By MEGAN HART

Proponents of a bill to give businesses tax credits if an employee receives less public assistance after being hired couldn’t estimate the proposal’s financial impact, and the complicated nature of public assistance doesn’t help the task.

House Bill 2626, also known as the Kansas Tax Weight Loss Act, would offer employers incentives to hire people who receive more than $10,000 annually in welfare benefits.

Businesses and nonprofits that hire someone, who then receives less public assistance, would receive a sales tax exemption and a tax credit of up to 75 percent of the value of the public assistance the employee no longer receives.

For example, if an employee’s public assistance fell from $10,000 to $6,000, the employer could receive up to $3,000 in tax credits.

The Kansas Division of the Budget couldn’t estimate the bill’s impact on the budget due to a lack of information about the number of individuals or businesses that might participate, how much assistance they might no longer need and whether expenditures on employment services might go up as more people sought or obtained work.

Rep. Blaine Finch, an Ottawa Republican, testified in favor of the bill when the House Tax Committee considered it during a Tuesday hearing.

The bill would encourage business growth and boost employment, he said. “We want to make sure we can keep jobs increasing.” The bill refers to an individual’s tax weight, but it isn’t clear if the $10,000 threshold would apply to a household or how the state could disentangle public support for adults and from that for dependents in a household.

Most assistance programs take the number of family members into account when deciding how much a household should receive

The Kansas Department for Children and Families couldn’t estimate the number of people who receive more than $10,000 in benefits from its programs. Even if DCF could provide estimates, the measure would be imperfect because other welfare programs are administered through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services and federal agencies.

Also unclear is the number of workers who would come out ahead financially if they participated. The bill’s provisions would create a minimum annual income of $7,540, based on minimum wage and at least a 20-hour work week.

Counseling services may be needed to help people plan for the reduction of welfare benefits, Finch said.

“We want to make people more self-sufficient, not make them worse off,” he said.

Below are the possible implications for various types of public assistance. Calculations would be more complicated, however, because the amount a household receives from one benefit program would affect what they would be eligible for from others.

• Cash assistance: Most households wouldn’t receive cash assistance at the minimum level of income. A household’s other income can’t be greater than the benefit it would eligible for, and only families with seven or more people would receive a $7,540 annual cash benefit. Looking solely at cash assistance, most households would come out ahead at the minimum income.
• Food stamps: Most households still would eligible for food stamps at the minimum income, though the amount they receive could be reduced. Whether the extra earned income would outweigh any lost food benefits would vary by family.
• Medicaid: Children in the household still could be covered by KanCare or the Children’s Health Insurance Program at the minimum income level. Childless Kansas adults aren’t covered at any income level and wouldn’t see any change. Parents would earn too much to be covered. The situation is more complicated for people with disabilities, because multiple programs, some with premiums and some without, cover services for them.
• Supplemental Security Income: Most households wouldn’t qualify at the minimum income. Some would be better off, but those who receive the maximum benefit of $8,796 would have less income at the bill’s minimum level.
• Earned income tax credit: Any household, with or without children, would qualify for the earned income tax credit at the minimum income level in the bill. Because the credit is only available to people with income from working, an unemployed person would receive more by getting a job. The maximum credit is $503 for a childless household and rises to $6,242 in a household with three or more children.
• Low-income energy assistance: Households earning the minimum income still could qualify, though they might receive a smaller benefit. Amounts vary based on family size, income and type of heating used.
• Housing assistance: Vouchers are available for families whose incomes don’t exceed 50 percent of the median income in their area, so most still would be eligible at $7,540. They would have to pay more toward their rent, however, because the U.S. Department for Housing and Urban Development requires families receiving vouchers to put 30 percent of their income toward their housing costs.

Megan Hart is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach her on Twitter @meganhartMC

MCPHERSON COUNTY- A Kansas teen was injured in an accident just before 6:30 p.m. on Friday in McPherson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta driven by Forsberg, Garrett Forsberg, 17, Lindsborg, was westbound on Kansas 4 one mile west of Coronado Heights Road.

The vehicle left the roadway, rolled and came to rest in a field.

Forsberg was transported to Salina Regional Health Center. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A coalition of youth-oriented groups is calling on the nation’s governors to reject measures it says are harmful to young transgender Americans.

The group of seven organizations that includes the National Education Association and American Academy of Pediatrics released an open letter to the governors just days after South Dakota lawmakers approved a bill that would prohibit transgender students from using the bathroom of their choice.

Supporters of the bill say it’s meant to protect student privacy and not meant to be hurtful. But the coalition condemned such measures, saying they could increase risks of bullying and harassment.

The Human Rights Campaign, which has spoken against the South Dakota legislation, solicited the groups and released the letter.

South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard hasn’t indicated whether he will sign the bill.

CRAWFORD COUNTY- A Kansas teen died in an accident just after before 1p.m. on Friday in Crawford County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2012 Ford Fiesta driven by Jazmin Kay Nunn, 18, Alma, was eastbound on Quincy Street just west of Three Kings Highway.

The vehicle traveled left of center, left the roadway into the north ditch and hit a tree head on.

Nunn was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics.

Passengers in the vehicle Jena Katherine Hart, 18, Pittsburg, and Michael Anthony Ramirez, 19, Conway Springs, were transported to Via Christi.

Nunn and Ramirez were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.

HUTCHINSON— A Kansas man convicted of killing an Illinois man was sentenced in Reno County on Friday to 182 months or approximately 15-years in prison.

Michael Brisco, 37, was originally charged with first-degree murder for the shooting death of 26-year-old Sem Adrien on Sept. 9, 2013. He was a carnival worker at the State Fair.

He entered guilty pleas to an amended complaint to involuntary manslaughter, criminal possession of a firearm, aggravated intimidation of a witness, possession of methamphetamine, solicitation to commit perjury and interference with law enforcement.

The alleged crimes occurred after Adrien was rude to Brisco’s girlfriend, according to police.

The two then began to fight inside Brisco’s Hutchinson home. However, the shooting occurred outside with the victim collapsing on a nearby parking lot near 8th & Plum Street.

The victim had two wounds to the heart and it appeared he was shot as he tried to leave or flee, according to testimony at the preliminary hearing.

Judge Tim Chambers went along with the recommendation of both the state and the defense in giving Brisco the aggravated sentence on each count and ran them consecutive to each count.

Brisco will also have to register as a violent offender.

Brisco told the court that he’s trying to do the right thing and apologized for the situation and what happened saying he thinks about it all the time and wishes it hadn’t happened.

None of the victim’s families were present for the sentencing.

Brisco was also ordered to pay $19,466 in restitution, however there is some question whether the state paid the family for a part of the funeral expenses. If so, that would be deducted from that total. He was also ordered to pay a KBI lab fee of $400.00 as well as court cost.

STAFFORD COUNTY- Two Kansas women were injured in an accident just before 6p.m. on Friday in Stafford County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Freightliner semi driven by Bashir Nur Diriqsey, 38, St. Louis Park, MN., was southbound on U.S. 281 three miles south of St. John.

The driver failed to yield at U.S. 50, pulled into the intersection, and struck the trailer of a 2007 Chevy HHR driven by Pamela M. Fann, Dodge City, 49, Dodge City, that was eastbound on U50.

Fann and a passenger in the Chevy Robin Ann Smith, 64, Wichita, were transported to the Stafford County Hospital.

Diriqsey was not injured. All were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

TAMI ABDOLLAH, Associated Press
ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is firing back at Apple for refusing to help unlock a phone used by one of the gunmen in the San Bernardino attack.

In a new motion Friday, federal prosecutors say the company has chosen to repudiate a judge’s order instead of following it.

The department also says Apple designs its products to allow technology — “rather than the law” — to control access to critical data.

Prosecutors also make clear that Apple would be allowed to retain possession of the phone and technology.

The motion offers a sharply worded response to a message that Apple’s chief executive officer, Tim Cook, said in a message to Apple customers this week.

It represents a further escalation in a public relations battle that the two sides are waging.

TOPEKA – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 2p.m. on Friday in Shawnee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Ford Escort driven by ,Nathan E. Mellott, 67, Topeka, was pulling out onto 10th Street from The Quest Credit Union and hit an eastbound bicycle ridden by Billy B. Brumley, Jr., 30, Topeka.

Brumley was transported to Stormont Vail. He was not wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

Mellott was not injured.