Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed that massive tax cut bill that she didn’t like and says the state can’t afford; it doesn’t appear that action, first veto of her term, will be overridden.

Oh, there’s talk about it, but practically, the votes don’t appear to be there for the override. And leaders in the House and Senate who supported the bill and would like the override aren’t interested in seeing a failed veto attempt diminish their power, or perceived power, so don’t look for that override try.

Let’s see how a veto vote works. Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, leader of the Senate GOP with enough Republicans but not votes to override, won’t get it done. House Speaker Ron Ryckman, R-Olathe, is similarly situated. Plenty of Republicans, just not enough votes. Why try when it’s likely to fail, and both Wagle and Ryckman will hear from constituents “…and you still couldn’t get Kelly overridden?” That talk gets old the first couple dozen times you hear it.

But…there are some smaller tax cuts, none related to the biggest portion of that three-year $230 million cut for corporations doing overseas business, that are in the air and low-buck enough that they wouldn’t wreck Kelly’s first budget.

Watch for property tax “relief.”

Nice thing about it for the Legislature is that whatever happens to property tax cuts doesn’t happen here…in the Statehouse and the State General Fund, but rather with local units of government. It’s called “free” tax cuts, paid for by local units of government which live on property taxes, but with legislators’ names on the bill.

Does it get any better than that? Tax cuts, no cost, and all the glory that legislative candidates can make fit on their re-election palm cards.

The Senate, which tends to lead this year in major legislation, has passed its major property tax cut bill this year and sent it to the House.

It puts a freeze on property taxes at the current level—if you’re 65 or older, or a veteran with a 50 percent disability.

Oh, and if your household income (all who live there) is less than $50,000 a year, and the house is valued at less than $350,000, whether it’s paid off or not.

That means if you qualify for the program, you get to go to the picnics and get to hear your neighbors gripe about property tax increases, while you just reach for another beer or handful of chips.

Oh, there are some other tax cuts floating around, but with the biggie now off the table, nobody’s come up with a sales tax exemption for, say, assault rifles or holsters for those concealed-carry fans.

Key, of course, is to find a group whose taxes can be cut slightly but memorably, at relatively low cost. And while Kelly is firm about not cutting taxes (or, rather, receipts) enough to damage the budget, there are probably some little measures out there…

Already, there’s been a bill that has gone nowhere to exempt from state income tax Social Security payments, which is expected to cost somewhere north of $70 million in lost revenues, but revenues from folks who vote and from folks who remember who saved them money.

Possible? Probably not, it’s a narrowly focused political tax cut, but every retiree will remember it, and probably their children will get to hear about it at every gathering.

The tax cut issue isn’t over, though it doesn’t look good for those multinational corporations. And it’s going to have to be relatively low cost.

Let’s see where this goes next…

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

In the dim light of evening from our windows in the custom-built blind, we could see thousands of tall, grayish-white birds forming groups on the far river bank about 200 yards away. Their raspy calls, somewhere between a croak and a purr, saturated the evening air and could easily be heard a couple miles away.

They continued accumulating on the bank until it was almost too dark to see them as they began moving to the safety of the shallow water and the sandbars in the river to spend the night. This was the annual marvel known as the Sandhill Crane Migration along the Platte River near Grand Island, Nebraska.
The organization called the Crane Trust was formed in 1978, resulting from a lawsuit to halt construction of the proposed Gray Rocks Dam on the Laramie River in Wyoming, a tributary of the North Platte River that flows the length of Nebraska.

Both Kansas and Nebraska are smack-dab in the middle of the Central Flyway used by millions of geese, ducks and sandhill cranes as well as the endangered whooping cranes and dozens of other migratory bird species. The Crane Trust’s mission is to protect and maintain habitat along what’s known as the Big Bend area of the Platte River, from Lexington, NE to Chapman, NE. The Crane Trust currently owns or manages over 12,000 acres along a 7 mile stretch of the river near Grand Island.

This area of the Platte River provides the perfect environment for sandhill cranes to rest, refuel and find mates as they travel from their wintering grounds in Mexico to breeding grounds as far north as Siberia. Although the whole affair is slightly later this year because of erratic and unusual March weather, upwards of 650, 000 sandhill cranes will stop along this stretch of the Platte River for a few days each March, making this easily the largest single migration in North America and rivaling the wildebeest migration in Africa.

The cranes leave Mexico in family groups and can travel more than 500 miles a day before congregating en masse along the big bend area of the Platte. Brice Krohn, President of the Crane Trust, told us that even in the midst of thousands of other cranes, the birds can actually still keep track of family members through unique sounds they make. This stretch of the Platte River is wide and shallow with myriads of sand bars, providing safety and security for the cranes for the night. Corn is king throughout this part of Nebraska, and corn left on the ground in harvested fields provides the perfect nutrition for the birds to refuel and build body mass for the rest of the flight and as they search for mates.

Both Greater and Lesser Sandhill Cranes join in the same migration. Adult Greater’s are about 4 feet tall, weight 7 – 11 pounds and have 6 1/2 foot wingspans; Lesser’s are slightly smaller. They are a sort of dirty grayish-white color with dark wing tips, bright red head crests and long beaks, much like our Blue Herons, and it’s nearly impossible to tell males and females apart. The females lay 2 eggs each year and family groups usually remain together for 3 years. Also like our herons, Sandhill Cranes don’t float or swim, but are wading birds.

The following morning we entered the blinds in the dark, and even though we couldn’t see the birds at all, their distinctive, raspy calls still permeated the darkness for miles around. The Platte River was high due to the recent floods, so many of the usually exposed expanses of sand were under a few inches of water. However, the rising sun revealed the few dry sandbars to be teeming with cranes standing shoulder-to-shoulder occupying every available inch of real estate; our guide estimated there were probably 20,000 within our eyesight.

As the day awoke around us, the morning show began. There were constantly cranes in the air, moving from group-to-group or moving to the shore to forage. When a bald eagle flew into view, every crane went on high alert, and the soothing, raspy calls became noticeably intense until the eagle settled high in a tree. Unmated adults put on their best moves to vie for each other’s attention and affection. They bowed and curtsied, they fluttered into the air then floated back down, they bobbed and parried, all in the name of attracting the perfect suitor and lifelong mate.

The sunrise over the bubbling waters of the Platte River became the perfect ending to our time with the cranes. Watching the Sandhill Crane migration with the personable, knowledgeable guides from the Crane Trust is an experience that should be on everyone’s bucket list. Contact them at www.cranetrust.org to reserve your spots for next year. Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!

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

By JOHN P. TRETBAR

Kansas crude-oil production last year dipped to its lowest level since 2005. Kansas producers pumped 2.75 million barrels in December for a yearly total of just 34.7 million barrels, according to the latest numbers from the Kansas Geological Survey. That’s down 1.1 million barrels from last year’s total, marking the third consecutive annual decline. A stark price plunge two years ago led to production declines across the country. Kansas has been slower than some other states in resuming the large production totals reported during times of higher prices.

Ellis County was the top crude oil producing county in Kansas last year with just over 2.6 million barrels. That’s the lowest total in the county in nearly twenty years. The 2018 total for Barton County was just shy of 1.7 million barrels. You have to go back to 2006 to find a lower annual total. We’ve seen steady production declines over the last several years in Russell and Stafford counties. Both counties dipped to the lowest annual total to be found in records published by the KGS dating back to 1970. Russell County operators produced just over 1.5 million barrels last year, while Stafford County added just over one million.

Baker Hughes reports a big drop in its weekly rotary rig count. The total nationwide was 1,006, which is down eight oil rigs and two seeking natural gas. The count in Texas was down one, Colorado was down four, Alaska dropped by three and California was down two rigs. Canada reported 88 active rigs, which is down 17.

Independent Oil & Gas Service reported a slight dip in the rig count in Kansas. The total east of Wichita was unchanged at four. There were 24 rigs in Western Kansas that were relocating, moving in, rigging up or drilling. That’s down two for the week. Independent reported 134 stacked rigs, up three from the week before.

Operators filed 24 permits for drilling at new locations across Kansas last week, 195 so far this year. There were 12 in eastern Kansas and 12 west of Wichita.

Independent Oil & Gas Service reports 19 newly-completed wells for the week across the state, including one in Russell County and one in Stafford County. Out of 15 completions west of Wichita last week, five were dry holes. There were six completions in eastern Kansas.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration last week reported an increase in domestic crude oil inventories of 2.8 million barrels. At 442.3 million barrels, stockpiles are about 2% below the five year average for this time of year.

The government reported another record for U.S. crude oil production for the week. The total is approximately 12.089 million barrels per day, an increase of about five thousand barrels per day from last week’s record, and one point six million barrels per day more than last year at this time.

Imports averaged six point five million barrels per day last week, down by 392,000 barrels per day from the previous week. EIA reports that over the past four weeks, imports averaged about 6.8 million barrels per day, 11.7% less than the same four-week period last year.

A House panel in Florida gave its okay to a ban on two forms of hydraulic fracturing on Tuesday, but the bill would continue to allow a completion process known as matrix acidizing. Only New York, Vermont and Maryland have enacted total bans on fracking, which uses high-pressure liquids to create cracks in underground rock, allowing pockets of oil and gas to flow freely. Most oil and natural gas in Florida is produced in the northwest and southern parts of the state. Production peaked at 47 million barrels in 1978 but has since dropped to 2 million barrels in 2017, according to a Senate staff analysis. As of last year, there were 57 active wells in the state.

As lawmakers in Colorado contemplate new regulations on the oil and gas industry, the industry is fighting back with some impressive numbers. According to a new trade group report, in 2017 the Colorado patch and its employees paid almost $1 billion in state and local taxes, employed about 30,000 people, created about 51,000 additional jobs, and added about thirteen point five billion dollars ($13.5 billion) to Colorado’s gross domestic product.

The oil and gas industry in Texas posted more than 15-thousand new job listings last year, according to another trade group report. The Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association reported crude extraction led the way with nearly four-thousand new help-wanted ads in 2018. Houston posted the most new open positions, followed by Midland and San Antonio.