March 17, 2017
Information Hearings: Lansing Correctional Facility and Osawatomie State Hospital
This week the House Appropriations Committee held informational hearings on possible renovation plans for the Lansing Correctional Facility and the Osawatomie State Hospital.

The hearing for the Lansing Correctional Facility, which was held on Tuesday, March 14, focused on the facility’s rising costs. Currently the facility, which was constructed in the 1860s, has the capacity of 2,405 inmates and 686 staff at a cost of $34,542,898 a year. Two plans of renovation were presented to the committee in order to decrease the prison’s cost. One being to build a new prison with bonds and another being a lease to purchase option. Both options increase the facility’s inmate capacity, decrease the number of staff needed by half, and decrease the cost of staff to $20,461,154 a year.

The hearing for the Osawatomie State Hospital was held on March 15. The Osawatomie State Hospital, just as with Lansing Correctional Facility, needs renovations and possible further changes. Seven different options for renovation were presented to the committee. These options differed in approach and value with the least costly option for recertification with a proposed cost of about $4.3 million for the expansion of 206 beds. The option of new construction would cost approximately $33,720,000. In addition to these requests for renovation, recommendations were made to improve the environment were given as well, one being to incentivize professional training and accreditation.

Ad Astra Rural Jobs Act Update
This week House Bill 2168, the Ad Astra Rural Jobs Act was debated and passed on floor of the House of Representatives. This bill provides tax credits to approved investment companies that loan capital to businesses that are wanting to either build new, expand, or relocate to rural Kansas counties and create jobs. This jobs act would specifically identify a rural area of the state as being a city that has a population of 60,000 or less, or could be designated as one by the Secretary of Commerce. This bill would integrate job creation critieria and priorities that would only enhance the Rural Opportunity Zones that was incorporated in 2011. House Bill 2168 passed the House of Representatives on March 14, by a vote of 97 to 22.

House of Representatives in Action: K-12 Education Budget Committee
The House of Representatives formed the K-12 Education Budget Committee to which leadership gave them responsibility to craft a new and constitutionally viable funding formula. The committee has already held many hearings on five different plans and listened to testimony from a variety of stakeholders. It is expected that they will make their proposal to the full House of Representatives by the end of the month. Nearly all observers believe the new finance plan and the Court ruling will require additional funding for K-12 public education. Estimates of the amount vary widely, but are primarily based upon the old formula, which was eliminated in 2015. Until a new formula has been evaluated and adopted, it is difficult to estimate any future cost.

Last weekend, I attended the Midwestern Fiscal Leaders meeting in Chicago where I gained much insight on Education funding throughout the United States and have relayed that information to the chairman of the K-12 Education Budget Committee.

Appropriations Committee
This week the Committee has been finalizing Budget Committee recommendations. The Committee received its last report on Monday, March 13 and next week we will begin to assemble the Mega Appropriations bill.

The Committee has also received Efficiency Study Updates from the Budget Committees. These updates report what Alvarez and Marsal (A & M) projected for savings on the 105 recommendations in the study, specifically those in the purview for that committee. The updates note whether the recommendations have been implemented, if any savings have been realized and the amount realized, and any further comments from the Budget Committees.

The Committee held bill hearings on HB 2362, relating to alcoholic beverage control modernization fee and HB 2340, which transfers actual SGF revenues in excess of a joint estimate to the budget stabilization fund, otherwise referred to as the Rainy Day Fund.

The Committee passed out HB 2180, which involves increasing the health maintenance organization privilege fee.

Executive Order 17-01
On Thursday March 9, Governor Sam Brownback signed Executive Order 17-01. The Executive Order assists fire relief efforts across the state. The Governor declared a state of emergency on March 5. It is estimated that the fires have burned more than 626,000 acres, ranking this fire event as the largest in state history. The Executive Order facilitates the immediate delivery of large quantities of hay, feed, fencing materials, and other relief supplies by waiving certain motor carrier regulations, according to the Governor’s press release. The Governor was in Clark County yesterday, which has been devastated by fire, with 85 percent of the county’s land mass burned.

Donations to help the relief effort can be done in a number of ways. Listed below are just three of many who are assisting those affected by the fires:

• The Kansas Livestock Association has a form set up for donations on its website to support ranchers impacted by the fires: http://www.kla.org/donationform.aspx. They are organizing efforts to provide hay and fencing materials. To make in-kind donations, call the KLA at (785) 273-5115.
• The Kansas Farm Bureau website has information on hay donations, animal disposal, disaster assistance programs, and wildlife recovery resources on its website: https://www.kfb.org/Article/Kansas-wildfirerelief.
• The United Way of the Plains is partnering with the United Way of Reno County and the United Way of Dodge City to respond to the fires. Monetary and material donations can be made. In addition, they will have information on volunteer opportunities on their website: http://www.unitedwayplains.org/how-tohelp-wildfire-victims

The House this week also passed out House Bill 2387, which would provide a sales tax exemption for purchases related to certain property destroyed by the wildfires. This bill would exempt all purchases of tangible personal property and services made to construct, reconstruct, repair, or replace any residence, utility pole owned by a rural electric cooperative, or fence used to enclose land devoted to agricultural use that was damaged or destroyed by wildfires occurring during calendar year 2017. House Bill 2387 passed the Kansas House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 14, 122-0.

Contact Information
As always, if you have any concerns, feel free to contact me (785) 296-7672, visit www.troywaymaster.com or email me at [email protected]. Also, if you happen to visit the statehouse, please let my office know.

It is a distinct honor to serve as your representative for the 109th Kansas House District and the state of Kansas. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your thoughts, concerns, and questions. I always appreciate hearing from the residents of the 109th House District and others from the state of Kansas, as well.

Troy L. Waymaster, (R-Bunker Hill) is the 109th Dist. State Representative and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.