The greatest responsibility we have as American citizens – certainly as elected officials – is to make certain the American Dream may be lived by those who follow us. In my view, the greatest threat to our children and grandchildren being able to pursue their own dreams is our staggering national debt and deficits. It is our responsibility to deal with this issue.

Much of the conversation in Washington about how to reduce the national debt focuses on spending levels and tax rates. While these are important issues to debate, we must not forget about another equally important way to help reduce the federal deficit: growing the economy.

No matter what tax rates are, more tax revenue is generated when the economy is growing. With a projected budget deficit of $514 billion this year, economic growth is desperately needed to fill the hole. Increased economic growth rates of just 0.1 percent per year for 25 years would add more than $1 trillion in deficit-cutting revenue. Just imagine the impact of significant and sustained growth; it has happened before in America and it can happen again.

From our nation’s earliest days, entrepreneurs have been the driving force behind U.S. economic expansion and they remain so today. Data from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation shows that companies less than five years old account for nearly all net new job creation in the United States. Since 1977, new businesses have created an average of 3 million jobs each year. What is shifting today are the locations of these startups. Research by both Engine and Kauffman shows that high-tech startups are forming in communities across our country – not just in the cities traditionally known as high-tech hubs. And as these young companies grow, they will contribute to the economy, hire more workers, and take on the flavor and personality of the cities they call home.

Kansas City’s Startup Village is one example. It began mostly by chance when a group of entrepreneurs decided to start companies in Kansas City, Kansas, in the first neighborhood equipped with Google’s high-speed Internet service. Within just 10 months, the Startup Village has become home to more than two dozen startup companies. Kansas City’s reputation as a growing tech hub is creating a buzz across the country.

Technological advancement, especially access to the Internet, has enabled high-tech firms to take root in other smaller cities like Omaha, Boulder, Provo and Wichita. So it’s no surprise that innovative new products and significant high-tech job growth are emerging in those same regions.

This is good news, but entrepreneurs today face stinging headwinds: an arcane tax code, an oppressive regulatory environment, limited access to capital, global competition for talent, and increasingly bloody scraps with our nation’s patent system.

If we’re interested in an America with higher levels of employment, bigger paychecks and better products at lower prices, Congress should make life easier – not more difficult – for entrepreneurs. To do this, I introduced legislation called Startup Act 3.0 to help create a better environment for entrepreneurs and address the growing challenges new businesses face.

Startup Act 3.0 changes the federal regulatory process to lessen government burdens on job-creators, modifies the tax code to encourage investment, and seeks to accelerate the commercialization of university research that can lead to new ventures. The bill also provides new opportunities for highly educated and entrepreneurial immigrants to stay in the United States where their talent and ideas can fuel economic growth.

For more than two years, this legislation has been earning praise from business owners, entrepreneurs, economists and elected officials. The California State Senate passed a resolution calling on Congress to pass Startup Act 3.0 and the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness has voiced support for several of the bill’s provisions. Unfortunately, that hasn’t translated to progress within the halls of Congress.

Recent “all-or-nothing” approaches to lawmaking have proved to be unwieldy and highly problematic. One needs to only look back to the Dodd-Frank Act and the Affordable Care Act to know that this strategy doesn’t produce promised or desired outcomes. Today, a handful of practical bills like Startup Act 3.0 lay waiting to be granted a vote. Many would pass overwhelmingly if only given the chance.

Congress should seize this opportunity to address the challenges entrepreneurs face in a targeted and thoughtful manner. Entrepreneurs bring us innovative products, more consumer choice and create jobs along the way. When startups thrive, society is better off and we all enjoy the benefits.

Sen. Jerry Moran represents Kansas in the U.S. Senate.

The smart money appears to be on the future success of the Affordable Care Act. At least that’s the conclusion inferred in a recent issue of Bloomberg Business Week (Feb. 24-March 2 edition). Meanwhile Kansas politicians continue to fight the new law.

In the Bloomberg article writer Joshua Green details the activities of a new online broker, Motif Investing, co-founded by a former Microsoft executive and backed by Goldman Sachs and other investors. The company allows investors to bet on targeted baskets of thirty sector-focused stocks called “motifs.” Two of the hottest investments at the moment are in what is referred to as the “Obamacare” motif, and the “Repeal Obamacare” motif.

The Obamacare motif includes groups such as hospitals, generic drug makers, pharmacy benefit managers and companies specializing in electronic medical records, all concerns that will benefit from the success of the new health law and its emphasis on cost control and guarantee of payment.

Conversely, the Repeal Obamacare motif includes entities such as medical device manufacturers, assisted and home health providers and medical diagnostic equipment and service providers. Companies in these areas would stand to do better with the law’s demise because of reduced Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates and the law’s efforts to curb unnecessary tests.

According to the article the Obamacare motif is up 46.9 percent in the past year, whereas the Repeal Obamacare motif has appreciated 13.8%. But maybe more telling is the fact that investors betting on the success of the new law have put more money into the fund as opposed to those betting on its failure by a ratio of 45:1.

The piece notes that, as opposed to the political arena and public discourse, within the investment community the “permanence of the law is taken for granted while prospect of repeal is given practically no credence.” Other evidence is given to back up this statement, including the fact that exchange traded funds specializing in health care have seen their assets more than double (from $7 billion to $16 billion) since the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act in June 2012.

Meanwhile, the Kansas Legislature spent the past week discussing and voting on a measure that would subject health care navigators (individuals trained to assist individuals purchasing insurance through the federal exchanges) to background and credit checks. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook (R-Shawnee), claims the proposal is necessary to protect Kansans. But the true goal of this requirement is to obstruct, rather than protect Kansans wanting to procure health insurance. Pilcher-Cook is well-known for her vociferous opposition to the Affordable Care Act. Her cynical intent is clearly to see that as few a number of citizens as possible sign up for health insurance via the exchange.

The bill is debated against the backdrop of Gov. Brownback’s staunch refusal to extend Medicaid to the 180,000 Kansans who would qualify for such benefits under the new law. This group includes those whose incomes are above the current Medicaid eligibility limit but below the federal poverty line. As a result they are eligible for neither Medicaid nor subsidized coverage on the federal exchanges.

These fellow citizens find themselves in the new doughnut hole. Governor Brownback, a lifetime government employee with health insurance, and his allies in the Legislature show callous insensitivity towards these individuals with their myopic, ideological opposition to the new law.

The Bloomberg article implies that the battle is largely over. It notes that the Affordable Care Act had begun to transform our healthcare landscape long before the exchanges opened with its focus on the quality of care, incentives for hospitals to reduce readmission rates and move towards higher deductible plans.

Green ends his commentary by noting that some of the harshest opponents of healthcare reform in the U.S. Senate are now proponents of many of its main features. And while Kansas politicians continue to fight the new law investors are, in the words of the article, “betting billions of dollars that the Affordable Care Act will succeed.”

Alan Jilka is a businessman and former mayor of Salina.

By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

Do you have hang-ups?  No, I’m not talking about your pet peeves. I’m referring to a type of hardware called a hang-up which is useful in hanging items from acoustical ceilings. That’s one example of an item produced by an innovative company which now manufactures carts and other products for the workplace.

Scott Halsey is president of Adapa USA, the innovative company which produces hang-ups, shop carts, and more.  This is truly a family business, started by Scott’s father Paul Halsey in 1964.

After working in the aviation industry, Paul Halsey started a construction company in Wichita with a partner named Dan Tevis. They looked for ways to help their workers and improve their efficiency.

At contractor conventions, Paul Halsey’s peers would ask him why he was winning so many competitive bids. He explained it was because his labor costs were lower due to his labor-saving devices. His friends wanted some of those devices as well.

In 1964, Paul started producing and marketing these items as a sideline to his construction business. His company got the bid to do the interior work at White Lakes Shopping Center in Topeka so he relocated his family there.

He continued to look for innovative pieces of equipment to help his workers. One of the first products was called a “hang-up.” It looked like an upside down coat hanger with wire clips which are useful when used with acoustical tile. Those kinds of custom-made products may be simple but can be invaluable for a particular task.

Paul Halsey’s whole family was involved in the business. “The wire company would ship us a big clump of those clips and my brothers and sister and I would sit around the table, separating them and counting them out,” Scott Halsey said.

By 1980, the demand for Adapa products became so strong that it became a fulltime business based in Topeka. Scott graduated from Washburn and joined the family business himself, eventually becoming president of the company. Over time, older products such as hang-ups were phased out and others were developed to join the product line.

The company is named Adapa Inc. Why Adapa? “The name comes from ‘adaptable products for increased productivity,’ ” Scott said. “But I’ve also heard that the name comes from the first two letters of the founder’s names – Dan and Paul.”

Either way, the company’s products definitely do enhance productivity in the workplace. “You see a problem on a construction site, you try to solve it and make life easier for the workers,” Scott said.

Many of these products involve handling materials.  “When Dad worked at Boeing, he saw them use these rubber clamps,” Scott said. “He figured out a way to use those in his business and it really helped the workers.”

Another company specialty became carts of various kinds, from drywall to residential, all terrain, trash carts, door carts, tree carts and more. These are especially useful for drywall stockers and construction workers.

The company’s shop carts became so popular that the Halseys created a sister company called Shopcarts USA. These carts are especially useful for woodworkers.

Adapa and Shopcarts are selling their products all across the U.S. and Canada. “Our products and our designs lead the industry,” Scott said. “But we started as a family business and we’re still a family business. Mom still works here.”

Paul Halsey passed away in 2010. One of his ingenious designs was a side-loading trash cart.  “This was modeled after a grain cart that he saw unloading feed for dairy cows on farms where he worked,” Scott said. Paul grew up working on farms near the rural community of Viola, Kansas, population 212 people. Now, that’s rural.

For more information, go to www.adapausa.com or www.shopcartsusa.com.

Do you have hang-ups? Those wire hangers were one of the first products produced by Adapa, which is now a leader in the shopcart and materials handling industry. We commend Scott Halsey and all those involved with Adapa and Shopcarts USA for making a difference with innovation and entrepreneurship.

With that, I guess I’ll hang up.

Even though calving season is winding down for some and in full swing for others in Kansas, the spring breeding season is just around the corner. Now is the time to make sure your bulls are ready to perform when the trailer gate opens and they’re dumped out to pasture.

What should I be doing to make sure my bulls are ready?

There are several key components to making sure that your bulls are ready. First let’s talk about breeding soundness exams. Breeding soundness exams should be conducted 30-60 days before the start of breeding. The practice of conducting a breeding soundness exam provides personal insurance that your bulls are fertile and capable of breeding.

A breeding soundness exam includes a semen evaluation for semen motility and semen morphology (the structure and form of the sperm cells), detailed examination of the reproductive tract itself, and a physical examination including structural soundness and scrotal shape and size. Remember, a breeding soundness exam does not observe the bull’s libido, only his ability to breed. Due to the extreme cold spells this winter, examination for frostbite on the bull’s scrotum should be included. Frostbite can reduce bull fertility.

With the increasing cases of Trichomoniasis, it is important to make sure you Trich test non-virgin bulls at the time of the breeding soundness exam as well. Trich is a venereal disease which causes fetal loss in cows. It can be catastrophic to cow herds. In order for the test to work, the bulls must be sexually rested for 14 days prior to testing.

Another thing to focus on with bulls is their nutritional status. Just as we do in cows, it is important to body condition score your bulls. On a scale of 1-9, (1 emaciated-9 obese) the optimum body condition score for bulls is 6. Included in nutrition is making sure an adequate vitamin and mineral package is provided. Pay close attention to Vitamin A. Vitamin A is a major influencer of spermatogenesis, the building of sperm cells.

It is also important to stay up to date on vaccinations for your bulls. According to Dr. Larry Hollis, K-State Research and Extension Veterinarian, producers should pay attention to diseases that will not only affect the bull, but the cows’ reproductive statuses as well. These include Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR), Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD), Vibrio, Lepto and Blackleg. Vaccinations should take place at least 61 days ahead of turn out. Reason being in that it takes 61 days for sperm cells to develop from start to finish so we don’t want anything to affect that process.

Don’t forget to pay attention to your bull-to-cow ratio. A general rule of thumb for yearling bulls is one cow per month of age of the bull (15 month old bull = 15 cows). Mature bulls can cover anywhere from 25-50 cows.

Bulls are a critical part to every cow calf producer’s operation. It is important that they are taken care of properly to ensure their best performance when it becomes “game time”. The cost of breeding soundness exams and Trich tests are far cheaper than the cost of open cows. Remember, just because your bull performed last year, does not mean he will do the same this year. With proper nutrition and timely vaccinations, you are setting your bulls up for success.

Furthermore the BSE can reveal how many if any bulls need to be bought this year before the bull sales are all over, which can ease some stress load later scrambling to find a bull after all of the sales are over.

Visit our website at www.ellis.ksu.edu and follow us on Facebook at: “K-State Research & Extension – Ellis County”

Stacy Campbell is Ellis County agricultural agent with Kansas State Research and Extension.

Dear Dave,
My wife and I are debt-free except for our home. She travels one week per month and charges her expenses to a personal credit card for reimbursement later. I’d rather we open a checking account with debit card privileges just for these expenses. What do you think?
Dustin

Dear Dustin,
I’ve got to say I like your idea better. The problem you’re both facing now is this: if her company ever shuts down, there’s a good chance you guys are stuck with credit card debt.

Years ago I had a client who was working for a company, and he’d run up travel and business expenses on his American Express card. Like your wife’s situation, his company would then reimburse him for expenses. Then, he made a business trip to Europe, and, while he was there, his company asked him to pick up some computer equipment. The cost of the trip and equipment was about $22,000. When he returned to the office with all the computer stuff in tow, the front door was padlocked. The IRS had shut them down, and they went into bankruptcy. And guess what else? He never got the $22,000 from the company!

Credit card companies don’t care about the circumstances. They want their money, period. You guys have done pretty well if you’re debt-free except for your home. But your wife is playing a game called Financial Russian Roulette, and it could backfire on you both at any time.

Never take personal responsibility for company expenses.
—Dave

Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and business. He has authored four New York Times best-selling books: Financial Peace, More Than Enough, The Total Money Makeover and EntreLeadership. His newest book, written with his daughter Rachel Cruze, is titled Smart Money Smart Kids. It will be released April 22nd. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 6 million listeners each week on more than 500 radio stations. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com.

Rex Tillerson is mad. Fracking mad.

The 61-year old farmer from Bartonville, Texas, is another victim of the fracking boom that has invaded people’s homes and lives nationwide, from upstate New York to Southern California. Millions of Americans have experienced numerous side effects from this massively destructive drilling process, including polluted air, contaminated water, depleted aquifers, multiple health problems, and even an inexplicable epidemic of earthquakes.

What ticked off Tillerson was the erection of a 160-foot-tall water tower built by a company that provides millions of gallons of water for fracking gas wells.

The frackers hadn’t counted on Rex getting worked up, speaking out and suing the bastards. For Rex is no environmentalist. He isn’t objecting to the poisoning of people’s water. Nor does he object at all to fracking when it’s not so close to his own home.

Rather, Tillerson’s hopping mad because the 15-story tower stands above the tree line on his 83-acre, $5 million horse farm. It’s spoiling his view, threatening his property’s value and causing lots of traffic.

Tillerson, you see, isn’t some local dirt farmer. He says he and his wife moved here to have a weekend getaway so they can enjoy the rural lifestyle.

He’s not a farmer at all — unless you count “farming the government” and harvesting billions of dollars in special tax breaks and subsidies. Rex (whose name means “king” in Latin), is the $40-million-a-year CEO of ExxonMobil. Now, guess which oil giant is the biggest fracker in the USA. That’s right. ExxonMobil.

So what we have here is a case of poetic justice. The cylindrical water tower that comes with the fracking territory is symbolically extending the middle-finger salute to Exxon’s CEO every time he visits his horsey farm.

What could be more fitting than a guy who has gained a personal fortune from the ugliness of fracking having some of that ugliness thrown right in his face?

OtherWords columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer and public speaker. He’s also editor of the populist newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown.

Clutter Awareness Week is the third week of March. Do you know where your clutter is?

Your reaction may be that you are already well aware of your clutter and its location. You may be surprised, however, to realize just how many places clutter can accumulate. Knowing where the clutter builds up can be the first step in dealing with it.

What are the first places you think of when you hear the word clutter? Junk drawers, closets, the attic and the basement are the most common.

You may have heard the saying “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Some would argue that their clutter has a place — in the closet or the junk drawer! These areas are common breeding grounds for clutter because they are the first place you think of to stash anything that does not have a home.

Clutter Awareness Week can be used to identify your hidden clutter collections. Realizing where you tend to collect stuff is a great way to attack your problem areas and modify your habits. Let’s take a look at a few:

1) MEDICINE CABINETS: Expired medicine, dried up tubes of creams/salves/lotions, boxes of band-aids that only have one or two left, odd pieces of gauze, old makeup — all of these items are clutter. If you have 10 minutes and a garbage can, you can organize your medicine cabinet!

2) COUNTERTOPS AND DINING TABLES: Piles of paper, unopened mail, magazines and catalogs — do you see this all over your kitchen and dining room? Yes, this is clutter.

3) YOUR PURSE: If you have a purse that weighs more than 10 pounds and could actually qualify as a small suitcase, then you most likely are carrying clutter with you. You should be able to lighten the load by putting things where they belong. For instance, have an umbrella and first-aid kit in your car, empty out receipts and notes on a weekly basis and remove change every day.

4) YOUR SOCK DRAWER: Hosiery, dress socks, athletic socks … yep! We all do it, we hoard socks. Most of us have our favorite pairs that we always try to find and wear. The rest just take up space. Pitch any that have holes, snags, runs or are extremely worn. Toss the singles, too — or add to the rag bag for use as small dust rags. (If the partner does miraculously show up, toss him too!) Any that you no longer wear — like those bright pink slouch socks from the ’80s — donate or toss.

5) YOUR VEHICLE: Glove box, trunk, back seat, center console — these are all breeding grounds for clutter. Take the opportunity to spring clean your car inside and out.

6) FILING CABINETS: Up to 90 percent of what we file is never referred to again. Need I say more?

OK, so now you are aware that you have clutter in obvious and not-so-obvious places. Is that all that Clutter Awareness week is about? It may seem too easy, but awareness is the first step toward change.

Clutter is a family affair. Since everyone helps to make a mess, it is everyone’s “job” to keep items picked up and put away, or sorted and discarded. To maintain a clutter-free environment, everyone needs to do a little bit every day. Share ideas of what is expected and acceptable. Divide tasks according to family members’ ages and abilities. You may need to teach children simple and effective ways to do the tasks assigned to them.

K-State Research and Extension offers helpful resources for tackling clutter issues. The fact sheet “Cut the Clutter and Get Organized” gives simple tips to organize and maintain a low-clutter lifestyle.

When clutter becomes excessive, the KSU fact sheet “Hoarders: The Impact of Compulsive Keepers” can give helpful insights into this problematic situation.

Both fact sheets are available at the Ellis County Extension Office, 601 Main, Hays, or find them online at the K-State Research and Extension website. Go to www.ksre.ksu.edu, select the Bookstore, and then use the search function to find each fact sheet by title.

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

Every spring, the ritual continues. Viewed up close or at a distance, prairie fires are riveting. Across the vast, open grasslands we call the Flint Hills, fires can be seen for miles. The flames lick at the blue Kansas sky as the brown, dry grass crinkles, cracks and bursts into orange.

But these fires aren’t recent phenomena and they aren’t strictly for the viewing pleasure of highway travelers. Long before civilization invaded the prairie, lightning storms ignited fires and the prairie was charred restoring the health of the native grasses.

Native Americans were the first practitioners of prescribed fires. They used the fire to attract buffalo to the new grass for easier hunting.

The controlled burning of the tall-grass prairie in east-central Kansas is an annual event that mimics nature’s match. It has become a tradition, part of the culture of the communities and the people who inhabit this region of our state. Without fire, the Flint Hills woodlands and the livestock industry lose a fantastic resource.

This annual pasture burning only occurs for a few days each year. It is not a drawn-out procedure that lasts for weeks. However, most years weather conditions dictate the length of the burning seasons.

Not every cattleman burns his pastures every year; instead, individual ranchers and landowners survey and decide each spring, which pastures will produce a healthier, lush grass for livestock after burning. Often neighbors plan and burn together, giving them more hands to ensure a safe, controlled burn.

Spring burning is one of the easiest and most effective methods of controlling the eastern red cedar. There’s nothing better for the eradication of this extremely invasive tree than to run a fire through the grassland every two or three years.

Kansas State University experts recommend burning take place when wind speeds are between 5 and 15 miles per hour, relative humidity is from 40 to 70 percent and temperatures fall in the range of 55 to 80 degrees.

Landowners in all counties must notify local officials prior to planned, controlled burns. This notification is a key to preventing prescribed fires turning into accidental wildfires and ensuring burning is allowed under the existing conditions.

In 2011, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) completed the Kansas Flint Hills Smoke management plan. The plan is intended to help alleviate urban air quality issues generated by prescribed burning in the Flint Hills. Coupled with the associated web tools, it should help producers make better decisions when planning and implementing prescribed fires.

You can reach this website at www.ksfire.org.

The real crux of this plan is that the Flint Hills ranching community’s actions to control smoke remain primarily voluntary. Refer to the above website to review copies of the plan.

Farmers and ranchers are tuned into ever changing weather conditions and will continue to keep prescribed fire in the tall grass prairies confined to a minimum time period. This process is part of the culture of the rural communities that dot the Flint Hills region.

Prairie fires help Mother Nature rejuvenate the grasses that carpet her fertile hills. That means good things for cattlemen, for agriculture, for rural communities and the Kansas economy.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, 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.

Our state government provides many vital services, but none more important than the education of our children. If we want Kansas students to succeed in tomorrow’s economy, we have to equip them with the tools that will be needed in tomorrow’s economy.

While I do not doubt that my opponents in this race care deeply for our children’s futures, I have yet to hear either of them lay out an actual plan that ensures that Kansas students will be able to compete with graduates around the world.

Saying we need to spend more money is not a plan. I know Paul Davis wants to increase spending on education, because his record as a state legislator demonstrates his dedication to our students. I know Governor Brownback is claiming he wants to spend more money on education, and we all know his record shows just the opposite.

I agree, we do need to make educating our children the number one priority in this state, but I strongly disagree that simply spending more money accomplishes this goal.

First of all, we need to make sure that the money we are spending is being managed in the most efficient manner possible. As a small business owner, I can tell you that we are spending too much money on administration. We need to redirect this money into our classrooms.

Speaking of small business, I notice that we have businesses sponsoring athletic teams. Why are we not bringing our local businesses into the academic side of education? How can we bring our business owners and local professionals into our classrooms to teach our children about the skills they are going to need to get jobs in Kansas when they graduate?

How can we work together as a community to ensure that at risk students are being given every opportunity to succeed, and not being overlooked because our teachers are being overwhelmed with large class sizes and a lack of resources?

Why do we only have school during one shift of the day? Is this the most effective way to educate our children? Could we not lower classroom sizes by holding evening classes? We are paying to heat and cool our buildings 24 hours a day, but we are only using them for 8 hours. How is this efficient?

What can we do, as a society, to guarantee that no child is coming to school without a full stomach? What can we do to ensure that our children’s health care needs are being met? These are all issues that affect our students’ performance in the classroom.

At a time when we need more choice in education, the federal government is requiring that we have less. How does this one-size-fits-all approach benefit our children? We need to remove corporate interests from our education policy. The education system does not exist to serve the billion dollar text book industry. The education system does not exist to serve teachers or their unions. The education system exists to serve our children, and to ensure their future success in tomorrow’s world.

Our policies need to reflect that.

Jennifer Winn, Wichita, is a Republican who recently announced her intentions to challenge Gov. Sam Brownback in the race for Kansas governor.

 

Interesting discussion during that House floor debate on the medical malpractice bill last week.

The bill, of course, is that idea of the Kansas Medical Society to raise the noneconomic damage cap slowly, from the current $250,000 to an eventual $350,000 for damages which, frankly, are just hard to put a price tag on.

The case was that of a woman whose surgeon removed the wrong ovary, meaning that as a result of the malpractice, she can’t have children. What’s the price tag for that noneconomic loss? The court said the $250,000 cap on damages is legal, but doesn’t feel right, and ought to be moved upwards.

Well, that was the basis for the bill, and there wasn’t a lot of opposition to raising the cap.

But a sidelight of that bill was language that would allow juries to hear that the victim of damages in any sort of lawsuit had “collateral sources” or some other source of compensation for the damages caused by someone else.

The result? Possibly a jury could determine that if an injured party in any sort of action—say, a car wreck with a drunk or texting driver—has insurance, he or she would be made whole by their insurance, so the person who caused that accident shouldn’t have to pay the full cost of the damages.

Juries now don’t have that collateral source information.

Rep. Lance Kinzer, R-Olathe, convinced the House that it shouldn’t matter whether the victim of someone else’s negligence or mistake has other sources of compensation: You cause the damage, you pay for all of it. It’s a personal responsibility deal. You break it, you buy it.

Kinzer told the House that it shouldn’t matter whether your house is insured or not if someone sets fire to it. The person who started the fire should pay for the whole house. Or, if you are injured in a car crash and have insurance to cover your medical bills, well, the person who caused that accident should pay the full cost of those bills.

There’s no suggestion in the bill that the jury in a case would reduce damages based on those collateral source…just it should know that the injured party has been taken care of.

Sounds like it would probably make it cheaper to crash into a rich person’s car than a poor person’s car, if the victim’s insurance is going to take care of the damages, doesn’t it? A jury could factor in that the rich or well-insured victim will get a new car anyway, while the poor person will become a pedestrian, so the well-insured victim doesn’t need a much in damages.

This isn’t just car crashes. It’s mistaken legal advice that puts a client’s investments at risk, or the apartment owner whose stairway is rotted.

The collateral source rule might just pare damage payments for those at fault—or their insurers—in an accident. Or not. But it would be floating around there in the jury room where it probably shouldn’t.

We’ll see how that amendment fares in the Senate, which had passed the bill which included the now-removed collateral source language.

Syndicated by Hawver News Co. of Topeka, Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report. To learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit www.hawvernews.com.