Now, remember back a decade or a little more, when the Legislature passed a school finance plan under orders of the Kansas Supreme Court to adequately finance high-quality education for the children in the state’s public schools?

It wasn’t easy, it required a lot of time and work and a special session but the Legislature finally back then passed a bill that the court said, if adequately financed, would produce equalized opportunities for public schoolchildren from border to border.

Remember that within two years of passing that bill the Legislature didn’t appropriate enough money to finance the bill? And…of course, the state got sued again, and again, for not meeting constitutional requirements for providing equal access to quality education to all kids in Kansas.

The concept here: It is, of course, possible to trick the Kansas Supreme Court, to make it a promise and then break that promise. The court wasn’t happy.

But at least a couple senators last week did a relatively clever little procedure to remind the court that the Legislature tends to fall away from promises.

You gotta wonder whether a Supreme Court that gets tricked twice…well, should those folks actually be justices, or maybe just magistrates or notaries or something else…

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, took a relatively clever step last week on an income tax increase bill to make sure the high court feels a little like maybe…it’s going to be tricked again.

Lawmakers in both chambers have been advised by their new legislative counsel, dedicated to making sure that it builds a new school finance bill that meets the court’s demands, who warned lawmakers that the court isn’t interested in being handed a school finance plan that it can’t or won’t continue.

So Hensley took a professionally prepared State General Fund profile that shows pretty clearly that the tax bill the Senate debated last week didn’t fix the school finance-into-the-future problem.

That profile, produced at the request of Sen. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City, showed that the tax bill being debated would produce a budget deficit in just two years, putting that yet-to-be-approved school funding plan in jeopardy.

Old-timer Hensley used an obscure rule to make sure that the Holland-generated budget profile wound up being printed in small type in the official Senate Journal, where, depending on reading habits of the justices, they’ll be likely to see it.

Yes, it’s bringing a lot of different decisions that haven’t been made yet into the school finance/taxes/budget troika that is confronting lawmakers as they work past the traditional 90-day (that was Mothers’ Day) session.

In terms of providing the Supreme Court with a way to determine whether any school finance plan can be financed by any tax increase bill, well, it’s pretty definitive.

The Hensley move was a little off-target, of course, because there are going to be several tax plans created to finance that school formula. But it might well let the court know that whatever formula emerges, it really doesn’t amount to a solution unless it is financed consistently to accomplish what the court wants done in the way of K-12 finance.

But Hensley did, with his tactic in explaining why he voted against the tax bill, put the court—oh, and his constituents—on notice that he won’t support tax bills that fail to fix the state budget and school finance problems in a sustainable way.

Now, besides spooking the court, has there been much moving on taxes or school finance formulas? Nope, but that Senate Calendar tactic used by Hensley essentially fuses the two issues, doesn’t it?

Might be interesting to see how this all works out…

Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com.

convenience store after work to treat my sweet tooth. From the time I was four-years-old and walked barefoot down to Vern Wagner’s little general store, I’ve always enjoyed the wonderful taste of chocolate.

Today, I wind up plunking down a buck and a half ($1.50) for my favorite candy – either Reese’s peanut butter cups or the mouthwatering, chocolate-covered Twix sticks. While these chocolate treats taste every bit as good as any “Denver Sandwich” or “Cherry Mash” I ate as a boy, today’s bar appears to be about half the size.

Now that I think about it, $1.50 is much easier to come by today than a nickel when I was a youngster growing up in the northwestern Kansas farm community of Seguin. Back then, men worked 12 and 14-hour days on the farm for as little as $1 an hour.

My dad talked about men working for 50 cents a day during the Great Depression. Back then, you could buy an acre of ground for about the same price you would pay for a five-stick pack of Juicy Fruit gum today.

For most people in this part of the country, times were rough in those days, and they were ready and willing to work for nearly nothing – just to keep bread on the family table. Fifty cents for a day’s wages went a long way toward buying food for a family before World War II.

Recalling those days some 80 years ago, Dad told me bacon sold for 15 cents a pound, eggs cost a dime a dozen, Ivory soap sold at five bars for a quarter, butter cost 20 cents a pound and a large loaf of bread was two pennies.

Remember pennies?

They’re something people toss away today because they won’t buy anything. Some people still pick up these discarded relics, adhering to the adage, A penny saved, a penny earned.

Like food, clothing also cost little by today’s standards. Seventy years ago, shoes sold for two bucks a pair. You could buy a pretty nifty suit for less than $10.

Dad had a brother and brother-in-law who owned a car dealership back in those days. I can remember them talking about a Model T with a sticker price of $300 about the time their parents ushered in the Roaring ‘20s. A full tank of gas (10 gallons) sold for less than $2, a quart of oil cost three bits, and air for the tires was free.

What I wouldn’t give to fill my vehicle with one Andrew Jackson (bill) today.

It’s fun remembering days of yesteryear and comparing them to today. While a lot has changed, my sweet tooth hasn’t.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.

These last two weeks the Senators have spent much time and energy on conference committees, wrapping up some final pieces of legislation to send to the Governor’s desk.

In April, Kansas collected a total of $639 million in taxes. Of this amount $319.5 million came from individual income tax receipts. The Kansas Department of Revenue reported “individual income tax receipts exceeded both estimates by $3.3 million and April 2016 monthly collection by $36.6 million. Year to date the state has collected $4.8 billion in total tax receipts, which is $53.5 million more than fiscal year to date in April 2016. The Senate voted on an income tax increase, that bill failed. We have gone back to the drawing board and are looking for ways to craft a compromise tax bill that can pass both chambers to help balance the budget.

Human Trafficking: A bill strengthening anti-human trafficking laws in Kansas was passed this week. This bill strengthens pre-existing laws and creates new laws, such as a mandatory human trafficking awareness course for truck drivers, so that they may easily identify and report signs of possible human trafficking. Further, this bill will “prohibit using communication devices to facilitate human trafficking or knowingly selling travel services connected with human trafficking. It would also create the crime of internet trading child pornography and increase penalties for sexual exploitation of a child.” The bill is now waiting for Governor Brownback’s signature.

The last week two conference committees I serve on; Financial Institutions-Insurance and KPERS reached an agreement and final language on SB 23, which will merge the Security Exchange Commissioner under the Secretary of Insurance. One other important change will be the attorney’s currently working in the Security Exchange Commission will be working for the Attorney General’s office. By merging these two departments it will save the state money and will also make the Security Exchange attorneys available to help the Attorney General’s office.

We are expecting to meet next week on several bills in my second conference committee Ways & Means. SB 94 which will reinstate the 4% cuts that were made to our hospitals last year. We have changed the date to July 1, 2017 which will allow our hospitals to start receiving reimbursements starting July 1 instead of January 1, 2018.

Last week the Senate and the House Fed & State committee along with the Department of Labor reached an agreement on SB 70 which is the amusement ride bill. The Governor has already signed this bill into law. The current bill has an effective date of July 1, 2017. 
The Fed & State committee will produce another bill that will change the effective date to July 1, 2018. This will allow the legislature some time to work on the rules and regulations with the Department of Labor and allow time to make any necessary adjustments to the bill.

Thank you for the pleasure and honor of allowing me to serve you as your Senator and please feel free to email or call me at [email protected] or 785 296-7399.