Kansas will have its 47th Governor, Dr. Jeff Colyer, sworn in January 31st at 3:00. Governor Brownback will be leaving to be the U.S. Ambassador to International Religious Freedom.
With a cold, blustery and snowy day, hundreds of pro-life Kansans marched in the annual March for Life held in Topeka. January 23rd marked the 45th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe vs Wade which made abortion legal in the United States. It was heartwarming to me, even though we had inclement weather, to see so many people show up to support this march, including so many young people.
The Senate adopted a resolution congratulating and commending the regional finalists of the 2018 Kansas Teacher of the Year selections. With more than 100 candidates nominated, Samantha Neill from Buhler Unified School District was selected as the 2018 Teacher of the Year.
Last Monday the amusement/agritourism bill was read in and it has been issued a bill number
S.B. 307, for those of you interested in following this legislation. A time for hearings has not been decided but should be scheduled in the near future. I will let all of the counties with amusement rides know when the hearings will be held. I had a very productive meeting with the House chair of Fed and State, John Barker, and vice chair, Ron Highland concerning changes needed for home owned carnival rides.
The State Finance Council met this week and approved the construction of a new Lansing prison. The vote was originally scheduled for January 4th but was delayed to allow legislators time to gather information on the plan. Under the approved plan developed by KDOC and CoreCivic, the new facility will have 1,920 maximum and minimum-security beds and 512 medium security beds. Technology and design upgrades will allow the KDOC to reduce staffing from 682 to 371.
This week legislators heard from hospital representatives, district attorneys, county sheriffs and leaders from community health centers about the growing mental health crisis in Kansas. A brief background was explained on how both the state and federal governments have cut funding to mental health over the past 60 years. This has resulted in Kansas emergency rooms and local jails being filled with people needing treatment. S.B. 195 will address some of these issues and should be passed out of community next week.
Next Tuesday, Ag and Natural Resources will be working on S.B. 263, concerning industrial hemp. Many constituents have shared their ideas concerning this legislation and may be interested in attending this meeting.
Hard Facts:
• The Kansas economy grew 2.1% in the third quarter of 2017, missing the expectation of 2.8% growth.
• Since December 2016, Kansas gained 6,300 seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs and 8,000 private sector jobs.
Kansas Department of Agricultural reports: Agriculture industry employs nearly 247,000 Kansans accounting for 13% of the state’s workforce. In 2017 Kansas agriculture was valued at nearly $68 Billion approximately 45% of the Kansas economy.