Physically, he still inhabits his second-floor suite in the capitol, haunts the statehouse halls in his sweater vest, and resides at Cedar Crest, courtesy of Kansas taxpayers.
Burdett Loomis, Professor, Political Science, College of Liberal Arts and Science
Legislatively, however, Brownback is nowhere. He is essentially absent from the continuing discussions on the Bermuda Triangle of taxes, budgets, and school finance, even though his vaunted income tax experiment is the root cause of the state’s fiscal crisis. As the Legislature moves toward the humane and fiscally sound decision to expand Medicaid, he’s not a player, save as an ultimate, disengaged wielder of a veto pen.
In politics, the saying goes, “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” Per this truism, the governor has only one serious option: Resign.
Resign and go off to Rome as the U.S. ambassador for food and agriculture at the UN.
Resign and let Governor Jeff Colyer become part of the policy-making process.
Resign and let the Legislature do its job.
Numerous lawmakers have acknowledged the governor’s AWOL status. Most notably, Senate President Susan Wagle (R-Wichita) said, “…the governor is refusing to acknowledge that we have a deep budget hole, and he’s refusing to give us solutions. If anybody’s playing games, it’s the governor.”
In short, gubernatorial delusion has met gubernatorial disengagement.
Ironically, state legislators are heavily engaged on taxes, the 2017 and 2018 budgets, and school finance. As we’ve discovered at the national level, legislating is hard; an absent governor makes it all the more difficult.
Past chief executives have worked with the Legislature to fashion policies that can win approval by both houses and gain the governor’s signature. Some governors roamed the legislative halls, negotiating on the fly; others called lawmakers into their chambers to hammer out compromises. Sometimes they intervened only when a legislative impasse was at hand. Regardless, they became integral parts of the legislative process.
But not Sam Brownback in 2017. He’s distant, aloof, and uninvolved, to the point that he has abdicated his responsibility to govern.
So let Jeff Colyer, whose only path to becoming governor in 2018 is to run as a results-oriented conservative, take the reins and cut some deals with a legislative body that is eager to do so. With Colyer, Republican leaders would only have to win narrow majorities to carry the day, rather than the two-thirds required to overturn a veto. Strangely enough, those majorities might well produce more conservative legislation than the supermajorities’ results, which would reflect bipartisan deals to override a Brownback veto.
Moreover, the power of ambition is central to effective governing. Politicians eye their next office, or re-election, or some administrative appointment as they seek to succeed in their current position. But Brownback has run his course, albeit as one of the state’s most successful electoral politicians, while Colyer as governor could use his ambition to generate legislative victories.
Senators Moran and Roberts, as well as Bob Dole, should beg President Trump to finalize the Rome appointment for Governor Brownback, who could stop wandering aimlessly – literally and figuratively — around the capitol’s halls.
Although the governor may appear active by writing letters to support the GOP’s health care bill and by seeking federal aid for prairie fire damage, he has failed to do the real work of addressing Kansas’s most pressing problems. Indeed, he has only made them worse.
So, as Rome beckons, it’s time to take your leave, Sam. You’ve done your work, for better or, most assuredly, worse.
Still, you can act one last time to benefit our state: Resign.
Burdett Loomis is a political science professor at the University of Kansas.
Ron Wilson is director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
Let’s go to an amusement park in Florida. As the ride begins, some scary music begins to play. Who do you suppose helped create that musical track? It was a business consultant who’s worked on music licensing and other elements of management. But he’s not in Florida. He is now half a continent away in Kansas.
Russell Disberger is the founder and senior partner of management consulting firm Aspen Business Group. Russell has deep roots in Kansas, where his ancestors homesteaded near Council Grove. Russ’s dad taught agriculture at Hutchinson Community College. Russell was the seventh of nine children.
With such a large family, the kids learned to work. The boys ran the family’s custom cutting crew in the summer, traveling from Texas to Montana harvesting wheat. “We were up at dawn and worked until the wheat was too damp to cut,” Russell said. “We learned the importance of hard work and taking care of our customer.”
Russell’s parents invested in and operated two hotels and a restaurant in Colby. They also took Russell and his siblings to a Howard Ruff financial conference where they learned about investing. The family learned firsthand about entrepreneurship.
Russell studied finance at K-State and started several small businesses to earn his way through school. After graduation, he moved to Colorado where he worked in the finance industry and met and married his wife. In 1991, he moved to Garden City to become assistant director of the Small Business Development Center, or SBDC. There he became a student of the quality improvement process pioneered by author Edward Deming.
In 1994, Russell moved to Glenwood Springs, Colorado to become director of the SBDC, where he expanded the client base from 60 visits per year to 300. He also worked on technology transfer, serving as volunteer CFO for the Tech Transfer Society.
In 1998, Russell founded Aspen Business Group, a private sector management consulting company. Aspen seems a fitting name for a business in Colorado, but the significance of the name went beyond the location. “An aspen grove looks like a bunch of individual trees, but beneath the ground, they are all connected,” Russell said. “I wanted to make the point that we can be independent but connected to resources and each other.”
While running Aspen Business Group, Russell later started a venture capital business near Boulder through which he worked on licensing and contract issues for various industries. It was during this time that he was involved in producing the soundtrack for the scary ride at an amusement park in Florida.
Aspen Business Group now provides management consulting for all kinds of entities, from commercial businesses to cities, counties, and schools. His role is somewhat like a business therapist. “Some of my clients call me ‘the doctor,’” Russell said. He literally consults with clients from New York to Los Angeles.
“The key is to develop a structure that will enable companies to attract, retain, and grow talent. When you fully empower employees, amazing things are bound to happen,” he said.
Russell’s kids started attending K-State. Since his consulting business could operate from virtually anywhere, Russell decided to move back to Kansas. His office is now in his home which is located between Manhattan and the rural community of Wamego, population 4,220 people. Now, that’s rural.
One unusual aspect of Russ’s approach is that he is not a consultant who locks in long-term contracts for specific periods of time. He tells his clients: “If I’m not making a difference (for your company), don’t have me back tomorrow,” Russell said. That seems bold, but he’s been able to deliver. “Being a consultant does require a lifelong commitment to keep my own skills as sharp as possible.”
Russell is now working with K-State to develop an executive training program, so stay tuned.
It’s time to leave the Florida amusement park where a soundtrack developed through Russell Disberger’s work still plays. We commend Russell Disberger for helping his clients to succeed. For him and them, it has been a fun ride.
It’s all a little subtle and a little murky, but it appears that the new school finance formula that is being worked on by the Senate K-12 Education Budget Committee is going to put some real pressure on school districts to make sure they use special state funds to make kids smarter.
Now, it’s a little loose in its language, and it delays sharp decisions by the Kansas State Board of Education for years, but it is the first memorable effort to make sure that school boards spend state money the way it was intended.
Remember, the Kansas Supreme Court earlier this month told the Legislature that the current short-term school finance formula didn’t provide adequate money to school districts to produce graduates as smart as we want: Either ready for a community college or a vocational school or a four-year college…or even a job.
The court ruling talked about the 25 percent of Kansas kids who aren’t meeting the minimum requirements that the state has adopted for graduation.
Lawmakers—in their largely borrowed from two years ago finance formula—order the state board, those 10 members who are elected statewide in what are generally low-key elections after low-key campaigns, to come up with a school district accreditation system that is going to put increased attention on just how well those districts are doing at producing the product that the state spends about $4 billion a year on—smart kids.
The court’s order to make sure that those 25 percent of Kansas elementary and secondary students are either more-education ready or job ready is apparently being taken very seriously by the Legislature.
The new formula bill wants the state board to establish curriculum standards for the core areas of mathematics, science, reading, writing and social studies. Now, those standards, and the districts’ success in seeing them met through either conventional or additionally assisted programs, will be checked at three grade levels the board decides on.
That’s been a subtle movement by the state board the past few years, but this time, it’s down in black and white, and those districts are going to see their performance in managing that task—of making sure that we don’t continue to see 25 percent of pupils failing—widely published. Yes, that’s something that will put pressure on local school board members, who also are elected in even lower-key and elections after lower-key campaigns, in the spotlight.
Local boards see their schools not measuring up? They are then ordered to reallocate their resources to meet those deficiencies. They are to establish councils and other groups and come up with a plan to make sure they are getting the best possible pupil performance out of their budgets.
This is about the most stern warning that lawmakers can issue to make sure that their money—er…your money—is being spent wisely. It’s not a hammer on those districts yet, but it makes clear that the Legislature has at least ordered that hammer, and it is likely to be dropped off at the doorstep in the next few years.
Now, there is a long way to go before that bill becomes law, and there are likely to be school districts which are a little wary of that closer than in the past examination of just how well districts are doing.
Suddenly, just having a league-leading sports team or the best-dressed cheerleaders or fanciest new lab equipment isn’t how you win elections. It’s purely how well you do for the district in producing students who are ready for more education or work. Which is what the whole K-12 system is about, as we recall.
This narrow portion of the finance bill just got a little more interesting, didn’t it…?
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
I know the feeling of watching the sky turn black, the acrid smell, seeing the smoke blanket the landscape and wondering why?
Those farmers and ranchers who continue to pick up the pieces of their broken lives know this feeling. They lived to tell about the wildfires that exploded March 6 and swept through an estimated 1.5 million acres in Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas. For them the recovery has just begun.
“A lot of people say it looks like Mars – desolate,” according to veteran farmer/stockman Jim Harden, Clark County. “I’ve never been to Mars, but I can tell you this countryside is barren – completely burnt up as far as the eye can see.”
The only real color in this southwestern Kansas county – other than black – is the green wheat fields. Because of the dry weather, they don’t look too green either.
“What we really need now is a slow, soaking rain of about two inches throughout a two-day period,” Harden says. “Heck, I’d even take a nice snow if it would lay flat and not blow off.”
Winds clocked at 76 miles per hour fueled the grass fires that destroyed more than 461,000 acres in Clark County. Dozens of farm and ranch families lost their homes, out buildings and livestock. Countless wildlife fell prey to the fiery devastation including dead and severely injured deer, coyotes and jackrabbits.
Harden, who farms with his brothers, consider themselves extremely fortunate. Their losses were small. A few head of stocker cattle, approximately 750 acres of grass, 10 miles of fence and the equipment they tore up fighting the fires and helping hard-hit neighbors.
Once local firemen and volunteers contained the fires, help began pouring in. Truckloads of hay arrive daily along with fencing supplies. Fence-building crews are beginning to tackle the task of replacing miles and miles of damaged posts and wire.
Harden says a group of FFA youngsters from Saint Francis helped clean up his burned out fence posts.
“If we can get the fences rebuilt, that will make a big difference,” the Clark County stockman says. “I’m hopeful many of us will weather this tragedy.”
The outpouring of those wanting to help has been overwhelming. Friends helping friends. Neighbors helping neighbors. Everyone in the community and from across the country pitching in.
“It’s this kind of spirit and selflessness that convinces me Clark County and this region of our state will recover,” Harden says. “We appreciate all the help we’ve received.
While Harden doesn’t know if there will be federal money to help the firefighters, he encourages those who wish to donate to the fire relief effort consider contributions to rural fire departments in the burned region.
“Our firefighters need good, reliable equipment and training to continue battling wild fires,” Harden says. “We’ll need them to fight fires in the future. Believe me, this isn’t the last fire out here.”
Various programs are available to help those recovering from the devastating fires. Farmers and ranchers should contact their local service centers for more details.
For those who wish to donate money, Kansas Farm Bureau encourages people to contact the Kansas Livestock Association at 785-273-5115. Checks can be mailed to the Kansas Livestock Foundation at 6031 SW 37th St., Topeka, KS 66614. “Fire relief fund” should be written in the memo line.
Cash donations can be made through the Kansas Livestock Foundation (KLF),KLA’s charitable arm, by going to www.kla.org/donationform.aspx
Those who were impacted by the fires are encouraged to seek help via the web page www.kfb.org/firerelief.
John Schlageck is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas. Born and raised on a diversified farm in northwestern Kansas, his writing reflects a lifetime of experience, knowledge and passion.
Billinger, R-GoodlandWeek ten was spent working on the 2018/2019 budgets in the Ways and Means committee. Mid-week we passed a budget bill out of committee that should be voted on this next week on the Senate floor. This bill is debatable and amendable when it is being worked on the floor. The budget relies on borrowed money from the Pooled Money Investment Board (PMIB). This loan will borrow all the remaining balance from the investment fund.
A few of the projected line items in this bill consist of: The 2018 budget has provisions outlined to provide a 2% salary increase across the board for state employees. This salary increase would total approximately $22.5 million. The last salary increase for state employees was in 2008. There is a possibility that the salary increases may be postponed until the 2019 budget year, if the state revenues do not generate enough to include raises in the 2018 budget. Included in the budget are KPERS payments due for 2018. This bill will also include a transfer of over $200 million from KDOT. Fourth quarter payments to the schools are due to be paid yearly at the end of June. For a number of years these payments have been pushed back to the first part of July in order to help balance the budget. This June payment has again been projected to be delayed in 2018. In order to balance the 2018 budget tax increases will be necessary. Next week after this budget is passed out of the Senate chamber I will outline additional changes that will be included in the budget.
Sub SB 69, allows for KanCare updates and reforms. These include standardizing provider credentialing and payment processing, which will reduce the number of procedures needing prior authorization among other reforms. We have heard from many hospitals, medical clinics and hospital associations that the legislature needs to consider updates and reforms to strengthen the program. This was passed out of the Senate.
Another bill of interest was passed out of Financial Institutions, Insurance and Pensions, which would simplify KPERS rules for working after retirement. This bill will be debated next week on the Senate floor. I will follow up in next week’s newsletter with additional information.
On Thursday and Friday the Senate Ways & Means and the House Appropriations conference committees had our first joint meeting to reconcile the rescission bill for the 2017 budget. The way this process works, the conferees negotiate back and forth on the differences in the Senate 2017 rescission budget and the Houses positions on their rescission budget. There were approximately 17 line items that differed from the two Chambers. Several of the positions on the differences were agreed to at the first meeting. We will meet again on Monday and continue to meet until each line item is agreed upon.
Non-exempt committees have wrapped up their work for the year but exempt committees (Federal & State Affairs, Assessment and Taxation, Ways & Means) will still be able to meet in the coming weeks. The Senate plans to be on the Chamber floor all week debating and voting on legislation.
Thank you for the pleasure of allowing me to serve you and please feel free to email or call me at [email protected] or 785 296-7399.
Horse and Dog Race Tracks in Kansas
This week the House Appropriations Committee held informational hearings on possible renovation plans for the Lansing Correctional Facility and the Osawatomie State Hospital. The hearing for the Lansing Correctional Facility, which was held on Tuesday, March 14, focused on the facility’s rising costs. Currently the facility, which was constructed in the 1860s, has the capacity of 2,405 inmates and 686 staff at a cost of $34,542,898 a year. Two plans of renovation were presented to the committee in order to decrease the prison’s cost. One being to build a new prison with bonds and another being a lease to purchase option. Both options increase the facility’s inmate capacity, decrease the number of staff needed by half, and decrease the cost of staff to $20,461,154 a year. The hearing for the Osawatomie State Hospital was held on March, 15. The Osawatomie State Hospital, just as with Lansing Correctional Facility, needs renovations and possible further changes. Seven different options for renovation were presented to the committee. These options differed in approach and value with the least costly option for recertification with a proposed cost of about $4.3 million for the expansion of 206 beds. The option of new construction would cost approximately $33,720,000. In addition to these requests for renovation, recommendations to improve the environment were given as well, one being to incentivize professional training and accreditation.
State Budget Progress
Last week through this week the State Legislature has been making considerable progress in preparing budgets for the next several fiscal years. The Senate substitute for House Bill 2052 was passed by the Senate on Thursday, March 16, 2017. On Monday, March 20, the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee began work on House Bill 2364 and House Bill 2365. House Bill 2364 deals with appropriations for FY’ 2018 through 2021 for most state agencies, and House Bill 2365 deals with appropriations for the judicial branch in FY’ 2018 and 2019
Appropriations at Work: The Efficiency Study
Last week the Appropriations Committee heard from all the Budget Committees on the Alvarez and Marsal Efficiency Study. The study, which was conducted in 2016, made 105 recommendations on how to improve state operations for a savings of $2 billion over the next 5 years. The Budget Committees used the recommendations from the Alvarez and Marsal Study to provide feedback to the Appropriations Committee, both on whether the recommendations had been implemented and if the estimated savings had been achieved as prescribed in the study.
The budget committees have worked diligently on identifying cost savings for the state of Kansas with the items in the efficiency study, and we will incorporate some of those recommendations in the budget bill.
Tax Committee
The Taxation Committee heard and took action on House Bill 2387 last week. This bill provides sales tax exemptions for fence replacement in the areas of the state affected by the wildfire destruction. Governor Brownback signed House Bill 2387 into law on Wednesday, March 22.
The Committee also heard a number of other bills this week: House Bill 2380, regarding sales tax authority for Marion County for property tax relief; House Bill 2261, providing a sales tax exemption for certain veterans service organizations; House Bill 2381, providing a sales tax exemption for the land institute; House Bill 2368, allowing a deduction for business entities that create new jobs, and House Bill 2376, regarding the property tax lid; requiring cities and counties to publish notice of budget increases; and election requirements. On Thursday, the Committee heard from approximately 40 conferees on House Bill 2376. The bill is a collaborative effort between the Kansas Association of Counties and the League of Kansas Municipalities.
Bills Passed Out of Committees to the House Floor
Last week, the Federal and State Affairs Committee heard testimony regarding House Bill 2313, which would legalize the use of lottery ticket vending machines in the State of Kansas. These vending machines would allow an individual to manually purchase a lottery ticket, check the status of a lottery ticket, and would also be used to promote information regarding the Kansas Lottery. On Friday, March 17, the Committee amended the bill to include provisions that would nullify any ticket purchased by a minor, with the intent of discouraging the youth from purchasing tickets through their parents or guardians. Under current law, minors may purchase lottery tickets, but are unable to redeem prizes from such tickets. This bill passed the House of Representatives on Thursday, March 23, 100 to 25. I voted “yes.” The Committee also passed House Bill 2081, whereby public employers would not be liable for any wrongful or negligent act of an employee carrying a concealed handgun. The committee also passed House Bill 2042, which would require the State to recognize all valid concealed carry licenses and permits issues by other states to non-Kansans.
Kansas House Commemorates the Life of Srinivas Kuchibhotla
On Thursday, March 16, both Ian Grillot and Alok Madasani, survivors of the Olathe shooting in February, were recognized by in the House chamber during the adoption of HR 6023. Family members and friends accompanied them as we commemorated the life of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who immigrated to Kansas and exemplified the American Dream. Governor Brownback later signed a proclamation recognizing March 16 as Indian-American Appreciation Day.
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]. Also, if you happen to visit the statehouse, please let my office know.
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.
Rep. Ken Rahjes, R-Agra, 110th Dist.Hello from Topeka!
It was good to receive some precipitation over the last few days and the land is starting to green up and before long all those long-awaited spring activities will be underway. As always, this time of the year, legislative activities move at a faster pace. There are many moving parts, so keep in mind, what you hear and see will probably not be the outcome, but they are points in the process.
One of the issues that most people are interested in is school finance. On Tuesday March 21, the House K-12 Education Budget Committee had an informational briefing on the proposed Kansas School Equity and Enhancement Act, HB 2410. This bill represents the work product of an entire session of public input arrived at through a fair and open committee process. The bill encompasses components of several plans and ideas that were presented and is closely connected to the recommendations from the Legislative Post Audit cost study. Hearings on the bill were held the end of last week. with action planned for this week. The committee will continue to work on the bill to find the most sensible, student-focused, outcomes-based formula that provides our students with the best possible opportunity for excellence.
Again, this is a starting point. This proposal really hits many of the schools in the 110th District and any school with declining enrollments. The discussion and negotiations will continue to find what truly is equitable for all school children in Kansas.
Another issue which has been coming and needs to be address is cybersecurity. One of the primary functions of government is to protect its citizens from harm. House Leadership chose to make protecting our taxpayers’ highly sensitive and private personal data a high priority with the creation of the House Committee on Government Technology, and Security. The committee worked diligently to craft HB 2331, which centralizes IT and cybersecurity for the state. It would create the Kansas Information Security Office and establish the position of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). The bill would also replace the Office of Technology Services (OITS) to the Kansas Information Technology Enterprise (KITE). KITE would be responsible for all functions of OITS. These changes would reflect the need to develop and implement comprehensive information security programs, and would centralize all IT and cybersecurity operations for the state. These efforts would protect all executive branch agencies, including the various departments, under one centralized system. The Committee of the Whole amended HB 2331 to exclude KPERS from the bill’s provisions. The bill passed out of the House and has been sent to the Senate for consideration.
Work continues the Mega Budget Bill and any tax reform measures, there are proposals for pay increases for state employees and a possible gas tax but there will be many changes through negotiations so nothing is certain for now so we will continue those discussions in future columns.
The House Committee on Federal & State Affairs heard testimony concerning HB 2307. HB 2307, also known as “Simon’s Law,” would prohibit a hospital from withholding, withdrawing, or restricting life-sustaining measures for any patient under the age of 18, without written parental consent. Additionally, the bill would prohibit hospitals from issuing a do-not-resuscitate order without written parental consent. Simon Crosier, of whom the bill is named, was denied life sustaining treatment due to his unique birth. Additionally, Simon’s doctors chose to issue a DNR without informing his parents. Simon passed without his family’s awareness of the order. The Crosier family described their traumatic experience with their son and testified in full support of the bill, wishing no other family to suffer such a tragic loss. Kansans for Life, the Family Policy Alliance, and the Disability Rights Center also offered their support for this legislation, expressing the need to protect the most vulnerable and defend the parents’ rights. The Center for Practical Bioethics and two medical doctors opposed the bill, and explained that written permission from at least one parent or legal guardian questions the expertise and motives of the medical community, and called this legislation “politically motivated.” Simon’s Law has already passed the full Senate in the form of SB 85with a final vote count of 29-9. The committee passed it out favorably on Monday.
Also, last week, the Federal and State Affairs Committee also held hearings on HB 2389, which would amend current law concerning amusement park inspections, permit fees, and would amend other provisions of the Kansas Amusement Ride Act. Proponents of the bill expressed their concern for the safety of amusement park rides and would enforce inspection protocol. In addition, the proponents noted the lack of safety measures in Kansas statute and requested greater inspection training requirements. Opponents asserted that HB 2389 would subject carnivals and travelling companies to burdensome regulations that may hamper business operations, and that National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials (NAARSO) certifications act as sufficient training for inspectors. Neutral testimony followed and highlighted potential lawsuits, age and size of different rides, and various certifications. The Committee articulated concern for the insurance policy of $100,000, insuring the owner or operator against liability for injury—they identified the need to increase that threshold.
The Kansas Department of Revenue has created a webpage regarding the recent wildfires. The page contains links to forms necessary for receiving refunds and sales tax exemption certificates: http://www.ksrevenue.org/wildfires.html
If you would like to contact me: Session phone number is: (785) 296- 7463 and email is: [email protected] and my cell number is (785) 302-8416. It is my honor to serve as your representative.
Ken Rahjes, (R-Agra), is the 110th District State Representative.
SENATE HIGHLIGHTS
This week, the budget process moved along a bit further with the near-agreement on two important budget packages – one at the House-Senate Conference level (probable finalization Monday) for the remainder of the current Fiscal Year 2017 and the other at the Senate Committee (Ways and Means) level for the longer, two-year period FY 2018 and 2019. The first part is key because it means we should have a positive-ending-balance measure to send to the Governor for signature in a matter of days; the second has significance because it provides a basis for Floor consideration and amendment of a spending blueprint prior to the undertaking of a tax and revenue proposal to pay for it.
SENATE FLOOR ACTION KANCARE REFORM (Sub. For SB 69): In 2011, Governor Brownback’s administration began the process of privatizing Kansas’ Medicaid program, and ultimately created what is now known as KanCare. Medical providers and patients have requested that the legislature consider some updates and reforms to the program. Sub SB 69, allows for KanCare updates and improvements. These include standardizing provider credentialing and payment processing which will reduce the number of procedures needing prior authorization – among other modifications.
STATE HIGHWAY RIGHT-OF-WAY USE (HB2066): HB 2066 would require the Secretary of Transportation to reimburse a public wholesale water supply district for the cost to relocate water pipelines in a state highway right-of-way, excluding those water lines that cross a highway and have 90 percent or more of its water lines on private right-of-way.
REINSTATEMENT OF FORFEITED BENEFITS UNITS (HB 2080): HB 2080 would require boards of rural water districts to reinstate any benefit unit that has been forfeited due to delinquent payments upon payment of all unpaid fees and charges due to the district, in addition to any fees and charges that would have accrued since the date of forfeiture and any benefit unit reinstatement fee in an amount limited to no more than 20 percent of the water district’s current fee to establish a new benefit unit. The bill also would clarify language regarding who could serve as a director on the board of a rural water district. Any individual, firm, partnership, association, or corporation that is a participating member of the rural water district would be eligible to hold office as a director.
JURISDICITON OF SECURITIES COMISSIONER UNDER INSURANCE COMISSIONER AND CONSOLIDATION OF CERTAIN PROSECUTIONS FOR FRAUD (SB 23): SB 23 would establish the Office of the Securities Commissioner of Kansas as a division under the jurisdiction of the Insurance Commissioner and amend law by consolidating certain prosecutorial functions of the Attorney General.
SENATE COMMITTEE WORK HB 2044: Medicaid Expansion Committee Hearing and Vote
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, the Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare held hearings on HB 2044 – Establishing the KanCare Bridge to a Healthy Kansas program and providing Medicaid reimbursement for clubhouse rehabilitation services. This bill, a Medicaid expansion bill, passed the House with a vote of 81-44 earlier this month. Monday, the Health committee heard testimony from proponents of the bill. Verbal testimony included representatives from the Kansas Hospital Association, The Alliance for A Healthy Kansas, the Wichita Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas Medical Society, and the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians, among others. Written testimony was submitted by numerous hospitals from around the state, health and community foundations, business interests, and many other Kansas residents with a vested interest in expanded Medicaid services. Proponents of the bill argued that the benefits outweigh the cost of expansion, and cited the roughly 150,000 Kansans who would be eligible for this program, should the bill pass the legislature and be signed into law by Governor Brownback. Tuesday, the Committee heard from opponents of the bill, including the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the Kansas Policy Institute, Americans for Prosperity and the Foundation for Government Accountability. Written testimony was submitted by the CATO Institute. Opponents of the bill argued that the program is too costly, and the state cannot afford to implement the program at this time, given our current $350 million budget deficit. Another major concern regarding Medicaid expansion is tied to current momentum on the Federal level to change healthcare policy.
We are closely monitoring Congress’s actions and Senate leadership is regularly in touch with our Kansas Congressional representatives to ensure that we have all of the information necessary before voting on this bill.
Update on Senate Select Committee on Education Finance
This week, the Senate Select Committee on Education Finance began meeting to determine the best path forward regarding the creation and implementation of a new school finance formula.
As you may know, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled last month 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 are not meeting Rose Standards, a series of targets students must meet to be considered at “grade level.” 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. We feel confident that we’ll finalize a new school finance formula prior to the end of session, led by this diverse Committee of passionate and intelligent school advocates.
Tax Committee
SB 189 passed out of committee by a vote of 11-2 calls for new tax revenue of $874 million over the next two years and will likely be considered by the full Senate this coming week. The bill would among other things make full scheduled payments to the state pension system, provide a two percent across-the-board pay raise to state employees and restore some of the cuts made last year to state universities. It also rejects a plan to sell off the state’s interest in future tobacco settlement money and keep it in the Children’s Initiatives Fund, a politically popular practice that avoids shifting the cost of such health and education programs to the general fund.
Senate Rural Ag Caucus – Kansas wind energy update
The development of wind energy in Kansas continues to bring new jobs and economic growth to Kansas with approximately $10 billion of new private investment and 13,000 new direct and in-direct jobs across our state. While some of the economic development benefits of wind energy are experienced in urban parts of Kansas, the vast majority of benefits occur across rural Kansas whether in the form of robust landowner payments for turbine leases, new and good paying operation and maintenance jobs which provide benefits and allow local residents to stay in their home communities (or near their home communities) for employment opportunities or new manufacturing or supply chain management positions. Recently, Kansas hit a milestone becoming only the second state in the nation to produce more than 30% of its power generation from renewable energy. Iowa continues to lead the nation, but Kansas certainly is a national leader in wind energy production. Further, lawmakers received information about nationally-recognized Cloud County Community College Wind Turbine Technician certification program which boasts a 100% graduate placement rate – many of those graduates hail from rural Kansas and are returning home to stable, good paying jobs with advancement opportunities. Many industry wind development leaders have a long-standing relationship with Cloud County and they value the hard-working, well-trained graduates coming out of the training program.
Recently, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback announced his goal that Kansas be powered 50% by renewable energy by January 2019 – a goal which is a mere 1800 MW and about $3.5 billion of new private investment away. Such a goal 10 years ago seemed only for future generations, but due to technology advancements, moving manufacturing to the United States and next-generation wind turbines, price is driving new investment from commercial and industrial customers and utilities which is rapidly expediting the development of renewable energy in Kansas.
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. I hope you’ll continue to engage with me on the issues that matter most to you, your family, and our community.
Non-exempt committees have wrapped up their work for the year, but exempt committees (Federal & State Affairs, Assessment and Taxation, Way & Means) will still be able to meet in the coming weeks. The Senate plans to be on the Chamber floor all week debating and voting on legislation. Current 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 Senate will gavel in at 10:00 a.m. 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 for the honor of serving you!
Senator Elaine Bowers, R-Concordia, 36th Dist.
Kansas State Capitol Building
Room 223-E
300 SW 10th St.
Topeka, KS 66612 [email protected]
(785) 296-7389 www.kslegislature.org
Last Week on the House Floor
Last week the House and Senate honored Gerard Wellbrock, the longtime voice of Fort Hays State University athletics. Gerard was accompanied by his wife Tammy and son Garrett. Gerard was recognized for being honored as the 2016 Kansas Sportscaster of the year by the National Sports Media Association.
The House has been busy passing numerous bills. The many pieces of legislation ranged on issues from technology to healthcare to agriculture. Find a few of these bills detailed below.
Sub HB 2331: An act concerning information systems and communications; creating the representative Jim Morrison cybersecurity act; relating to digital information security for Kansas executive branch agencies; establishing the Kansas information security office; establishing the cybersecurity state fund and cybersecurity state grant fund in the state treasury, creating the Kansas information technology enterprise.
H Sub for SB 51: An act concerning controlled substances; the state board of pharmacy; relating to scheduling of controlled substance analogs, controlled substances and new drugs; emergency scheduling.
HB 2313: An act concerning the Kansas lottery; dealing with lottery ticket vending machines; repealing the lottery sunset.
HB 2232: An act concerning adult care homes; relating to electronic monitoring
SB 68: An act concerning health and healthcare; relating to hospitals; enacting the Kansas lay caregiver act.
HB 2353: An act concerning state contracts and purchases; relating to purchases of products and services from not-for-profit entities; employment of persons with disabilities.
Coming up in the Kansas Legislature
This week, watch for the Medicaid expansion bill to hit the Senate floor. If it passes through the Senate, the bill will then be sent to the Governor.
Republicans in the Senate have said they will wait to act on an education finance formula until the House addresses it first. Conversations as to how to solve this issue are underway, with many ideas being introduced. A bill has been proposed this week in the Kansas House, and we expect action on that bill to begin next week.
A tax plan to restore the revenue in Kansas has not yet been enacted. Previously in the session, the House put forth and passed a tax bill, which then passed through the Senate. The bill essentially repealed Gov. Brownback’s “march to zero” tax experiment. The Governor vetoed the bill, after which the House overrode his veto. The Senate failed to override by just three votes. A new tax plan should be coming soon from the Senate side.
It is a special honor to serve as your state representative. I both value and need your input on the various issues facing state government. Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions. My office address is Room 43-S, 300 SW 10th, Topeka, KS 66612. You can reach me at (785) 296-4683 or call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me. Additionally, you can e-mail me at [email protected]. You can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org.
Sincerely,
Eber Phelps, D-Hays
111th Dist. Kansas House of Representatives
Serving Hays and Ellis County
Henbit forms a carpet of purple on Kansas meadows in early spring.
A beautiful purple carpet extends across many fields in Kansas each early spring. Growing only a few inches above the ground, these purple Kansas meadows will soon be plowed. More purple patches sprout in our yards, soon to produce seeds before we start mowing grass.
John Richard Schrock is a professor at Emporia State University.
Commonly known as henbit, its scientific name is Lamium amplexicaule. It is not native to North America. Henbit originated in Asia, Europe and northern Africa. It arrived long ago, spreading west into the Great Plains. Henbit is an early spring wildflower, basking in the sunlight after the winter thaw and before tall weeds or trees grow leaves to block the sun. Back in its Mediterranean homeland, henbit even flowers during the mild winters.
The purple flowers consist of four male stamens, two long and two short. The purple carpet we see from a distance is thousands of flowers, each a ring of fused petals forming a tube nearly an inch long. Being among the first flowers in early spring, henbit is an important pollen and nectar source for bees. And if there are not enough pollinating insects, the flowers can self-pollinate.
In either case, henbit has evolved to produce seeds before being overshadowed by other plants. —Or before being plowed under!
And that is the question that should puzzle us. Since many Kansas fields with this beautiful purple henbit will soon be plowed under, how does henbit keep returning year-after-year, carpeting the meadow with color?
The answer: the soil seed bank. Not to be confused with genetic seed banks where botanists store wide varieties of important crops variants, the soil seed bank consists of the varieties of seeds that are mixed in the soil and available to eventually germinate.
It was Charles Darwin who first observed seeds germinate from soil taken from a lake bottom in 1859. Once he pointed out that soils stored seeds, this idea of soil seed banks led to research that explained why some plants would rapidly appear as weeds while other plants were slow to invade.
Some plant seeds are “transient,” germinating at the first opportunity and are present in the soil seed bank for only a short time, or not at all. But “persistent” seeds endure through many opportunities to germinate; the common weed known as lambsquarters produces seeds that remain in the soil seed bank ready to germinate for up to 40 years. And tropical lotus seeds can reside in lake bottoms for over 1,000 years and germinate!
Research on the soil seed bank is important in agriculture; it helps us understand why some weeds are more common than others. And henbit is truly an evasive weed. But because it grows so early in the spring and is plowed or cultivated out so readily that it gives us little trouble in farming, we don’t mind it as a “weed.”
Steve Gilliland
Well it’s time again for both the largest and the smallest birds in Kansas to make their spring appearances. Turkey Vultures, being of course the largest are here already. There are probably more yet to come as they make their way back from their winter digs in South America. Ruby Throated Hummingbirds, being the smallest, also winter in South America and are due back in KS around the middle of April; the earliest sighting last spring was on April 14 in Wichita.
Some years back Joyce and I had the opportunity to keep tabs on a pair of Turkey Vultures nesting in an old ramshackle building near Inman that had been a vulture nursery for years. We got within a couple feet of the female as she guarded her nest, and checked on her weekly as she hatched 2 little white balls of fluff that quickly grew into immense specimens like their parents. Despite having faces only a mother could love, vultures are an important part of our ecosystem. Often known as nature’s clean-up crew, they clean up dead wildlife and animals of all descriptions and the juices in their digestive systems are so potent they can eat diseased flesh with no repercussions. Our last visit to the old building that year found both youngsters perched on an old windmill tower near the building, curiously watching us below as mom and dad both circled above. As majestic and awesome as Turkey Vultures are as they soar effortlessly above us on the Kansas winds, there are few if any opportunities for us to interact with them, and perhaps rightly so.
But we often design our entire back yards foliage to attract hummingbirds and hang nectar feeders to cater to their “sweet tooth,” and are sometimes rewarded with “close encounters” as the little blighters become comfortable with our presence. Hummingbirds were much more prevalent in Ohio where I grew up, and we often saw 3 or 4 at once at our feeders. One feeder hung in front of a back porch near our kitchen, and the little hummers’ learned to hover outside a nearby window to get our attention when the feeder was empty. Once after filling the feeder, I slipped quietly out onto the porch and one hungry little hummer actually drank from it as I stood there motionless, holding the feeder at arm’s length.
At last week’s McPherson Spring Garden Show, Mike Daniels, owner of Brook’s Landscape LLC spoke about “Gardening for Friends,” and his main topic was hummingbirds and gardening to attract them. With wings that beat over 50 times per second, hummingbirds can make the trip across the Gulf of Mexico back to the US in 18 – 22 hours, resting on boats and oil derricks if necessary. It’s always been said that hummingbirds are attracted to the color red, but Daniels said that because of the way they see colors, any color using red in its spectrum will attract them, so orange, yellow and purple should all work as well.
Hummers’ also have a voracious appetite for insects and have actually been observed robbing trapped bugs from spider webs. They make nests from thistle down and dandelion leaves and weave it all together with spider silk from spider webs. The female usually sits on 2 jelly bean sized eggs and they can have 2 broods a year.
Daniels suggests trying to attract them with plants and using feeders as a backup. He says to keep the feeders clean and free from mold and dirt, and when mixing the nectar, boil the water and add sugar at the rate of 1 part sugar to 4 parts water to make a syrup that does not sour as quickly as plain sugar water. Hang feeders in partial shade several feet apart to help keep the males from fighting and hang them where cats can’t get to them. We’ve all heard it said that keeping feeders out too late in the fall might encourage hummingbirds to stay later than they should and miss their fall migration. Daniels told us that is not a problem, as the little guys’ God given instinct and the absence of insects will send them on their way south right on time. Hummingbirds love petunias and trumpet vine, and salvia, angelonia, morning glory, beard tongue, coral bells and bee balm are also very attractive to them; these plants will all attract butterflies as well. Stay away from insecticides and pesticides if possible and use herbicides sparingly.
Yes it’s time for the greatest and the smallest in the Kansas skies to appear once again from their winter homes far to the south. Look to the sky as the air warms on spring mornings and you’re bound to spot vultures effortlessly soaring above as they ride the rising columns of warm air known as thermals. Get you hummingbird feeders cleaned and ready and spruce up your lawn with a few new plants, and prepare to be entertained by the buzzing sound of little wings and the chattering of jousting hummingbirds as they chases each other across your back yard. What a great time to Explore Kansas Outdoors!
John Richard Schrock is a professor at Emporia State University.
“Competition,” supposedly the miracle cure-all to improve education or any other product or service, comes in various flavors.
K–12 “voucher” systems vary in their implementation. In some states, vouchers are only provided to parents of children in schools found to be “failing” by some criteria—usually NCLB test scores or lack of highly qualified teachers. These are mostly urban schools, and the alternative schools available to these families are usually limited to a few other schools within a reasonable travel distance.
Limited options remain an obstacle even when vouchers are extended broadly to all parents of K–12 children, especially in rural states where there is no alternative school nearby. Where there are alternative schools, they may be selective private schools, religious schools, or home schools.
Availability of alternate schools also depends on history. When schools were supposedly desegregated in the south, many upper middle class and higher class white families paid to send their kids to private schools. Now, when these states issue vouchers, they may serve to perpetuate this divide. When vouchers are available to all, the wealthier can still add money to send their student(s) to more expensive private schools; those who cannot pay more cannot afford that extra cost. As a result, Indiana’s Choice Scholarship Program—the largest voucher system in the country with over 30,000 students—tends to drive a majority of white students to private schools.
Since higher tuition schools pay higher salaries and draw off the better teachers, vouchers do not provide poor families access to those higher-tuition schools. And that is another reason that competition does not work in education: it assumes a surplus of good teachers in order to stimulate improvement. There is no surplus. Given enough sorting time, this will drive the limited good teachers to the elite schools and leave economically poor schools with more unqualified long-term substitutes.
Educational savings accounts (ESAs) are a recent modification in school funding in FL, AZ, MS, TN, LA and NV. For example, Nevada parents can receive an ESA that resides in a savings account, these state funds earmarked for education of their children. The money can go toward tuition or other approved education-related expenses. It can even be used to attend religiously affiliated schools, to buy materials for home schooling, or to apply toward a mix of private and public school courses. In Nevada, the ESA requires that the student must have attended a public school for 100 consecutive days before becoming eligible for the ESA, thus excluding students who already attend private schools (a mechanism to avoid the elitism problem noted above). Virtual schools are not eligible for ESAs in Nevada, reflecting a growing awareness of their lack of effectiveness.
Online programs are eligible under Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts that also cover therapy for special needs students.
But aside from several urban areas, Nevada faces the problems of a rural state with few to no alternate schools nearby most families. The Nevada ESA formula provides only $5000 per regular student per year and $5700 for low-income students and students-with-disabilities.
This last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that special education students deserved more than a “de minimis” education; a school must provide academic rigor. But while public schools have to follow the IDEA laws covering special students, private schools do not. While about 10 percent of school-aged children are enrolled in private schools, only one percent of students with disabilities are.
School choice is therefore a fuzzy term that is not necessarily synonymous with vouchers or ESAs. It can include public charter schools, magnet schools and a range of other programs that help pay for private schools or home-schooling. And what might work for high-density states with consolidated schools doesn’t work in sparsely populated rural areas.
In 1848, Horace Mann (who strove to establish primary education for all) believed that education of both rich and poor in the same classrooms would “…do more than all things else to obliterate factitious distinctions in society.” For over a century, the public school became a “melting pot” where rich and poor students sat together. Unfortunately, American society has again become separated into segregated communities with unequal opportunities across schools. Neighborhood schools in unequal communities make for unequal education, long since Brown versus Board of Education ruled that “separate is not equal.” Unfortunately, none of these school choice proposals functions to solve this inequality.
This week, I wanted to update you on some of the progress we’ve made in the last month. My team and I have:
Conducted nine town halls in Kansas (Emporia, McPherson, Hutchinson, Garden City, Liberal, Dodge City, Hays, Colby and Goodland)
Held an open house with a question and answer session at our new office in Salina
Participated the very first Senate Ag Committee field hearing for the new Farm Bill, which was held in Manhattan
Participated in a congressional trip to Cuba in hopes of opening up trade markets
Toured damage from the wildfires in Clark and Reno Counties
Had a meeting with the leadership of the United States Department of Agriculture to discuss federal response to the disastrous wildfires
Met with Secretary Tom Price in his office and discussed Kansas medicaid issues with his staff
Held tele-town hall in which thousands of Kansans participated
Introduced Kansas State University President, General Richard Myers, to House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith
Our office responded to thousands of emails and phone calls from folks all across our district
I say this not to boast, but to show you how seriously my team and I take our responsibility, and how hard we are working on your behalf.
As always, if there is something we could improve, or do for you, please never hesitate to contact my office.
I spoke from the House floor Tuesday to highlight National Ag Day.
What I’m Up To
Statement on AHCA
I am deeply disappointed in my colleagues who couldn’t look past their personal agendas to put the priorities of the American people first. The skyrocketing cost of Obamacare, and the toll it is taking, are on their hands, no matter the party.
The American people elected this Congress to get things done – not to be obstructionists. Republicans have the House, Senate and White House, and there is no reason to continue acting as the ‘opposition party.’ It is time to lead.
I thank the President, the Speaker, Leader McCarthy, Whip Scalise, Chair McMorris-Rogers and all who worked tirelessly on this legislation. Throughout this process, they were perfectly professional. Never once did they say anything personal against any person or their beliefs. They’ve done an incredible job of keeping us together.
Rural health care in Kansas has unique issues that we will continue to put under the spotlight. I stand ready, as I always have been, to work to improve our broken healthcare system.
Town Hall in Manhattan
I hope you’ll join me for a town Hall in Manhattan from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 1, at the K-State Alumni Center in the Tadtman Boardroom on the second floor.
I’m looking forward to returning to Manhattan to talk with fellow Kansans about the issues, ideas and concerns they have. Every time we sit down, define problems together and civilly discuss them, we move closer to real solutions.
Dr. Roger Marshall, R-Great Bend, is the First District Kansas Congressman.
