 and milepost 268 north of Solomon.

Check the Post for additional details as they become available.