The House wrapped up the bulk of our Regular Session work as of the end-of-March deadline after which most bills are no longer available for consideration.
The House will adjourn the Regular Session by Fri., April 6, while legislative staff completes the paperwork on the dozens of bills passed in recent weeks. We will return on Thursday, April 26th for the Veto Session.
On Monday, April 2nd, the House began debate on a new school funding formula in response to the Kansas Supreme Court’s decision in October, declaring the current formula underfunded per the requirements laid out in Article 6 of the Kansas Constitution.
While debate before the full House only just began, many have been working behind the scenes for months to craft a solution. On Tuesday, the House passed out HB 2445, 71-53, and I voted yes. The bill was then sent over to the Senate for review and deliberation. I will keep you updated as we continue work on this critical issue for our state.
At Home in Hays
I want to give a special thank you to all the firefighters that combated the fires in Hays that occurred last month. We are grateful for your service and sacrifice.
Every industry has “terms of art” that are unique to their work and not broadly understood outside of the industry. In my experience, if I can help you understand legislative action without using all of the jargon, you have more power because you understand the process. Empowering you makes you a better citizen and when more citizens engage, the more representative our democracy becomes.To that end, you will see some new terms in this newsletter which have not come up in previous editions, specifically “Conference Committee” and “Substitute Bill.”Substitute Bills
First, a quick primer on how to read a bill in the KS Legislature:
If the bill amends existing statute:
- Words deleted from existing statute will have
strikethroughtext. - Words added to existing statute will be in italics.
- If an entire section is added, it will be in regular type, but the heading will be in italics New Section or New Sec.
- Amendments made in House Committee will be in bold type.
- Amendments made by House Committee of the Whole will be in [bold, bracketed type].
- Amendments made in Senate Committee will be in bold italic type.
- Amendments made in Senate Committee of the Whole will be in [bold, bracketed italic type].
- If the House of Origin deletes material in original bill, it will be in
strikethroughtype or deleted new material initalic strikethrough. - If the Other house (not the House of Origin – House changes to a SB, or Senate changes to a HB) deletes material in the original bill, it will be in strikethrough underline type or deleted new material in
strikethrough underlined italics.
You could probably guess that when a committee makes numerous, long, or complicated changes to a bill, it becomes difficult to read and a substitute bill with the same number is often passed. For example, S Sub H Sub HB 1234 would read “Senate Substitute for House Substitute for House Bill 1234.” In this instance, the House Committee or floor made significant changes, then the Senate made even more changes and substitute bills were passed in place of other substitute bills, but the bill number remains the same. It can be quite confusing, and you won’t see any that complicated below, but it is also is a tip-off that big changes were made to a bill, so paying very close attention to its contents is important.
Conference Committee:
For a bill to be sent to the governor for signing into law, it must pass both the House and the Senate in the exact same form. Because changes can be made in committees and during consideration by each full chamber, it’s not typical for bills to make it through the process without amendment. Once the bill has passed both the House and Senate, the chamber where the bill originated gets to vote on whether they like the changes made by the secondary chamber. House and Senate personalities, being what they are, they rarely agree with what the other did.
A motion to concur with changes made in the secondary chamber means they agree with the changes and wish to send the bill in its current form to the governor for his signature. A motion to nonconcur means the original chamber doesn’t like the changes made to its bill, and they request a conference committee. The committee is made up of the chair, vice-chair, and ranking minority member from the House and Senate committees which passed the bill.
- Those six legislators hammer out differences between the versions passed by each chamber, and submit a committee report with those changes to their respective bodies.
- The committee report cannot be changed and must be passed “as-is” by both the House and Senate before heading to the governor for approval. If one chamber does not pass the report, the bill stays in the committee for continued deliberation until a compromise is reached that passes both chambers. Some bills die in conference committee due to the inability to reach a compromise.
In the House
SB 324 prohibits vehicle manufacturers from coercing or requiring a vehicle dealer to make improvements to the facility if the dealer has made required improvements approved by the manufacturer within the past 10 years. The bill would also prohibit the use of unfair or unreasonable criteria for measuring the sales and service performance of dealers, while requiring them to consider the local and regional data. The Senate approved the bill, 33-2, to which the House made amendments, and approved the bill 123-2. A conference committee was requested by the Senate to work on the bill.
HB 2526 requires every agency that drafts or amends a rule or regulation to include a description of the businesses directly affected by the change. In addition, the agency would describe the benefits to businesses and any actions to be taken to minimize the impact of the rule or regulation on economic development in Kansas. The House passed this legislation as amended 95-26. Hearing testimony is available here. It sits in the Senate Federal & State Affairs Committee, which is exempt from deadlines, so it can still be heard, debated, and passed out of committee.
SB 282—Several synthetic opioid fentanyl compounds and an opioid analgesic drug would be among several drugs added to the list of Schedule I drugs under this legislation, which passed the House 121-3. Schedule I drugs are illegal to possess. The bill also would revise several cannabinoid classes in Schedule I to include new synthetics and substitutes. Oral solutions of dronabinol and a drug that was the precursor to fentanyl would be added to Schedule II. Schedule III would get an updated list of anabolic steroids. The Senate approved this bill, 36-0. Testimony is available here. Differences between the House bill and the Senate version will be negotiated in a conference committee.
HB 2644—Postsecondary educational institutions that have implemented a performance agreement with the Board of Regents would be exempt from performance-based budgeting requirements under this legislation. Current law requires the implementation of performance based budgeting complete with varying deadlines and specific objectives that include a program service inventory, an integrated budget fiscal process and a performance based budgeting system. The House approved this bill, 82-42. I voted yes. The bill sits in the Senate Education Committee awaiting consideration.
SB 386—This bill would allow an individual applying for licensure as a professional counselor through the Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board to have earned a graduate degree in a counseling-related field instead of strictly having a graduate degree in counseling. The individual would need to meet all remaining qualifications already set forth in the Professional Counselors Licensure Act. The House and Senate passed the bill unanimously and without amendment, so it awaits the governor’s signature. View hearing testimony here.
H Sub SB 56—This substitute bill would create the Kansas Cybersecurity Act and would amend the membership and required meeting frequency of the Information Technology Executive Council (ITEC). The ITEC is responsible for approval and maintenance of all information technology policies, IT project management procedures, the statewide technical architecture and the state’s strategic information management plan. Membership would be reduced from 17 to 15 members, and the bill would change who would serve on the council. The bill also would require the ITEC to meet on a quarterly basis. As part of the cybersecurity act, the bill would establish the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), who would be appointed by the Governor and serve as the chief expert and authority on policy and other matters related to cybersecurity. In addition, the bill would establish the Kansas Information Security Office that would be managed by the CISO. The House unanimously approved this legislation, which removes the original provisions of SB 56 relating to campaign contribution reports and combined the provisions from HB 2359 and HB 2332. For a detailed list of ITEC membership changes, see the supplemental note from HB 2332. HB 2359 testimony is available here. View hearing testimony for HB 2332 here. The bill passed the House and Senate without opposition but the significant changes made will be hammered out in conference committee.
Sub SB 272—Drivers approaching or passing stationary or slow-moving waste collection vehicles will need to be more careful if this bill becomes law. The House voted for a bill, 94-30, that would require drivers to take safety precautions, like switching lanes or slowing down, when approaching any stationary waste collection vehicle picking up trash and displaying hazard warning signals. It was reported that waste and recycling collection ranks as the fifth highest in the nation for fatality rates from distracted and inattentive drivers. The Senate earlier passed this bill, 40-0. Hearing testimony is available here. Differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill are under negotiation by a conference committee.
HB 2773 would create the Kansas Safe and Secure Schools Act, this is NOT the “SAFER Act” which got so much press about arming teachers. This bill would create the School Safety and Security Grant Program initially funded with $5 million. Districts would be able to apply for matching grant funds for school safety and security improvement projects. The legislation also would require the State Board of Education to develop statewide security standards for districts. The Board would consult with the Adjutant General’s Department, the Department of Health and Environment and other state agencies as needed for implementing the bill. Finally, the legislation would allow local school boards to provide firearm safety education training and require the state Board to establish curriculum guidelines for a standardized firearm safety education program. This legislation passed the House, 119-5. The bill now sits in the Senate Ways & Means Committee. This committee is exempt from deadlines, so it is possible this bill could still be on the move.
SB 263—Under this legislation, the state would be able to grow, research and develop uses for industrial hemp. The Alternative Crop Research Act, which the House passed, 123-1, would allow the Department of Agriculture to work alone or with a Kansas college or university to grow industrial hemp. In addition, the bill would allow individuals to participate in the research program under the oversight of the Department. The Senate previously passed a different version of this bill, 36-3. View hearing testimony here.
SB 311—Under this legislation, certified emergency medical services (EMS) attendants would be added to the list of professionals required to report suspected abuse, neglect or the exploitation of residents in adult care homes and related facilities. The House and Senate passed the bill without opposition and it has been presented to the governor.
SB 428—This legislation would amend licensure and inspection requirements for child care facilities. The bill would clarify that if a recreation center or school complies with fire and local building codes, a license could not be denied, suspended or revoked based on the building not meeting licensing requirements because of environmental deficiencies. This would only apply if there are no imminent risks to children, the deficiency is outside the licensee’s immediate authority to correct, and the applicant or licensee has notified the recreation center or school of the deficiency. In addition, the legislation would create definitions for “drop in program” and “school-age program.” The House gave unanimous approval to this bill. The Senate passed this bill earlier, 40-0.
Committee Work
My Higher Education Budget and Local Government Committees have completed their work for the session.
We held hearings on the following bills but did not take action:
- HB 2759 requires Veterinarians to report the drugs they dispense to the Kansas Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (K-Tracs) and adds the Board of Veterinary Examiners to the list of agencies responsible for financially supporting K-Tracs.
- HB 2767 reinstates Enterprise Zone Program, which provides a sales tax exemption for materials, equipment and services purchased for a business expansion project. Requirements are set in place that must be met for businesses to qualify for these exemptions.
HB 2468 includes the House Appropriations’ Committee’s changes to the existing budget for FY19. We debated and passed this bill to the full House for consideration. Keep in mind there are a number of steps yet to go, so this is not the final budget. You can read the details in the bill’s explainer document.
It is a special honor to serve as your state representative. I both value and need your input on the various issues facing state government. Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions. My office address is Room 43-S, 300 SW 10th, Topeka, KS 66612. You can reach me at 785-296-4683 or call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me. Additionally, you can e-mail me at [email protected]. You can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org.