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As a gardener, I have always believed that it is of utmost importance to find and plant the most productive variety of every vegetable  I plant.

Some varieties are more productive and offer more disease resistance than other varieties. Therefore it becomes incumbent on those who plant gardens to select those high producing varieties if they expect gardening success.

Not everyone who plants a garden actually believes that a certain variety of green beans, or of cucumbers, or of cabbage, is better than another. If it says green beans, or cucumber, or cabbage on the packet, then that’s all they need to know. That just isn’t true!
 End of sermon.

The importance of knowing something about the different names, or cultivars of plant life became of interest to me as a kid when my Dad made his selections of wheat, corn, and maize seed at planting time. But after harvesting those crops, he would spend a lot of time making comparisons of the growing habit, the quality, and the total production of the varieties he planted on his own farm.  He would also compare notes with friends and neighbors about their varietal thoughts and concerns. And he would also study the Extension reports about available varieties and their history of success.

Most older farmers will remember that the earliest variety of available seed wheat was one named Turkey. Turkey was a hard, red, winter wheat, and the story of Turkey’s introduction in the wheat growing areas is memorable.

In the early years of the 20th century, Mennonite immigrants, fleeing Tsarist persecution in the Crimea area of Russia, fled to Kansas with trunk fulls of hand selected Turkey seed wheat, and planted it on their new farms.  They settled primarily in areas around Reno, Harvey, and Marion counties.

Turkey quickly became the dominant variety of hard red winter wheat in the Great Plains area. 
It was a short sturdy type of wheat that stood well, threshed easily, and millers loved it. Some farmers in the day would insist that they could taste the difference of bread made from Turkey wheat flour.
 But Turkey fell out of favor in the late 1940’s when higher yielding varieties were introduced.

And now in the 21st century, only hobbyists plant small plots of it, and they have begun an effort to bring the variety back to the marketplace. A “quality preserved” program has been put in place, modeled after the existing certified protocol in Kansas.
 I remember riding the combine when my family and several neighbors harvested Turkey wheat.

I also remember that Turkey basically disappeared from the scene when such varieties as Early Blackhull, Heberle, and Wichita were introduced. And then came the “beardless” craze as Chieftan and Red Chief cultivars came along, and then quickly were abandoned after only a few years of popularity because the millers and bread bakers despised it!

Tenmarq and Comanche varieties made their entry, and exit, on the farm scene as well. Both were big improvements over those that preceded them, but proved to be later maturing at a time when much earlier varieties came on the scene. Today, the list of viable cultivars is longer than your arm and test plots everywhere struggle to find enough space to grow them.
  Plant geneticists have worked overtime, not only developing new wheat varieties, but also shiny new cultivars of corn, milo, soybean, cotton, alfalfa, and almost every other crop grown today.

Those who eat, are the true beneficiaries of their work!

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

The Kansas State Capitol is a beautiful, breath-taking building. From the solid limestone foundation to the top of the dome, this structure exudes a solid feeling of strength and confidence, captured in our motto: “To the stars, through difficulties.”

For much of its history, the capitol has attracted well-meaning, sincere citizen legislators from the four corners of the state; through thick and thin Kansas has benefited from their service, despite the fiercest of political battles.

Regrettably, between 2012 and 2016, the Legislature failed the state of Kansas. The renovation of the magnificent capitol building was finally completed, but the politics under the dome proved unworthy of the structure.

In short, the legislative process just didn’t work.

In the past, committees took time and effort to work bills, to hear testimony, and to deliberate thoroughly before moving legislation to the floor. Party leaders worked with their committee chairs, with their members, and with the opposition to hammer out legislation that by and large served the interests of Kansans. Formal debate and informal discussions – while tough and sometimes emotional – made legislation better, though deliberation and compromise.

These characteristics vanished in the 2012-2016 period. Party leaders brought bills to the floor without adequate notice or discussion, often supporting an ideological governor who was becoming more detached from legislators and from the legislative process.

In sum, the Legislature became a dead zone for the conventional politics of discourse, horse-trading, and policy resolution.

Fast forward to 2017. Things have changed. No, partisanship has not vanished. Nor have in-your-face threats of primary-election retribution for pushing certain policies. Nor has dictatorial behavior of committee chairs like Rep. Clay Aurand (R-Belleville) on due process for teachers.

But the overall tenor of legislative activity is different, and for the better.

Legislators, lobbyists, staff, and journalists all report remarkable increases in civility, openness, and mutual respect among all lawmakers. Why? Most notably, the partisan and ideological make-up of the Kansas Legislature shifted dramatically in the 2016 elections, with more Democrats and moderate Republicans winning seats. Those results translated into shifting leadership structures and more responsive conservative Republican leaders in Senate President Susan Wagle and House Speaker Ron Ryckman.

Let’s be clear, far-right Republicans, who have dominated the Legislature over the past four years, have not packed up and gone home, but most have recognized the shift in membership and have adapted to the new reality.

Moreover, virtually every legislator can play a role this year. That means that minority leaders Anthony Hensley (Senate) and Jim Ward (House) know that their members’ votes will be needed for the Legislature to address the state’s overwhelming problems. Remarkably, Hensley’s Democratic tax proposal stands as a real alternative to the problematic GOP tax offering, which previously crashed and burned.

In many ways, the 2017 version of the Kansas Legislature is a throwback to the 1980s and early 1990s, when legislators fought serious battles with good will and collegiality.

Central here is the idea of process, which is boring, slow, and complex. Ultimately, however, the deliberation and discourse of the legislative process lead to inclusive decisions, and better ones. No voices are systematically excluded. Agendas are negotiated, not handed down without warning or discussion.

In the end, people talk to each other, despite their differences, or maybe because of them.

I have no desire to romanticize the legislative process. It’s tough, lengthy, and often frustrating, but crucial to the functioning of democracy. This year’s signs of legislative life indicate that our lawmakers might just dig the state out of the worst fiscal hole of our lifetimes.

Like renovating the capitol, this effort will take time, but it will ultimately honor the landmark building that both houses and symbolizes our representative government.

Anyone thinking of excluding immigrant students from K-12 public schools can drop that idea. The U.S. Supreme Court has held such a policy unconstitutional. That ruling goes back over 30 years.

In 1975, the Texas Legislature gave authority to local school districts to refuse enrolment in public schools to foreign-born children who lacked documentation of being “legally admitted” into the United States. Subsequently, the Tyler Texas Independent School District established a policy of charging such students tuition.

When the policy was challenged in court in Plyler v. Doe, such practices were found unconstitutional by the federal district court, the appeals court and finally the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling was based on the 14th Amendment that states that “No State shall…deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

This “equal protection” law found that since states provide a free K-12 public education to U.S. citizens and lawfully-present foreign-born children, they cannot deny education to undocumented children unless the state has a “substantial state interest.” And they found that the value of educating all of the children within the state’s jurisdiction far outweighs the costs to society of excluding those children. While this was not a unanimous decision, the minority dissenting judges made clear they did not support the discriminatory intent of the Texas statute, though they quarreled with the logic applied to reach the majority’s ruling.

That has not prevented subsequent state actions that have tried to circumvent the Plyler ruling.

In 1994, California passed a Proposition 187 to prohibit public K-12 schools from admitting any undocumented student and to report such students to the immigration officials. That was rapidly struck down in federal court for violating Plyler.

In 2006 in Illinois, a district denied enrolment to a student who overstayed the tourist visa. The student was quickly admitted when the Illinois State Board, based on the Plyler decision, indicated the Board would withhold funding to the district.

In 2011, the Alabama legislature required its public schools to determine the immigration status of all new students, and report all data back to the State Board of Education. That provision was permanently blocked by the federal appellate court when Alabama settled the lawsuit in October 2013.

While the Plyler decision did not specifically address all of the additional actions possible, it is clear from the U.S. Supreme Court rationale that any actions that would discourage immigrant student attendance are unlikely to survive scrutiny under the Plyler decision. For instance, in the Alabama case, over 13 percent of Latino students statewide (both undocumented and citizens) withdrew from school in fear of attending. That is a bad consequence that the Court was concerned with in their Plyler decision.

As teachers, our responsibility and training is to educate students, not serve as agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Not only are school personnel not trained in ICE, to assume such duties immediately erodes the trust all students have in their teachers and promotes student bullying of classmates suspected of being foreign-born.

In addition, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) restricts access to student records to those professionals who have a need-to-know based on their educational role (advisors, counselors, etc.) and aside from directory information, student information cannot be disclosed to external parties without parental consent.
This issue is fairly simple: all youngsters who reside in our schools’ districts get an education…period.

    Our Kansas Legislature has a critical opportunity to help many Kansas students have a competent teacher in their classroom next fall.

    Current Senate Bill SB138 untangles the incredibly complex KPERS rules that currently prevent retiring teachers and administrators from being hired back in Kansas. And it does that without drawing down the KPERS budget.

    Kansas is facing a rapidly growing teacher shortage. Vacancies are now occurring not just in special education, math and sciences, but in social studies, physical education and elementary teaching as well. Although it has always been difficult to recruit teachers to come to rural areas, vacancies are now occurring in Manhattan, Emporia, Wichita and other communities that could previously rely on a supply of new graduates from their local universities.

    One stopgap to fill these vacancies is the pool of school teachers and administrators who have recently retired. However, complex rules implemented to prevent so-called “double-dipping” into the KPERS retirement fund have made it difficult for schools to hire back these veterans without their risking loss of their retirement.

    SB138 simplifies this process for Kansas schools, and provides a simple mechanism for school boards to hire retired teachers and administrators. They would apply to the KPERS office in Topeka who in turn would calculate the amount of ongoing KPERS surcharge that would be required to balance the KPERS budget. The local school board could then make the decision whether to hire the retirant at this cost. This bill is a WIN-WIN for all involved.

    This bill is not a partisan political issue.

    This bill is also not an added cost to taxpayers of the state nor does it erode KPERS. It is, in the parlance of budgeting, “revenue neutral.”

    But what is important to the citizens of Kansas is that, at a time of growing teacher shortage, SB138 will allow schools to bring back 200-300 qualified teachers and veteran administrators. At 20+ students per elementary teacher and about a hundred per secondary teacher, that is over ten thousand Kansas students and young citizens of Kansas who will not be killing time under a full-time substitute next fall … if our representatives in Topeka pass SB138.

Athletes running hurdles can seem a lot like everyday people navigating costs such as taxes on their way to economic prosperity.

Kansas’ state government is funded primarily from sales and income tax. If these taxes could serve as hurdles on our way to financial gain, then is one better than the other? Using the example of hurdles may shed light on the need to fund state government with consumption taxes and less of a reliance on income taxes.

Imagine you are running a 400 meter hurdle. Every hurdle you approach represents a tax paid, and only after you clear that hurdle by paying that tax, can you consume goods and services. The first hurdle you jump represents the tax paid today, while subsequent hurdles signify future tax payments.

A track consisting of a sales tax on all goods and services closely mirrors what we see when we watch hurdles. The sales tax rate that you pay on items today is the same as the tomorrow, just as hurdles are a consistent height throughout a race. This stability means that Kansans know what to expect, and they are encouraged to save their money and use it (with interest) to consume more in the future. Sales taxes encourage saving and future consumption, and that can grow the economy.

A track with an income tax of the same rate is different. In part, an income tax acts like a tax on goods and services, but over time their burden becomes larger. An income tax goes a step further by raising the price to consume in the future by taking a bite out of your interest gains when you save.

Instead of a track with consistently sized hurdles each hurdle would higher than the one before it, and you must use more energy with every jump. Income taxes make saving your money less attractive, decreasing future consumption far more than a sales tax would. An income tax discourages people to save, and people saving their money to use in the future, our economic growth slows.

This is why income taxes are a more destructive barrier to economic growth than sales tax. The less reliant Kansas’ tax structure is on the income tax, the more opportunities Kansans have to prosper economically.

In 2012, Kansas took more than $1,000 in income tax per person from its taxpayers, a rate higher than its neighboring states. By 2014, after the tax policy, that hurdle has dropped $133 in income tax per person and is now the lowest in the area.

If our state is to become the best place to start and grow a family or business, then we owe it to Kansans to create a predictable tax environment so they can easily see the finish line. Crafting a tax environment that shifts more to sales tax and less on the income tax will allow Kansans to grow their personal wealth.

Michael Austin is an economist with the Kansas Department of Revenue.

As a resident of the community, I was pleased to learn that Manhattan, Kansas, is set to host the first Senate Agriculture Committee farm bill hearing – a fitting location chosen by my colleague Chairman Pat Roberts to kick off formal discussions on the challenges and opportunities in authorizing our next farm bill.

The hearing will offer an opportunity for farmers and ranchers to voice the concerns I heard during my townhall meetings in each of Kansas’ 105 counties during the last Congress. It’s clear that producers are hurting and the downturn in the farm economy is impacting rural America. Overall farm income has been cut in half since 2013 and is likely to continue to decline this year, making it one of the worst economic times in farm country since the Great Depression.

So far, the farm bill discussion has largely been focused on the unique challenges facing dairy and cotton producers. These farmers are important to Kansas and the country, and I am eager to be an ally in working toward solutions for these producers. But, let us not forget the farm crisis in the High Plains that has hit wheat and sorghum farmers especially hard. Acres planted to hard red winter wheat in Kansas are at the second lowest level in the past 100 years, reflecting the economic reality currently facing wheat producers. The threat of the sugarcane aphid to sorghum is making it harder to make a profit on the traditionally low-input crop, meaning acres may fall by another 30 percent this year.

The 2014 Farm Bill has been successful on many fronts by protecting crop insurance and renewing our commitment to agriculture research, conservation and rural development programs. However, economic stress in farm country has also exposed weaknesses in the current legislation. The next farm bill must address inequities between counties in the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) program, provide stronger protection in Title I farm programs against extended periods of low prices, and reduce the threat of burdensome regulations that harm livestock producers.

While major revisions in farm policy are most appropriately addressed in the context of a farm bill, I’ve used my role on the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee to build on the successes of the 2014 Farm Bill, as well as attempt to address its shortcomings. The fiscal year 2017 Agriculture Appropriations bill increases agriculture research funding, expands food aid programs that export American commodities, and helps to avoid a credit crisis by making certain demand for USDA farm loans is satisfied. The bill also includes a pilot program aimed at reducing inequities in ARC payments and provides resources for USDA to establish a presence in Cuba to facilitate farmers’ ability to sell more food and agriculture products to the island nation.

There is no silver bullet to solve the High Plains farm crisis. Farmers have always dealt with changes in weather and volatile swings in commodity markets. However, if farmers from across the nation – cotton, livestock, wheat and rice producers included – stand shoulder-to-shoulder during the next farm bill, I’m confident we can work together to address the critical issues facing growers of every commodity.

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)

Kansas farmers and ranchers have always faced challenges in their livelihoods. It comes with the territory.

That said, it’s dry in wheat country. Dry all the way from the Colorado border in Stanton County to Manhattan.
On Feb. 6, Stanton County farmer and seed producer, Jim Sipes drove 360 miles from his farm southwest of Manter to eastern Kansas. Along the way, he saw thousands of acres of winter wheat even though planted acres are down in his region of southwestern Kansas.

“It’s difficult to make money on wheat right now,” Sipes says. “Some farmers plan to plant other crops like corn or grain sorghum on ground they might otherwise have planted to wheat.”

So what does the Kansas wheat crop look like?

There’s plenty of variability in the crop, according to the Stanton County farmer. Some of the fields sport good stands. Others look poor. While others have little or no stands at all. This wheat didn’t emerge until the moisture came in the way of rain and ice during the last days of January.

Sipes estimates his crop standability in the 70 percent range.

Such growth patterns bode badly for the wheat because it will not have enough time to tiller and produce a normal crop. And while that’s the way conditions look now, plenty can change depending on spring weather and the amount of moisture that falls.

Sipes believes the potential still exists for a “decent crop,” but the late emerging wheat may suffer in yield.
For this late developing crop, some wheat producers may choose not to apply fertilizer, fungicides or address other issues that could enhance the yield potential.

“I just spent the last few days, trying to decide whether to top dress my wheat or not,” Sipes says. “Until we received that inch of rain in late January, I probably wouldn’t have considered doing it. To apply fertilizer would have been an expense difficult to recoup with additional production.”

Without adding fertilizer, this means producers like Sipes would be extracting valuable substances from the soil with the crop they harvest from the fields later in the summer. Such nutrients are necessary to maintain crop and soil fertility.

“It’s important to put such important inputs into the soil to protect the long-term viability,” Sipes says.
Returning to the condition of the winter wheat, he says plenty of the wheat still wears a brown color but some of the crop is beginning to green up.

Some of this wheat suffered during the cold snaps in December and January. How much if any winter kill remains to be seen.

East of Great Bend and into the Salina area, the winter wheat crop begins to look a bit better, Sipes says. However, he still reports pockets of poor wheat as well.

“I’m still hoping for some favorable spring weather with timely moisture that will help our state’s wheat crop recover,” he says.

And while the southwestern Kansas wheat producer would like to think the price of wheat may go up because of some of the poor fields of wheat in southwestern Kansas and the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas, he’s convinced the value of wheat and the ability to sell it will depend on the value of the U.S. dollar.

“The future of agriculture in our state and the nation depends on our ability to move our grain and livestock around the world,” Sipes says. “We must send this message to the Trump administration. Agriculture needs more trade.”

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

Ad Astra Rural Jobs Act
On Monday, February 6, the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee held a hearing on the Ad Astra Rural Jobs Act.

Since I was the bill’s author, I testified to the committee describing the elements of the bill and why this rural jobs act would be beneficial to the state of Kansas. I described that the jobs act would offer a 20% tax credit beginning in tax year 2018 for certain investments from approved investment companies that will create job opportunities in rural areas of our state. The maximum amount of tax credits allowed is $20 million each year and the tax credit could be claimed for up to five years. The rural areas would be defined as a city with a population less than 60,000, not including urbanized areas that are adjacent to that city.

Businesses that receive investment funding would be required to relocate at least 60% of its principal business operation to a rural area, have fewer than 500 employees or have a federally adjusted gross income of less than $15 million. As the bill is written, these businesses would engage in industries related to manufacturing, plant sciences, technology, or agricultural technology. However, the Secretary of Commerce could determine if other industries qualify or if a location qualifies as rural area. I explained to the committee that with the Rural Opportunity Zones that were incorporated in 2012, this jobs act partners well with that program for job creation. I have been told by Representative Les Mason, chairman of the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee, that the Ad Astra Rural Jobs act will be worked in committee this week.

The Kansas Budget
In the weeks since the November Consensus Revenue Estimate (CRE), there has been much discussion about the revenue situation in Kansas. The economic challenges that the state faces are tied to a growth rate in tax receipts of 0.3% since FY 2014. While there have been some adjustments on the revenue side since passage of the 2012 tax plan, it is important to note the progress that has been made on reducing the size of government or reducing the cost of rising expenditures that the state has little to no control over.

Last week, we focused on some of the big picture numbers. Total State General Fund expenditures have increased by 0.3 percent ($17 million) from FY 2012 to FY 2016. During the same time period, entitlement expenditures (Human Services Caseloads) increased nearly $144 million. All other expenditures actually decreased by almost $127 million. When you break the expenditures down by function of Government, a good portion of state government has seen declines in spending, including a 6% reduction in General Government.

Human Services saw an increase of 7.1% during the FY 2012 to FY 2016 timeframe. Services are provided to the most vulnerable Kansans, including the frail, elderly, and disabled. Going forward, entitlement programs (KanCare, Medicaid Non-KanCare, Temporary Assistance to Families, and Reintegration/Foster Care) will continue to increase, although KanCare has kept the rate of growth at a more manageable growth.

In addition, there are other expenditures that continue to require funding. There are obligations to debt service and statutory obligations to the KPERS system. The solutions going forward will contain an effort to provide structural balance, while continuing to look for efficiencies in government.

Appropriations
This week in the Appropriations committee we focused on many of the budget committees reporting to the full committee the fiscal recommendations for fiscal years 2018 and 2019. The budget committees from General Government Budget, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Social Services reported their committee’s suggestions for various budgets for the state of Kansas.

In addition to the budget committee reports, the committee also held two bill hearings. The first was House Bill 2133, which would change the reporting date for the Consensus Revenue Estimates from April 20 to May 1. The second bill was House Bill 2068, which specifies enforcement of child support orders against those required to pay child support but are currently in arrears.

Taxes
Last week, the House Tax Committee held hearings on many tax proposals. On Monday, the Committee further explored sales tax exemptions, by hearing testimony on eight exemptions which were previously identified by the committee for further study. On Tuesday, they heard public testimony from several conferees on pieces of the Governor’s tax proposal, namely cigarette and alcohol taxes. Also on Tuesday and into Wednesday, the Committee heard additional testimony regarding an increase on the motor fuel tax and were briefed on taxing retirement benefits. Then Thursday, the committee held a bill hearing which contains an increase to the upper tax bracket from 4.6 to 5.25%, repeals the automatic tax rate reduction, and provides a deduction for medical expenses on the Kansas income tax form.

Busy Week In Topeka
Many committee hearings this week covered a wide range of issues that affect the citizens of Kansas. On Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, the House Health and Human Services committee held hearings regarding KanCare 2.0, or more commonly referred to as Medicaid Expansion. The Federal and State Affairs committee held hearings on altering the tax on slot machines for racinos, or gaming facilities that also offer gambling for horse and greyhound racing. That same committee also held a hearing on concealed carry licensure, as well. On Wednesday, Legislative Post Audit released their findings and savings if the school districts consolidated health insurance. Post Audit found that of the 101 districts they evaluated, the potential savings could be $63 million annually.

K-12 Education Budget
The K-12 Education Budget Committee is a newly created Committee to look at the budgets of K-12 Education including the Department of Education, the School for the Blind, and the School for the Deaf. The Committee is also charged with reviewing and making recommendations on school finance. So far this Session, the Committee has heard several briefings on topics and available resources related to School Finance including: Legislative Post Audits, Special Education, and Virtual Education. Members on a subcommittee on Virtual Education have been announced: Rep. Aurand, Chair; Rep. Patton, and Rep. Lusk. Last week, the Committee heard one bill and discussed two recommendations from the 2016 Alvarez and Marsal Efficiency Study: HB 2143 (procurement) and K-12 Benefits Program Consolidation. The K-12 Benefits Program Consolidation is found in HB 2142.

On Monday, the Committee will begin to examine individual school finance proposals, hearing from Mike O’Neal. On Tuesday, the Committee will hear HB 2242, enacting the Classroom-Based Funding Act. On Wednesday, the Committee will receive a briefing on the Legislative Post Audit on K-12 Benefit Consolidation, which will be released earlier that day. The Committee will also make recommendations on the FY ’18 and FY ’19 K-12 operating budget (not the school finance portion) for the Department of Education and for the School for the Blind and the School for the Deaf.

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.

Hello from Topeka!

We are getting closer to the half way point in the session with a whole lot of work to do. This past weekend I participated in the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce legislative forum and spoke at the Phillips County Soil Conservation Annual Banquet. This week we will continue the discussion on taxes, education and health care.

The taxation committee has spent a lot of time talking existing tax policy and hearing from several groups and individuals on their ideas of where they believe tax policy should be headed. One of those groups is the Rise Up Kansas Coalition, their bill is HB 2237. It calls for several tax increases including property, sales and fuel. I do not think there is much support for the proposal, but it was given a hearing. Also, the Committee had an informational discussion on HB 2283, which taxes retirement contributions by certain employees of the Board of Regents.

We also received an update on the Senate’s tax proposals, but by the end of the week the Senate did not have the votes at the time to move forward so we will see what happens on their side of the Capitol. By Thursday, the Committee worked and passed out favorably HB 2178, which reflects the Committee’s tax proposal. Components include contents of HB 2023, an adjustment to the tax rates found in HB 2178 (2.7, 5.25, and 5.45), inclusion of the itemized medical deduction, and repeal of the glide path to zero. I did not vote for the proposal; while there are some things I like in the bill, I think we can do better. This is the first step and I will continue to work with my colleagues to come up with a solution that will win the necessary votes to pass out of the house.

While we are all waiting to hear what the decision is from the Kansas Supreme Court in regards to school funding the K-12 Education Budget Committee begun hearing school finance ideas, plans, and legislation. One idea is the Legislature maintains its role as appropriators, but that the Kansas Department of Education (KSDE), along with the State Board of Education, be the allocators of resources. Also, this past week, the Committee heard HB 2242, which is a school finance plan developed by Rep. Scott Schwab. On Wednesday, the Committee received a briefing on the Legislative Post Audit report on the Health Insurance for School Districts audit. The audit addresses the Alvarez and Marsal study recommendation regarding savings from consolidating school district health insurance benefits. I do not hear much support for the proposal regarding the health insurance consolidation as proposed. My concern is that the way I see it, the savings will be on the backs of teachers and other personnel. Yes, we need to continue to search for savings, but this is not the way to go.

Also, this week the Health & Human Services Committee held a three-day hearing on Medicaid Expansion; the bill is HB 2064. There are several parts to expansion of KanCare and with the lack of certainty healthcare will be repealed at the federal level and the effect that would have on the amount of money the states are given to help cover the cost of expansion.

As you can see this is a lot of work still ahead of us.

During the session, my office is Room: 352-S. My phone number is: (785) 296- 7463 and email is: [email protected] and 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 my honor to serve as your representative.

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

Remember the days when if Republicans had majorities in the Kansas House and the Kansas Senate and the guy sitting in the governor’s office was a Republican, well, things generally took care of themselves, for better or worse.

Oh, that we were young again…

Leadership of the House and the Senate, Speaker Ron Ryckman, R-Olathe, and Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, are both talking about their plans to balance the budget this fiscal year and to put together a tax package that will restore revenues and make sure that the state which is broke now doesn’t stay broke.

And…neither is talking about passing tax and budget bills with majority votes in their chambers—that’s 63 in the House and 21 in the Senate. Now, in other times, you’d be relatively confident that of the 85 Republicans in the House, Ryckman could lasso 63, and in the Senate Wagle could gather up 21 of the 31 Republicans there to pass about anything they want, then send it down to the governor’s office for a signature.

Not happening this year.

Nobody’s certain whether any tax bill that either chamber comes up with is going to get signed by Gov. Sam Brownback, and that’s why the leadership is talking about the 84 House votes needed to override a veto and the 27 Senate votes to do the same.

The key, of course, is that Brownback has turned in his tax and budget plans that won’t cause much of a fuss for anyone if you don’t mind borrowing money and promising to repay it once Brownback is out of office. And, if that’s the budget plan—at least for Brownback—it’s a dandy. No inconveniencing folks who don’t drink and smoke with higher taxes.

Oh, and those LLC folks Brownback is protecting? You remember, the ones who if they are smart enough just to take the money their LLCs make and pocket it and don’t label it “wages,” or anything else that makes it subject to income tax, well, they get just mildly inconvenienced. Now, those LLCs pay a $40 filing fee, and Brownback would hike that by 500%–yes, 500%–to $200. Yep, but that’s only worth complaining about for most LLC owners if they’re on their third…or maybe fourth drink at the country club.

Ryckman’s and Wagle’s chambers have produced tax bills for the state fiscal year starting July 1, but which stretch back to New Year’s Day with higher rates. The Senate has a “cut” bill to pare at least $325 million from spending in the remainder of this fiscal year, but nobody seems happy about the cuts to K-12 and higher education.

So, the Senate has a tax and cut program, the House has a tax program but no cuts for the current fiscal year yet, but neither chamber’s leader is confident about getting the other chamber to agree, nor that Brownback won’t veto the bills.

That’s where the 84 in the House and the 27 in the Senate become key to overriding his vetoes, but Republican leaders in both chambers aren’t confident they have the votes for overrides, even if they could come to agreement on a plan.

Yes, something a little different here, and it might be the subtle movement of Republicans in both chambers from the Brownback-supporting “hard right” of the party to the Brownback-questioning centrists. This might be the chance for Democrats to hold their noses and choose GOP centrists as friends to swap provisions with to get a bill they could not only pass, but override a veto.

That’s where it gets very different this year. If Democrats are going to help pass veto-proof bills, they’re going to demand concessions, and Republicans are going to have to hold their noses and grant those concessions, or at least some of them.

So, we’re in the weeks of bargaining, and watching who is holding whose nose…

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’m always raving about all the wildlife and outdoor adventures we have here in Kansas, but much like an inverse bucket list, there are also things I’m glad we DON’T have here.

The other night, I watched a TV show about the Florida Everglades. The host of the show was there to try and catch a monster everglades bull shark, and as sort of a rite-of-passage, his local guides made him first swim with alligators and then help them catch a huge python snake which are an invasive species to the everglades and are wreaking havoc with its fragile ecosystem. I’ve been trapping muskrats in the McPherson Valley wetlands just outside Inman, which involves wading around in marshes of cattails and marsh grass that look a little like areas of the Everglades.

I’m eternally grateful I don’t have to keep my eyes peeled for gators’ and pythons; geez, I’m glad we don’t have those in Kansas.

I think Joyce and I must have been storm chasers in a previous life; when the tornado sirens blare and the TV weathers guys are yellin’ at us to get in our storm cellars or go to the basement, we’re bustin’ out lawn chairs and watching for the twister, despite the devastation they can cause. Some of the memories I’ll take with me to the grave are pictures and news footage showing cities and states ravaged by hurricanes like Katrina, and of the huge devastating walls of water produced by tsunamis as they wash cars and buildings through the streets of seaside countries like Haiti. So as much as I’d like to own some oceanfront property outside Inman, I’ll take the occasional tornado that can wipe out parts of towns along its way over a hurricane or tsunami that can wipe out the entire state; geez I’m glad we don’t have those in Kansas.

The adventure that inspired this column came from a recent trip to Mesa, Arizona where Joyce and I spent time with my dad who winters there. He has a place in a nice “snowbird park” and one of the activities he enjoys is picking oranges, lemons and grapefruits with other guys from the park. The Mesa and Scottsdale areas are havens for citrus fruit trees. There are acres of commercial orange groves within the Mesa city limits, plus many homeowners have citrus trees in their backyards like homeowners in Kansas have apple, apricot and pear trees. And like homeowners here, many people don’t want or use most of the citrus fruit from those trees. Each February a crew of guys from dad’s park go one day each week and pick unwanted fruit for homeowners, then bag the fruit and take it back to the park and put it out for any residents who want it.

Many of the homeowners even give the guys gas money for picking and taking their unwanted fruit. It’s a win-win deal all the way around, but the homeowners there seemed much more serious about getting rid of their unwanted oranges, lemons and grapefruit than homeowners here are about getting rid of their unwanted fruit, and I often wondered why. I found out it’s because of a rodent called a “roof rat.”

Roof rats are also known as black rats (but are not really black) and are slightly distinguished from other rats by the length of their tails which are longer than their bodies. Roof rats are historically thought to be the vermin that spread the Plague or Black Death during the Middle Ages. They were first noticed in the Phoenix AZ area in 2001, and have become a problem throughout the area because fresh fruit and especially citrus fruit is their favorite meal. I found a website maintained by Maricopa County AZ, which contains the cities of Phoenix, Scottsdale and Mesa, called www.roofrat.net. Its mission statement reads “To help neighborhoods work, Donate quality fruit and Eradicate roof rats.”

On a list of roof rats preferred foods, the top 6 were citrus fruits, which according to the website they will even eat off the tree. To help eradicate roof rats, the website urges homeowners to “Promptly and completely pick all fruit (ripe or not) on citrus and other fruit and nut trees and pick up all fallen fruit every season.” I was told that Scottsdale residents may even incur a hefty fine for not doing so. Roof rats nest in attics, hedges and even in trees.

Maybe writing this column was a lesson in just how good we Kansans have it compared to some other states. Yes, we have ticks and brown spiders which both require our respect. We have earth shattering thunderstorms and tornados, but not hurricanes. We have bull snakes, rat snakes and the occasional prairie rattler, but not gators’ and pythons. We have mice, rats and pack rats (which can be a problem if not discovered,) but not roof rats to eat the fruit off our trees and infest our neighborhoods.

Geez I’m glad we don’t have those in Kansas!

Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].

By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

What do you do with 100 extra mules? That’s probably not a problem you’ve dealt with lately, but it’s an interesting sidelight on the early career of a Kansas entrepreneur years ago. He became a titan of Kansas business, a behind-the-scenes leader in the nation’s government, and a tremendous benefactor of rural Kansas.

Dane Hansen was born in 1883 to pioneer parents. His father was a Danish immigrant who came to Kansas and met and married a young schoolteacher in Logan. Logan is in Phillips County in northwest Kansas.

Dane grew up in Logan. He had the mind of an entrepreneur. As a child, his father had a grist mill. Young Dane would go to the river crossing to watch for farmers bringing wagonloads of wheat to town to be processed. Dane would ask for a ride and then direct them to his father’s mill, until it was time to go again for the next prospective customer. That’s pretty creative.

After high school, he took one year of business studies in Missouri and returned to the family’s general merchandise store in 1905. His career as an entrepreneur was just beginning.

He and his father opened a lumberyard. Then they expanded their ranching operation, breeding Hereford cattle.

What about the mules? When the U.S. Army needed mules in World War I, Dane Hansen scoured the countryside and bought mules to sell to the Army. That worked fine until the Armistice. Suddenly the war was over, and Dane Hansen had more than 100 mules with no market for them.

For most people, that would have been a disaster, but Dane Hansen had the mind of an entrepreneur. He turned a negative into a positive, finding a creative way to use those mules. He set up a construction company and used those mules for earth moving and then to build roads. That was the way roads were built in those days, and it was a success.

The Hansen Construction Company was to grow and diversify. Then young Dane tried yet another enterprise: Oil. He started buying oil leases in northwest Kansas. In 1941, oil was discovered south of Logan. This led to Dane Hansen creating his own exploration company and ultimately becoming one of the largest independent producers in Kansas.

Good citizenship was another hallmark of Dane Hansen. At age 27, he was appointed Logan’s city clerk. He served his community in several capacities. He became deeply involved at the national level as well, although he did not seek the limelight. From 1920 to 1960, he never missed a Republican National Convention.

He was a national figure in Republican politics. He was a multi-millionaire in business. He could have located the headquarters of his operations anywhere. Instead, he kept his office right where he began: Logan, Kansas, population 633 people. Now, that’s rural.

Dane Hansen was a devoted family man, enjoying his nieces and nephews, although he himself never married. Interested in youth, he established the Dane G. Hansen Boy Scout Camp at Kirwin.

In 1964, when symptoms of ill health began to surface, he thought about how to leave his inheritance and put it to the best use. The result was the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, established after his death on his 82nd birthday in 1965.

To date, the Foundation has donated millions of dollars to various good causes benefitting Logan, northwest Kansas, and the state as a whole. His estate also supported the creation of the magnificent Dane G. Hansen Memorial Plaza and Museum in his hometown. This museum of international artifacts and traveling exhibits has been called the “Smithsonian of the Plains.”

Senator Harry Darby described Dane Hansen as “a symbol of all that’s good about Kansas. He had all the virtues: integrity, humility, honesty, kindness, dependability, loyalty.”

What do you do with 100 extra mules? You make a problem into an opportunity. That’s the spirit of entrepreneur Dane Hansen, whose life made a difference in rural Kansas.

Dane Hansen was forward-thinking in philanthropy as well as in business. We’ll learn more about the remarkable work of the Dane G. Hansen Foundation next week.

Archeological training teaches students to look for human-altered landscapes. This includes out of the ordinary coloration, unusual shapes or formations that don’t match surroundings, or obvious construction such as cliff dwellings. Southwest Colorado’s sagebrush plain schools the eye to distinguish differing hues of greenery indicating soil disturbances or recognize mounds with donut-like collapsed centers. In western Kansas, students of vanished cultures work harder to identify signs of earlier occupation. That said, historic and prehistoric signs tell stories for those who care to read them.

A trip over Hwy 9 between Highways 281 and 183 is a good place to look for historic construction slowing melting back to the earth. This two lane parallels the old Missouri Pacific Railroad that wound through Gaylord, Cedar, Claudell, Kirwin, Glade, Speed, Logan, Densmore, and Edmond. Each little town had a depot where farmers picked up deliveries or shipped grain, cattle, milk, and other produce. In most places, those distinctive rooflines have gone the way of horse and buggy. However, locals in Cedar and Kirwin preserved their whistle stops in bright yellow that provide interesting photo opportunities.

From the beginning of this route, observers note an undulating rise out of place from the surrounding prairie. If they recall their history accurately, they realize Jay Gould’s Mo Pac crossed here, stopping at each hamlet. Humans and beasts scraped surrounding soil to build the foundation supporting those clacking wheels. Folks with metal detectors and permission to go on private property occasionally find their detritus at sites where these workers rested and ate. Until the line folded, train cars carried grass- fattened cattle and sun-ripened grain to market.

With such thoughts in mind, curious wanderers might turn off the main highway to investigate Kirwin Refuge. Just before their detour, those visitors passed well-constructed ductwork carved into a high hill’s base. Such conduits carried run off from the rail bed crowning the rise. After they turn, a straightway descending from the crown and vanishing into the west compels attention. It seems it has no purpose. Now a mowed bed bordered by wild plums, this was a section of the old track.

Over time, farmers have plowed portions of earthen foundations until they blend into surrounding fields. Inattentive passersby won’t notice the on/ off again appearance of the old Mo Pac. Then a couple of miles past Speed, a bridge abutment rising from the middle of nowhere draws attention. This structure is so out of place. Without knowing this was a once a busy avenue of commerce, curious sightseers leave wondering.

I hope that mysterious man- made formations will interrupt the rises and flats between Highways 281 and 183 well into the future. Historians and photographers, amateur and professional, can spend happy hours traversing what began as a game and Indian trail, evolved to a stage road to Colorado goldfields, then became a leg of the Mo Pac route. For now, it’s a quiet byway broken by unnatural colors and unusual formations out of place on a native prairie. Here’s to the stories those disturbances tell.

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.