By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Hays Regional Airport will be receiving more funds for improvements from the Federal Aviation Administration, thanks to record boardings in the 2018.

More than 12,000 passengers flew out of the airport last year.

Ovid Seifers, airport manager, said the April addition of SkyWest flights to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport was the reason for the increase. Flights to Denver were also up slightly.

This included a record month in December, Seifers said. The airport last reached 10,000 boardings in 2011 and 2012.

Since the airport exceeded 10,000 departures in 2018, it is eligible for $1 million in FFA Airport Improvement Funds in 2020. The airport barely missed the 10,000 mark last year, but a loophole will allow the airport to still receive the $1 million in FFA funding in 2019, Seifers said.

Airports that have less than 10,000 travelers receive only $150,000 annually.

The airport has a five-year improvement plan. 2019 improvements include apron and drainage improvements, concrete repair and the purchase of a new snow plow and spreader.

In 2020, the airport plans to replace lighting on the crosswind runway. The runway is currently lit by and an in-ground system that is 20 years old. Because the equipment is buried, it is more susceptible to damage from animals and the elements.

The wiring for the new system will be housed in conduits to protect it and the transformer will be above ground, which will make them easier to maintain. The lights themselves will likely be transitioned to LEDs from incandescent.

Seifers said he thought 2019 will see a slight increase in travelers, although not as significant as in 2018 when the Chicago flights were added.

“I think the City of Hays and its flying community has actively sought better service here,” he said. “They have good service here with SkyWest. The fact that you can go to Denver and O’Hare with one stop to O’Hare in Salina briefly for 30 minutes is great for a community of this size. It doesn’t happen everywhere.”

SkyWest began serving Hays passengers in 2014 with flights to Denver with 50-passenger jets.

The city of Hays in cooperation with SkyWest is offering fares to Chicago and Denver for $89 one way. Flights must be booked by Feb. 26 for flights through May 22. Flights must be booked 14 days in advance. See the airport website for more information.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Because of the federal government shutdown, Hays resident Kathay Johnson is in a holding pattern as she and her husband try to purchase a new home.

The women Kathay and her husband are buying their home from had bought the house through a Rural Development program. The seller needs to clear the sale through that federal department before it can be completed, but the department is closed.

“We have agreed on everything else,” Johnson said. “We are just hanging out waiting until everything opens back up. It is super, super annoying and bad timing.”

The Johnsons moved to Hays in the fall from Boulder County, Colorado, with the express desire to purchase their first home.

“It is a huge reason why we came out here,” she said. “We got to the point where we were really excited. We were like, ‘Wow, it is actually going to happen. We’re going to do it.’ And now we are just sitting here watching the news everyday, waiting for this stuff to end.”

While they are waiting for this final paperwork to go through, they are living with relatives in Hays and have most of their possessions in storage.

Johnson’s husband is an artist and all of his supplies are storage. His work is at a standstill until they can get moved into the new house, which is currently sitting vacant.

Johnson said she is very thankful her family is letting them longer than anticipated.

“We are kind of cramped, and I am sure they would like their house back at some point,” she said.

Despite her frustration, Johnson said she still sees herself as lucky. She has a friend who lives in Kansas City and is federal employee who is currently furloughed without pay.

“If there was a good answer for it,” she said of the shutdown, “we wouldn’t be in this situation. But [Congress] is still getting paid. It would be nice if they weren’t still getting paid, then it would be fixed much faster. I get why we are halted.”

The Rural Development housing program is a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has been shuttered by the shutdown. No one answered when Hays Post called the Hays office.

The USDA posted the following message on its website.

The shutdown has not closed all federal services locally. Some employees are working without pay and funding for other departments was passed before the shutdown.

The Hays Regional Airport has both full- and part-time TSA employees on staff to screen boarding passengers.

Those employees are working, although without pay.

“We have had no adverse impact on operations or passengers at the Hays Regional Airport,” Ovid Seifers, airport manager, said.

 He said FAA staff member have also been working at the airport despite the shutdown.

“They have responded as needed,” Seifers said.

The closest office for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Kansas City is closed because of the shutdown. However, Kathy Nelson, executive director of the Hays Housing Authority, said payments for Section 8 housing have been funded through February.

If the shutdown goes beyond February, Nelson said she did not know what the status of funding might be. She said the local housing authority has not had any questions from program participants yet, but she said she had concerns about funding if the shutdown would extend past February.

The U.S. Corps of Engineers is a federally funded. However, its budget is under the Department of Defense. Congress approved that budget before the shutdown. All operations at Wilson Lake and Kanopolis lakes are proceeding as normal, said Dan Hays, operations project manager at Wilson and Kanopolis lakes.

“Although it is somewhat comforting for us, our thoughts go out to federal partners who have not been so fortunate,” Hays said.

John Pyle, veterans service representative, said veterans have been able to receive services and benefits.

“There have been no issues,” he said. “Everything is being processed. Veterans are still able to go VA clinics. They are still able to file claims. I have not heard of any veterans who are not receiving their disability benefits.”

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

This is the first time in years the Kansas Legislature will be entering the session without a budget deficit to battle.

Instead of looking for cuts or ways to increase revenue, local legislators said they will be looking at tax relief.

They also said they hope to give attention to programs that have suffered during the budget struggles, including KPERS and transportation.

Taxes

Sen. Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, in a recent interview for Eagle TV’s Forum, said he would like to see a “decoupling” of state income taxes from federal income taxes.

As a result of Congress increasing the standard deduction on federal income taxes, many filing Kansas tax returns would no longer be able to itemize.

This would mean about a $40 million increase in tax revenue for the state of Kansas.

Billinger said he believed even if small businesses or individuals claimed a standard deduction on their federal taxes, they should be able to itemize their state taxes, which would put a portion of that $40 million back into the hands of taxpayers. Billinger said he would like to see this changes made retroactive for 2018.

Several local legislators said they also would consider reducing or eliminating the state sales tax on food, a campaign promise of Gov.-elect Laura Kelly.

Rep. Ken Rahjes, R-Agra, who is a member of the Taxation Committee, said he thought there was a firm resolution among legislators this year to not raise taxes. He said he would support a reduction in the sales tax on food, but he did not think it would be eliminated.

“I think we need to have a realistic look at where our dollars are,” he said. “Our economy in our area is still very much challenged in agriculture and oil production. Once we get those things back in, the economy will be a little stronger. If you look at the overall economy, it is doing well, but it could do better.”

Just as Billinger, Rahjes said he supports legislation that would address the changes in the federal tax code and send back money to the working Kansans.

Budget

Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill, has been reappointed as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

“As far as the budget, my main goal is to do some corrective strategy and basically realigning our budget,” he said. “We have done some work on that in the last couple of years since I have been chairman, but there is still some of what I would call creative accounting techniques being used — mainly transfers not going to the Kansas Department of Transportation. There are some things we need to strategically correct with the state budget.”

In terms of transportation, Rahjes said he would specifically like to see KDOT put a priority on a project to widen and straighten Kansas Highway 383 in Norton and Phillips counties. That project has been on the KDOT project list for some time and has become a safety issue, Rahjes said.

The state is heading into the session with about a $900 million surplus, but Waymaster said the state needs to meet the obligations it already has before spending that money on new programs.

Those obligations include KPERS as well as increasing funding to the K-12 education by $90 million to satisfy a ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court in the ongoing school funding lawsuit.

Waymaster said he sees some additional funds coming into the Kansas coffers due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that will allow states to collect sales tax on online purchases and another Supreme Court ruling that has legalized sports betting. However, he said he did not think either one of the changes will be significant revenue producers.

Waymaster said he did not think the Legislature would eliminate the sales tax on food, as that tax generates $300 million to $340 million in state revenue annually.

Medicaid expansion

Gov.-elect Kelly said during her campaign that she would support Medicaid expansion, but some Republicans still oppose that measure, including Waymaster and Rahjes.

Although the federal government pays 90 percent of Medicaid expansion, both House members expressed concerns about how the state would pay for the other 10 percent, about $30 million to $80 million annually. The legislators also said they were concerned the federal government might decrease its contribution for Medicaid expansion in the future, leaving the state with a larger bill.

Billinger, however, said many of the state’s rural hospitals would benefit from Medicaid expansion.

“As long as there is a work component in it and it is revenue neutral, I am good with it,” Billinger said. “I think it is something we should look at.”

Hemp

Legislation was passed last session that created a test program for cultivation of industrial hemp in Kansas. The federal Farm Bill further opened opportunities for growers nationwide by declaring industrial hemp a farm commodity. However, local legislators noted changes would have to be made to the state legislation to conform to the Farm Bill.

They hoped this corrective action could be made in time for the beginning of the hemp growing season in April.

Economic Development

Waymaster said he hopes to reintroduce a version of the Ad Astra Jobs Act, which he sponsored in 2017. The legislation would create a tax incentive program for businesses to move into rural communities and create jobs.

Telemarketers

Rahjes said he would support a piece of legislation, which has been pre-filed for the 2019 session, that would place tougher restrictions on telemarketing calls to cell phones.

“What it has done is cause people to not pick up their phones anymore,” Rahjes said. “Everybody is screening their calls.”

Freshman Rep. Barb Wasinger, R-Hays, was contacted for this story, but said she would be better able to comment on the issues after she has been in Topeka for a few weeks.