Hello from Topeka. Yes, we are in week two of the wrap-up session. The biggest issues are still looking for answers, school finance, budget and taxes.

Here is what we know as of now:

The K-12 Education Budget Committee held three meetings last week. On Tuesday, the Committee heard from Revisor Jason Long on HB 2410. Long provided a copy of the bill updated with the Committee’s amendments. In addition, he described technical corrections that will need to be made to the bill. The Committee learned that the Legislative Post Audit Committee has approved two K-12 related audits on: Evaluating the Use of Assessed Valuation Per Pupil (AVPP) as the Basis for State Equalization Aid (requested by Rep. Campbell) and Reviewing the Accuracy of Free-Lunch Student Counts (requested by Rep. Landwehr).

On Wednesday, the Committee heard from Revisor of Statutes Gordon Self and Tax Committee Chairman Steven Johnson on the possibility of putting financing within HB 2410.Self discussed the two-subject prohibition and the importance of having a connection between the subject of the bill (education) and financing. Rep. Johnson provided documents regarding the fiscal notes on various tax law changes and components of tax law for Tax Year 2012, current law, Sub. for HB 2178, CCR for HB 2067, and CCR for SB 30.

On Thursday, the Committee heard from Jeff King, Legislative Counsel. King gave the Committee an overview of his analysis on HB 2410. King also focused on the Court’s objective for more resources to be targeted to the lowest performing quartile of students. He indicated that the amended bill has less targeted resources to at-risk students than the introduced bill. The Committee will continue to discuss the bill on Monday.

The Tax Committee, which I serve on, received a briefing on the Consensus Revenue Estimates from Chris Courtwright, KLRD, on Monday. He discussed the various components of the tax receipt estimates and predicted growth, along with more general information about the Kansas Economy. A long memo with much more detailed information will be provided by KLRD soon. Courtwright also provided a document comparing components for tax year 2012, current law, Sub. for HB 2178, and HB 2420.

On Tuesday, the Committee worked HB 2380, which would allow additional sales tax authority for Marion County for property tax relief, economic development, and infrastructure projects. The Committee recommended the bill favorably. The Committee also discussed the bill index (listing of all the bills in Committee) and provided feedback to the Chairman on those bill and various tax proposals. On Thursday, the Committee heard from JG Scott, KLRD, where the State General Fund profile was discussed.

Also, last week, the House Appropriations Committee began its discussion of the Omnibus Budget bill. This week, the Committee met on Tuesday to hear the Claims bill (Claims against the state), SB 109. The Committee was also provided follow-up information on items identified during the Omnibus discussion.

On Thursday, the Committee worked HB 2418, regarding creation of an on-site state employee health clinic, and HB 2419, regarding parameters for a Budget Stabilization Fund. The Committee passed out both favorably (with amendments on HB 2418).

On Friday, the Committee heard from Secretary Tim Keck, Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. Keck provided additional details on the Osawatomie State Hospital and the security costs related to the Conceal Carry Plan of Action. The Committee learned that obtaining recertification brings the loss of federal funds from $1 million/month to $$600,000 loss/month. The Committee requested that Keck provide an action plan for Conceal Carry that plans for implementation on July 1, not the 10-month timeframe provided by the agency last week.

We will see what develops this week with these and any other issues which cannot wait until next year.

Congratulations to the area high school students who are ready to start the next page in their lives. I look forward to watching them spread their wings and take on the world.

Some ways to contact me: email is: [email protected]. My cell number is (785) 302-8416. You can also follow along with what is going on through social media: kenforkansas on Facebook, @kenrahjes on twitter or my website: kenforkansas.com.

It is an honor to serve as your representative.

Ken Rahjes, (R-Agra), is the 110th District State Representative.

Friend,

After this historic week in the House, I’m looking forward to seeing many of you on my May Listening Tour, including LaCrosse, Sat. May 13, 9 a.m. at the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum, Conference Center, 120 1st St.

As you may have heard, earlier in the week, Congress voted on an omnibus appropriations bill. I voted against the bill due to its increase in spending, and lack of attempt at deficit reduction. You can see my full statement on that vote HERE.

Additionally, the House approved a replacement to Obamacare yesterday! This was a major promise kept from by me and my colleagues. See the below video for more of my reaction to the historic vote, as well as this op-ed in the Hutchinson News.

Lastly, I wanted to take a moment to send my heartfelt prayers and well wishes to those Kansans continuing to struggle with the impacts of the recent blizzard and flooding. I know many have lost crops and livestock. Please contact my office if there is a way we can help, and see this page for information on the USDA’s Livestock Indemnity Program.

In the House

Visit to the White House

After the passage of the American Health Care Act, my colleagues and I were invited to the White House to join the President in celebrating this win for all Americans. Here are some of my photos from that trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USDA

This week, I meet with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Administrator, Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young to discuss the USDA ARS’ ongoing research, which is significant to our agricultural community.

Additionally, Dr. Steve Kappes, Associate Administrator for National Programs, discussed with us their research in biosecurity, and the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility at Kansas State University in Manhattan.

Click to play the audio or read below.

Just about every summer Saturday afternoon , except during harvest, our family would spend serious time in town.  For one thing, it was the day to sell the previous week’s accumulation of eggs, and for another thing, it was time to get caught up on what was happening in the world. Most of the farm population did the same, and everybody looked forward to Saturdays.
   

It was important to get there as early as possible so that we could get a good parking place on the shady side of the street. Our first stop was at Chet Roberts Grocery and Market where mom would take the eggs and trade them for whatever they would buy, after which she would 
Locate the parked car. She and her farm friends would sit there in front of the Mosher Drug Store all afternoon and catch up on the community news that they might have missed from listening in on party-line phone calls during the week.


Dad would find one of the groups of guys gathered somewhere along the street  and would help the others solve the world’s problems. Some Saturdays, it would take all afternoon to do that.
 Max and I would usually be given a dime and a nickel for admission to the De Luxe movie and perhaps a box of popcorn or a root beer. But our first stop was on the street corner in front of the Bucklin State Bank where Grandad Melia was usually holding court. 

When he finally noticed us, he would give us a little hug and a dime apiece. We most always had to ask him for a tax token or a mill which was the government’s system of sales tax in those days. And as we left, we could hear Grandad growling about the Roosevelt Aministration’s fiscal policy.
  Next, it was a stop at the J.M. Maricle Grocery.  Every Saturday, Maricles would offer three candy bars for a dime! Yeah, full size candy bars like Rocky Road, Powerhouse, Oh! Henry, Cherry Mash, Valomilk, and packages of Walnettos. After the dime for movie admission, we still had a nickel for an ice cream cone later in the day.
  

At the theatre, we would see all our friends and then watch the continuation of the Tom Mix serial which seemingly was there every Saturday all summer. There were usually two or three cartoons, a bunch of previews, and then a real exciting “shoot’em up” western movie that was loud and we would all cheer loudly for the hero.  Theatre owner Cliff Johnson would usually schedule a double feature and we would joyously spend the entire afternoon there.
   

I have no recollection of eating a Saturday evening meal. After all those candy bars, popcorn, and other delicacy’s, we were ready for our double dip orange sherbet ice cream cone, or perhaps a Little Brown Giant ice cream bar, the most glorious ice cream concoction ever known!

And the, back into the Model A for the trip home. It was always a magnificent day and we were all grateful for a day away from the usual. A Saturday in town, without a dust storm or 100 plus heat, was memorable indeed!


Kay Melia is a longtime broadcaster, author and garden in northwest Kansas.

By JOHN P. TRETBAR

The Kansas Geological Survey reported oil production of just over three million barrels in January of this year, putting the state on track for a worse annual showing than last year, which was the lowest since 2007. At the county level there were some surprises. Ellis County produced 217 thousand barrels in January.

Lately we’re reported that Harper County was the number two producer, but they’ve fallen dramatically, to just over 105,000 barrels, behind six other counties for the first month of the year. Barton County produced 140,000 barrels in January, Russell County checked in with 134 thousand, and Stafford County produced 85 thousand barrels, according to KGS data published May 1st.

January 2017 Top 10 oil-producing counties (Kansas Geological Survey)
Ellis County 217K bbl
Haskell County 173K bbl
Barton County 140K bbl
Finney County 138K bbl
Russell County 134K bbl
Rooks County 129K bbl
Ness County 125K bbl
Harper County 105K bbl
Barber County 90K bbl
Stafford County 85K bbl

Independent Oil & Gas reports a nearly 24% drop in active drilling rigs across Kansas last week. There were just seven active rigs in eastern Kansas, down six from a week ago, and 33 west of Wichita, down three. They’re drilling on one lease in Russell County, and moving in rotary tools at a site in Barton County. Nationwide, Baker Hughes reports 877 active oil and gas drilling rigs, up six oil rigs and up two targeting natural gas. In Canada there are 82 active rigs, down three.

There were 22 permits filed for drilling in new locations across the state last week. That brings the year-to-date total to 487 new permits. There were eight in eastern Kansas last week and 14 west of Wichita, including two in Barton County, two in Ellis County and one in Russell County.

Independent Oil & Gas reported 21 completions across Kansas last week, 491 so far this year, including 12 in eastern Kansas and nine west of Wichita.

There were two completions reported last week in Russell County, both of them dry holes. Out of 21 total completions across the state, one in three were dry holes.

Monthly numbers from the Kansas Corporation Commission show just 96 new intent-to-drill notices filed across Kansas during the month of April, for a year to date total of just 501 intents. Compare that to last year at this time when we had 873. By the end of April of 2014 there were more than 2,500 intents filed across the state. The KCC reports four new intents filed in Barton County last month, none in Ellis County, five in Russell County and one in Stafford County.

A new study published in the journal Seismological Research Letters this week answers some pesky questions about Oklahoma’s largest-ever earthquake near the town of Pawnee last year. Geologists with the US Geological Survey now say that the quake was caused by a rapid increase in saltwater disposal three years earlier. Their conclusion is that short-term dramatic increases in such disposal increase the seismicity rate by generating more pressure and fault-line stress than steady injection rates.

An Environmental Protection Agency administrator says three oil producers may be asked to temporarily shut down near an Oklahoma creek contaminated with saltwater. The source of the saltwater on a ranch in Osage County northwest of Tulsa has not been determined. The Tulsa World newspaper reports the feds are investigating if it might be a leak from a saltwater disposal well.

Magellan Midstream Partners announced to stockholders it is evaluating a new pipeline to transport crude and condensate from the Permian Basin to Corpus Christi, Texas. Reuters reported Magellan is also evaluating another expansion of the BridgeTex pipeline from the Permian to Houston, from 300,000 bpd to 475,000. The current expansion up to 400,000 is expected to go live by the end of the second quarter.

A company that wants to build an oil refinery near Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota is hoping a new design will reduce emissions and costs, and thus pave the way for the state’s approval of the project. The Bismarck Tribune reported that Meridian Energy Group’s new permit application includes a redesign for a smaller, sleeker refinery, and plans for new technology to eliminate a key “heater unit” using available heat sources. The state review process will take between six months to a year. The company hopes to go online in 2018, though construction has not yet begun.

Preliminary reports indicate an abandoned, but not properly shut down natural gas line contributed to the explosion of a house in Firestone, Colorado, killing two and critically injuring a third person. On Tuesday, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper ordered a statewide review of all existing oil and gas operations. They’ll be looking for proper marking and capping for lines that are not in use, inspecting and pressure testing flowlines close to occupied buildiongs, and ensuring that abandoned lines are cut below the surface and properly sealed.

Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s state-owned oil company, took 100% control of the sprawling Port Arthur refinery in Texas on last week, completing a deal that was first announced last year. Port Arthur is considered the crown jewel of the US refinery system. The Gulf Coast facility can process 600,000 barrels of oil per day, making it the largest refinery in North America. Aramco previously owned 50% of Port Arthur through a joint venture co-owned with Royal Dutch Shell called Motiva Enterprises. But the two oil giants had a rocky relationship and reached a deal in March 2016 to separate their assets. According to CNN, Shell put out a statement last week confirming the “completion” of that break-up. In addition to Port Arthur, Aramco is acquiring full ownership of 24 distribution terminals. Aramco also gets the exclusive right to sell Shell-branded gasoline and diesel in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, the eastern half of Texas and most of Florida.

orm clouds across the dark spring sky.

Inside the clock ticked toward midnight. Eighty pairs of eyes penetrated the very soul of the story teller as if to say, “We’ll be watching your every move.”

Except for the rise and fall of his voice, you could hear a pin drop.

The audience listening to Tim Lowry hung on every word. As he launched into “The Doctor to the Dead,” a lady in the front row poked her index finger into her right ear, hoping to remove any blockage so she could hear every syllable.

Forty-five minutes later as Lowry finished his last ghost story, the audience remained glued to their seats. They wanted more.

Instead, the story teller began to visit with the listeners as they grudgingly rose from their chairs and shuffled toward the depot door.

People traveled miles to hear the stories. They devoured every twist and turn along the joyous journeys.

Two ladies from Chicago followed the artists from city to city and state to state to hear their yarns. Retired – that’s what they do with their time these days.

Every spring for the last 24 years, the citizens of Downs bring nationally recognized talent to their community of 900 souls. This year Lowry, who makes his home in Summerville, S.C. headlined the Kansas Storytelling Festival held April 28-29.

Lowry is best known for his folk tales and stories from American history. His best stories revolve around his rural childhood growing up in the hills of Tennessee.

Other featured storytellers included Brian “Fox” Ellis, an author of song myth poetry and prose; Linda Gorham, who specializes in surprising twists and unconventional humor; and Adam Miller, a natural-born storyteller.

Individual backgrounds and styles made each storyteller distinctive. Tellers were rotated to four different stages and sessions were planned around the interests of children, history, music and anecdotal tales.

Anyone who attended the festival was hard-pressed to choose a favorite storyteller. All four kept each audience spellbound throughout their sessions.

Every story included a bit of history and a lesson including one of Lowry’s yarns entitled, “Out ‘n No Book.” This story talks about the stuff teachers won’t tell you including a story about a Native American (“Indian yo-yo”) made of a crow’s foot.

Ellis, on the other hand, re-enacted historical figures from our nation’s past including: Meriwether Lewis, Edgar Allen Poe and John Audubon. Decked out in the garb of that era, Ellis became a living, breathing caricature of these famous men. His stories and historical knowledge came alive on the stage.

Gorham provided a twisted slant on the classic fairytale, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” Woven through her tale were references to more than 50 kinds of chocolate bars including Twix, Milky Way and Almond Joy. Some children say Gorham’s stories are “better than recess.”

The final storyteller at this year’s festival, Miller, told a 30-minute tale about the tragic life of Woody Guthrie, there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd. Guthrie, a folksinger from Oklahoma wrote more than 1,000 folk songs in his short life.

And you know what?

He didn’t use an original melody for any one of those songs including, “This Land is Your Land.”

Believe me, you had to be there. Each story was a gem that created pictures of people and events in the listener’s mind.

I don’t know about you, but next year during the last weekend of April I’ll be seated in Memorial Hall in Downs listening to the new batch of storytellers. Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of the Kansas Storytelling Festival that began in 1994.

All the more reason to attend next year’s event. See you there.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.

We didn’t see a lot of asterisks on those campaign handouts last year in which candidates—and a lot of successful legislative candidates—promised to repeal the 2012 tax law which exempted “non-wage income” from most notably Limited Liability Companies.

If there was ever a bullseye on the T-shirts of a group of at least 330,000 Kansans who own those LLCs, it was last election. The pitch was to eliminate the LLC exemption, which was sold back in ’12 as a way to make the Kansas economy flourish — which didn’t happen.

So, the campaign trail solution was to reimpose taxes on those LLCs and fix everything. That was the slogan.

While we didn’t see an asterisk, or even a footnote on those campaign flyers, most of the successful campaigners for House and Senate seats didn’t mention that just the LLC “fix” doesn’t really fix the whole problem.

Anyone remember a flyer that read: “I’ll represent my constituents by raising your income taxes, oh, and of course, getting those LLCs to pay up, too…”

Well, lawmakers are now stuck with both ending that LLC income tax vacation while also pulling more money from regular paycheck-earning Kansans’ pockets. That $1 billion or so in decreased income tax receipts the past four years? Well over half of it was caused by lower income tax rates on wage earners, or the W-2 crowd, as they have become known in the Statehouse.

Lawmakers the past week have been trying to assemble a new tax bill that will raise enough money to operate the state—to finance public education, welfare, health care, public safety and all of that stuff. But it is the additional tax on individuals that is the political problem.

Which, not surprisingly, makes that simple, widely promised and sought by voters move to tax the non-wage income of LLC owners almost dangerous to the rest of the tax bill.

It’s the one tax that nearly everyone except the hard-core Republican right and Gov. Sam Brownback is in favor of. Which means that canny conservatives may just float out a simple “tax the LLCs” to the House or Senate and watch nearly everyone vote for it. It’s about that simple. Now, both chambers have passed bills that include that LLC provision, but not as one simple bill containing only the LLC provision that we all saw candidates talk about last November.

That one simple bill gives legislators a vote that they promised, with no damage to the rest of their voters. It’s a bulls-eye, and the one that remains popular with what some polls report are as many as 80 percent of Kansans.

Nope, doesn’t fix everything, but it’s the campaign promise that is simply made and delivered on.

And after that campaign-promised vote is made, interest tends to fall off on raising taxes on everyone else who pointed at the LLCs but never much considered that their own bank accounts are going to shrink due to higher taxes.

It’s going to be interesting to watch the leadership of the House and Senate and what it can do to prevent a single-issue LLC bill to get to the floor for debate. It’s tough for lawmakers who realize that rates on all other taxpayers are going to have to rise to vote against that single-issue LLC bill that doesn’t eliminate the problem, but is widely popular.

Tactics are the game now, how to assemble a bill that will actually raise enough money to give Kansans services they want and need and not just meet those narrow campaign promises.

We’ll see how that works out…

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

A friend recently sent me a cartoon that struck my funny bone. In it, two women stand near an old-fashioned clothesline as one ironically tells the other this device dries her laundry using the very latest solar and wind technology. It made me think about people who’ve never hung clothes outside to dry. It also helped me recall helping mom and grandma pin wet laundry on the line and then remove and fold it afterward. Grasping sun-warmed fabric and breathing in breeze-scented sheets and towels is a heady experience, even in a technology-oriented world.

I suspect if more of us depended less on dryers and more on clotheslines, we’d be healthier. Several recently published articles suggest older Americans need more sunshine to help with vitamin D absorption. I’m guessing the amount of time it takes to hang a basket of wet laundry and then retrieve the dry result delivers that daily requirement.

Not only are many folks in need of more vitamin D, they also suffer from anxiety. Experts who deal with such issues remind us fresh air and exercise are good medicine for such ills. It would be interesting to know if our grandmothers fretted less because they spent more time with their clotheslines. After hanging a couple of loads of sheets and towels the other morning, I see how time outside listening to birds sing and feeling warm breezes caress skin contributes to a peaceful disposition. In addition, you get exercise by repetitively bending, reaching, and pinning wet fabric. Once my basket was empty and the laundry fluttered in the breeze, my concerns seemed to shake away as well.

Add that repetitive action to sunshine and fresh air, and you have the ingredients necessary to generate a good mood. It satisfies the soul to see a clothesline weighed down with clean linens and clothing. The reverse efforts of unpinning dry objects and folding them to put in the basket just as effectively reduces stress. Listening to and watching birds multiplies these positive effects.

In fact, once those fresh sheets and towels are ready to go back on the beds and in the cupboards, you discover another boon. What feels and smells better that sun-dried bedding or terrycloth? Perhaps it’s my imagination, but I swear line-dried sheets freshen a whole room. When I crawled between them that night, that outdoor scent plunged me into deep slumber the minute my head hit the pillow. The fact I’d labored to hang, fold, and put away king-size bedding and towels may have contributed to my exhaustion.

Humans have so many labor saving devices that make life easier. Despite such convenience, we should consider what we lose in terms of physical and mental health. Do some of our grandparents’ old- fashioned housekeeping techniques aid in vitamin absorption as well as connect us to the outdoors where sunlight, fresh air, and exercise renew spirits without requiring prescription drug use.

Native Kansan Karen Madorin is a local writer and retired teacher who loves sharing stories about places, people, critters, plants, food, and history of the High Plains.

We’ll start with a simple statement. Every penny that every retiree receives from every defined benefit plan comes from two sources: 1) Cash contributions, mostly from the employers but often from workers, too. 2) Interest, dividends, and capital gains earned on the investments into which those cash contributions are placed.

Unlike the federal government, cities and states can’t print currency, so when the money is gone, it’s gone.
Here lies the basic problem as neither of these two is producing at the level necessary to deliver the promised benefits. And the longer we go without fixing the problem, the smaller the chance becomes.

Underfunding a pension plan, along with over-stating the expected returns is a basic formula for disaster. The KPERS pension plan has been an expert at both of these strategies.

As much as we’d like to single out Gov. Brownback for his lack of funding to the pension plan, in reality the underfunding has been happening for years. An underfunded pension plan can only pay claims with dollars that exist. No one gets anything if the money isn’t there.

And the low funding levels would be far lower if they didn’t assume investment returns that are unreachable. How can an 8% return be reached each and every year when most pension plans typically have only 40-50% of their assets in equities, something life 40% in bonds, and the rest in real estate and alternative asset classes? Keeping 40% in bonds at 3% (on a good year) means everything else has to make 15%. Do you really want to bet that stock returns will average 15% over your retirement lifetime? And the scary part is that although financial markets have posted impressive gains since 2008, the pension plan funding ratios have been declining, although you wouldn’t know that with the rosy reports coming out of Topeka.

And keep in mind that if we do have another correction and the pension fund loses billions, then it will take more that the already ridiculous 8% assumption, just get back to where we were. (A 50% loss requires a 100% return just to get back to even).

Workers have every right to demand higher retirement benefits because to them, a promise to have a retirement benefit is in lieu of a higher salary, today. Elected officials have every incentive to promise those benefits, because the immediate cost of doing so is much smaller than the perceived value they give to workers, and they get the votes and cooperation of the workers. The problems that come down the road will be dealt with by other politicians, hence the phrase, “kicking the can down the road.”

The problem in Kansas (and probably many other states) and we’ve actually seen this, is that it is easy to shop around for a consultant who gives them whatever numbers they desire, but as time goes on, the bogus numbers get bigger and bigger. This has held true for budget numbers in general, and has been witnessed, personally, in the KPERS seminars given by representatives from Topeka. Although, understandably, some don’t want to hear that their state pension program is, or soon will be, insolvent, you certainly won’t get that indication from the KPERS representatives.

Where in other areas of financial planning there may be some sort of solution, the only one this author can recommend is “Start Saving. You may be on your Own.”

Tim Schumacher represents Strategic Financial Partners in Hays.

By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

Being fit: That should be a goal for everyone. Health and physical fitness should be important to every individual. Today we’ll learn about a family fitness center which is working hard to involve people of all ages and to make their rural community even more healthy and physically fit.

Kristina Kaufman is executive director of Blythe Family Fitness in Pratt. She studied at McPherson College and met her husband through friends. He was a competitive bodybuilder and she gained interest in fitness and health through him. She later earned degrees in nutrition and business.

In 1996, Kristina and her husband opened a fitness center in Kingman. In 2004, they opened a second fitness center in downtown Pratt, upstairs from the Sears store, with approximately 15,000 square feet of space. Ultimately, Kristina and her husband were recruited to combine their business with the Blythe Family Fitness center as it began, and to manage and operate it as they do today.

“The Blythe family was from Pratt,” Kristina said. “Their dream was to have a facility that would benefit the entire community.” The family contributed funds which were combined with support from the community to build the fitness center. A plaque inside the front door recognizes Roy and Elsie Blythe who “quietly strove to live the Golden Rule, graciously sharing their generous hearts, patience and encouragement.”

In August 2011, Blythe Family Fitness opened its doors. The facility is a beautiful two-story building with approximately 50,000 square feet of space. This includes three basketball courts, a tennis court, a multi-purpose or training room, a racquetball court, tanning and spray tanning beds, and an extensive weight room. A walking track encircles one of the basketball courts. The center serves individual members and also hosts sporting events.

“We host gymnastics, volleyball and basketball tournaments,” Kristina said. “Last week we even had archery.”
True to its mission, the fitness center has opportunities for all ages. The center offers child care and summertime crafts for schoolchildren, a Retirefit program for age 60-plus, Tai Chi (I thought that was a flavor of tea), Pilates, yoga, Dance2Fit, group cycling, Execufit advanced weight training, classes, and more. There are offerings from competitive racquetball leagues to a smoothie bar and supplements.

“It’s a good problem to have, but I’m running out of space,” Kristina said. “We have people on waiting lists for our trainers.” She still does some training herself but now works mostly on management of the business.

In honor of one local leader, Jack Ewing, an offering called Jack’s after school program is provided for third through sixth graders. This includes games, exercise, homework time, leadership development, and healthy snacks developed in consultation with the local K-State Research and Extension office.

“We are part of a Healthy Coalition committee which is working on a grant to encourage a more healthy community,” Kristina said.

“The community is so supportive,” Kristina said. “We work with the city, the high schools, the grade schools, the parks and rec department, and Pratt Community College.”

Blythe Family Fitness has grown to more than 2,000 members. “Every year I try to find something new that we can offer,” Kristina said. “This is a very family-oriented place. That’s why I love it here.”

For more information, go to www.blythefamilyfitness.org.

Guests from out of town are often quite impressed with Blythe Family Fitness. “People from bigger cities tell us that they don’t have as nice a facility as we have here in Pratt,” Kristina said. That’s a high compliment to Pratt, a rural community of 6,495 people. Now, that’s rural.

“Our community has wonderful people, beautiful parks, and a terrific sports complex,” Kristina said. “I’m proud of Pratt.”

Being fit: That’s a goal which should be important to everyone. We commend Kristina Kaufman and all those involved with Blythe Family Fitness for making a difference by offering exercise alternatives for all ages. For the community of Pratt, this enterprise is a good fit.

Families across the nation turn to beef as a main course on the dinner table. During Beef Month in May we celebrate the Kansas beef producers and processors who help to fill our collective dinner plates as we savor the uniquely delicious flavor of beef.

While man has appreciated the juicy meatiness of beef for centuries, modern science is responsible for helping us understand the origin of the taste we crave.

I’m talking about umami (pronounced oo-MOM-ee)– derived from the Japanese word for delicious– which describes the taste of meaty, savory goodness.

To fully appreciate umami, we need to go back– probably to junior high biology, when you drew a map of the human tongue and identified the areas of the four basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. You were probably taught that the flavor of foods came from a combination of these four basic tastes along with other sensations such as aroma, texture, juiciness, mouthfeel and color.

Fast-forward to 1997, when a researcher at the University of Miami Medical School identified taste buds on the tongue that respond to umami, making it the bona fide “fifth taste.” Umami has been described as “meaty and savory” or “yummy” or “indescribably delicious.”

The ability to detect these five tastes has been key to our survival through the ages, directing us toward foods vital for health and growth, and away from potential poisons. Sweet means energy-giving carbohydrates. Salty indicates essential minerals. Umami signals life-giving protein. Sour says “proceed with caution” since many foods sour as they deteriorate. And bitter warns “spit it out” because many natural toxins taste bitter.
When it comes to flavor, small is big!

Dr. Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking, points out that big food compounds such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats are not very flavorful, but their smaller component parts (sugars from carbohydrates, amino acids from proteins and fatty acids from fats) are extremely flavorful. Sources of umami are amino acids and nucleotides– small, intensely flavorful components. Aging, fermenting, ripening and cooking are all great ways to break big compounds down into these flavorful gems.

We’ve also learned that umami compounds are synergistic– which means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Combining two umami ingredients can produce EIGHT TIMES as much flavor as either one of the compounds alone. Talk about tasty!

Since May is Beef Month, it’s appropriate to note that beef comes with three natural sources of umami: glutamic acid, glutamate, and nucleotides– all of which account for its great natural flavor. It’s also no accident that beef is often paired with ingredients such as cheese, bacon, mushrooms, wine and tomatoes. These foods contain umami, too, creating the complex, delicious flavors that make the finished beef dish many times more appealing.

The meat industry is responsible for as much as $12.9 billion in economic activity in Kansas. Meat packing and prepared meat products manufacturing make up the largest share of the food processing industry in our state and this industry provides employment for over 18,700 Kansans. While we celebrate the Kansas beef industry in May, we now know that umami accounts for the delicious flavor in our favorite beef dinner.

For more information about choosing and serving beef to your family, contact the Ellis County Extension Office for the Extension publication, “Beef: Choices, Preparation and Flavor” or find it online at the K-State Research and Extension Bookstore at www.bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu.

Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.

STAR Bonds Financing Act
The Kansas House of Representatives, Tuesday, passed House Bill 2184 which makes numerous changes to the Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) Bond Financing Act.

This bill would allow STAR bond project costs to include expenses for the renovation and expansion of an historic theater. It also eliminates language that allows a county commission or school board to object to a proposed STAR bond district, if it is determined that the STAR bond district would have an adverse effect on property tax revenues. The Secretary of Commerce would no longer be required to approve a city or county option to use all or a portion of transient guest tax revenues to be pledged for principal and interest payments on the STAR bonds. The bill also removes old language in the statute for a STAR bond project that includes auto racetrack facilities. Finally, the bill extends the sunset date for the STAR Bond Financing Act to July 1, 2022.

The bill passed the Kansas House of Representatives by a vote of 112 to 11. I voted “yes.”

Veto Session
The House of Representatives and the Senate returned to Topeka on Monday in attempt to conclude the 2017 legislative session. This time of the legislative calendar is commonly referred to as the Veto Session. There are many issues that both chambers must address before we can close out this session. We will still need to finalize a biennial budget for fiscal years 2018 and 2019. In order to balance the budgets for those years, we will most likely need to address a revenue plan, and we must comply with the order from the Kansas Supreme Court earlier this year as far as education funding by creating a new education finance formula.

Omnibus Budget Items: Osawatomie & Lansing Facilities
Last Wednesday, the House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means committees conducted tours of Osawatomie State Hospital and Lansing Correctional Facility, both institutions which have been discussed during this legislative session.

There are many items that we need to address for Osawatomie State Hospital as far as re-certification by the federal government, updates and renovations to ensure that re-certification, property details as far as the razing of buildings, and allowing guns in state hospitals.

We also have discussed Lansing Correctional Facility by reviewing if a new facility would be warranted. The existing maximum security prison was first built in the 1860’s and the newer, however heavily inefficient, medium security prison was constructed in the 1980’s. However, if we would look at the construction of newer facilities for both, the state could save considerable dollars by not needing about 300 correctional officers for that facility.

Contact Information
As always, if you have any concerns, feel free to contact me (785) 296-7672, visit www.troywaymaster.com or email me at [email protected].

It is a distinct honor to serve as your representative for the 109th Kansas House District and the state of Kansas. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your thoughts, concerns, and questions. I always appreciate hearing from the residents of the 109th House District and others from the state of Kansas, as well.

Troy L. Waymaster, (R-Bunker Hill) is the 109th Dist. State Representative and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

As the Kansas Legislature begins a “wrap-up” session, how big is the budget gap that must be closed in order to adequately fund schools and repair the state’s dismal financial situation?

Recent revisions to the general fund revenue forecast predict tax collections to be about $50 million a year higher than previously expected. That’s helpful, but Kansas still faces a huge structural budget imbalance without any reserves to draw on.

Following the release of the revenue estimate, media reports pegged the budget gap at $900 million over two years ($450 million annually). However, that calculation did not add anything to cover new spending for school finance, and assumes that $300 million will still be taken each year from the highway fund.

Look closely at each fiscal year:

FY 2017 (July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017). Apply the new revenue forecast to the almost completed FY 2017. Recurring revenue* calculates to roughly $5.7 billion. But the budget for FY 2017 that lawmakers approved spends about $6.3 billion, $600 million above recurring revenue. To close that gap, lawmakers diverted $300 million from the highway fund to the general fund. And they authorized loans to borrow another $300 million, with a portion of the borrowed money to be repaid over the next 6 years, and a portion over 20 years. Also, $80 million of unpaid FY 2016 school bills that were shifted forward to be paid in FY 2017, will be shifted forward again. None of the FY 2017 “gap fillers” actually fix the state’s financial problems. In fact, they make financial problems even worse in future fiscal years.

FY 2018 (July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018). Now consider FY 2018, the key fiscal year for which lawmakers must create a budget. Using the revised revenue estimate, recurring revenue again stands close to $5.7 billion. Lawmakers have not yet finalized spending for FY 2018, but both the House and Senate are headed toward a budget that spends more than $6.4 billion once required payments to KPERS are factored in. However, that $6.4 billion figure does not yet address the increased spending needed to fix school finance. The leading school finance bill under discussion adds $150 million to expenses each year for 5 years, eventually appropriating $750 million more for schools annually. Adding the first $150 million installment for school finance puts likely FY 2018 expenses almost $900 million above revenue.

FY 2019 (July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019). In FY 2019 “recurring revenue” calculates a bit higher, between $5.7 and $5.8 billion, but expenses will be higher too. Add the second-year $150 million school finance installment, and the FY 2019 structural gap goes over $900 million.

To structurally balance the budget and meet education obligations, Kansas needs a revenue reform package that produces at least $900 million annually. Without a realistic solution, Kansas will continue to drain its highway fund, borrow, become poorer, and put the public education system at risk.

The 2012 income tax cuts are the root cause of these crippling financial problems in Kansas. Rolling back the Brownback tax plan remains the simplest and best solution.

*Recurring revenue is essentially the net income that can be counted on each year to pay for general fund expenses. Here’s a simple calculation of recurring revenue for FY 2017: Kansas expects tax revenue of $5.746 billion. From that, subtract $180 million for the state’s share of school construction bonds. (Though this cost should be shown as an “expense,” it is instead counted as a “transfer” or “reduction to revenue.”) Then add in interest income of $64 million, and agency earnings of $77 million. That very roughly brings FY 2017 recurring revenue to $5.7 billion.

Duane Goossen formerly served 12 years as Kansas Budget Director.