Hello from Topeka! Welcome to the 2018 Session.  The first week was filled with the usual committee reorganization and hearing from the Governor on the State of the State. Once again, this year I am pleased to be serving as vice-chairman of Water & Environment committee and a member on the Taxation, Transportation committees.    

Since the end last session, and the ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court, we knew the biggest issue we will face is school finance.  Some see a simple remedy, adding an additional $600 million to K-12, but will that solve the challenge we face?

At the heart of the conflict before us is our charge to provide the resources necessary for a suitable education that meets the Court’s vague definition of these measures. Our constituents have entrusted us with the job of balancing the State budget and investing their tax dollars prudently and judiciously. Mental health, early childhood, foster care and infrastructure needs are among the many areas we must invest in for the quality of life of our citizens. The rubber has hit the road. With all of these competing priorities, how can we find peace and instill stability?

Decisions on budgeting require scrutinizing and prioritizing.  Stability is based in decisions that consider the needs of today and the expectations and demands of tomorrow. For many years now, the process has instead revolved around mandates asking us to prioritize one state function over all others.

It is important to all of us that have been elected as a member of the Kansas Legislature that we need to keep the big picture in mind and not one issue over all others.

School funding dominates our state budget. It is shortsighted to suggest that these other terribly important areas do not also lend to the needs of our communities and their public schools.

As I said earlier, Governor Brownback presented the annual State of the State Address to the on the second day of the session.  He reported that the state of our state is “indeed strong and very promising,” as also unveiled his plan to inject $600 million into K-12 education over five years, however, he did not provide any method to fund such an increase.  He also noted the need to hire additional teachers and increase their salaries.

The State General Fund (SGF) profile of the Governor’s Budget shows a $300.7 million deficit for FY ’20, even with assuming that the Highway Fund sweep and transfer from the CIF continue.

The Governor’s Education proposal is financed partially by a $13.9 million transfer from the Children’s Initiative Fund (CIF).  Of the $200.8 million added for FY ’19, $87.8 million SGF was included in 2017 SB 19.  The Governor adds an additional $100 million SGF for following four Fiscal Years.

The Governor’s Budget Report does not fully fund KPERS for FY ’19.  The $194 million payment that was delayed will not be made, it  does not restore the four percent cuts made to Higher Education along with not funding  enhancement requests requested by the Judicial Branch.

The Governor’s Budget Report does contain $190.7 million of enhancement requests, which includes his new school funding proposal.  This amount does not include K-12 and Health and Human Services Caseloads and KPERS School contributions.

While I appreciate the effort to put forth a budget proposal, this one has landed with a big thud.  I hope to learn more in tax committee this week.

If you come to Topeka during the session, my office is in Room: 352-S. My phone number is 785-296- 7463 and email is: [email protected] and my cell number is 785-302-8416.   

It is my honor to be your representative.

House District 110 covers: 

• Norton and Phillips Counties
• Ellis County: Cities: Catharine, Ellis and Schoenchen; Townships: Big Creek(part), Buckeye, Catherine, Ellis, Herzog(part), Lookout(part) and Wheatland(part)
• Graham County: City: Hill City; Townships: Hill City(part) and Nicodemus(part)
• Rooks County: Cities: Damar, Palco, Plainville, Stockton, Woodston and Zurich; Townships:1, 2, 3, 4, 5(part), 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12

Ken Rahjes (R-Agra) is the Dist. 110 state representative. 

 

OK, the session is now a week (or, four days) old and the best news that can be reported by anyone who wanders the Statehouse for a living is that there have been no injuries.

The governor’s budget? Even the simple descriptions of it are political. Many Republicans are still fuming that the governor proposes to spend too much money, meaning tax increases are ahead, if not this session just before a new governor is elected, then the session after. Democrats are at least positive on Gov. Sam Brownback’s five-year, $600 million increase in K-12 funding, but not much else so far.

And Kansas House members who are seeking reelection, and those who want to unseat them, generally are cautious. The total dollar figure for K-12 sounds about right, but over five years? Any chance the Kansas Supreme Court which declared last session’s K-12 plan unconstitutional will go for a five-year fix? Nobody, at least nobody who wears a black robe to work, is saying…

Probably one of the better pieces of news is that the outgoing (either this spring to a federal job, or at his term end) governor is planning to pay—yes, use real money, not a financing gimmick—$18.1 million in the rest of this fiscal year and $30.8 million in the upcoming fiscal year for the state’s share of the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) contributions for teachers. The state’s pension plan, recall, has been mostly refinanced, pushing contributions into the future like you do if you refinance your home.

Another bright spot? Brownback plans to boost the budget for Statehouse operations by $200,000 so that public (and other) interest groups won’t have to pay up to $500 to hold a gathering under the dome to talk to their lawmakers. (Although for a few groups that hold Statehouse rallies, we’re figuring a two-drink minimum would have covered those now-cancelled fee hikes.)

But…the bright spots are relatively sparse. While the House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means committees parse each line item of the governor’s budget, which projects surpluses (yes, cash in the bank after the bills are paid) of $266 million on June 30 and $150 million the following year, few believe the fiscal year will end with that much cash.

In fact, the only new expenditure in the budget that appears to be virtually assured is a relatively cheap ($8 million this year and next) remake of the state’s programs for the roughly 7,000 children who are the responsibility of the state, who have been removed from their parents’ homes for their safety.

That provision increases investigative staff at the Kansas Department for Children and Families so that we can locate the kids who leave their foster care homes or their adoptive parents, allocates $1.5 million for additional staffers to ensure those children’s welfare, and provides new emergency shelter for those children so they don’t wind up sleeping in offices of child-care contractors.

Anyone against that? No hands held up. And, it is Lt. Gov. who hopes to grow up to be Governor Jeff Colyer who is the owner of that child welfare provision, both as a government executive and a Republican candidate for governor.

What else is assured from Brownback’s $6.923 billion budget for this year and $6.899 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year? Not much.

So, the Legislature is up and running, in the first few weeks of dissecting the budget, seeing what the state can afford and can’t afford and just how political parties in general and voters in specific will like or dislike the lawmakers as they vote in August and again in November.

We’ll see how this 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