Last week Kansas Farm Bureau appeared before our Senate committee on Financial Institutions, Insurance, Benefits and Pensions providing testimony to seek authority for the largest farm organization to develop member health care benefit coverage.
SB32 will allow Kansas Farm Bureau to establish health care benefits that offers coverage specifically and solely for Farm Bureau members in Kansas. One of the most expensive items in a farm family’s budget is health care cost. Farm Bureau testified that “at times 30% to 40% of the annual budgeted expenses” goes towards health care cost. Many of these farm families do not qualify for Affordable Care Act subsidized products. The purpose of the program is to reduce the number of uninsured Kansans and offer coverage with lower premiums. This bill will offer Farm Bureau members another health care option and our committee hopes to work this bill this coming week.
It was great to see Farm Bureau family members travel to Topeka to testify in favor of this legislation, including Tim Franklin and family from the 40th Senate district.
Our Ways and Means committee passed out SB 9 last week. This legislation will be debated on the Senate floor this Monday, February 4th. SB 9 is a KPERS bill, which will make a $115 million payment that was not made at the end of 2016. At that time revenues were lagging behind and the committee was not sure if the revenue was sufficient to make the payment. At that time the legislature promised to make the payment with interest. The $115 million includes accrued interest from 2016. In next week’s newsletter I will let you know how the Senate votes on this bill.
SB 22, the Tax Windfall Bill, was passed out of the special tax committee last week. This bill would allow Kansans to deduct interest on their mortgage, property taxes, charitable contributions and health care expenses.
The three groups affected by this bill are: 1. Those who don’t have enough deductions to itemize at the Federal or State levels. 2. Those whose deductions now make it better to take Federal standard deductions, but would still like to itemize at the State level. 3. Those who have enough deductions to itemize at both the Federal and State levels.
The first group will see no changes and will benefit from the larger Federal standard deduction and should see larger refunds. The third group who currently itemize and have sufficient expenses to deduct will continue itemizing at the State and Federal level and will see no change. The group that will benefit from this legislation is group two which are currently itemizing at the State and Federal level. With the changes at the Federal level and the change to a larger standard deduction many in this group will be better off taking the larger standard deduction than itemizing. This is where the problem begins. Kansas law mirrors Federal law and if you take the standard deduction at the Federal level you are also required to take the standard deduction on your Kansas tax return. This bill changes Kansas’s law to allow small businesses and individuals to continue to itemize even though they will take the standard deduction at the Federal level.
It was a pleasure to see many people from Senate District 40 last week, including people from the Kansas Electric Cooperatives, Rural Telephone, Nex-Tech and S&T, Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Highway Patrol and Sheriff’s Association, County Clerks and Appraisers, Kansas Title Insurance Agents, High Plains Mental Health, Kansas Family Physicians, Public Accountants, KEDA, Sunflower State Trails and the City of Hays.
Middle school and high school students (12 years of age or older) are invited to come to our Kansas State Capitol, in order to be my sponsored Senate Page for a day. The dates available are February 11th, 18th, 25th and March 11th. Please contact my office if you know a student who may have an interest in being a Senate Page.
I am honored and grateful to represent the 40th Senate District in Kansas. Please do not hesitate to contact or call me with your questions and concerns, my office number is 785-296-7399 or my cell is 785-899-4700. If you are in Topeka stop by my office at 236-E.
Sen. Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, is the Kansas state senator for the 40th District, which includes Cheyenne, Decatur, Ellis, Gove, Graham, Logan, Norton, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas, Trego and Wallace counties as well as portions of Phillips county.