IN RECESS - But much left to do
Legislative Update Week 12, March 31 – April 4, 2008

Working well into the night this past week, the House finished up debating bills and concentrated on dealing with conference committee reports. As each committee reaches an agreement the conferees return to their respective chambers to explain the compromise. These are the result of negotiations between House and Senate leaders to reach agreement on divergent opinions and formulations to get a final version of a bill acceptable to both chambers. (If agreement cannot be reached the bill is re-referred to committee and will not be passed this year.) After some debate, the conference committee’s recommendation is then voted up or down. It is a lengthy process that can sometimes take many attempts to reach an agreement between the House and the Senate.
As a member of the Commerce and Labor conference committee, I have been meeting with the Senate delegation, which includes Sen. Brownlee, to iron out discrepancies on HB 2771 and 2772 and to find common ground on HB 2746. We agreed on the first two bills which deal with certification and training requirements for home inspectors and real estate appraisers but the last bill is still unresolved. This is an important bill which will require disclosure of emissions of Radon, a Class A human carcenogic gas, in real estate transactions. Radon is a tasteless, colorless gas which causes lung cancer. At least 200 deaths in Kansas are traceable to radon. Do yourself a favor and test your house a do it yourself test kit is available at a low cost. Reducing this source of danger is possible and relatively easy.
The legislature adjourned late Friday April 4 until April 30 at which time we'll reassemble for the wrap up (aka veto) session. It is expected that this will take 5 days. There is much left to be done as most of the major bills are not yet complete and will need to be addressed by either chamber.

Left to do
Upon return we will face several important and serious issues which will still need to be resolved.
The Omnibus Appropriations Bill is the vehicle which funds all programs and expenditures agreed to during the session. So far the budget process has been reasonable and prudent. We have held spending increases to less than 5% for this fiscal year, but the final word has not yet been spoken. During Omnibus debates, everyone seems to have a worthy cause and will offer amendments which cost money. Last year over 100 such amendments were attempted only a few were adopted but this lead to $15 million in extra expenditures.
The Omnibus Bill is the last piece of legislation to be passed. We seem to be reasonably close on the budget but there are two items in the Senate version unacceptable to the House. One is a $750,000 appropriation from the highway fund for an unnamed project in Labette County, the other is a $39 million bond issue to build a new prison in the Yates Center. Studies show that we do not need any more prison beds until 2017. It is an irresponsible misuse of funds for anything other than their intended purpose. The last innovation we need is to "earmark" money for a highway to nowhere and a prison with a vacancy sign. The House will hold it's ground I expect by refusing to leverage the state's financial future for projects which cannot be justified at this time.
Immigration is also hung up. The House rejected the conference report and did not accede to the Senate demands. That means SB 329 is barely alive. Considering that this bill was completely eviscerated it might be better not to resurrect it. The differences between the House and Senate version are such that at present there is no acceptable bill for both. The Senate essentially emasculated the House Bill and actually increased health benefits to illegals. Employer sanctions were watered down and seem unenforcable. A majority of Representatives, including this one, believed that this bill is worse than no bill at all.
SB 389 CARA, the late term abortion reporting act, passed the House with a veto proof 84-40 majority, but not the Senate, where it passed 25-14. This bill does not limit abortions. It simply requires that the law, on late term viable baby abortions, be followed and that proper reports are filed as required. This is to protect young girls who were rape victims because they're incapable to consent.
Among the major issues still needing work is the Health Reform Act of 2008. The House version favors support for families who are uninsured while the senate wants to increase funding in the SCHIP program which affects mainly children. The disagreement is that the House wants to spend significant resources to help poor families purchase private health insurance while the Senate prefers funding to increase SCHIP eligibility which benefits children exclusively.

Finally, the Sunflower Coal Fired Plant Permit, substitute for SB 148 passed the House 83-41, one vote short of veto override, but one member was absent. The Senate did override the governor’s veto of the original Sunflower bill, which gives the House 30 days to act. SB 148 includes several "green" components designed to make it more palatable to the governor, who indicated a willingness to reach out to the legislature but has not come up with any ideas of her own yet. Speculation is that she will veto this bill, too. According to published reports, there is much arm twisting and deal making going on over this crucial issue.

SB 148 On a vote of 83-41, the House passed on the last day House Substitute for the Senate Bill 148. This bill is very similar to the original energy plan but with the addition of some “greener” elements such as the provision for more wind generated power. This represents the attempt by the House to compromise to get legislation acceptable to all parties, including the Governor. She has said that she would be willing to work with the Legislature to get an energy plan passed but, we have received little or no input from her and she has not provided a proposal so far. We need to act quickly to prevent the regulatory uncertainty from driving more investment out of the state. The fallout of the Holcomb plant has already been felt with the loss of an $8 billion dollar oil refinery. We need to ensure that Kansas is a top choice for businesses looking to expand or relocate. We cannot afford to drive further investments from Kansas.

Caution: Partisan View
If you're a Democrat this Wall Street Journal editorial of April 4, 2008, will raise your blood pressure.
"The 'No, Nothing' Democrates - Most sources of energy are beyond the pale in the Democratic Party, but nothing carries quite the moral stigma of coal. The latest excommunication is under way in Kansas, of all places, and it may be a forerunner of national political trends. Governor Kathleen Sebelius calls it “a moral obligation,” as though she were opposing crimes against humanity. This is a reference to coal companies guilty of nothing more than attempting to provide power to consumers. But their misfortunes include emitting carbon dioxide into the current political atmosphere, and also the presence of Ms. Sebelius, who recently invented another way of enacting her preferred global-warming policies without legislation.

No one disputes that Kansas needs more baseload energy capacity to meet growing demand, especially at peak times and in the more rural west. In 2006, Sunflower Electric proposed to add two new generators to one of its existing coal facilities. The plans met or exceeded every federal and state air-quality and environmental regulation, and included the latest pollution control technologies.

But in October, one of Ms. Sebelius’s cabinet secretaries, Roderick Bremby, denied Sunflower its permits. Using “emergency” discretion, he creatively ruled the expansion an imminent danger to the public – because the estimated 11 million tons of greenhouse gases it would emit each year might contribute to climate change. It was the first time ever that such reasoning formed the sole basis for blocking a power project; and, in the absence of any state laws relating to carbon control, it amounted to a public policy putsch.

Ms. Sebelius joined the green regulatory lobby that wants to unilaterally classify CO2 as an “air pollutant,” though it has none of the qualities that have always defined the term under federal or state law. Her effort is also an opening charge for a national moratorium on new coal plants, which is backed by the likes of Democrats Harry Reid, Ed Markey, and, needless to say, Al Gore.

By wide bipartisan margins, the Kansas legislature passed a bill resurrecting the project and closing the “discretion” loophole, telling Ms. Sebelius to obey the rules on the books. She vetoed that measure late last month, which the legislature will try to override today, and the votes may come up a few short.

The losers here are ordinary Kansans, who won’t benefit from a reliable source of low-cost power and will pay higher electricity rates. The state is running up against the limits of its ability to provide electricity for its growing population and economy. The current generating fleet has an average age nearing 40 years and hence is less efficient (not to mention more polluting).

Ms. Sebelius suggests commercial wind power as an alternative. The numbers suffice as rebuttal: Some three-quarters of Kansas electricity comes from coal-fired utilities. Currently all “renewables,” including wind, account for 2%, at best.

Ms. Sebelius is a Democratic wunderkind and her name is circulating for a cabinet post in an Obama Administration, maybe even Vice President. She’s representative of the party’s “no nothing’ wing, which knows only what energy it wants to ban or limit, not what it is going to offer in place. Coal provides more than half of U.S. electricity because it is cheap and abundant – and viable. Wind turbines and the rest of the boutique alternatives are none of those, a reality that Democrats are going to have to square when they actually bother to pass a climate-change bill."

Annexation
The House passed annexation reform this week. The time for county commissioners to hold a hearing to consider whether or not the cities have provided the services promised in the annexation has changed from five to three years. If the city has not provided the services as agreed to, the landowners will only have to wait one year to petition to de-annex the land. The bill also retroactively prohibits the annexation of narrow tracts of land in order to gain access to an area that is not contiguous to the city. It is a step forward in giving the private landowners a voice when their property is unilaterally annexed.

Missouri Tax Repeal
Put me out of my Missouri! Our neighbor to the East has yet to repeal the statute that unfairly taxes Kansans working in Missouri. HB 2641, which will put similar tax laws into effect on any state that burdens Kansas taxpayers, in this case 50,000, is now in conference committee. If Missouri refuses to act then we will be force to enact legislation to prohibit $5 million dollars from leaving the state annually.

Finally some Property Tax relief for Senior Citizens
HB 2928 I was pleased to vote for the Senior Citizen Property Tax Deferral Act which allows those 65 and over to defer all or part of their property tax bill. You must apply to do so. Taxes are not forgiven but accrue until the property is sold.

Bills, Bills, Bills
As usual during the week a large number of bills were voted on. Our bad habit of "bundling" multiple was practiced once again with seven insurance related bills rolled into one, and one of my bills combined with two others. Among the legislation considered is the following. My vote is indicated (y=yes, n=no, a= abstain)

• HB 2543 related to property taxation, exemptions on new buildings (y)
• HB 2839 grandparents as care givers (Y)
• HB 2891 limitation on the issuance of certain bonds(Y)
• SB 365 home and community based services dept on aging (Y)
• SB 391 KAN-Ed amendment (Y)
• SB 444 Property tax exemptions, homestead, social security (Y)
• SB 510 Property tax exemptions farm machinery and equipment (Y)
• SB 534 Appropriations Mega bill (N)
• SB 669 Virtual schools (Y)
• HB 2601 Insurance reimbursement (N) (NOTE: my explanation of vote below)
• HB 2694 Alternative fuel subsidies (N)
• HB 2928 Senior citizens property tax deferral act (Y)
• SB 417 Housing development grants rural housing (N)
• HB 2634 Fuel storage tanks (Y)
• HB 2692 Scrap metal (Y)
• HB 2657 Motor boat exhaust noise (N)
• HB 2685 Geriatric medicine, school of medicine (Y)
• HB 2978 Involuntary annexation (Y)
• HB 2983 Physician workforce and accreditation (Y)
• HB 2991 Juvenile justice (Y)
• SB 189 Drainage and levees (Y)
• SB 387 Investment of idle funds (y)
• SB 417 Carbon Tax (N) (NOTE: my explanation of vote below)
• SB 485 Construction of buildings certain cities (Y)
• SB 531 School district consolidation, financing fiscal 2009/2010 (N) (NOTE: Explanation of vote below)
• HB 2207 nonresident pharmacies regulations (Y)
• SB 180 IMPACT investments in major products
• SB 148 Energy Policy, Production, Emission

Explanation of votes: (these are printed in the Journal of the House):
HB 2601 "Mr. Speaker: This otherwise very good bill contains a poison pill which will make changes in insurance coverage for deserving Kansans more difficult. It creates an unprecedented new hurdle and much longer lead times before any improvement in insurance coverage can be made. The life-saving Wolf amendment would not be possible as we no longer have the possibility to act directly. We have protected the insurance industry at the expense of our constituents. I can no longer support this bill and I vote no." (It passed 83-41)
SB 417 "Mr. Speaker: I cannot support legislation which leads to large increases in the cost of energy for Kansans. This bill also initiates a tax on power. The issue of carbon taxation must be handled on the federal level and Kansas should not be the first state to level a tax of this kind. This is bad policy which creates a negative precedent." Also signed by Reps Merrick, Kelley, and Olson. (The bill failed 51-74)
SB 531 "This bill gave an additional $59 per student to our schools. After it was certain the bill would pass (91-21) and our schools would get the money, the entire Johnson County delegation voted against it with this explanation: "Mr. Speaker: SB 531 does not address the inequities in funding which the Johnson County schools are subjected to. A formula which pays some districts much more than 100% of actual costs while denying adequate funding to others must be changed. We have long argued and voted for more money for all Kansas Schools. Johnson county schools continue to be number 269 out of 298 in per pupil funding and we can no longer support this flawed formula."

Details of all of the above bills can be accessed through the legislative web site www.KSlegislature.org

New License Plate Design, Have Your Say:
Carmen Alldritt, Director of the Dept. of Motor Vehicles announced that Kansans are asked to vote for the new personalized license plates scheduled for production in 2010. The dept asked citizens for designs and 111 were submitted. The top 5 choices are finalists and you may pick your favorite by going to: www.ksrevenue.org and clicking on "vote for new personalized license plates.” The deadline is April 30, with the winner chosen the 1st week in May.

DMV Update:
I promised to help improve the service of the drivers license bureau in Olathe and Overland Park, I sent a letter to Joan Wagnon, Secretary of Revenue, which was also signed by 15 Johnson County Legislators urging her to expand the facilities and opening hours and/or outsource the service. I have also drafted legislation which will force the department to do so. To expedite this bill, members of the JOCO delegation will be meeting with Carmen Alldritt, who is responsible to implement the plan. I will report on the outcome of our meeting.

Because of the recess:
The next newsletter will be published the week after the veto session May 5th.

Ideology is to rational thought what a virus is to health. Both adapt and mutate in order to continue to target their enemies.