“ SHARE THE VISION”

2010 Session Update

While budget issues dominate this session, we are working on many policy issues at the Capitol as well. It is also an election year and we have the usual batch of bills introduced to make headlines. This year I decided to vote “no” more often to show that it is time to get serious about how we spend our time and try to defeat some of the bills that are bad public policy.

February 21 was “turn-around” day, when the House and Senate finish work on bills they originated and send them to the other body. This marks the half-way point of the session.

Here are a few of the bills I introduced this session at the request of constituents and the status of those bills:

Review of unilateral annexations by the county commission (HB 2478) was passed by the House.
Increased reporting requirements for child abuse (HB 2208) had a hearing.
Move the Forbes firefighters to the KP&F retirement plan (HB 2107) is expected to be heard this session.
HB 2497 will help the State Treasurer find people to return their unclaimed property. It was sent to the House for a vote.

You may track bills as they work through the legislature online at www.kslegislature.org.

How did we get in this mess?

We are facing a $400 million dollar hole to fill in the 2011 budget. So how did we get here? Kansas is not immune to the national economic downturn. When the unemployment rate climbs, we know income tax, sales tax, and corporate taxes will lag. In fact, for the first time in the state’s history, revenues declined three years in a row.

Yes, we did increase spending in the last few years. We increased spending for public schools by about $800 million after the Supreme Court ordered the legislature to fund schools at a constitutional level. We increased state employee wages to move toward a market pay rate. We increased salaries for those caring for seniors and the disabled in their homes. We tried to “catch up” on a lot of programs that were let go after the major tax cuts in 1998.

But the other half of the equation is that we also reduced revenues with major tax cuts between 2005 and 2008. When times are good, it’s a good thing to return the peoples’ money. But when we cut taxes by hundreds of millions of dollars followed by a downturn in the economy, it was a double whammy to the state coffers. We cut income and property taxes for seniors and those in poverty. We cut corporate taxes. We reduced property taxes for business equipment. We eliminated the estate tax. We gave incentives to bring new business to the state. It all adds up.

When the bottom fell out starting in 2008, we cut back the spending. We cut over $1 billion out of a $6 billion budget. But we never even looked at taking back any of the tax cuts. So the bulk of the pain of the economic downturn fell on our schools, colleges, seniors, the poor and the disabled. This year we have to set better priorities. We have cut enough.

2010 Budget bill

We have two important budgets to deal with this session. First, we had to deal with a revenue shortfall in the 2010 fiscal year that ends June 30, 2010. The state cannot engage in deficit spending, so we had to develop a plan to cover the shortfall. The Governor proposed a plan and the House and Senate approved that plan (HB 2222). If revenues do not improve, we may have to make more adjustments before the session ends. But now we can focus on the 2011 fiscal year budget.

2011Budget progress

Estimates are that we will be about $400 million short on revenues in the 2011 fiscal year that runs July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011. Governor Parkinson has made it clear that the one billion dollars in cuts made during the 2010 fiscal year was enough for our schools, seniors, poor, disabled, and state agencies. He proposed to increase revenues with a permanent tax increase on cigarettes and a one cent increase in the state sales tax for just the next three years.

It is the job of the Republican leadership to make a budget proposal for the House to consider. The majority party controls all the committee assignments, activities and bills. Even though House Speaker Mike O’Neal has stated that spending cuts are the only solution, he has not put a proposal on the table at this half-way point of the session. I agree with the Governor – if more spending cuts are in order, then let’s see the plan. Speaker O’Neal simply has no plan.

House Democrats have put several proposals before the tax committee, but we need to know what the budget will be before we try to pass any revenue increases. Don’t expect any action on the budget or a tax bill until near the end of the session when we get updated revenue forecasts.

Kansas 2nd in wind power

Kansas is now the No. 2 state for wind power potential in the U.S. According to a new study, Kansas has the potential to generate 3.6 million gigawatt hours of electricity from wind – which is about 10 times the power used by California in a year.

This fits well with the new wind energy manufacturing plants being built in Hutchinson and Newton bringing over 600 jobs to the state. Now we need to convince the Southwest Power Pool board that we need more transmission lines to move that energy across the region. The SPP is a multi-state organization that makes plans for regional transmission lines. We are working to make transmission lines in Kansas a priority.

Jobs, jobs, jobs

Besides wind energy jobs, Kansas is attracting new industry and doing exciting research in our universities that will bring new jobs. A deal with Cerner Corporation will bring over 4,000 high wage jobs to Wyandotte County. US Bank is bringing over 1000 jobs to Johnson County. In Shawnee County there is a new manufacturing plant opening that will need about 150 metal workers. Home Depot’s new warehouse will also employ hundreds of area residents. Alorica is hiring 200 employees for its new division. The legislature is continually working to bring new bioscience and high tech jobs as well.

Our universities are also playing a key role in economic development. Research at Wichita State on composite materials is very exciting with its commercial potential. The NBAF facility at K-State is already attracting related businesses. KU Medical Center’s quest for designation as a national cancer institute has the potential for jobs and investment.

Since jobs and job training are key to our economic turnaround, now is not the time to cut our university funding or dumb down our schools.

House and Senate exchange bills

We are now at the midpoint of the Legislative session. The House and Senate voted on dozens of bills so far. For the next few weeks we will consider bills from the other body. Here are some of the bills considered. Unless otherwise noted, I voted “yes” on these bills. Just remember that until a bill is passed by both houses and signed by the Governor, it is not yet law.

Bills passed by the House

HB 2482 – eliminates the requirement to do a written test to renew your drivers’ license. Also allows those on active duty military living outside of Kansas to renew without a written test.
HB 2411 – makes it a crime to use or sell new synthetic forms of marijuana, commonly called K2.
HB 2676 – changes the rates employers pay into the unemployment insurance fund. With high unemployment, a greater burden fell on employers who had not laid off employees. This bill changes the formula to give relief to those employers who have better ratings. This has been a big concern especially to small employers who struggled to keep people on their payrolls.
HB 2506 – allows the parole board to consider the differences in current and past sentencing guidelines so that inmates are treated more proportionally.
HB 2547 – makes changes as to how car dealer franchises deal with the car manufacturers. I don’t think the state needs to get involved in this fight as we have both manufacturers and dealers here. The parties are working on an agreement, so I voted against this bill.
HB 2585 – waives the marriage license fee for those who sign an affidavit saying they are too poor to pay the fee. These fees are used to support victims of abuse, crime victims and other funds. If someone can’t afford a license, how do they afford the wedding? I voted against the bill.
HB 2676 – changes the contribution rates for unemployment insurance rates to help businesses that have not laid off workers.
HB 2577 – increases requirements for licensure of addiction counselors.
HB 2517 – strengthens laws on domestic violence.
HB 2080 – this bill allows some districts to use unused state provided capital outlay money from 2008-2009 for operations, but I voted against it because it punishes property poor rural areas by taking away funds the state sends to support new school buildings.
HB 2448 – allows pharmacists to give flu shots to children from age 6 to 18.
HB 2472 – sets a framework of rules for homeowners associations.
HB 2552 – allows Kansas to join the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Compact to promote rail development in the region.
HB 2575 – requires naturopathic doctors to be licensed and not just registered.

Clean air act goes to Governor

The House concurred with the Senate on a bill to require a minimum statewide smoking ban (HB 2221). Cities may pass more stringent requirements, but this bill sets the floor. I didn’t agree with all the provisions in the bill, but believe it will save lives and is good public policy for Kansas. The smoking bans in Lawrence and Topeka are stronger than the state minimum and should not be impacted by this law.