It’s going to take a few days, but the first and biggest fight of new Gov. Laura Kelly and, well, apparently the entire Legislature, will break out this week.
The bell that started the first round: Friday’s 117-0 passage by the House of the Senate’s unanimously passed on Valentine’s Day of a short little bill that sends $115 million to the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System to pay back the $97 million (plus interest) that it didn’t pay in 2016.
Repaying debt…not a bad idea, except that everything is different when the Legislature is dealing with the pension fund that, while “not actuarially balanced,” is still making those monthly pension check payments to retirees.
But here’s the big fight over the very first bill passed by this year’s heavily Republican Legislature to the brand-new Democrat governor Kelly: pay KPERS now, or pay KPERS later…
Why is this so mesmerizing? Because the governor clearly lost her argument to the Legislature for her own KPERS plan. Now, she can sign the bill, reluctantly, and say she just didn’t want to waste time with a veto.
Or, she could veto the bill and get overridden. Hard to say who would want to be in that picture with her.
Or she could just put it in her desk drawer, and after 10 days it becomes law anyway with none of her DNA on it.
The governor hasn’t said what she intends to do with the bill.
There really isn’t a good choice for her, and it’s going to be interesting to see how she describes what she’s going to do with the bill. A well-thought-out explanation is necessary, one that will make the ultimate beneficiaries of the pension program believe she’s working for their best interests.
The “pay KPERS now” side of the issue makes sense to pay back money that lawmakers borrowed from the pension fund back when the state was scrambling to keep its annual balance out of red ink. That $97 million non-payment to KPERS was needed as the state started a series of tax increases to dig out of the former Gov. Sam Brownback “lower taxes and the economy will boom, and we’ll take in more money” experiment which just didn’t work.
The “pay KPERS later” side of the issue? Well, Kelly had a different idea. Refinancing the pension fund’s actuarial shortfall (basically the amount it would need to pay off all its members in one day) over another 30 years brings smaller annual payments that the state is more likely to actually pay. Everyone gets paid, it just takes longer…and the state pays interest on that refinancing for 30 years, a long time.
***
The politics are interesting, because that borrowed money is from the schools/state workers’ section of the pension fund. Democrats voted for the bill because those two categories of pensioners are often solid Democrat voters.
Republicans decry that interest the state would pay on refinancing the pension system under the Kelly plan. They’ve made a big deal out of the $24,000 per day interest the state is running up by not paying that $115 million now. They apparently pay cash for their cars and houses.
What happens next? Nobody but the governor knows. But whatever Kelly does, it is going to influence future governor-Legislature fights, and whatever happens, she’ll go into Round 2 of the prize fight a little weakened.
Dramatic, and it might tell the future. Or at least change the relationship between the governor and the Legislature.
Get your bets down…
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
During certain parts of the year I secretly cringe when someone walks into my house. It’s not that I don’t like visitors; it’s more about what my houseguests might see when they enter our home. In the winter and spring, odds are my floors will have some mud deposits that someone tracked in. In the summer and fall, dirt clods and seeds sprinkled around my house are a given.
“It’s just part of life,” I tell myself. Even then, at times it still creates a bit of uneasiness for me when someone comes to visit.
My concerns about my house have had to take a backseat though, as we have an extended houseguest this year. My farmhouse — in all its seasonal, messy glory — has been on full display as we have opened our home to a high school foreign exchange student. She’s a Sicilian from a large city who is accustomed to warm weather, ocean views and pasta. Lots of pasta.
In preparing for her exchange experience, she watched all the Hollywood teen movies to help her formulate an understanding of what life would be like for her in America. There were dance routines, musical interludes, mean girls, study groups and school dance scenarios that she studied.
She made a conscious choice to come to the United States to study and participate in the lifestyle and culture. Little did she know, the images, events and people portrayed in the movies she studied in preparation for this once-in-a-lifetime experience would be very different from her reality: life on a farm in rural, central Kansas.
Our family’s goal is to carry on our business as usual while also working to give her the best possible experience this year. It’s safe to say Hollywood didn’t prepare her for the majority of it.
Common conveniences including accessibility to a mall, a movie theater, a great pizza place and a coffee shop are all still possible, although getting there requires a bit more planning and miles on our part.
She’s experienced early drives into town to get to school, dirt road treks required to get to a classmate’s house, small class sizes at our rural school where the math teacher is also the cross country and scholars bowl coach, making selections at our small town grocery store and the beauty of a community coming together for a weeknight high school basketball game.
She’s had friendly conversations with folks during a community meal served family-style at a local church, checked out books from our local library, discovered butterscotch, experienced slow Wi-Fi, which affects her Netflix viewing. She’s also learning the beauty of Amazon’s two-day shipping.
She’s watched our farm dog give birth, and she’s held a piglet in her arms. Our local FFA chapter members welcomed her and then put her to work , and she has experienced the joy (and chill) of traversing the farmyard on an inner tube pulled by a four-wheeler following a recent snowstorm.
While the clothes shopping options are limited, especially for a teenager who usually spends portions of her weekends visiting shops trying on clothes with her friends for fun. She’s beginning to realize that we have to plan our shopping adventures a little more than she would in Sicily. And, thank God almighty, it only took two trips to Wichita to secure the prom dress!
After multiple video calls with her family and Snapchat posts seeking advice, she has even purchased her own pair of cowboy boots. The girl is committed and living a life she didn’t even know existed. To say she’s adjusted nicely is a huge understatement. She has become part of our small, rural community, and she has fully embraced the lifestyle and all the community has to offer.
While she has learned and experienced a lot during her time with us, I know my family has gained some valuable lessons as well. And for me, allowing her to view our farmhouse in all its seasonal, messy glory is something I’ve been able to relax about. After all, it is just a part of life for our farm family here in rural, central Kansas.
“Insight” is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.
Women’s health can be directly tied to the burden of household responsibilities. In a 2016 study, researchers found that women are more often the primary parent of children, the one who determines family healthcare decisions, the caregiver for the elderly parents on both sides and the one that does more of the cooking and dishes, cleaning, laundry and grocery shopping. Other studies have found that doing dishes alone was particularly burdensome.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor says our society is getting somewhat better in sharing the household work, but a difference still remains. For example, in 2003, men participated in food preparation and clean-up on average of 35 percent of his days, and in 2015 it was 43 percent. Nice to see an eight percent improvement but the women’s share in 2015 was still 70 percent. In 2015, women participated in cleaning housework 50 percent of her days while it was 22 percent for men. Lawn and garden work was the only chore accomplished more by men than women.
How much does this happen because the man is often the primary earner? In another study done at Indiana University in 2016, they studied household work in families where the woman’s income was larger than the man’s. They found that household burdens seemed not to align with income but rather with the traditional roles of masculinity and femininity. They also found that in same-sex couples, gender identity still directs roles. We haven’t reached equality of the sexes at work and we haven’t reached equality at home, either.
This is important because of the possible negative effect it may have on family relationships. There are studies to show that each person in a household has expectations and responsibilities, whether it be the alpha mom, the alpha dad, the children or even the grandparents. If the woman (or the man) expects the other to pitch in but ends up stuck with all the chores, she or he may be disappointed, embittered, angry and feeling abused. If those hard feelings are not resolved and are covered up, then depression may be the result.
When one member of the family is hurting, everyone feels the pain. Research data from Myrna Weissman PhD, a professor of psychiatry, shows that mental illness and depression spreads within a household. Strong emotional sharing occurs there, and when emotional pain of one person in the family is treated and improves, everyone gets better.
Simply helping with the dishes might be an enormous step toward making a happier home.
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Kansas Common crude at CHS in McPherson gained a quarter Friday (2/22) to $47.50 per barrel. That’s two dollars more than at the start of the month, and $12 more than the price at the first of the year.
Baker Hughes reported 1,047 active drilling rigs across the U.S. last week, down four oil rigs. Oklahoma’s rig count was down two, while Texas, New Mexico and Colorado each dropped by one rig.
Rig count totals from Independent Oil & Gas Service were unchanged last week, with three active rigs east of Wichita and 26 in Western Kansas. Operators are about to spud one new well in Barton County and one in Russell County.
Regulators approved 15 permits for drilling at new locations across the state last week, three east of Wichita and 12 in Western Kansas. One new permit was filed in Barton County.
Operators reported 26 new well completions last week, 11 in eastern Kansas and 15 west of Wichita. There were completions noted in Barton and Russell counties, but both were dry holes.
Alberta, Canada is preparing a giant oil-by-rail operation to help its oil-sands producers cope with a pipeline crunch. Reuters reports the Canadian province expects a big profit from the venture. Alberta holds the world’s third-largest crude reserves, but has been losing money because of shortages in pipeline takeaway capacity. Premier Rachel Notley has taken numerous steps to turn that around, including mandatory production cuts, and the railroad operation. They will spend roughly $2.8 billion (US) to lease tanker cars and buy service from rail providers. Officials expect to get a $4.48 billion return, or a net profit o $1.7 billion.
Lawmakers in Texas learned that the state agency responsible for plugging abandoned oil and gas wells can’t seal them as quickly as they’re being abandoned. During the last legislative session, regulators said there were around 10,000 such wells in the state, and lawmakers gave them more money to plug them. Observers say the problem is getting worse. Out of 440,000 wells in the state, about 130,000 aren’t producing and will eventually be abandoned.
Lawmakers in North Dakota are considering quite a few new measures for the oil patch. House members approved “Operation Prairie Dog,” a bill that would distribute up to $250 million from oil tax revenue to cities, counties, townships and airports for infrastructure projects throughout North Dakota. The North Dakota Senate opted to keep a provision in oil tax policy that requires companies to pay more taxes when oil prices rise. A bill that sets the groundwork for a new oil tax agreement with three native tribes in North Dakota passed the state Senate Wednesday. It’s projected to send an additional $33 million in oil tax revenue to the tribes. The House approved legislation Thursday that would use money from the voter-approved oil tax savings account to help offset income taxes.
U.S. operators shipped 7,645 tanker cars in petroleum and petroleum products last week, an increase of 17.8%. The Association of American Railroads says the running total so far this year is up 23% over the same period last year. Canada continues to increase its oil-by-rail shipments as well, posting an increase of 6.5% last week, and a 23.5% increase in the running total.
Russia’s third-largest bank has frozen the accounts of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA. Reuters reports Gazprombank halted transactions with the firm to avoid U.S. sanctions. The Venezuelans have labeled the story “fake news.” The Kremlin has been among Venezuela’s staunchest supporters.
Continental Resources reported annual profits of nearly $1 billion in 2018. The Oklahoma-based shale producer posted net income for the year of $988 million. Company officials say they boosted average daily total production to more than 298-thousand barrels, an increase of 23 percent over the year before. The company reported production in North Dakota’s Bakken shale of more than 183-thousand barrels per day during the last three months of the year.
The Texas oil and gas industry paid more than $14 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties in fiscal year 2018. According to the Texas Oil and Gas Association that’s an increase of 27 percent from fiscal year 2017, and the second-highest total in Texas history. Since 2007 the industry paid over $133 billion in taxes and royalties.
A spike in drilling permit applications, and increases in court challenges, have created a backlog that regulators in Colorado say could take up to three years to clear. At the end of January the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission had 406 pending applications on their docket. Of those, 30 percent have been protested. It doesn’t help that the COGCC is short one hearing officer, but officials say it would still likely take three years to clear the backlog, even at full staff.
After losing a court fight with the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission last month, Democrats in the state legislature will try to redefine the commission’s mission in a bill expected soon. The Colorado Springs Gazette reports they hope to place a higher priority on public health and safety. In January, the state’s highest court ruled that under current law, the commission cannot make permitting decisions based solely on health and safety, but must consider other interests. The measure is also likely to give local governments more control over permits, rather than maintaining that oversight at the state level.
The Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico already leads the nation, and most countries, in crude-oil production. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Permian production will rise above four million barrels per day for the first time in history next month. Already the fastest-growing shale play in the U.S., the Permian is currently producing an average of 3.98 million barrels per day. Next month, EIA predicts that total will rise by 43-thousand barrels per day to 4.024 million. Total U.S. production this year will rise to 12.4 million barrels per day, according to government reports.
We are at halftime of the 2019 Kansas Legislative session. At the time I am writing this column, we have a few days of being on the floor debating and voting on many bills, then those that pass will move to the Senate and vice-versa. While we have not had a huge number of bills, we are at the point in the session where some important topics are being worked on.
On Friday, the House unanimously approved SB9, 117-0, that would pay $115 million of what is owed to Kansas Public Employee Retirement System of KPERS.
Some of the highlights of the bill include: 1) Meet the actuarial required payment (ARC). This will be the first time this has occurred in 25 years. 2) Increase the school group’s funding ratio, which is hovering too near critical status. The school group has the lowest funded ratio currently at 61.6%, which is close to the critical code red status of funded ratio of 60% or lower. 3) The overall funded ratio of 70%, a milestone accomplishment. 4) KPERS states that postponing the payment costs $630K monthly or approximately $20K/day. While Governor Kelly was not pleased with this bill, every Republican, Democrat and Independent voted in favor of the legislation. It is assumed this will be the first bill she will sign as Governor.
We have been busy in taxation committee. Last Monday, a hearing was held on HB 2261, which would reduce the state sales tax rate on food from 6.50% to 5.50%.
The fiscal note from the Division of the Budget noted that the state’s revenues would decrease by $50 million for FY 2020, and roughly $55 million for FY 2021 and beyond. It is estimated that the cost to implement modifications to the sales tax system would be $2.8 per year and would require six full time employees in addition. Because 16.154% of the total state sales tax revenue is devoted to the State Highway Fund, the fund would decrease by approximately $11 million per year.
Proponent testimonials primarily focused on the fact that the state sales tax rate (6.50%) and local sales tax rates are applied to groceries results in tax up to 11% on food in some areas of the state. Any reduction of the sales tax rate on food would provide financial relief on all Kansas families, and would chiefly assist low income households. Additionally, some proponents drew attention to food deserts and how a high rate of sales tax on food hurts rural grocers.
Opponents to lowering the food sales tax asserted that low income families would stand to benefit greater with a lower sales tax rate in general, rather than a reduction specifically on food. It was also argued that the bill ought to be more inclusive of other items such as candy, which is excluded from the bill’s provisions. It was also noted that some states pick and choose which foods and food products may be excluded from a lower sales tax rate, such as candy and soda. Per the Tax Foundation’s report Sales Tax on Soda, Candy, and Groceries, 2018, 38 states and the District of Columbia fully or partially exempt food sales tax, and 62% of those states exclude either candy or soda from that exemption.
While I have been a strong advocate for reducing sales tax on food, I continue to believe we need to make meaningful reform and a 1 percent decrease, while helpful, seems more like politics that real relief for individuals and families in Kansas.
The other big issue has been SB 22. This is a bill that would make several changes to Kansas income tax provisions in response to changes to the federal tax code in 2017. The bill would decouple state and federal tax codes from changes made in the 2017 tax cuts and allow Kansans to itemize deductions on their state returns when using the standard deduction on their federal returns.
On the first day of testimony, the committee concentrated on the individual components of the bill. The Olathe Chamber of Commerce, the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce, and the Regional Wichita Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Kansas Realtors Association, the Kansas Chamber and several other organizations voiced their support for this bill. They stated that decoupling from the federal tax code would allow individuals and businesses to be protected from an unfair tax increase. This would be a tax increase if no remedy is made at the state level, a tax increase that some Kansans cannot afford.
Opponent testimony included the Kansas Center for Economic Growth, Kansas Interfaith Action, the Mainstream Coalition, and the Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. The opponents asserted that SB 22 proposes a huge new tax experiment that Kansas cannot afford. It was stated that the bill is not revenue-neutral and would solely favor multinational corporations.
On the second day of testimony, the committee focused on the corporation components of SB 22. The committee heard from Brian Hamer, counsel at the Multistate Tax Commission and Michael Hale, Kansas Department of Revenue on what is happening in other states. In addition, the committee reviewed the Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI) information provided by the Tax Foundation on January 28. From testimony, GILTI is a guardrail, “intended to tax what are deemed the supernormal returns of foreign subsidiaries, less a deduction, less a calculated partial credit for foreign taxes paid.” GILTI would help curb international tax avoidance techniques like profit shifting to low-tax countries.
During the hearing, the committee heard from proponents Eric Stafford (Kansas Chamber), David Rankin (Seaboard), and Alex Orel (Kansas Bankers Association). Stafford’s testimony was the for businesses, conformity without modification results in a significant tax increase and that Kansas should decouple from the federal corporate income provisions. Rankin also supports decoupling, which would prevent the state from taxing foreign income that historically has not been taxed. Orel’s testimony centered on the FDIC premiums income tax modifications. Orel supports the bill, which treats all financial institutions the same, rather than how the federal tax reform treats them (eliminated the ability of certain financial institutions to deduct the costs of their FDIC premiums). The Bankers Association is asking for Kansas to reinstate the full deductibility of this cost.
Additional written testimony notes that without SB 22, Kansas businesses will pay more in Kansas taxes. Passage of the ill, would “ensure Kansas remains competitive internationally as well as competitive with other states” (Century Link testimony). Other considerations raised where that taxing foreign source income raises serious legal and policy issues, likely to be challenged in court. Most states do not tax this income. If Kansas were to tax, it would place businesses at a competitive disadvantage with other states (Cargill testimony).
We will take action on this bill soon.
I was happy to welcome legislative pages from Palco this week: Samantha Clark, Luke Voss and Austin Stohs, they were accompanied by Shawn Clark.
Reps. Wasinger, Rahjes and Cong. Marshall tour Hess Services, Hays, Feb. 22. (Photo by Hays Post)
Also on Friday, Commerce Secretary David Toland and a group from Ellis County toured portions of the city and learned more about a proposed project to work on the Highway 183 by-pass north of Interstate 70. Representative Wasinger and I were pleased to host the secretary and representatives from the Department of Transportation along with Congressman Dr. Roger Marshall.
We are having town hall meetings in the 110th District on Friday: 8:00-9:00 a.m. at the Ellis Pubic Library; 9:45-10:45 a.m. at the Stockton City Building; 11:15-12:15 a.m. Branding Iron II in Phillipsburg; 1:30 -2:30 p.m. Norton Public Library and 3:15-4:15 p.m. at the Graham County Courthouse in Hill City.
If you come to Topeka during the session, my office is in Room: 149-S. My phone number is (785) 296- 7463 and email is: [email protected] and you can always try my cell number is (785) 302-8416.
I hope to see you at one of the legislative updates on March 1st. It is my honor to by your representative.
Rep. Ken Rahjes (R-Agra), is the 110th state representative and chairman of the Higher Education Budget Committee. House District 110 includes Norton and Phillips counties as well as portions of Ellis, Graham, and Rooks counties.
Dr. Roger Marshall, R-Great Bend, is the First District Kansas Congressman.
Friends,
Last week I had the chance to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the new VA facility in Wichita named in honor of Sen. Bob Dole. The new facility will provide much-needed care for veterans across Kansas.
Laina and I also, visited our daughter, son-in-law and grandsons. I was thankful for some much needed family time.
VA Ribbon Cutting
I was honored to be part of the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new 12-bed, $4.4 million, substance abuse facility at the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center.
Each month the Wichita hospital sends 15 to 20 veterans to Leavenworth or Kansas City for treatment, for addiction treatment. This new development will help address the much-needed support that our Veterans deserve. I did some work at the Wichita VA Hospital as a medical student, I know how impactful this center will be, and share Senator Dole’s goal of wanting our nation’s soldiers to have access to not only the best but also convenient, care.
Ribbon cutting for substance abuse facility at Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center
At the celebration, I was able to deliver a message from Senator Dole on the importance of this facility. He wrote, “More than just a groundbreaking, today marks a moment of real progress in the way we take care of our nation’s heroes. ‘Comprehensive care’ of our veterans now includes the entire spectrum of care — supporting these men and women in all aspects of their well-being.”
I believe the new in-patient facility will provide life-saving treatments for veterans across Kansas and is a huge step forward in the fight against addiction and veteran suicides.
Exploring the Sugar Land
Recently I had the privilege to visit my daughter and son-in-law and grandchildren. On my visit, we celebrated both my daughters and grandson ROW’s birthdays and got to take a look into Florida’s agriculture scene. We met with sugar farmers in Belle Glade, Florida.
I got a chance to talk to farmers about the state of agriculture in Florida and how their workflow relates to our producers back home in Kansas. While they grow a very different type of crop from what we’re used to in Kansas, share similar views on the ways that Congress can best serve American farmers.
Understanding the sugar industry is important to all of us on the House Agriculture Committee, and it’s helpful to understand the relationship between all agricultural products.
I was incredibly impressed with their attention to being ecologically friendly. For instance, during the sugar milling process (the process in which you take sugar cane and turn it into sugar), no water leaves the plant. It’s an entirely closed system that wastes no water.
They also take the by-products from the sugarcane processing and use it to generate all of the electricity consumed by the plant. Then they make that same by-product – the fiber in the cane stock where the sugars have been extruded – into biodegradable tableware, plates, and cups.
VA Appeals Modernization Act
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recently announced the implementation of the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017. I was proud to vote for the legislation and am hopeful it will bring meaningful changes to the VA system.
I want to give a shout out to our team, during my time on the Hill our office has helped nearly 100 veterans that expressed to us that they were experiencing issues with the VA or Department of Defense. The Modernization Act will allow the VA to process our inquiries faster and find timely resolutions for our veterans. One of the most important things I can do as an elected official is advocate for our veterans.
Congressman Marshall’s team
Welcome to the Team, Michael
We have officially welcomed Michael Brooks to the team as our new Legislative Director. Michael graduated from the University of Kansas and previously worked for U.S. Congressman Kevin Yoder. This week Michael hit the road across the Big First to meet with people and introduce himself. In Lyons, Kan., Michael toured Kansas Ethanol and hosted a round table with Central Kansas producers and industry leaders. In Garden City, he visited a cotton gin, dairy, and feedlot to discuss the farm bill, renewable fuel standards, and immigration policy. Please join me in welcoming Michael to the office.
Dr. Roger Marshall, R-Great Bend, is the Kansas First District Congressman.
Steve GillilandShow me one person who doesn’t have some sort of love-hate relationship with snow. It seems as though a person either love it or hates it, and for some of us it depends upon the day. It’s hard to explain how something that makes the landscape suddenly seem so sparkling clean and pure can turn on you in an instant and ruin your day. I was reminded this week how much I love to watch snow fall and how beautiful it makes everything it touches, but also how much I hate removing it from my driveway. I’m kind of a purist in that I believe God put it there and I don’t want to shovel it and take away any satisfaction He might get from taking it away himself! Yes, to the traveler, home owner, maintenance man and commuter, snow is often an unwelcome inconvenience. To the outdoorsman, however, snow opens up a whole new world of opportunities.
For the outdoors photographer or painter there is no other canvas that compares to an outdoor scene sporting a fresh snowfall. Suddenly, as if by magic, the mundane becomes majestic, the drab becomes dynamic and the everyday becomes extraordinary. Outdoor spots we pass daily with no recognition suddenly become scenes from a calendar. Like the lava lamps of days gone by, the look of the landscape slowly changes from hour to hour with the wind.
Obviously skiers and snowboarders live for fresh snow. After an overnight snowfall, hills too steep to climb become mere carnival rides beneath their feet. Cross country skiers can, in one day, see country it would take them several days to see on foot without the snow. And let’s not forget the farmers. As a rule of thumb, ten inches of snow equal one inch of rain and snow supposedly brings with it good nutrients too, so even though the last thing our fields need at this particular time is more moisture, our Kansas wheat and alfalfa can always benefit from the snow in the long run.
Hunters and trappers can benefit greatly from a fresh snowfall. Tracks of deer, coyotes, bobcats and other game animals are tough to spot in our often dry Kansas soil, so trying to learn their movement patterns can rely on being fortunate enough to see the animals themselves. Remember going to dances back-in-the-day when your hand was stamped with a mark that only showed up under a special “black light?” That mark was there the whole time but only became visible when put under the light. Just like the black light, snow suddenly shows tracks of wildlife that have been traveling those same paths for months, but leaving no visible signs.
After a significant snowfall a few years ago, I spent time scouting an area I still had yet to trap. It was a soybean stubble field along the river where my wife harvested her first deer several years before. Besides hordes of deer tracks, I followed 2 sets of bobcat tracks as they meandered back and forth across the field and between several freshly made brush piles. I tracked a coyote for several hundred yards and was able to observe exactly how it related to certain land features. I followed coyote tracks on a frozen drainage ditch and could see where it had stopped to nose around under logs and other attractions. Its tracks showed me cattle trails it had traveled along the steep banks and where it had entered and left the ditch. Closing my eyes, I could almost see these animals as they left the footprints that held my attention.
So, the next time it snows, after you’ve shoveled the driveway, cleaned the walks, swept the deck and cursed the weatherman, grab your camera or walking stick and head for the woods. It will definitely influence your relationship with the “white stuff” as you continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors
Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].
Two important bills continue to move through the legislative process.
SB9, which will make a $115M, postponed payment from 2016 to KPERS, passed out of the House this week.
Since this bill has passed both chambers it will now head to the Governor’s desk. The Governor has three options: she can sign the bill and it will become law, she can veto the bill which will send it back to the Senate where it will take 27 votes to override her veto and then to the House where it will take 84 votes to override her veto or the Governor can leave it on her desk for 10 days without signing it and the bill will then become law.
The vote was very bipartisan and passed both chambers unanimously.
Governor Kelly is not interested in making the missed payment to KPERS. Governor Kelly has her own plan to amortize the KPERS unfunded liability, which would cost the state an additional $7.4 billion over the term of the amortized payment.
A second important bill passed out of the Senate this week and has been passed to the House for a vote is SB32. SB32 allows the Kansas Farm Bureau to establish a health care benefit that offers coverage specifically for Farm Bureau members in Kansas. SB32 aims to reduce the number of uninsured Kansans by creating competition and free-market options for health care. SB32 is the Farm Bureau’s solution to addressing the critical need for KFB members to find affordable health care coverage. A recent study pointed out that 65% of agriculture producers view health care as the number one threat to the future of their operation.
I would like to thank Fort Hays State University President Dr. Tisa Mason, Coach Dr. Duane Shepherd and his wife assistant coach Denise Shepherd, Executive Director DeBra Prideaux and 26 members of the Fort Hays State University shooting club for making the trip to Topeka last Thursday. It was my honor to recognize the Fort Hays State University Shooting Club in the Senate chambers for earning the SCTP Division II National Championship title. This is the fourth national championship title and the club has also earned four runner-up championship titles.
The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee held hearings for SB162, which would require foster care contractors to inform the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) within 24 hours if any child in the foster care system goes missing. The bill would give DCF 48 hours to then inform legislators, the Governor and media about missing children. In addition, SB 162 would compel DCF to fine their private contractors $500 daily for violations of the proposed disclosure law. This legislation comes after multiple reports over previous years about missing children in DCF. Currently there are around 7,500 children within the Kansas foster care system.
Town Hall meeting times and locations have been scheduled and I look forward to seeing many of my constituents from the 40th Senate District. Dates, times and locations are as follows:
Friday, March 1, 2019
8:00-9:00 a.m. Ellis Co. -Ellis Public Library-907 Washington St.
9:45-10:45 a.m. Rooks Co.-Stockton City Building-115 S. Walnut St.
11:15-12:15 Phillips Co.-Phillipsburg-Branding Iron II-1310 State St
1:30-2:30 p.m. Norton Co.-Norton Public Library-1 Washington St
3:15-4:15 p.m. Graham Co.-Hill City-Graham Co Courthouse Commissioner’s Office-410 N. Pomeroy Ave.
Saturday, March 2, 2019
8:00-9:00 a.m. (MT) Wallace Co- Sharon Springs Senior Center 223 N. Main
9:30-10:30 a.m. (MT)Sherman Co.-Goodland Farm Bureau 1610 Main St.
12:30-1:30 p.m. Cheyenne Co.-St. Francis Public Library-121 N. Scott St
2:00-3:00 p.m. Rawlins Co.-Atwood Jamboree Food Deli-106 N 4th St.
3:30-4:30 p.m. Decatur Co- Oberlin BEE Building-104 S. Penn
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
8:00-9:00 a.m. Thomas Co.-Colby CCC Student Union, Room 106
9:30-10:30 a.m. Logan Co.-Oakley Buffalo Bill Cultural Center
11:00-12:00 Sheridan Co.-Hoxie-Midwest Energy meeting room-916 Sheridan Ave.
1:00-2:00 p.m. Gove Co-Quinter City Hall-202 Gove St.
2:30-3:30 p.m. Trego Co.-WaKeeney Livestock Market
Thank you for those who stopped by my office this last week.
I am honored and grateful to represent the 40th Senate District in Kansas. Please do not hesitate to contact or call me with your questions and concerns, my office number is 785 296-7399 or my cell is 785 899-4700. If you are in Topeka stop by my office at 236-E.
Sen. Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, is the Kansas state senator for the 40th District, which includes Cheyenne, Decatur, Ellis, Gove, Graham, Logan, Norton, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas, Trego and Wallace counties as well as portions of Phillips county
News permeates our lives. In the words of Supreme Court Justice Mahlon Pitney, it’s “the history of the day.” We consume it constantly and analyze it endlessly. We debate its value and its veracity. But here’s another aspect to discuss: Can we own it? And should we be able to?
Capitol Forum is a subscription news service that produces policy reports on mergers and acquisitions, corporate investigations and antitrust enforcement. Not exactly page-turners, but the kind of information investors rely on to make business decisions.
In a recent lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., against media outlets Bloomberg and Bloomberg Finance, Capitol Forum alleges that, “Within minutes of the release of many of Capitol Forum’s reports, Bloomberg will surreptitiously obtain the report from one or more of Capitol Forum’s subscribers and then republish a summary of that report on its own ‘First Word’ copyrighted subscription service, usually including direct quotations from the Capitol Forum report.”
Most of the lawsuit’s allegations revolve around copyright infringement and contract interference — with one curve ball thrown in: Capitol Forum is also claiming that Bloomberg is violating its property rights under the “hot news” doctrine.
What does that mean? Well, generally speaking, no one owns news. Copyright law doesn’t protect facts and ideas — it protects the specific ways those facts and ideas are expressed. It might prevent Bloomberg from outright copying and pasting Capitol Forum’s policy reports, but it doesn’t prevent it from summarizing them or quoting from them. This is true regardless of how much effort Capitol Forum put into its reports.
Take it from copyright expert Rich Stim: “Facts are not protected even if the author spends considerable time and effort in discovering things that were previously unknown. For example, the author of the book on Neanderthals takes 10 years to gather all the necessary materials and information for her work. At great expense, she travels to hundreds of museums and excavations around the world. But after the book is published, any reader is free to use the results of this 10-year research project to write his or her own book on Neanderthals — without paying the original author.”
The hot news doctrine is a very narrow, very obscure and possibly obsolete exception to this state of affairs. In 1918, the Associated Press (AP) sued its rival, the International News Service (INS), for taking AP news stories, rewriting them and publishing them as its own. The Supreme Court sided with the Associated Press, finding that though no one can own the “history of the day,” news does have economic value as “stock in trade to be gathered at the cost of enterprise, organization, skill, labor and money, and to be distributed and sold to those who will pay money for it.” The court said the AP had a limited property right in the news it reported, one that prevented its competitors (but not the general public) from using it, though only for a short period of time — while the news was “hot.” The hot news doctrine doesn’t broadly apply anymore, but it’s also not quite dead. As the Columbia Journalism Review has pointed out, “The INS opinion itself is no longer good law; it was decided under federal common law, which was largely abandoned in 1938. But the doctrine lives on under state law.”
You can see why Capitol Forum decided to bring up the concept, even though it opened them to mockery for dredging up a legal argument that hasn’t really been successful since it was applied to telegraph dispatches about World War I. TechDirt described the hot news doctrine as a “mostly obsolete and, frankly, bizarre attempt to turn the idea of publishing a similar news story too quickly after the original reporters broke the story into a form of ‘misappropriation.'”
Bloomberg’s editor-in-chief made the following statement: “This case challenges routine newsgathering practices protected under the First Amendment, and Bloomberg will vigorously defend journalists’ right to gather and report the news.” The hot news doctrine has never gone up against the First Amendment; there are valid concerns that if revived it would have a chilling effect on speech and press freedoms. The internet is, in essence, a network where information is shared, analyzed, remixed and repackaged freely and constantly. What would it mean for any player in this system to “own” a set of facts, even for a limited amount of time?
Of course, this cuts both ways. That freewheeling exchange of information has made the profit margins of actually discovering information pretty slim. Gathering and verifying facts is costly and time-intensive; summarizing those facts with a few choice quotes and a little pithy commentary is not (that’s probably why there’s so much more opinion journalism than the investigative variety).
It seems fundamentally unfair we don’t provide more compensation and recognition for the harder labor, but at the same time, this reflects the strange and contradictory view we have of the news. Information about the world around us is a right, a public good — and also a product.
Lata Nott is executive director of the First Amendment Center of the Freedom Forum Institute. Contact her via email at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @LataNott.
Donna KrugWhile it still seems early in the year to me, I must admit the days are going by in a hurry. Of course each day brings us one day closer to spring, which means warmer weather and longer bike rides. Many of the Extension programs I will be presenting in the weeks ahead deal with health or nutrition issues. Today I want to talk about another type of health – that is financial health.
The last week in February is designated as Kansas Saves week. This coincides with a national campaign America Saves. The slogan for this year is Start saving for your ‘someday’. The primary focus of Kansas Saves Week is to encourage financial action – commitments to save, reduce debt, invest and build wealth.
Whenever I teach a budgeting class I like to share the worksheet titled, “Does your money have wings?” It lists twenty or more things many families spend money on – like, snacks, eating out, cell phone charges, health club, late charges, etc. When participants in my class multiply the amount they spend on such items in a year it can be an eye opening experience. The goal of the worksheet is to help people see how much money is spent on non-essential extras and help them focus on cutting back on their spending.
Since this years’ theme is to start saving for your ‘someday’ perhaps it is time to consider saving automatically. It is proven to be the easiest and most effective way to save. There are several ways to make this work. One way is to have your bank or credit union transfer a fixed amount from your checking account to a savings or investment account. Or you can set it up with your employer to deduct a certain amount from your paycheck and transfer it to a savings account. Having clear goals for what you are saving for will help keep you motivated and you will be surprised at how quickly you can reach your goal.
Feel free to stop by my office or give me a call if you would like additional information about saving and budgeting.
Donna Krug is the District Director and Family and Consumer Science Agent with K-State Research and Extension – Cottonwood District. You may reach her at (620)793-1910 or [email protected]
By Troy L. Waymaster, State Representative, 109th Kansas House
February 22, 2019
KPERS Funding
Last week on Thursday, February 14, 2019, the House debated the reamortization of the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System’s unfunded liability for thirty years, House Bill 2197.This particular bill was a major component of the governor’s budget that she submitted in early January.
This bill did have a hearing in the House Financial Institutions and Pensions committee and was then sent to the entire House of Representatives for consideration.
Thursday we debated the merits of House Bill 2197.After about forty minutes of debate, the bill failed to receive enough votes for passage, failing 36 to 87.Had this measure passed both the House and then the Senate, it would have extended the time that KPERS is not fully funded for another fifteen years and would extend a debt legacy of $7.4 billion.
On another KPERS related issue, on Tuesday, February 19, 2019, the House Appropriations Committeepassed for the consideration of the HouseSenate Bill 9, which would authorize the payment of $115 million to KPERS for a delayed payment that was not made a few years ago due to budget deficits.On Thursday, I led debate on the House floor regarding Senate Bill 9 and it passed in final action on Friday, February 22, 2019, 125-0.The bill now goes to Governor Kelly for her signature.
Industrial Hemp
Last session, the Kansas Legislature passed and the Governor signed into law, Senate Bill 263, which allowed for an industrial hemp research program under the conditions of the Federal Farm Bill that was passed in 2014.In December 2018, the Federal Government made additional changes to the Farm Bill, that just recently passed, which now makes hemp available as a commercial crop.Last week, in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, a hearing was held on House Bill 2173, which would alter the existing law regarding the industrial hemp research program and would align the language to be in conjunction with the language of the Farm Bill of 2018.There are many changes that will need to be made moving the state of Kansas from an industrial hemp research program to making it a commercial crop for our farmers.
Budget Work
The House Appropriations Committee did conduct a hearing on the Governor’s Supplemental Budget Bill for the remaining months of 2019, House Bill 2121.
The budget committees have been working diligently in sifting through the enhancements that have been requested by the agencies or departments, seeing whether those have been approved or denied by the Governor, and then reexamining the request in seeing if it was valid.
The budget committee chairs have been reporting the budget committee recommendations to the full Appropriations Committee for two weeks now.
When they complete with the reporting of recommendations, tentatively right now that date is March 13, 2019, we will then compile the information and requests into House Bill 2121 for the remaining months of this fiscal year.
The other budget bill, House Bill 2122, is referred to as the MEGA Budget Bill, and that will contain the budget provisions for all of the agencies and departments for the state of Kansas for fiscal year 2020.It will also incorporate the budget directions for some agencies and departments for the outlying year of 2021.Both of these bills will be considered by the full House.
Contact Information
As always, if you have any concerns, feel free to contact me (785) 296-7672, follow on twitter at @waymaster4house, 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.
Tax-cutting fever is alive and well in Kansas politics, and no single person deserves more credit than Charles Koch, head of Koch Industries, the dynamic global conglomerate headquartered in Wichita.
H. Edward Flentje is professor emeritus at Wichita State University.
This fervor was recently orchestrated by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, as business lobbyists and hired guns paraded before a Senate committee in late January to embrace SB 22, a bill that cuts state income taxes by $190 million, with over three-fourths of the benefits going to businesses and corporations. After only an hour of hearings the committee advanced the bill to the Senate floor, and one week later 26 Republican lawmakers passed the bill over to the House.
Charles Koch was nowhere visible during this parade, but his shadow loomed large over the proceedings. This story begins sixty years earlier.
In his book, Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America’s Most Powerful and Private Dynasty, Daniel Schulman traces the anti-tax philosophy of Charles and his brother David to their father, Fred Koch, who instilled in his sons deep-seated beliefs in economic liberty and disdain for big government.
In the 1960s and 1970s the two Koch brothers began promoting libertarian ideas and causes. Charles stepped out to form the CATO Institute, a think tank dedicated to advancing individual liberty, limited government, and free markets. He wrote passionately that business should “want nothing more from government than to be left alone…our goal is to roll back government…consistently work to reduce all taxes, our own and those of others.” He persuaded David to become the 1980 vice-presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party with a platform calling for elimination of income taxes.
In 1980s and 1990s the Koch brothers became more engaged in practical politics. They formed what became Americans for Prosperity (AFP) “to recruit, educate and mobilize citizens” and helped spawn state-level, free-market think tanks, such as the Kansas Policy Institute, across the country. Charles also lent financial support to the American Legislative Exchange Council, which would later hire Arthur Laffer to propagandize nationally for elimination of state income taxes.
In 2012 Koch Industries turned serious attention to Kansas politics and became a leading financial patron of the Kansas Chamber. Koch’s dramatic boost to the Chamber’s PAC paid immediate dividends as the Chamber for the first time that year endorsed total elimination of the state income tax. Friendly lawmakers responded by exempting 330,000 businesses from paying any income taxes and slashing income tax revenues estimated at $4.6 billion over five years.
In line with Koch, the Chamber PAC amped up its 2012 campaign chest to six times the level of the five prior years. From 2012 through 2018, the PAC deployed over $3 million to recruit and retain state legislators friendly to its tax policies. Koch Industries alone contributed over one-quarter of the total. A former lobbyist for Koch and AFP became head of the Chamber.
Kansans have long held a dominant cultural preference for economic liberty that underpins the anti-tax philosophy of Charles Koch, but no one has energized the passion for cutting taxes in Kansas and across the nation as he has.
The reckless tax cutting of 2012 has been rescinded, but it has left neglect and disrepair across the scope of state government. State lawmakers should address this damage and temper their fervor for tax cutting with more concern for children in need of high-quality schools, minimum-wage workers lacking access to health care, and those on fixed incomes paying record-high sales taxes on food.
H. Edward Flentje is professor emeritus at Wichita State University and served with former Kansas Governors Bennett and Hayden.
I wanted to let people know about this scam as it was very convincing. A man who called himself, Sgt. Randy Newton called my work from the phone number 785-543-0415 Ext. 13. Since I was not working that day, my secretary gave me the information, when I called the phone number, I was told I reached the Ellis County Police Department’s Warrant and Citation Department. I left my name and phone number.
It was not long before I received a phone call back from “Sgt. Newton.” He explained that I was supposed to have jury duty today, and that I had missed it. I told him I never received notice for jury duty. He said there were two warrants out for my arrest — one for failure to appear and one for contempt of court.
Mind you, I have never been in trouble with the law, so I have no idea how such legal proceedings work. I was the perfect victim. He told me that there was a bond set for my warrants that would remain until vouchers were sent to the Department of Treasury. I would need to go to the Kwik Shop, get a voucher for $500, and mail the voucher to the Department of Treasury. He would remain on the line with me until this was done. Once this was done, the warrants would be put on hold.
I could then go to the Sheriff’s Department for a court date. I would also be able to file a grievance with the court regarding this issue. I could tell no one until I had my court date as there was a gag order in regards to this case. Again, I have no idea how this stuff works. He was very convincing, and he was even calling from the Ellis Police Department’s number. Luckily, my husband came home, and he did not think this situation made sense to him.
I have also been sick, so I’m not thinking the best either. He called the real Ellis Police Department, and he told them what was going on. They told him it was a scam. I immediately confronted the guy one the phone, and he hung up. My point is that the scammers are getting better and better. I’ve decided that I would rather have a police officer show up at my door then give anyone anything from here on out.
Please tell your friends, your parents, and anyone else, so they do not become victims of this scam.
