Friend,
Last week, Governor Jeff Colyer declared a drought for all 105 counties in Kansas. With his declaration the state will deploy their disaster relief efforts for our farmers and ranchers.
Currently, there are 66 counties experiencing severe or extreme drought levels. These dry temperatures devastate our crops, and affect our livestock. And when our lands get this dry, we know far too well the other consequence, wildfires. I want to thank all of those that have worked to provide aid to our communities. During these tough times we must stick together.
STOP School Violence Act
The Preamble of the U.S. Constitution states that we as a nation need to “Provide for the Common Defense.” This past Wednesday, the House of Representatives is holding true to this principle by unanimously passing the STOP School Violence Act.
This bill provides funding for prevention training that will help students and staff recognize and respond quickly to warning signs of a possible attack.
The STOP School Violence Act goes beyond keeping our schools safe, this bill will help our communities work together to identify threats in all public spaces, like airports, stadiums, malls etc. Our children, educators, and officers will now have the resources to report and better understand the warning signs. We as a nation, will be much safer with this law.
It also provides funds for technology and equipment to drastically improve school security and would create an anonymous reporting system via mobile apps, a hot-line, and a website where people can report or provide tips about individuals they believe may commit an act of violence.
We must identify threats and prevent violence with training, coordination, and intervention. I think regardless of party affiliation we all share the same goal of a safer America, and this is a great step towards that.
Small Businesses Flourish
According to the National Federation of Independent Business, the small business optimism index rose to one of the highest levels we’ve seen in nearly 50 years. Small business owners are more confident than ever in today’s economy, and we want to continue to reduce the regulatory and financial burdens that startups and entrepreneurs in the Big First face as they start and grow a business.
The Small Business Committee held a markup of six bills on Wednesday of this week, which would amend the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act. As a cosponsor of two of these bills, H.R. 4743, the Small Business 7(a) Lending Oversight Reform Act, and H.R. 3170, the Small Business Development Center Cyber Training Act, I was pleased to see that all six of the bills passed unanimously out of Committee. The two bills that I cosponsored aim to help small businesses more easily access capital, and enable entrepreneurs to gain training needed to protect their sensitive information from cyberattacks. More information on all 6 bills can be found here.
Section 199a Tax Glitch Fix
I am pleased to see the National Grain and Feed Association and the National Council for Farmer Cooperatives announce a technical fix to the tax code that inadvertently provided incentives for farmers and ranchers to do business with certain business structures and not others. I’m hopeful the fix will be included in the omnibus appropriations bill the House is set to vote on this week. The fix will ensure that the benefits of the December tax reform package are positive for all business types and that the federal government doesn’t pick winners and losers through the tax code. You can read more about that item here: :https://www.ngfa.org/
Kansan in the State Department
Mr. Mike Pompeo, who has very close ties to our state, was just appointed last week as our new Secretary of State. I am proud and excited to see Mr. Pompeo represent our values and interests overseas. His more than qualified track record and experience will make him an excellent Secretary of State, and I will fully support him in his challenging but utmost important task of heading our country’s foreign policy, diplomacy and national security.
Back in Kansas
I had the pleasure this past week to visit some outstanding Kansas innovators, energy producers, state leaders and others working hard every day to help Kansas lead in new ideas, advanced research, the economy, and job growth.
I also met with ethanol producers and agriculture industry leaders at the Kansas Ethanol LLC facility to discuss the preservation of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and current Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) structure.
In the discussion, producers made it clear that a cap on RINs would have serious implications on the Big First District. Ethanol not only benefits Kansas farmers but provides a higher-octane, cleaner-burning fuel alternative for drivers across the country. These discussions between ethanol producers and refiners must lead to a win-win solution for both industries.