Well, what a wonderful week it has been to live in Kansas; half the state has burned to the ground and the other half can’t get their fire trucks out of the garage because they’re snowed-in!

After church last Sunday, I overheard a conversation between a rancher in our congregation and a visitor from out-of-state. “Does it ever rain in this bloomin’ state?” asked the visitor. “Oh sure” answered the rancher. “Do you remember the story in the Bible where it rained for 40 days and 40 nights?” “Yes” answered the visitor, “I’m familiar with the story of Noah’s Ark.” “Well,” began the rancher, “That time we got over two inches!”

Yesterday’s blizzard conditions in the northwestern part of the state reminded me of the first youth turkey hunt I attended eight or nine years ago. It took place the first Saturday of April in Reno County near Hutchinson, and I was privileged to tag along to get a story.

It was cold the evening before, but when I stepped out of the garage early Saturday morning I was greeted by a frigid north wind AND a couple inches of snow. I sat huddled with the youth hunter and his guide in a blind made from large tree limbs stacked together. I’m usually on top of the whole “dress-right-for-the-weather” thing, but that morning I got it wrong. I nearly froze, but I got to see a first-time youth turkey hunter bag a beautiful Kansas Wild Turkey.

Kansas Youth and Disabled turkey season starts April 1st and runs through April 12th, and kids, if you’re signed up for one of these hunts, you are in for a great time. You will each be paired with a seasoned Kansas turkey hunter from the area where you will hunt, and those guys will do whatever it takes to help you harvest a turkey.
There are a few things you should do in preparation. First, make sure you have the required tag and license.

If you are under 16, you need ONLY the youth turkey permit. However, if you are 16, you will need an adult turkey permit AND a resident hunting license. This will be checked when you all gather as a group the evening before the hunt, and you will not be permitted to hunt if you don’t have them by the morning of the hunt. Also when you gather the night before, you will all “pattern” your shotguns; this entails shooting a few shells through the gun you will carry on the hunt so you know just how the BB’s from the shells hit the target, as every shotgun is a little different.

If I were you, I would shoot a few shells through that gun at home before you go “to get a leg up” on the process. And be sure to check the weather so you can dress appropriately for the day; I could think of nothing worse than being too cold to enjoy the experience.

As for our need for rain, and with Easter Sunday upon us, I hear it’s been so dry that the Baptists are now sprinkling, the Methodists are using wet-wipes, the Presbyterians are giving rain checks and the Catholics are praying the wine will turn back to water. Continue to thank God for His creation as you Explore Kansas Outdoors.

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

The proposed bond and sales tax issues for a series of Hays USD 489 building upgrades have been scheduled for a June vote. Do you support the sales tax portion of the ballot?

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$1 billion forfeited, with more money lost each day, each hour. Inaction makes the problem worse with every passing minute. Surely such a situation should spur Kansas lawmakers to action.

For two years running, Kansas has turned down the opportunity to expand Medicaid eligibility, and to have the federal government pay the full cost. This winter the tab for saying “no” topped $1 billion and continues to mount.

Did the refusal to accept these federal dollars bring some other benefit to Kansas? Will anyone pay lower taxes as a result?

No. The money is simply relinquished, gone from the state economy, a tragic, mind-blowing loss to Kansas.

150,000 more Kansans could have had health coverage for the last two years.  Most of these individuals work, but their earnings are too low for them to afford health insurance, and they are not eligible for an insurance subsidy.

Some still received health services by showing up at hospital emergency rooms, but those hospitals took a loss by providing uncompensated care.   Especially for rural hospitals, such losses make financial survival much more difficult.

Most states have already expanded Medicaid eligibility.  Kansas remains one of 19, predominantly southern states, that have held ideologically firm against Obamacare.  That’s the reason—a blind objection to anything that might be connected to Obamacare.  Policy challenges over cost or implementation strategy have all been answered.

Do you want Medicaid to look more like a private insurance plan?  Then set it up that way.  Arkansas did.  Should recipients pay something?  Fine.  Indiana requires that.   What about incentivizing healthy behavior?  Okay.  Iowa took that approach.   Should expansion be budget neutral, now and in the future?  Sounds great.  A bill proposed in Kansas does exactly that.

Kansas lawmakers could solve this in a hurry if they did their policymaking job and figured out how to make expansion work on Kansas terms.  Call it KanCare expansion, if that helps, but go forward.

When Republican Asa Hutchinson became the new governor of Arkansas in 2015, he sought to continue the state’s expansion that had been previously put in place.  Explaining why, he argued that turning away federal dollars that more than 30 other states were receiving would punish Arkansas.  “It is perfectly consistent, it is perfectly conservative and logical to oppose Obamacare as a federal policy and yet accept federal dollars under the Medicaid program in Arkansas.”

Exactly. Hurting ourselves to protest Obamacare conjures up the old adage of cutting off the nose to spite the face.

Most Kansas citizens have arrived at that same conclusion.  Whatever Kansans may think of Obamacare, independent surveys by the Docking Institute and the Kansas Hospital Association both show wide approval of expanding Medicaid eligibility.

When Gov. Brownback dismissed expansion in his State of the State address, when House Speaker Merrick removed potential yes-votes from the health committee, when Americans for Prosperity began targeting pro-expansion legislators with negative mailers, they clung to an anti-Obamacare ideology at the expense of the economic and physical health of citizens.  By refusing these federal dollars, Kansas engages in needless self-destructive behavior.

More than $1 billion has already been lost to the Kansas economy.  These funds cannot be recovered, but losses can be cut going forward.  A bill is ready that legislators can still pass this session.  If lawmakers wait, they’ll be shortchanging Kansas hundreds of millions more.

Duane Goossen is a Senior Fellow at the Kansas Center for Economic Growth and formerly served 12 years as Kansas Budget Director.

Hello from Topeka.

We are in the final days of the 2016 legislative session, with plans to have first adjournment by Easter weekend. Then we will spend about a month in our districts and come back for the veto session which could be quick or take several days. It is a ‘5 hour energy & Red Bull’ week as there are many bills to be worked and voted on, in addition to finding answers to the budget situation and the future of school finance.

Several bills were passed out of the house last week.

SB 175 concerns Religious Liberty on Campus. It maintains that religious clubs be treated the same as other student associations and reserves the right to the same benefits, such as access to facilities, campus communications, recognition and registration on campus, and any funding stream that is also available to other student associations. The freedom to practice sincerely held religious beliefs is enshrined in the founding documents of our country, transcending ever-changing cultural trends. This is a religious liberty bill that protects campus religious groups from discrimination. Clubs should be able to establish and maintain parameters for leadership and membership as directed by their sincerely held religious belief. Doing so should not compromise their recognition from universities because that would be a violation of the constitution’s protection of the free exercise of religion. This bill reinforces Kansas’s protection of the rights of religious groups to gather as their conscience and beliefs dictate. I voted in favor of the bill and will watch closely that we do not experience dangerous unintended consequences.

HB 2468 is a bill that will maintain the ability of BB gun clubs, such as those operated by 4-H chapters, to continue to use tax-payer funded school facilities to practice target shooting after school hours, similar to other clubs or sports teams. The bill does not require local school boards to allow BB guns to be kept on campus or stored in lockers. That is a regulation left to the school board. In our area, most of these programs are conducted in buildings on the fairgrounds or armories. I voted in favor of the bill.

And a bill that took on a lot of debate was HB 2595 which declares that cities, counties and other political subdivisions cannot adopt their own nutritional labeling or regulations of food products on private businesses within their jurisdiction, such as when NYC Mayor Bloomberg imposed a ban on sugary drinks above a certain size. The bill is intended to prevent intrastate disparities in the guidelines restaurants and other food services are required to meet. The bill does not keep local entities from adopting regulations on their own food service facilities, or prevent them from offering healthy food education.

The House also gave initial approval to monumental reform of the Kansas juvenile justice system, paving the way for a system focused on hope, rehabilitation, and community based services, rather than incarceration for underage offenders in the form of SB 367. The bill moves toward rehabilitation that uses a home-based approach of community service and parental participation. Juvenile offenders who may not have family structure to support rehabilitation will be eligible to be classified as a child in need of care (CINC), rather than as an offender, which will help keep them out of juvenile correctional facilities and prevent exposure to any negative influences there that may lead to further crime.

The goal of the reform is to focus on rehabilitation for youth instead of incarceration, which statistics show can prevent them from reoffending. Incarceration will remain an option for youth who present a danger to society. Rehabilitation instead of incarceration is shown by evidence to be more effective, less costly, and keep youth offenders closer to home. I voted in favor of the bill, which will probably need to be tweaked again next year. Many are pleased that it is a start.

Visitors in Topeka this week included: Joyce & Dennie Lofgreen, from Norton, their daughter Holly and grandchildren Ava and Jillian. Also, the seniors from Northern Valley High School in Almena: Elexsa Anderson, Colten Bach, Brooke Baird, Sarah Baird, Camden Cox, Mat Florence, Briana Fuemmeler, Allison Keith, Talia Lowry, Brianna Martin, Dalton Smith and Shayna Vincent. Their sponsor and van driver was Mr. Jason Dibble and another van was driven by Richard Ames.

I visited with many people over the weekend in Hays, Nicodemus, Phillipsburg and Plainville, and hope to see you in your community in April.

Please reach out to me if you have concerns, questions or issues that need to be addressed. You can keep up on things by following and liking Ken for Kansas on Facebook. During the session I can be reached: Ken Rahjes, Kansas State Capitol, 168-W, Topeka, KS 66612; Phone: (785) 296-7676; Email: [email protected]; or 1798 E 900 Rd, Agra, KS 67621; Cell: (785) 302-8416 or [email protected].

You can also track bills and get specific information by going to kslegislature.org.

The United States needs the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to compete in world markets. The trade agreement with 11 other countries in the Pacific Rim — including Canada and Mexico – could eliminate 18,000 tariffs countries place on U.S. goods and services.

Ratifying TPP could boost annual net farm income in the United States by $4.4 billion, compared to not approving the pact, according to American Farm Bureau Federation economic analysis.

“TPP will mean more exports for everything we raise in America and Kansas,” says Barton County farmer stockman Keith Miller. Miller also serves as chair of the international trade advisory committee for the American Farm Bureau Federation. “Right now, our current trade policy puts our farmers, ranchers, workers and businesses at a disadvantage, with higher costs for American goods.”

The TPP agreement is expected to increase cash receipts and net exports from Kansas by $303.7 million and $213.7 million per year respectively, AFBF estimates.

Increased marketing opportunities for Kansas farmers and ranchers could add more than 1,600 jobs for the Kansas economy, Miller says. Eliminating tariffs and other trade barriers on Kansas ag exports to TPP-partner countries will increase trade for beef, pork, soybeans and processed food products.

Export sales make an important contribution to the Kansas farm economy. In 2014, cash receipts for Kansas ag commodities totaled $16.6 billion.

“Our Kansas cattle industry led all other ag products with nearly $9 billion in cash receipts in 2014,” Miller says. “TPP passage is expected to increase beef cash receipts by $151 million per year.”

This is driven by a $139.3 million per year increase in direct exports to TPP countries.

With TPP, Japan will eliminate 74 percent of duties on beef imports within 16 years, according to AFBF analysis. This includes reducing a tariff of 38.5 percent to 9 percent within 16 years on fresh, chilled and frozen beef cuts.

Additional AFBF analysis forecasts farm-price increases for corn (5 cents per bushel), soybeans (12 cents per bushel), wheat (2 cents per bushel) and rice (16 cents per hundredweight).

AFBF also predicts price increases for beef ($2.66 per hundredweight), pork ($2.45 per hundredweight) and poultry ($1.40 per hundredweight). In the dairy sector, prices will increase for butter ($2.81 per hundredweight), cheese ($1.68 per hundredweight), nonfat dry milk ($1.29 per hundredweight) and all milk (21 cents per hundredweight).

Ninety-five percent of the world’s consumers live outside U.S. borders. American-made products and services remain in demand, making American exports a vital pillar of our 21st century economy. When the rules are fair, Americans can out-compete anyone in the world.

Urge Congress to ratify TPP and help ensure U.S. farmers, stockmen, businessmen and workers compete in today’s global economy.

John Schlageck is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas. Born and raised on a diversified farm in Hoxie, his writing reflects a lifetime of experience, knowledge and passion.

By Steve Gilliland

Whether it’s fishing along a deserted stretch of riverbank, or attempting to sit motionless and silently under a tree or bush awaiting a spring gobbler, I’ve always noticed that there seems to be an apparent abundance of woodpeckers in the spring. I’m not complaining, mind you as their staccato hammering is a nice percussion addition to nature’s spring symphony. It’s just that I seem to hear so many more of them in spring than any other time of the year. Well, I believe I’ve found the answer to my question, and here’s a little “woodpecker 101” to boot.

Woodpeckers are found everywhere on the planet except Australia, New Zealand and Madagascar. The largest is the great slaty in Southeast Asia that can grow to 20 inches long, and the smallest are only 3 to 4 inches long and belong to a group from South America called the piculets. Kansas is home to about a dozen species.

Woodpeckers mate for life, and after eggs are laid, both parents help with incubation. They are omnivores, meaning they eat most anything, and their diet includes insects and insect larvae, tree sap, seeds and nuts. Most woodpeckers have long tongues to reach deep into holes to extract insects and larvae. That tongue can be as long as four inches on certain species and when not in use it’s actually stored wrapped around the back of its head in a special sort of pouch between the skin and the skull. Woodpeckers are easy to spot in flight as they have a very different and distinct flight pattern. They flap their wings three times and then glide, then three more flaps, then glide, etc. until they reach their destination; this flight pattern never changes.

I’m sure we’ve all seen woodpeckers hanging vertically from the side of a tree as they dig for insects, and God has specifically designed them for all aspects of that job. The toes of their feet point both forward and backwards to hold them in place, and they have long stiffened tail feathers that prop them up like leaning against the back of a chair. Their beaks are long, slender and uniquely self-sharpening, and the machine-gun-like sound we hear them making as they drill for insects and grubs is known as “drumming.” Woodpeckers brains are protected by special air pockets in their skulls that cushions each blow as they drum, which can be 20 times per second and amount to more than 10, 000 times each day.

I’ve always thought that woodpeckers hammered away on trees and poles solely to search for insects and larvae, but I’ve learned that’s only part of the story. Both male and female woodpeckers drum, and besides digging for food, they drum to excavate den holes in dead trees, which they do anew each year, and since woodpeckers do not have vocal songs, they drum to communicate, and to establish territories and attract mates if they don’t have one. So it all fits that I would hear them more often now in early spring as they prepare new nests, establish their territories and communicate to prospective mates.

Ya’ know, the Kansas outdoors is one huge classroom, and it’s great when I also learn something from what I write. And by the way, this year the most famous woodpecker of all times, Woody, turns 76 years old; that’s a lot of drummin’!

Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!

Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected].

By Martin Hawver

The talk is getting a little louder, in this week before first adjournment of the Legislature on Thursday or Friday, that there might just be a special session of the Legislature this June.

Yes, after the month off for Spring Break, the so-called “veto session” of the Legislature is scheduled to start April 27 and if lawmakers hold it to the presumptive 90-day rule (it took 113 days last year), legislators could be free for fund-raising and campaigning by May 18, or maybe a little sooner.

But lawmakers are already wondering whether they can assemble and pass a new school finance law that will satisfy the Kansas Supreme Court’s February ruling that the state is unconstitutionally and unequally distributing funds to local school districts for their Local Option Budgets and capital outlay funds. So far, no bill has been passed that would meet that ruling and prevent the high court from shutting down schools July 1 if its equalization order isn’t met.

Remember 2005? That’s when lawmakers returned for a two-week session (June 22–July 6) to deal with school finance problems identified by the high court.

Oh, and there was that quickie session, in September of 2013, when the Legislature speedily enacted a 50-year minimum sentence for first-degree murder. No real political downside for returning to duty for just a day to get tougher on crime, is there?

But the school finance equity solution is harder and represents a test of power between the Legislature and the Supreme Court, and the court holds another gavel here—shutting down public schools if its order isn’t met.

There are lawmakers who are probably wondering about their vacation/campaign plans if they are called back.

There is also another more politically complicated—can you believe that?—issue looming, the state’s projected budget deficit.

So far it looks like Kansas will be at least $30 million below zero on June 30, the end of the fiscal year, and as monthly revenues trickle in, chances are considered good that the unconstitutional deficit might grow.

Lawmakers might know enough about the future of revenues to meet that necessary budget balance when they return from Spring Break to make some spending shuffles and cuts. It’s too late for any tax increase to be approved in time to raise any new money to balance the budget. That means Gov. Sam Brownback is going to have to find a way—or alternatively, have the opportunity—to balance the budget single-handedly.

The options there aren’t pretty. There’s the freshly passed $100 million late-payment for the state pension fund, or there’s taking more money from the shrinking state highway fund, or…there’s selling off future receipts from the tobacco industry master settlement agreement, essentially a payday loan that will likely lead to a rollback of decades-old services to children and youths of the state.

Or…there’s the point-and-shoot option, where the governor takes money from existing state programs that he doesn’t feel are necessities in a government he would like to shrink in order to meet that $1 budget balance required by June 30 by the state constitution.

Any of those options may—or may not—be reason enough for lawmakers to return to a special session this summer, depending on whether those options draw public outcry that threatens the Republican control of the Legislature for the coming two years—and the final two years of Brownback’s term.

There’s the chance, of course, that the Supreme Court will issue an order saying “never mind.” Or that money floods into the bank in the next few weeks.

H’mmm…that special session is looking more likely than not…

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

John Richard Schrock

The just released identical SB 513 and HB 2737 bills throw a hissy fit over the possibility that some students will use transexuality as a rationale to be “peeping toms” and enter the opposite sex restroom for prurient interests. Not only would such a spur-of-the-moment excuse not be accepted by any competent school administrator, no youngster would want to falsely claim that label.

To solve this non-problem, these bills go back a century to recognize only the sex “identified at birth by a person’s anatomy.” Legislators appear clueless that for some children, that is exactly the problem.

When a couple is expecting, and they don’t yet know the sex of their child, the first words they want to hear at childbirth is whether “It’s a boy” or “It’s a girl.” But sometimes the doctor has to say “I’ll get back to you on that.” Sometimes genitalia are ambiguous—not clearly male or female.

Physicians can look at chromosomes, biopsy gonads, and check hormone levels to make an initial assignment—but it remains tentative. This initial assignment may not match what the child will come to “feel.” Testosterone or estrogens cause a brain difference in the second half of our fetal development that will only express itself a few years later—usually between the ages of 4 and 8.

Dr. John Money at Johns Hopkins University was the first to specialize in these ambiguities beginning in the 1950s. Among his many patients, their feelings of masculinity or femininity usually aligned with their attraction to the opposite sex—but not always.

Men vary from masculine to effeminate; and men attracted sexually to other men are not always effeminate. Women exhibit a range of femininity; and women sexually attracted to other women are not necessarily masculine. To separate the scale of masculine-to-feminine from sexual ideation, John Money borrowed the term “gender” from its use in language.

And look around at this wonderful variation in gender identity that enriches our society. Not every boy is a John Wayne nor every girl a Marilyn Monroe.

There is a gradation to gentler boys and to “tomboy” girls that greatly enriches our cultural life.

The Kansas bills’ reference to anatomy-at-birth ignores the complexities of gender and sexuality that have become solid science over the last 60 years.

Yes, usually XY chromosomes result in a male, and XX chromosomes cause a female. But there are variations from XO to XXY, XXYY, XXXY and others.

One-out-of 5,000 have XO, one out of a thousand are XYY, one out of 500 are XXY, and some persons are a mosaic of XY and XO. There are many thousands of Kansans affected by unusual chromosomal, anatomical and hormone variations.

What appears to be an anatomically normal baby girl can have XY chromosomes in every cell and possess testes; but the testosterone produced is ignored by body cells that lack receptors. The external anatomy of this XY baby appears completely female at birth.

Every boy has a small amount of estrogens produced by fat and other tissues. And every girl has some testosterone produced by the adrenal glands.

These hormones vary in amount, person-to-person and over our lifetimes. Uncle Joe may have smoother skin. Aunt Louise may grow a slight mustache.

Finally, there is the recent brain research of Dick Swaab and his team. They located a section of the brain hypothalamus that varies in size with masculinity and femininity. The brain of an anatomical boy who felt he was a girl since age six, had the nerve center of a normal girl. Yet homosexual men do not, additional biological proof that gender identity does not always match with sexual anatomy or ideation.

Most biology students come away from this knowledge thankful that their chromosomes match their anatomy that matches their hormones that matches their brain development. And a few are thankful that perhaps now, others will understand the situations when these do not match.

Altogether, having some form of sexual or gender ambiguity is more common than all cases of Down Syndrome and cystic fibrosis combined. Therefore nearly everyone knows someone who secretly has some form of gender or sexual ambiguity; they just keep it hidden.

This current legislation, the “Student Physical Privacy Act,” is based on outdated, simple-minded ideas that everyone should be John Wayne or Marilyn Monroe.

It perpetuates an intolerance based in ignorance. It is 19th Century thinking.

Education Bill Hearing Held
On Tuesday, March 15, the House Appropriations committee finally conducted a hearing on the education bill that had been introduced to address the February Kansas Supreme Court ruling on the funding of K-12 education.

The main components of House Bill 2731 are that it would re-establish the funding mechanism of the former financing formula that was eliminated with the CLASS Act, or better known as the block grant funding bill. The entire finance formula is not going to be reinstated, just the portion of the formula that addresses the equity portion of the lawsuit on which the Supreme Court has rendered its decision. They have yet to state their position on the adequacy funding of the Gannon lawsuit. This bill would address that equity portion and reinstate the funding for Capital Outlay and Supplemental General State Aid.
When the block grant funding went into effect on July 1, 2015, the school districts from across the state received their portion for Capital Outlay that was the same amount that they had received for the 2014-2015 school year. This amount was to be the same in the next school year, until a new school finance formula was created. Since the court has ruled that that funding is not equitable, this bill reestablishes the formula for determining Capital Outlay funding as it was prior to the implementation of the block grant funding.

In determining the amount of funding for supplemental general state aid, like the formula calculation for Capital Outlay, the old formula based on the school district’s assessed valuation per pupil, and if they would fall under the 81.2 percent, that school district will receive additional funding.

House Bill 2731 also removes the provision of the block grant funding bill by exhausting the Extraordinary Needs Fund that was devised to financially assist districts if they experienced extraordinary cases where additional funding was needed. Since the Extraordinary Needs Fund would be abolished, that would place those funds back into the State General Fund to be used to pay for part of the supplemental general state aid appropriation. House Bill 2731 failed to make it out of the Appropriations committee on Thursday, March 17.

LLC Tax Loophole Bill Has Hearing
Since the passage of the 2012 tax plan, there has been a long criticism over the portion of that tax plan with the income tax exemption for certain businesses, namely LLCs. At the implementation of the tax plan, it was expected that approximately 119,000 businesses would be exempt from income taxes ballooned from that original number to over 330,000. With this miscalculation, namely from many existing businesses converting to the exempt business types, has caused much of the financial distress we are currently facing. On Tuesday, March 15, the House Taxation committee held a hearing that would place these exempt businesses back on the income tax rolls, which would generate $260.9 million, and would then buy down the sales tax rate on food from the current rate of 6.5% to a rate of 2.6%.

Horse and Dog Track Bill Hearing Held
During the four sessions that I have served the 109th Kansas House, there has always been bill introductions regarding changes to the expanded gaming act of 2007 that would change the tax rate that slot machines at operating Horse and Dog tracks are required to send to the state of Kansas.

On Tuesday, March 15, there was a dramatic attempt to circumvent the Speaker of the House to have the bill that was introduced, by a procedural move, brought up as the first item of business to be discussed on that day. After a rules committee decision that this procedure was not in order, the bill was not debated on the House floor. Given the dramatic scene on Tuesday, the House Appropriations committee had already scheduled a hearing on this bill, House Bill 2537, for Wednesday, March 16. We conducted the hearing and there were many supporters and many opponents regarding this legislation.
The basis of this bill is that the current taxing element on slot machines are not uniform for the state owned casinos and for the Greyhound and horse tracks, also referred to as racinos, throughout the state of Kansas. The three tracks that are identified in this bill, which currently are not operational and would require a vote in each of their respective counties, are the Wichita Greyhound Park, The Woodlands, and Eureka Downs.

If this bill were to pass, and if the voters in these counties where these facilities are located, would adjust the current tax rate of 40% for the racinos and bring that rate to the same rate that is applied to the state owned casinos of 22%. The main question of contention by the opposing side is if the state of Kansas would alter the contract that was made with the state owned casinos, then would the state of Kansas be contractually obligated to repay the casinos the privilege fees, which were paid at the time of application to secure the management of the casinos, which could exceed $100 million. We conducted a hearing on this bill and I do not foresee this making it out of committee.

Calendar and Contact Information
This Friday, March 18, marked the final day during the 2016 Legislative Session where committees met. All bills needed to be passed out by Friday in order to be under consideration next week.

When we come back from the weekend, we will be on the floor all day Monday to deliberate and debate bills. We will have a considerable amount of bills. The schedule for Tuesday through Friday will be waiting on the conference committees from the House and Senate to discuss and consider bills and then send those back to the House and Senate members to vote on the conference committee reports. We will adjourn on Friday, March 25 and will return for Veto Session on Wednesday, April 27.

If you have any concerns, feel free to contact my office at (785) 296-7672, visit www.troywaymaster.com or email me at [email protected].
The honor to serve you in the 109th Kansas House District and the state of Kansas is one I do not take lightly. Do not hesitate to contact me with your thoughts, concerns and questions. I appreciate hearing from the residents of the 109th House District and others from the state of Kansas.

Troy L. Waymaster, Bunker Bill
State Representative
109th Kansas House District
300 SW 10th
Topeka, KS 66612

Earlier this month the Insight Kansas writers got together for the Mid-America American Studies Association 2016 Conference. Our presentation was “Sam Brownback’s Kansas: Politics and Policies, 2010-2016.” The Topeka Capital-Journal put an unexpected coda on our presentation in its next Sunday editorial, “Brownback plan failing.” The paper has been a consistent supporter of the governor throughout his public career.

The evidence grows that the governor has become more than just a lame duck running out the clock on his last three years. He may be about to become what politicians love best in all the world – a scapegoat. After all, what the paper called a “plan” was identified by the man himself as an “experiment.” While still early in the state’s 2016 election season the voices of once-faithful allies rise even now, before the end of this legislative session, complaining, objecting, proposing legislative corrections to the experiment, and possibly veto overrides.

Never a fan of this governor’s particular mix of theocratic conservatism and love of supply-side economics, it might be expected that this writer has an elevated happy factor. But, that is not the case. To be sure, the dogma that eliminating taxes on proprietors’ incomes was going to stimulate a tremendous upsurge in new jobs was bad economics when proposed – just as daft as it was when first tried in the 1980s. Further, there’s no doubt that taking a larger bite of poor, lower-middle and middle class incomes with increased consumption taxes would reduce consumer spending and create disaffection and discontent. The dismal performance of sales tax receipts and the fact that in general the citizens of Kansas think less of the governor than they do of the despised Obama provides proof. Finally, for those of differing philosophical viewpoints, the governor’s obsession with advancing and espousing aggressively conservative social values has had a markedly chilling effect, especially if one prizes the value of separation between church and state.

Why not then rejoice at the governor’s excellent impersonation of the biblical Job? At the base of the governor’s severe political conservatism, there is a very real set of concerns that all Kansans should be thinking about and acting upon. Kansas is not what it used to be. Our farms no longer account for the incomes of 40 percent of our fellow citizens. The aviation industry, so critical 60 years ago, is a shadow of its past. The bonanza of oil and gas has gone and is unlikely to return to its peak. It’s a litany of grim realities that has long been building.

Census Bureau data retrieved for the roundtable showed that in the 2000 Census, Kansans aged 15 to 19 years old numbered 210,118. In 2010 that same cohort, now 25 to 29 years of age, stood at 197,783 – a decline of 5.9%. Similarly, the group that was 20 to 24 years old in 2000 numbered 190,167. By 2010 the count of these Kansans, now 30 to 34 years old, amounted to 179,937 – a decline of 5.4%. That’s 23,000 workers, potential parents, neighbors and future leaders that simply left! Wichita State’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research presented projections in February showing that Kansas’s current 15 to 24 year old bracket will shrink 37,000 (9%) by 2024. The departed are not likely to return, but the state can do better with its future.

Kansas must change. It must become more progressive, more accepting of evolving cultures, more willing to accommodate humanity in all its diversity, and it must use the tools of both government and the marketplace. If these things do not occur, the 2020 census is likely to convey similar grim news for Nana and Gramps, who keep asking themselves why the kids have to live so darn far away.

By: Tammy Wellbrock, Hays Area Chamber of Commerce
Sara Bloom, Downtown Hays Development Corporation
Aaron White, Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development
Rick Rekoske, Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau

Healing Together

As part of our daily routine, we spend much of our time communicating, connecting and informing others about Hays and the high quality of life available here in our area. Our four entities interact and touch many lives near and far – these entities include: Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau; Downtown Hays Development Corporation; Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development; and the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce.

Not long ago, this routine came to an abrupt halt as we learned of the tragedy unfolding here in the heart of our city. Phones rang off the hook as concerned citizens called to inquire or share information; tears and prayers flowed easily as we continued to learn more. The level of concern continued in the hours and days following. From our unique perspective, we observed the amazing output of kindness, compassion, and love from neighbors supporting neighbors through this time.

Now a few weeks later, our offices continue to receive words of support and encouragement from other community leaders. The impressive efforts of our first responders and actions from local businesses have been noticed state-wide. Strangers who don’t know those directly impacted have contacted us to express their sympathies. We simply want the families and friends of those impacted to know so many people are sending you their thoughts and prayers. Your loved ones’ legacies continue to touch and inspire the lives of many.

This experience has proven a fact we share often while performing our regular duties: it’s the people living in this community who truly makes this city special. We thank all of those who have done their small part to help the healing process move forward and aid in the rebuilding of the heart and soul of our city.