Melanie’s Memo
40th District
Kansas House of Representatives
Week 2: January 19-23, 2009
FROM THE STATEHOUSE
This was a short and fast week in Topeka. First there was the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday on Monday and then the Presidential inauguration on Tuesday. The House of Representatives convened in the afternoon so that the members could watch the historic occasion, while the Senate worked right through it! Never fear, we Representatives still had our committee meetings! On Thursday, two young men from Leavenworth and Fort Leavenworth came to Topeka to serve as pages. J.J. Cole and Ross Richardson, received training on the duties of pages, worked on the House floor during the session, and toured the Capitol and the Docking State Office Building (which included the 296 step climb into the dome). I have opportunities for pages on the 3rd and 5th of March. If any young men or women in junior or senior high school (minimum age of 12) would like to come to Topeka and participate in the legislative session please be sure to let me know! The State budget was the big topic this week. The Senate Ways and Means Committee jumped right into debate on proposed budget cuts while the House Appropriations Committee is starting with testimony from the different State agencies about how the proposed cuts affect them. The Governor's proposed budget was based on revenue estimates from before the holiday season, which, unfortunately were not as grim as the new estimates since the holidays. The concept of "across the board" cuts seems to be the center of the debate. Such cuts can be very inefficient and often cruel. Just think if you had to cut your own budget. Some things are just more important than others and some investments must be protected. The debate will continue about what Kansas priorities are.
Remember, you can follow the debate and give us your input. Complete daily calendars are available at www.kslegislature.org along with other useful information and a weblink to listen to live broadcasts from the floors of the House and Senate.
MY COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
All three of my committees met this week:
AGRICULTURE & NATURAL RESOURCES
The committee meets at 3:30 Monday through Friday. This week a Resolution to the US Congress was introduced in the Committee that the State of Kansas should be able to control its transport and processing of horses, and a bill was introduced to introduce a hunter safety orientation program into Kansas schools. The committee received more status updates from experts and Kansas agencies. We received a presentation by Tom Gross from the Bureau of Air and Radiation about wet Mercury deposit monitoring. Kevin Jones briefed us about a large number of dead turkeys that were found in Russell Springs. Mike Miller, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Operations of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks gave us an overview of the changes that were made to reduce and simplify the statutes on hunting licenses last year. Lloyd Fox, the Big Game Coordinator of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, gave us an update on deer herd management in Kansas. Carole Jordan, the Director of the Rural Development Division of the Kansas Department of Commerce, gave us an overview of the 30 programs that her division runs in order to push state and federal dollars into rural areas. These programs include agriculture marketing, renewable bio-energy development, and the new Kansas trademark program "Simply Kansas." VISION 20/20 The committee meets at 1:30 on Monday and Wednesday. This week we received updates on the State owned water reservoirs in Kansas. Dr. Edward Martinko, State Biologist Director of the Kansas Biological Survey, reviewed the status of the levels of sediment in the reservoirs. He testified that the reservoir storage capacity is at 50% and that Kansas must make some decisions about our future water supply. Edward Carney, a "Lakeologist" from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, emphasized that management of our reservoirs is the key to future water supply. Jim Whisenant, the City Administrator of the City of Horton, then briefed us on the Kansas pilot project at Horton that is dredging its lake in order to return it to its original volume of storage. Once this project is complete, Kansas will have data to use in determining the effects of dredging on the quality and quantity of water and the environment. Earl Lewis, the Assistant Director of the Kansas Water Office, testified that Kansas needs to change its approach to managing its reservoirs and that the reservoirs need to be classified as infrastructure. Mr. Lewis went over some of the costs of different courses of action that Kansas could take. To just keep up with the sediment by dredging, it would cost $75 million a year. To build a new reservoir would cost at least one half a billion dollars. To buy Missouri River run off from the Corps of Engineers would cost $30 million plus the cost of maintenance. Currently Kansas is under a contract with the Corps of Engineers to release water from the reservoirs when the Missouri River is low. If Kansas wants to keep the water, we have to purchase the "run off" that we are contracted to release. Greg Foley from the Kansas State Conservation Program explained how dams work to limit the amount of sediment in the reservoirs. He also explained that dredging should not cause any environmental concerns because the sediment core samples that are taken from the State owned reservoirs do not show any threat of toxins or heavy metals in the sediment.
VETERANS, MILITARY AFFAIRS & HOMELAND SECURITY
The committee meets at 1:30 on Tuesday and Thursday. This week we reviewed the legislation that the committee completed last year, the Kansas Commission on Veterans Affairs (KCVA) budget and the results of the audit that was done on the KCVA last year. Wayne Bollig, the Veteran Services Director of the KCVA, testified about the budget and what the KCVA has done in answer to the audit results. Mr. Bollig testified that the KCVA has a new executive director, Jack Fowler, who has implemented improvements in internal communications and relationships as well as with the veteran service organizations, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the American Legion. The KCVA estimates that Kansas has over 3400 new veterans in the last year because of the current conflicts in the Middle East and that only approximately 13% of all veterans in Kansas are receiving the benefits that they are entitled. There is an outreach plan to get service to veterans in rural areas that do not have access to VA Service Centers, but the KCVA will not have the money to implement it until 2011. The new Kansas Lottery veterans scratch-off game is to provide the money, but the first two years of funds is designated to the new 35th Infantry Division Museum. Director Bollig feels that the KCVA’s ability for outreach to rural veterans will get worse with the proposed budget cuts this year and that the Kansas Soldiers Home will have major funding shortages. Three bills were introduced in the committee this week. One bill proposed education requirements for employees of the KCVA. The second proposed that the composition of the Veterans Claims Assistance Advisory Board be required to have one representative from each service organization. Service organizations include organizations such as the VFW, the American Legion, and the Disabled American Veterans (DAV). The third bill proposes a new veteran's license plate that includes a decal that shows the veteran has been in combat.
THE 40th DISTRICT
In addition to my committee assignments this week, I monitored the Education Committee to listen to its hearing on a proposal to change how school finance is determined with the enrollment of military children. The bill proposes continuing a second count of pupils in districts that have military children. Currently, the number of children that school financing is based on is determined by a count of present pupils on Sep 20th and Feb 20th in the Fort Riley and Fort Leavenworth area school districts. This is because of the large number of students moving in and out of the schools throughout the year. The bill not only proposes continuing the second count, but making it a “net” count by also subtracting the number of students that have left the school district by the second count. The Superintendent from the Geary County school district testified about the high turnover rate in the Fort Riley area schools and the special needs of the students that are there because of having one or both of their parents deployed. He also told a touching story to illustrate the special needs there. When he first became Superintendent and visited the schools on Fort Riley he wore a dark suit. The first child he encountered took him by the hand and asked him who's daddy had died because he associated dark suits with notification of death and funerals. I called and spoke with Superintendent Baeuche, from Fort Leavenworth, and asked her how this bill would affect the Fort Leavenworth area schools. She said that while the Leavenworth area military children experience the same special needs related to deployment and deaths of military servicemen and women, that her turnover rate was not near as high as the Fort Riley area.
FROM THE 40th DISTRICT
This Friday I attended the Art Attack in downtown Leavenworth. It was a festive occasion of local artist's work, local food, and music. It is the last Friday of each month, in the old Lee’s Furniture store on the corner of Cherokee and 5th Street. On Thursday, the Senate voted 39-0 for a bill that would allow county, state, and federal prosecutors to carry concealed guns into county courthouses. Our own Leavenworth County Attorney, Todd Thompson, was interviewed by KCTV Channel 5 about this topic!
COMING UP
Ms. Katherine McBride, a second year law student at Washburn University, is my intern this session. She is helping me with the suggestions and questions from my neighbors in the 40th District. In addition to our research about license plates and the Concealed Carry License, we are looking into cremation law and the availability of slot machines to Service Organizations to raise money for non-profit services. I have a long list of projects and will keep you up to date on my progress for each request and suggestion. In the next few weeks I will also be contacting members of the 40th District who have unclaimed property being held by the Kansas Treasury. The list is long, but I will work my way through it so that everyone on it knows how to claim their property. Currently there is over $187 million in unclaimed assets being held by the State of Kansas. You can check to see if you are on the list by looking up your name on the State Treasurer's website at http://www.kansascash.com or by calling 1-800-432-0386. There are no fees or charges to claim your assets.
KEEP IN TOUCH
It is a special honor for me to serve as your state representative. I value and need your input on the various issues facing state government. Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions. My office address is Representative Melanie Meier, Docking State Office Building, Topeka, KS 66612. You can reach me at (785) 296-7668 or call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me. Additionally, you can e-mail me at melanie.meier@house.ks.gov or check my website at www.meier4kansas.com. F
YI (for your information) and TIPS of the WEEK Useful State Numbers and Resources: The following is a list of State Level numbers that you can add to the 40th District Service Directory. You can find these as well as many others online at http://da.state.ks.us/phonebook. I hope you will find this information helpful and if you need a copy of the Service Directory just let me know. Kansas Jobs Tax Refund Status Info Taxpayer Assistance (785) 235-5627 (800) 894-0318 (800) 259-2829 Highway Road Conditions Unclaimed Property Governor’s Constituent Svs. (800) 585-7623 (800) 432-0386 (800) 748-4408 Crime Tip Hotline Driver’s License Bureau Kansas Department on Aging (800) 572-7463 (785) 296-3963 (800) 432-3535 KPERS Housing Hotline Vital Statistics (888) 275-5737 (800) 752-4422 (785) 296-1400 Legislative Hotline Voter Registration Crime Victim Referral Service (800) 432-3924 (800) 262-8683 (800) 828-9745 Child/Adult Abuse Hotline School Safety Hotline Kansas Lottery (800) 922-5330 (877) 626-8203 (785) 296-5700 Welfare Fraud Hotline Consumer Protection Insurance Consumer Assistance (800) 432-3913 (785) 296-3751 (800) 432-2484
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