Last week was the final week for committees to meet.
The most important thing we did this week was passing the budget out of the Senate.
Some of the highlights are: Sub SB75 K-12, school funding, which includes over $4 billion. Part of the funding is an inflation factor of $92.7 million in court ordered funding for K-12 to settle the lawsuit. It also includes $197 million additional new money for K-12. This budget includes full funding of $7.37 million for this years KPERS payment. The Board of Regents will receive an additional $5.5 million in new money.
Additional funds were allocated for Corrections in order to address a shortage in staff and for the treatment of Hepatitis C for inmates.
KDADS, DCF, mental health and the IDD community will all receive a small increase in funding.
KDOT will receive $160 million through FY 2020. The Governor’s budget continues to transfer $200 million per year from KDOT to the state general fund.
A 1% increase was included in the budget for Community Home Base services. Senate Democrats did not vote for this bill even though it follows most of the recommendations made by the Governor, other than the re-amortization. Over 90% of the budget consists of education, Kan-care caseloads and corrections. The Senate Democrats wanted to postpone voting on the budget until next Tuesday in order to determine whether the Governor will raise taxes on middle class Kansans and Kansas businesses that do business in foreign countries. If the Governor vetoes SB 22 it will add $200 million to the ending balance. The Democrat Minority Senate leader, Senator Hensley, stated that he was hopeful that the Governor would veto SB 22.
SB 125 passed the Senate and will extend the Rural Opportunity Zone Program by 5 years.
SB 125 extends the deadline for a participant to begin in the student loan repayment portion of the program to July 1, 2026 and the individual income tax credit portion of the program would be extended through tax year 2026.
For the next 3 days we will be on the floor debating House and Senate bills.
I would like to thank everyone who stopped by the Capitol and my office last week.
I am honored and grateful to represent the 40th Senate District of Kansas.
Please do not hesitate to contact me by e-mail at [email protected] 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.