Weekly Overview
Gannon v. Kansas Supreme Court Ruling
Late last week, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled on the Gannon v. Kansas case, regarding the constitutional equity and adequacy of K-12 public education funding. The Court ruled that K-12 education funding is unconstitutional, and noted that 25 percent of all Kansas students aren’t meeting Rose Standards, a series of targets students must meet to be considered at “grade level.”
The Court’s ruling was broad and reaffirmed what the legislature already believed to be true: legislators are the state’s chief policy makers and money appropriators. While the Court did not specify how much, if any, additional money must be funneled into public schools to meet its standards of constitutional funding, the Court did mandate that the legislature create a new, equitable and adequate school finance formula by June 30, when the current block-grant funding formula expires.
It’s important to note that at the beginning of the year, the Kansas Senate set a self-imposed deadline to pass a structurally balanced budget that would, in turn, help create and fund an equitable school finance formula – all by the end of this legislative session. Senate President Wagle on Wednesday announced the creation of a Special Committee on Education Finance. The group of Senators assembled in this committee represent a diverse group from across the state – both rural and urban areas.
Senate Floor Action
SB 175 – The Governor’s Tax Proposal
On Tuesday, the Kansas Senate debated and voted on Governor Brownback’s tax proposal to the legislature. This proposal included increasing the tobacco tax by $1.00 a pack, increasing the liquor tax from 8% to 16%, freezing the bottom tax rate at 2.7%, instead of allowing it to drop to 2.6% as written in 2012, increasing the annual report fee for all for-profit business entities from $40 to $200 beginning in FY 2018 (and requiring anyone who owns 5% or more of the business to pay a $200 fee) and requiring LLCs to pay taxes on passive income from rents and royalties. During floor action, a motion was offered to divide the bill into separate parts, requiring us to debate and vote on each piece separately. The bill was divided into five pieces, and on voice vote, the Senate voted down the first three provisions. Before the Senate could debate and vote on the final two provisions, there was a rarely-used motion to “strike the enacting clause,” which would essentially kill the bill. This motion passed 37-1.
While the Senate has been working on crafting other tax proposals, the Governor explicitly requested a ‘full and fair airing’ of his tax plan after the legislature presented and Governor Brownback vetoed HB 2178 last month. Based off that request, the Kansas Senate debated the Governor’s tax proposal.
Watch the next coming weeks for other tax bills including a flat single rate or a tax bill with multiple ideas combined with alternatives to the LLC provision in current law.
Pages for Session 2017 – February 23rd
Alex and Austin Kaufmann, Concordia and Grant and Gage Amerin, Clifton, paged on Thursday, February 23rd for the Kansas Senate. In addition to running errands for the Senators during session, they toured the Capitol on the Historic and Dome tours and worked in my office with Legislative Intern Micayla Pachta.
North Central Kansas Honor Flight – June 15-17, 2017
CHS honor students (guardians) again will be assisting the NCK Honor Flight riders to Washington DC. If you know a World War II or Korean Veteran who would like to be a Rider, please call Bev Mortimer at (785) 243-0836 for an application or additional information. Applications should be submitted by April 1st. There is NO charge for the veteran.
From the State Library
Consumer Health Complete covers all areas of health and wellness. Did your doctor prescribe a new medication? Recently diagnosed with diabetes? Look it up here. Designed for the everyday consumer, this online database offers popular reference books, medical encyclopedias, fact sheets, and magazine articles. This full text database covers topics such as aging, nutrition, cancer, fitness, drugs & alcohol, even yoga. You can find more information at http://kslib.info/ConHealth.
Thank You for Engaging
Thank you for all of your calls, emails, and letters regarding your thoughts and concerns about happenings in Kansas. Constituent correspondence helps inform my decision-making process and is taken into great consideration when I cast my vote in the Kansas Senate. As always, I’ll keep you updated on the activities of the Senate while we continue through the last few weeks before the break this spring. I always encourage you to stay informed of the issues under consideration by the Kansas Legislature. Committee schedules, bills, and other helpful information can be easily accessed through the legislature’s website at www.kslegislature.org. You are also able to ‘listen in live’ at this website. The House meets at 11:00AM and the Senate at 2:30. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your thoughts, concerns, and suggestions. An email is the best at this point in the session.
Thank you for the honor of serving you!
Senator Elaine Bowers
Kansas State Capitol Building
Room 223-E
300 SW 10th St.
Topeka, KS 66612
[email protected]
785 296-7389
Sen. Elaine Bowers (R-Concordia) serves the 36th Dist. which includes Osborne, Rooks, Russell, and portions of Phillips counties.