Hello from Agra!

At the time of writing this column, we have a couple of days back in the district as the legislature is at “turn around”, which basically means we are at half-time. I was pleased to be joined by Senators Bowers and Billinger for legislative updates in Ellis, Plainville, Phillipsburg, Norton and Hill City. Thanks to the county Farm Bureaus for sponsoring the events and all those who came out and participated. There are many issues on the minds of constituents, many we do not have answers to yet, but continue to work on.

By my count the House has voted on 90 bills so far, some could have a big impact, others are clean-up and some are updates to outdated statues.

I would like to highlight a couple of them:

House Bill 2674 would create the Kansas Telemedicine Act, in effort to establish coverage parity between in-person and telemedicine-delivered healthcare. Under the provisions of the bill, telemedicine must meet the same standard of care as an in-person interaction and would increase access to healthcare services for patients in both rural and urban areas.

Not only would patients have increased access to services that aren’t readily available to them in their community, but also affords them greater convenient access, which may reduce long term health care costs associated with treatment due to a lack of services. In addition, HB 2674 provides coverage parity because the healthcare services provided could not be denied for reimbursement solely on the basis of having been delivered via telemedicine or based on the lack of a physical location. Physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice registered nurses, and licenses mental health professionals alike would be able to dispense their services via telemedicine to patients in a more convenient manner, thereby improving the health and lifestyle of many who have difficulty accessing immediate healthcare. The bill would also prohibit any authorization of delivery of any abortion procedure via telemedicine, and such language in the bill is no severable. HIPAA laws would apply to telemedical services in the standard manner, and patient confidentiality would be protected per usual. It passed by a vote 0f 117-0.

Also last week, the House passed three corrections-related bills that present commonsense solutions, including harsher penalties for those who make false 911 calls, require the release of law enforcement body camera footage to those who are involved, and to provide monetary compensation to individuals who have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. HB 2581, also known as the “swatting” bill, was originally drafted in response to the rising frequency of false 911 calls resulting in the unnecessary deployment of swat and law enforcement, but more specifically due to the death last year in Wichita. A California resident disguised his phone number and called the authorities of Wichita, and claimed he was armed and dangerous, and resided in a Wichita household. Swat members were deployed under such impressions, and a resident was killed at the scene. This bill would significantly increase the criminal penalties for individuals who make these prank calls. Should such calls result in a fatality, the sentencing level would be a severity level 1, person felony, the harshest penalty on record in Kansas. This bill was passed by the House unanimously and may now be considered by the Senate.

Additionally, the House passed HB 2571 which would require a law enforcement agency to allow designated individuals to hear or view any audio or video recording made by a body or vehicle camera within twenty days of receiving a request for information. Such designated individuals include the subjects of the recording, a parent or legal guardian of a minor who is involved, a legal heir to those involved, or an attorney representing any of these individuals mentioned. This bill also passed the House unanimously and may now be considered by the Senate. Lastly, HB 2579 entitles individuals who have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned to receive $80,000 for each year of imprisonment, as well as $25,000 for each additional year served on parole or post release supervision. Claimants would be entitled to receive reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred as well, and such wrongfully convicted crimes would be expunged from their records. HB 2579 passed the House 116-1, and may now be considered by the Senate.

We also passed a bill (HB 2539) to establish qualifications for candidates seeking certain statewide offices including the Attorney General required to be an attorney. HB 2583 would amend statutory provisions relevant to the eradication of noxious weeds and would establish an advisory committee to recommend the designation and classification of noxious weeds in Kansas. We also passed HB 2701 which would establish the Statewide Broadband Expansion Task Force, which would be required to evaluate the broadband needs of Kansas citizens, businesses, industries, institutions and organization. Additionally, the task force would be charged with identifying opportunities and funding sources to expand broadband infrastructure and statewide access, remove barriers that may hinder broadband initiatives, and enable the creation and deployment of new advanced telecommunications technologies.

Please feel free to reach out with concerns and questions, I will do my best to respond it a timely manner. My phone number is (785) 296-7463 and email is: [email protected], my cell number is (785) 302-8416. You can also check out kenforkansas.com.
It is my honor to be your representative.

Too early to tell for sure, but it is starting to look like that $200,000-plus consultant report on costs of K-12 education for public school students might just tell legislators how much it should cost to educate your “average” Kansas schoolchild with your “average” Kansas schoolteacher.

Sorry about that unfortunate use of the word “average” but it is a term that hasn’t been used in the same sentence as school finance for a long time.

That consultant study, which lawmakers will receive March 15, is taking an approach that is rare. Because nobody thinks his/her child or grandchild, or niece or nephew, is average, and no teacher raises a hand at a schoolteacher conference when the moderator asks who is just an average teacher.

But it is a baseline that may be a key to convincing the Kansas Supreme Court that the state is adequately funding public schools.

Now, average cost is just a start, of course, but the consultant hired by the state is going to strip away the transportation, the food service, the maintenance, the administrative costs, and try to come up with a baseline for computing just how much money the Legislature ought to be appropriating for K-12 education.

Don’t worry, that busing, maintenance, administration, construction financing—and of course the key education elements like special programs for children who are poor, who don’t speak English and who have psychological and mobility problems—are going to be added back into that “average” cost. But just the average cost per pupil is a starting point that most lawmakers haven’t seen.

How those basic average costs and the weightings for students who need special programs, and the buildings and transportation and administration and everything else, is going to be added to that isn’t known yet. But at least lawmakers will have a place to start in rewriting the school finance formula and paying for it.

Key, of course, is convincing the Kansas Supreme Court that the new formula provides adequate funding for the state’s 286 school districts, those average base costs and the costs of additional services pupils need. And the pretty conservative Republican-dominated Legislative Coordinating Council hired a consultant to compute what is adequate and fair spending on schools so that every student has the support to become, well, good grown-up Kansans that we’ll all be proud of, or at least willing to live next door to.

Oh, that starting point, if lawmakers accept it, is just a starting point. They’ll want to figure just how much additional money districts will need because they teach every child, not just “average” children. And the scraps will be over whether the Legislature can convince the court that the funding provided, spent in a businesslike manner, will yield a good education.

So, look for some to maintain that school districts are misspending state aid money; some to maintain that districts get so little money that they must shuffle it around to make up for weightings that aren’t strong enough or that will threaten school administrator salaries and cheerleader and football uniforms and the Astroturf at the football stadium.

And it comes down to spending, of course: Whether the new examination of cost means that the state isn’t providing enough support for local schools or too much money, and eventually whether those locally elected school boards are using their money to efficiently educate those students.

More money needed? Raise taxes or cut spending on everything else the state provides its citizens. Spending about the right amount, but not seeing it used efficiently by districts? Hammer the school boards. Spending more than the consultants believe is necessary? Don’t worry about that one…

Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com

Average Kansas pump price drops two cents

TOPEKA – Gas prices in Kansas followed a national trend this week, continuing their decline of the past couple of weeks. The average gas price across Kansas is now $2.37/gallon, which is two cents less than one week ago. Motorists in the Sunflower State and across the country, however, should not expect falling prices to continue. AAA will announce its quarterly gas price report later this week, with indicators pointing upward.

“Lower demand for gasoline over the second half of February has given us some relief at the pumps,” said Shawn Steward, AAA Kansas spokesman. “Kansas still has the 13th lowest gas prices in the country, but it is looking like we may all need to prepare to pay more soon.”

MEDIA NOTE: Look for distribution of the AAA Spring Quarterly Gas Report this Thursday, March 1. AAA Kansas public affairs contacts available for interviews and further clarification.

The 10 Kansas cities regularly highlighted by AAA Kansas (see chart above) showed a mixed bag this will, with seven cities experiencing lower gas prices. Lawrence remained flat, while Manhattan (+4 cents) and Pittsburg (+1) rose. Leading the price declines were Garden City (-8) and Emporia and Kansas City, Kan., which both fell four cents per gallon.

According to AAA Kansas, this week’s Kansas gas price extremes are:
HIGH: Kensington (Smith County) – $2.80
LOW: Goddard (Sedgwick County) – $2.19

National Perspective
At $2.52, the national gas price average is the cheapest pump price seen this February. The national gas price average for the month of February is $2.56, which is 29-cents more expensive than the $2.28 average of February 2017. On the week, gas prices decreased 1 cent.

“Gas prices continue to trend cheaper for the majority of motorists as demand for consumer gasoline declines for a second week,” said AAA Kansas’ Steward. “Even with the small drop-off, demand continues to register above 9 million b/d, which is a four percent year-on-year increase, according to the Energy Information Administration’s latest report.

While cheaper gas prices are welcomed by motorists, AAA does not expect the trend to continue.

Great Lakes and Central States Report
Great Lakes and Central states’ gas prices are showing signs of volatility. On the week, the majority of states saw prices decrease, but a handful of states are paying more compared to last week: Michigan (+5 cents) Kentucky (+4 cents),Ohio (+4 cents) Illinois (+3 cent) and Missouri (+2 cents).

With a 10-cent decrease, Indiana saw the largest pump price drop for the region and the country this past week. In the region, Iowa (-2 cents) saw the second largest drop, and at $2.51 sells among the most expensive gas.
Gasoline inventories continue to build week over week since the start of the year. According to the EIA’s latest report, inventories built by 740,000 bbl to total at 58.3 million bbl. Inventories are just 1.8 million below last year this week.