Adventures in the Statehouse, Vol 2011 Issue 14

Melanie's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas Veteran Initiatives in 2011

Watching TV coverage of the last convoy leaving Iraq, I couldn't help
but reflect on my time there - when the US Army mission changed
significantly. We turned the military missions over to the Iraqis and
started the preparation for this departure. These memories brought to
mind how Kansas strives to support our military and veterans, especially
through some of the work done since last session to support our troops
who are deployed and at home.

This past summer, Kansas hosted the Task Force on Military and Veteran
Affairs from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). I
joined other Kansas Representatives and task force members from several
states to talk about veteran and military affairs. Kansas Legislators
briefed the other states on some of the initiatives that Kansas has
undertaken, including absentee voting improvements, the Interstate
Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, and the
disposition of service member remains.

Since the last legislative session, I met twice as a member of the
Veterans Claims Assistance Program (VCAP) Advisory Board, which oversees
the grant that funds veteran service representatives (VSRs) in Kansas.
These representatives are the people who work in VA hospitals to help
veterans navigate the VA claims process and register with the federal
government for any compensation due them from their military service. We
met to discuss the results of a legislative audit and proposals for
improvements that could be made. This is an important board because,
with our National Guard and Reserve service members returning home from
war, the veteran-care mission is growing.

As a result of these official meetings, active study of veteran affairs,
and daily meeting with constituents, there are several veteran issues I
plan to pursue during the 2012 legislative session, which begins January
9, 2012:

1. Update the language for funding of the State VCAP grant program.
Originally set up as a matching grant program for service organizations,
such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Disabled American Veterans
(DAV), and American Legion, the wording of the statute requires the
service organizations to provide more money each year than the year
before while the State has actually cut its level of funding. If this
continues, the service organizations will be priced out of participation
in this important service for our veterans.

2. Clarify the vehicle-property tax exemption for active-duty military.
Currently there appear to be different eligibility requirements for
regular Active Duty, Reserve, and National Guard, due to various
interpretations of this statute.

3. Improve the ability of military spouses to transfer their careers and
licenses to Kansas. Because of impediments in transferring licenses
between states, many military spouses, needing to contribute their
additional paycheck to the household income, feel compelled to stay
behind or draw unemployment when their military spouses transfer to
Kansas.

Adventures in the Statehouse, Vol 2011, Issue 13

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas House of Representatives
40th District


Volume 2011, Issue 13: April 27 - 30, 2011

In This Issue
- Back in the Capitol
- Around Home
- Budget Update
- Biggest House Debate this Week
- Kansas Sampler coming to Leavenworth
- Keep in Touch

Back in the Capitol

After a three-week break, the Kansas Legislature reconvened this week
for the 2011Wrap Up Session. In legislative lingo, this means that it is
"crunch time" in the Statehouse. This is the last opportunity of the
year to take action on all of the critical issues you have been reading
about in the newspaper since January – the state budget, tax policy,
and changes to the Kansas retirement system to name a few.

The legislative session is scheduled for 90 days each year and Monday,
May 2nd will be Day 81. The length of the Wrap Up session is uncertain.
We can be here anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, but as the
Budget is the one Bill that we must pass each year,we will be here until
it passes, even if we go past 90 days.

Around Home

Wednesday,April 27th, the Governor issued a proclamation and members of
the Kansas Senate and House of Representatives each unanimously approved
Resolutions recognizing April as "Month of the Military Child in
Kansas." A group from the Kansas National Guard Teen Council joined
us to receive the proclamation and to be recognized. Today about 1.7
million American kids and teenagers have a parent serving in the
military. More than 33,000 of these children are Kansans. Kansas works
to support its military families and I hope all military families will
look at the Kansas Department of Education's special section on its
web site dedicated to military families, and also look at the "Child
Care Aware of Kansas" website at
http://www.ks.childcareaware.org/parents_military.html. Military
children lead unique lifestyles, full of positive experiences as well as
the challenges and fears of having one or both parents deployed, but
thankfully Kansas has local resources to help.

Also on Wednesday, Shelby Turner and Andrew Tremaine joined me in Topeka
to serve as pages. They did a great job and I had fun spending time
with them and learning from them. Shelby's dad is an Army Reservist
who has deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan and Andrew's mom is an
elementary school principal.

On Thursday, April 28th, I joined parents of fallen service members in
the Governor's ceremonial office to witness the signing of a Bill
establishing a 'Families of the Fallen' license plate in Kansas. Now
the families of fallen service members can display their pride for their
loved ones who gave all for our country, as well as spread awareness in
our communities that we still have courageous citizens who volunteer
their lives to defend the other 99% of Americans. The Governor spent
some time with each parent and we were joined by Senator Dwayne Umbarger
and Representative Gary Hayzlett, the chairmen of the Senate and House
Transportation Committees. I heard that Diana Pitts, from the NE Kansas
Chapter of the American Gold Star Mothers was even interviewed on
television that night!

On Thursday I also had lunch with Becky, Paul and Sarah Johnson in
Topeka. They came up to see the House in action, tour the Capitol and
visit with me. I was very excited as they are not only friends from the
40th District, but Sarah and I were East Junior High, Leavenworth High
School, Saint Mary College and KU buddies and she is moving back to
Kansas soon!

Budget Update

I do not have much to report on the budget yet. The Senate and House
Conference Committee met over the break and managed to narrow the 250
differences between their budgets to 210 differences. The biggest
compromise was an agreement to accept a House amendment to make an
across the board cut to agencies (other than schools and public safety)
rather than a 7.5%pay cut. This will result in a larger than 7.5% cut
to some agencies, but the agencies will have the ability to decide how
to make the cuts themselves.

Currently, the Conference Committee is still scheduled to meet next week
to discuss the 2012 budget, but the House Appropriations Committee and
Senate Ways and Means Committee are still meeting to come up with an
"omnibus" budget bill that would cover the rest of 2011 in addition
to 2012. In the past, the legislature would have a budget approved
early in the session and then would make necessary adjustments through
an "omnibus" budget during the wrap up session. This year there has
been no approved budget to date.

Biggest House Debate this Week

The House spent most its time voting on a number of conference committee
reports this week that sent Bills to the Governor for signature. We
also had a few longer debates. One was SB25, the Community Defense Act.
This bill was exactly the same as HB2107,which passed the House earlier
in the session but saw no action in the Senate,so the House Leadership
decided to send it to the Senate again. Another debate was not even
about a Bill, butHR6015, a House Resolution. This Resolution would have
instructed the Attorney General to initiate a lawsuit challenging the
process that was followed to issue a license to Peninsula Gaming,the
company that has started building the third State run casino. This
casino is being built in Sumner County in south central Kansas and is
estimated to create 3000 jobs in one of the hardest hit counties for
unemployment. The Resolution failed.

A Bill that surprised me for its lack of debate was SB97. This bill
would extend the judicial surcharges on docket fees for one more year
and raise them by 25%. The judicial surcharge was put in place last
year in order to avoid furloughs and closure of the Kansas court system.
SB97 was heard in the House Judiciary Committee earlier this session
and approved to extend the surcharge for one more year because the
fiscal situation in the Judicial branch has not improved. Currently,
the money that the Judiciary receives from the State General Fund
essentially only covers payroll. Any other money needed to run the day
to day operations is collected through fees. This bill was later
referred to the House Appropriations Committee where it was amended to
raise the surcharge another 25%. Friday it passed through the House
floor debate with a 73 to 29 vote despite raising fees and will be voted
on Monday afternoon.

Kansas Sampler Coming to Leavenworth

The 2011 Kansas Sampler Festival will take place May 7-8th in
Leavenworth, KS at Ray Miller Park just in front of the VA Center on the
NE corner of Highway 7 and Limit St. Organizations and representatives
from across Kansas will be at the festival to share with attendees what
all there is to 'see, do,hear, taste, buy, and learn in Kansas'.
This is a great and fun event with not just information booths, but also
samples of specialty foods, and bands, and samples of things to do
across the state.

Keep in Touch

It is a special honor 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. To
write to me, my office address is Kansas State Capitol, Topeka, KS
66612. You can also 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. Don't forget that you
can also follow the legislative session online at
www.kslegislature.org,including live broadcasts of the House and Senate
while on the floor.

Adventures in the Statehouse, Vol 2011, Issue 12

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas House of Representatives
40thDistrict


Volume 2011, Issue 12: March 28 – April 3, 2011

In This Issue
· This Week in the Capitol
· Around Home
· Budget Update
· Bills on the Way to the Governor for Signature
· Vietnam Veterans Medallion
· Easter Fun
· Keep in Touch

This Week in the Capitol

After12 weeks, we have reached First Adjournment and have completed the
2011 regular session. We worked on the floor debating bills all week
and conference committees tried to meet during breaks and in the early
morning. We will now break for a few weeks and return for the Veto/Wrap
Up Session on April 27th to finish. Throughout the break, the Governor
will review the bills that have been sent to his desk for signature or
veto.

I am looking forward to being back in the district full time for the
next few weeks. I hope to see you at legislative forums, coffees, and
other events in the community to further discuss the important issues
that have come before the Legislature this session.

Around Home

Monday, March 28th, the Leavenworth/Wyandotte County delegation had
lunch with Dr. Burke, the President of Kansas City Kansas Community
College (KCKCC), and members of his board. They came to Topeka to
discuss the State of KCKCC and the SB143 which recently passed with
strong support in the House and Senate that created a new funding
formula for community colleges, technical colleges and the Washburn
Institute of Technology.

Tuesday night, March 29th, I joined the Leavenworth County Humane
Society for our monthly board meeting. We received an update from the
"Trap Neuter and Return" team and all the great work they have done
to reduce feral cat breeding in colonies across the county. The colonies
have volunteer caretakers and the TNR team assists with traps,
transportation and low cost spay and neutering. The Humane Society is
looking for more volunteers to help with this important program.

Wednesday, March 30th, the President,Kenny Bowen, and Vice President,
Lynn Rolf Jr., of the Leavenworth Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of
America came to Topeka and joined us on the floor for the reading of
House Resolution 6018, designating March 30th as"Welcome Home Vietnam
Veterans Day." Nathan Butler, a Leavenworth High sophomore, and Bo
Pursel, a Lansing High junior, also joined us Wednesday to be recognized
as 6A and 5A State Champions in wrestling with their coaches Jay
Johnston and Ron Averill. That evening the House concurred with the
Senate on HB2132, the "Families of the Fallen" license plate. I was
very happy to make the call to local Gold Star Mother, Diana Pitts, to
give her the news of the unanimous vote and HB2132 is now waiting for
the Governor's signature to become law.

Thursday, I had planned to attend an Easton School Board meeting with
the members of the school district to discuss priorities for the limited
funds we will have in 2012, but the House spent the whole day and late
into the night, debating the budget.

Friday, my intern for the session,David Madden from Leavenworth,spent
most the day listening to the debate on HB2390, the bill that proposes
the elimination of KAN-ED. He then headed off for a track meet.
Saturday was the Atchison County Chamber of Commerce Legislative update
at the historic Santa Fe Depot.

Budget Update

Thursday was devoted to debate on HB2383, the House version of the 2012
Budget. After many hours and 30 attempted amendments, the $14 Billion
Budget passed with a 69-52vote. It has many differences with the
Senate's budget that they passed out on Tuesday with a 36-3 vote.
Hopefully, the conference committee will workout a compromise while the
rest of the legislature is on this 3 week break. Another variable to
throw into this process is the April 15th revenue estimate. If tax
collections fall short by a significant amount, the mega budget approved
this week will not balance and we will be forced to revise it during the
veto session in late April. Once the session adjourns in May, the
Governor can make adjustments during the interim to prevent the state
from operating in the red,or he can call a special session.

Bills Headed to the Governor for Signature

The House voted on a number of conference committee reports this week
that sent Bills to the Governor for signature. HB2134 is a historic
compromise between the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Labor updating
Workman's Compensation laws and is on its way for signature with a
120-0 vote in the House. HB2192 had become a combination of 6 different
bills in conference committee. It contains proposals to limit seat belt
fines to $10, raises the speed limit to 75 mph on certain 4 lane divided
highways, requires a car to pass a bicycle only if there is at least 3
feet space in between, allows motorcycles and bicycles to travel through
a red light if the sensors do not trigger the light, allows electronic
signatures for on-line registration of vehicles, and sets the fee for
VIN inspections at $15. SB23 became a combination of 3 bills while in
conference committee. It now includes jury trials for juveniles,high
school diplomas for seniors in the Juvenile Justice Authority or foster
care if they meet Kansas graduation requirements, and allows
grandparents to be interested parties in child placement decisions by
the court.

One of the bills that made the news was HB2067 on voter identification.
Several changes in conference committee made this a better piece of
legislation which most of the House and Senate could support. Voter and
poll worker education was included and it gives the county election
officers until 2013 to implement the requirements for proof of
citizenship for registration. This will allow the new citizenship
verification tools of the drivers' license to develop more fully.
This final version of HB2067 was passed by the House 111-11 and the
Senate 36-3. Prior to these changes, the original version would have
stopped all on-line registration which would have been in contravention
with SB103 that has already been enrolled and sent to the Governor.
SB103 expands voting in Kansas elections to comply with federal law,the
Uniformed Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, and the Military
&Overseas Voter Empowerment Act of 2009, by allowing military, federal
employees and their family members to register to vote electronically,
to submit federal write-in ballots, and to vote on local issues.

Vietnam Veterans Medallion

The Kansas Commission of Veterans Affairs is accepting applications for
the Vietnam Veterans Medallion from veterans who served in the US
Military forces between February 28th, 1961 and May 7th, 1975. Just
visit the KCVA.org website to download the application. Mail it and a
copy of the veteran's DD214 to the Director of Veterans Services, 700
SW Jackson Ave, Suite 701, Topeka, Kansas 66603.

Easter Fun

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and his wife, Mary, are inviting young
children and their families to take part in an Easter egg hunt in
Topeka. The hunt takes place April 16th on the grounds of Cedar Crest,
the governor's official residence in northwest Topeka. The Governor's
office says a free shuttle service from the Security Benefits Group
parking lot on 6th Street will begin running at 9 a.m. The hunt is open
to children ages 1 through 9, who will be divided into age groups. There
will also be music, cartoon characters and prize giveaways.

Keep in Touch

It is a special honor 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. To
write to me, my office address is Kansas State Capitol, Topeka, KS
66612. You can also 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. Don't forget that you
can also follow the legislative session online at
www.kslegislature.org,including live broadcasts of the House and Senate
while on the floor.

Adventures in the Statehouse, Vol 2011 Issue 11

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas House of Representatives
40th District

Volume 2011, Issue 11: March 21 – 27, 2011

In This Issue
• This Week in the Capitol
• Around Home
• Budget Update
• Campaign Finance Changes Proposed
• Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans
• Keep in Touch

This Week in the Capitol

We had a short week of long days in Topeka this week. With Drop Dead
Day approaching on April 1st, we were on the floor from morning to
evening Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in an effort to push through as
many nonexempt bills as possible. We took final action votes on 56
pieces of legislation in that three-day period. This is a smaller number
than usual; the average during this time period is around 70. Most of
these Bills were Senate Bills that we amended into House Bills that we
had already passed in an attempt to get them into Conference Committees.
Debates ran long on Wednesday and the Speaker ended up skipping several
bills.

The House adjourned for the week on Wednesday evening, giving conference
committees a chance to begin their work on Thursday and Friday. We will
convene again on Monday, but the schedule will fluctuate as conference
committees will be busy meeting all week to iron out differences between
House and Senate versions of bills.

Around Home

Wednesday night, March 23rd, I joined the Leavenworth/Wyandotte
Counties' Kansas Livestock Association (KLA) chapter meeting at the
Tonganoxie Fair Grounds. We received an update from the Kansas Beef
Council as well as KLA legislative updates on State and Federal level
issues.

Thursday, March 24th, the League of Women Voters was here in Topeka
discussing re-districting, taxation and Judicial diversity. Linda
Johnson invited me to join them and I enjoyed visiting with her and the
other women as they received informational presentations from members of
State agencies and asked very well informed and direct questions. That
night I attended the Leavenworth City Commission Forum, hosted by the
Leavenworth/Lansing Chamber of Commerce at Leavenworth City Hall to get
a sense of the possible new commissioners. Friday, March 25th, I was
joined by other local legislators at the Carnegie Arts Center for a
legislative update also hosted by the Leavenworth/Lansing Chamber of
Commerce. If you were not able to attend, you can watch it on
Leavenworth and Lansing's local cable station.

Saturday, I spent the day in Lawrence in my National Guard role at our
annual Professional Development meeting and conference. The Governor
dropped in to talk to us about the spread of democracy across the Middle
East and the security situation of the United States. That night I
enjoyed an evening of good food, fun and fund raising at the Annual
Greenway Auction benefit for Leavenworth's Catholic School system.
Sunday was fund raising for wetlands conservation at the Annual
Leavenworth Chapter's Ducks Unlimited Sponsor dinner at the Santa Fe
Depot Diner.

Budget Update

We have not worked on the FY2012 budget proposal on the House floor yet.
Hopefully, we will debate it this week and vote on it before Saturday.
Last year, we did not debate the Budget until the veto session. The
House version of the budget passed out of the Appropriations Committee
late this week. The Governor's version of the budget ended with a
$7.5 million balance for FY 2012 and the Senate's version is at
approximately a $2.4 million ending balance, but the House version has
over $60 million left over at the end of 2012. The latest cut added on
Monday, reduced state employee pay by $19 million using a 7.5 percent
salary cut for state workers and elected officials earning more than
$100,000, and a sliding scale for employees making between $40,000 and
$100,000. The House appropriations committee approved this budget bill
on a 12-10 vote, which advances the measure to the full House.
Opponents say this hurts public schools, state employees and social
services too much. A different group of critics said the proposal spends
too much. I am sure there will be many amendments offered in the debate
on the House floor and then we will see how the Senate and House
conference committee handle their differences.

Campaign Finance Changes Proposed

One piece of legislation that passed the House this week was Senate Bill
127. SB 127 started out as a clarification on how to run a primary for
school board elections. By the time it reached the House floor it had
the contents of SB17, HB2308, and HB2314 in it. Then on the House
floor, the contents of HB2309 were amended into the Bill also. Now the
Bill allows campaign finance reports to be filed with the Secretary of
State office and drops the requirement to fax a copy to the local county
election office. It also adjusts the terms of office for the Finney
County Drainage District 2, increases campaign contribution limits and
allows political candidates to transfer campaign funds from one campaign
account to another.

Now under this bill, State House candidates will be able to accept a
maximum of $750 from donors, as opposed to $500, State Senate candidates
may accept a maximum of $1,500 from donors, as opposed to $1000, and
State School Board candidates may now accept a maximum of $1,500 from
donors, as opposed to $500. The amended bill also allows candidates to
transfer funds from one campaign account to another. For example, a
legislative candidate who decides to run for statewide office would be
permitted to use existing funds in their campaign account for the
statewide race, even though donors contributed the money with the
intention of its use in the legislative race. Opponents debated that
there is already too much money involved in elections and this Bill
would give incumbents an unfair advantage if they decide to run in a
different race using money that donors may not want involved in the new
race. This huge bill will now be worked in Conference Committee.

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans

This coming Wednesday, March 30th, the House will be honoring Vietnam
Veterans by presenting House Resolution 6018. HR6018 designates March
30th as "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day." March 30, 1973, was
the day that the United States Armed Forces completed the withdrawal of
combat units and combat support units from South Vietnam. In the year
2000, Jose G. Ramos began a campaign for a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans
Day. He is a Vietnam Veteran who appeared in the Oscar winning
documentary, "Vietnam, Long Time Coming." To raise awareness, he
rode his bicycle from his home in California to Washington, D.C., asking
that March 30th be proclaimed as our national Welcome Home day. In
2007, the U.S. Congress and Senate unanimously passed House Resolution
189 proclaiming a national Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day. Now we
want to recognize our Kansas Vietnam veterans and we are honored that
members of our local Leavenworth Vietnam Veterans of America chapter
will be here with members of the Topeka chapter.

Keep in Touch

It is a special honor 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. To
write to me, my office address is Kansas State Capitol, Topeka, KS
66612. You can also 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. Don't forget that you
can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org,
including live broadcasts of the House and Senate while on the floor.

Adventures in the Statehouse, Vol 2011 Issue 10

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas House of Representatives
40th District

Volume 2011, Issue 10: March 14 – 20, 2011

In This Issue
• Final Week of Committee Meetings
• Around Home
• Veterans, Military & Homeland Security Committee
• Corrections & Juvenile Justice Committee
• Judiciary Committee
• Keep in Touch

Final Week of Committee Meetings

The pace picked up quite a bit this week as it was the last week for
regular committee meetings. Only two weeks remain before First
Adjournment, so this was the last week to pass out bills from committee.
However, bills that were never worked in committee may still find a way
onto legislation as amendments or provisos.

Thursday was "Tax Day" on the floor of the House. The most
interesting of the Bills were SB2091 and SB1. SB2091 was the repeal of
last year's one cent sales tax increase; it was defeated with 39 yeas
to 80 nays. SB1 was the next Bill debated and it would have made last
year's one cent sales tax permanent rather than expiring; it was more
narrowly defeated with 56 yeas and 61 nays. SB1 was resurrected the
next day by taking out the section that made the sales tax permanent.
It now states that any recovery we have in the budget based on 2010,
must go to get rid of corporate and income taxes. While getting rid of
income taxes sounds great, this is also making every cut we have made
since the recession permanent. Other States have tried to set arbitrary
limits on their budgets such as this, but have run into problems,
especially if there is any kind of emergency such as tornado or flood
damage. Amendments were introduced to send the recovery funds to pay
down debt or to go only to income tax, but they were unsuccessful. SB1
was passed with significant changes and will go to a conference
committee.

Next week the House will be on the floor all day Monday-Wednesday in an
effort to get as much done as possible before the end of the regular
session. We will not convene on the floor Thursday and Friday, although
conference committees will continue to meet. The Conference Committees
are made up of 3 House and 3 Senate members and meet to work out the
differences between Senate and House versions of the same Bills.

Around Home

Monday the 14th, I had 7 pages here to help me at the Capitol: Ashley
Nooner, Benjamin Brungardt, Tory Chavez, Alana Gibson, Ariel Gibson,
Morgan Law and Madison Moreau. Several were scheduled for earlier in
the session when we had some big snow storms and they were from all our
school districts, Fort Leavenworth, Leavenworth, Lansing and Pleasant
Ridge.

Monday evening and Tuesday morning, I was able to attend part of the
Homeland Security Symposium sponsored by the CGSC Foundation at Fort
Leavenworth. Tuesday evening, 300 members of the Kansas Organization of
State Employees were here in Topeka to visit with us, including many
from the Lansing Correctional Facility (LCF). Three members testified
for the Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee on Wed, along with
the Secretary of Corrections, about the state of the Department of
Corrections; Laura Calhoun presented testimony for LCF.

I was able to get an important amendment adopted this week. The
Leavenworth County Development Corporation has visited with me in the
past about its mission to bring new business to the county. LCDC
assists businesses in taking advantage of State programs such as
Promoting Employment Across Kansas (PEAK) and the High Performance
Incentive Program (HPIP) in conjunction with the Department of Commerce.
SB196 which makes amendments to both these programs came to the floor
of the House for debate this week. Unfortunately, last year Leavenworth
County was added to a list of the top 6 performing counties in the
State, which sounds complementary, but in reality shuts us out of the
HPIP program by requiring a business to invest over $1 million rather
than the $50,000 required in the other 99 counties. We were added to
the top 6 because of the higher salaries that federal employees receive
on Fort Leavenworth, but we cannot compete with Topeka, Wichita, Kansas
City, etc, for infrastructure support for a new business. My amendment
took the county out of the top six so now we can bring in businesses
that can invest at least $50,000.

Veterans, Military & Homeland Security Committee

Several veteran and military related Bills made it out of committees
this week, in time for a vote on the floor. Monday, the Senate will
debate HB2060 and HB2132. HB2060 is the Bill that requires Kansas
courts to recognize the Department of Defense form 93, that shows the
service member's designee who will receive their remains from the DoD,
if they pass away while on active duty. HB2132 is the license plate for
the Families of the Fallen, to be available to the family of service
members who have passed away while on active duty or while in drill
status. Both of these Bills have already passed the House.

The House has HB2178 and SB103 below the line, which means they are out
of committee and waiting for debate on the House floor. HB2178 is a
Bill that will allow the spouses of active duty service members to
transfer their professional licenses more easily to Kansas so that they
can continue their careers. SB103 would expand voting in Kansas
elections to comply with federal law, the Uniformed Overseas Citizens
Absentee Voting Act, and the Military & Overseas Voter Empowerment Act
of 2009. This would allow military, federal employees and their family
members to register to vote electronically, to submit federal write-in
ballots, and to vote on local issues.

HB2178 was a Bill to create the "Hometown Heroes Fund" check off box
on the Kansas income tax form. By checking the box, tax filers can
donate money to the Kansas Commission on Veterans Affairs to help fund
the operation of Veteran Service Representatives offices throughout the
state. This Bill did not get a hearing before the end of the week so I
offered it as an amendment to SB196, the Governor's Roadmap for Kansas
Economic Growth. It was adopted on a voice vote and is on its way to
conference committee with the Senate.

Corrections & Juvenile Justice Committee

The Committee spent most of the week working through the details of the
Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act and the Kansas DUI
laws. I heard from local municipalities and counties in opposition to
HB2277, the House version of amendments to Kansas DUI laws. This Bill
would give a first time offender the choice of having a restricted
license or having an unrestricted license with the use of an interlock
device on their vehicle. It also allows the courts to send a 3rd or 4th
time offender to community corrections after their time in prison is
complete rather than serving their time on parole. If the offender
breaks the conditions of community corrections supervision, they would
be put in County prisons, rather than State facilities. This would most
likely result in higher costs for counties in prison spaces and higher
case loads. The Kansas Community Corrections Association testified that
more and more offenders are being taken out of parole and are being sent
to community corrections because of the Department of Corrections' $8
million in budget cuts and the planned cutting of 66 parole officer
positions this year. They went so far as to say that this Bill would
"put the integrity of the entire system and public safety at risk."

In addition to working as many Bills as possible, to get them to the
House calendar for debate, the Committee visited the Topeka Correctional
Facility. Tuesday night we attended a play that was written and
performed by women inmates called "Into the Fire." The inmates are
part of a group called "Reaching out from Within – Stop Violence."
There are 45 members of this group that believes through forgiveness
and family, victims of abuse can put the past behind them and have a
future of non-violence. It was very moving, especially to meet the
folks face to face that we hear about daily in our Committee hearings.

Judiciary Committee

The Committee held a hearing on SB135 which would create the Kansas RICO
Act. RICO stands for Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization.
Currently, Kansas must ask for federal assistance to adopt the case so
that the entire criminal history can be used to convict criminals that
organize crime and encourage the formation of gangs. We also held a
hearing on SB93 concerning racial or other biased-based policing. The
Governor's Task Force on Racial Profiling introduced the Bill. It
defines biased based policing and makes it unlawful. The Bill requires
law enforcement agencies, in conjunction with community advisory boards,
to adopt written policies and training, and requires an annual report to
the Attorney General's office on the number, action and disposition of
complaints filed. The Kansas Human Rights Commission would conduct the
initial investigations of complaints against officers accused of racial
or other biased policing.

Keep in Touch

It is a special honor 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. To
write to me, my office address is Kansas State Capitol, Topeka, KS
66612. You can also 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. Don't forget that you
can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org,
including live broadcasts of the House and Senate while on the floor.

Adventures in the Statehouse, Vol 2011, Issue 9

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas House of Representatives
40thDistrict


Volume 2011, Issue 9: March 7 – 13, 2011

In This Issue
+ 2011Budget Finally Balanced by the Governor
+ Around Home
+ Veterans, Military& Homeland Security Committee
+ Corrections& Juvenile Justice Committee
+ Judiciary Committee
+ Keep in Touch
2011 Budget Finally Balanced by the Governor

This week the grid lock between the House and Senate continued on the
rescission bill, which is the final adjustment to the 2011 budget year  that ends June 30th. The required adjustment covers $49.3 million for the November 2010estimated increase in human and health services
caseload and $7.2 million for the difference between the November 2010 revenue estimate and the FY 2011Approved Budget. The Governor gave the Legislature a proposed budget that resulted in a shortfall for special education of approximately $36 million, but left $30 million in the bank for carryover to the 2012 budget. The Legislature learned that if Kansas did not maintain their special education spending, that the
federal government will send that much less money to cover federally mandated special education programs forever.

The House and Senate each formed their own proposals to adjust the 2011 budget. The House proposal had left the required special education funding short $26 million and had $35 million left over to start the
2012 budget. The Senate proposal filled the $26 million funding gap for special education and left about $5million to start the 2012 budget.  When the House and Senate have different versions of a bill they form a
Conference Committee to make a compromise. This Committee met multiple times this week and finally on Friday, the House accepted an offer made by the Senate that would have met the required special education funding requirement with approximately $21 million left in the bank to start the 2012 budget.

Once a compromise is made, the proposal is sent back to both the House and Senate for a final vote of approval. Unfortunately, the House committee members told the Senate committee members that they would not support the compromise on the House floor and it would never pass the vote for approval in the House. At that point, the Senate members stated that if there was no chance for approval by the House, it was a
waste of time to forward the compromise so they withdrew their offer.

Thus Friday afternoon with no end in sight to the gridlock, the Governor took the matter into his own hands. In the absence of action by the Legislature, he has the authority to make emergency "allotments."  Allotments are cuts to the budget to bring the balance back to 0; however, he is not authorized to create a positive balance to carry over to the 2012 budget. The Governor's allotments are as follows:  $212,656 from the Department of Administration, $40,454 from the Court of Tax Appeals, $38,535 from the Attorney General, $2,300,000 from the SRS prepaid ambulatory health plan,$50,159,572 from the Department of Education, $2,322,229 from the Regents System, $30,000 from the Arts Commission, $52,302 from Wildlife and Parks, and$1,316,263 from the State finance Council undermarket salary adjustments for State employees. These allotments add upto $56,472,011 with no carry over balance to 2012. All of these allotments were from the Governor's original proposal except for the SRS Prepaid Ambulatory Health Plan,which was a proposal made during negotiations in the Conference

Committee.

Around Home
I was able to spend time with many of my neighbors in the 40th District this week. Monday, Dr. Mark Norris, the Leavenworth Optometrist was here with the Kansas Optometric Association. Dr. Norris is a member of the Eye Care Council and past president of the Kansas Optometric Association. The Eye Care Council sponsors the "See to Learn" program which provides free vision assessments for 3 year old children
prior to kindergarten. More than 80% of learning is a result of visual processing and 1 in 5 children entering kindergarten has a vision problem that could affect their ability to learn. Call 1-800-960-EYES to schedule a free vision assessment for your 3 year old, or go to http://www.seetolearn.com/ for more information. Maureen Hernandez, an occupational therapist with the Tiny-K Early Childhood Intervention Services, brought Noemi Rodriguez and her son Daniel to the Capitol to visit. Daniel is a happy smiling example of the results of early intervention for infants and toddlers with special needs.

On Wednesday, Kaitlyn Payne, from Leavenworth was here to serve as a page and the Leavenworth/Lansing Leadership Class was here to see first hand how the Legislature works. That evening I traveled to Atchison to visit with teachers from 6 counties, including Leavenworth and Atchison, and participate in a round table discussion on advancing and improving public education in Kansas. Superintendent Chuck Coblentz from the Easton School District also visited me this week to discuss KPERS and how proposed changes by the House Committee on Pensions would affect our local school districts.
Veterans, Military & Homeland Security Committee The Senate Transportation Committee held a hearing on HB2132 this week.

This bill is titled the Gold Star Family license plate and is intended to produce a license plate for families of fallen service members to display and spread awareness that we owe our freedoms to American heroes
that volunteer their lives in service for their nation. Diana Pitts from Easton and the President of the NE Chapter of the American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. came to testify in support of this bill along with many of her fellow mothers, fathers, siblings and spouses of American servicemen who have died on active duty. It was an emotional hearing that included testimony from 3 opponents who are children of servicemen from the Vietnam and WWII eras. These opponents feel that the use of the term"Gold Star" should mean only service members killed in combat by enemy forces. The proposed license plate is intended to be inclusive of the next of kin of all service members who have died while on active duty. I am working with the Department of Vehicles and Diana Pitts to design a plate that will honor all the families of the fallen and ease the concern of the children of fallen service members of past eras when families were not always recognized as the important asset they are valued to be today. 

Corrections & Juvenile Justice Committee

We heard many Senate and House bills this week, including, HB2371 which is a bill that extends a Community Corrections pilot program in Johnson County and changes the formula for how success is calculated for community corrections programs. SB63 is a proposal to amend the law concerning electronic solicitation making a charge of sexual exploitation of a child if the offender believed the victim to be a child under 18 years of age. A representative of the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers spoke in opposition by saying that since Kansas started prosecuting people for soliciting non-real kids in 2007,83 people have been sent to jail and this bill punishes the attempt of a crime the same as an actual commission of the crime. SB23 is a proposal that would establish a statutory right to a jury trial for juvenile offenders if requested, in response to a Supreme Court ruling that juveniles have a right to a jury trial as well as adults. The Bill would set up the procedures based on the adult criminal jury trial system with certain differences such as being unable to provide a jury of peers (other juveniles). SB55 updates the law on harassment by
telecommunications by catching it up to new technology.

Judiciary Committee

The Committee held several hearings this week on bills we received from the Senate and a few House bills still in committee. SB 34 would allow a "moped only" drivers license to be issued to habitual violators of motor vehicle laws. SB52 is a proposal put forward by the Kansas Silver Haired Legislature that automatically grants grandparents the status of"interested party" in cases concerning their grandchildren. SB97 would remove the expiration of a temporary judicial surcharge fee that was set up to keep the courts open in 2009. The courts testified that they will still need the money to stay open with the current budget
cuts. SB 36 is a proposal to exempt IRA retirement plans from creditors in cases of bankruptcy just as other retirement plans are exempt.  HB2335 amends the Kansas Act Against Discrimination to combine the two
different policies that Kansas currently has dealing with disability concerns and aligns Kansas law with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act(ADAAA).

Keep in Touch

It is a special honor 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. To
write to me, my office address is Kansas State Capitol, Topeka, KS 66612. You can also 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. Don't forget that you can also follow the legislative session online at http://www.kslegislature.org/, including live broadcasts of the House and Senate
while on the floor.

Adventures in the Statehouse Vol 2011 Issue 8

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse

Kansas House of Representatives

40^th District

Volume 2011, Issue 8:  February 28 – March 6, 2011

In This Issue

• Busy Week after Turnaround
• KNI and the Kansas Arts Commission
• Veterans, Military & Homeland Security Committee
• Corrections & Juvenile Justice Committee
• Judiciary Committee
•  Around Home
• Keep in Touch

Busy Week after Turnaround

This week the Legislature went back to work.  But first, I spent some time in Leavenworth and Lansing attending meetings and touring facilities.  Monday I was interviewed for local cable channel 2's "Movers and Shakers" at Lansing City Hall and I met with the Leavenworth/Lansing Governmental Affairs Committee.  Tuesday was volunteer time at the First City Museum, wrapping up the auction from "A Taste of Leavenworth" the weekend before.  Friday, Kathy Meyer gave a great tour of "New Beginnings" school in Lansing; then Ron Baker and his staff at Cushing Memorial Hospital gave a great update and tour of the hospital.  Saturday and Sunday were National Guard drill at the armory in Leavenworth.

KNI and the Kansas Arts Commission

I have received many emails, calls and letters from home about the Governor's executive reorganization orders (ERO) concerning the Kansas Neurological Institute (KNI) and the Kansas Arts Commission.  This week the Senate has passed out of committee resolutions to oppose these two EROs.  KNI is a facility in Topeka that houses the 168 of the most severely mentally and physically disabled Kansans.  The Governor has proposed moving the residents of KNI to community based settings.  The Governor has also proposed abolishing the Kansas Arts Commission (KAC) and replacing it with a non-profit organization.  Opponents of abolishing KAC have testified that without some small amount of State funding, Kansas would lose grant money and federal matching dollars that would just go to other states.  These resolutions will now go to the Senate floor for a vote. 

Veterans, Military & Homeland Security Committee

The House Federal & State Affairs Committee held a hearing on HB2178 this week.  This is a veteran's bill that would allow the spouses of active duty military to retain their professional licenses when they move to Kansas.  This is very important to military spouses who often have to give up their careers to follow their service member from duty station to duty station.  This would also help Kansas gain a potential experienced professional workforce. 

Chairman Mario Goico and I were appointed by the Governor to the Governor's Military Council.  The Governor's Military Council is a partnership between the administration, key legislators, all members of the Kansas congressional delegation and key business and military leaders representing the Kansas communities of Leavenworth/Lansing, Junction City/Manhattan, Wichita, and Topeka.  The council fosters cooperation between the installations and private and public sectors, and pursues initiatives to enhance the quality of life for all military personnel, active and retired. The council also assists in the development, coordination and execution of strategy required by any future change in missions proposed by the Department of Defense.

Corrections & Juvenile Justice Committee

The Committee held hearings this week on the re-codification of the Kansas criminal code and the Kansas drug code.  HB2321 and HB2318 are two very large Bills put together by the Judicial Council that adjust the current criminal and drug codes.  Some of the amendments proposed to the criminal code include creating new crimes of "armed criminal action" and "endangerment," adding unilateral conspiracy and making abandonment of a child an inherently dangerous action felony.  The amendment to the drug code incorporates a new level in the sentencing grid that takes into consideration the quantity of illegal substances an offender possesses.  Under current law, an offender receives the same sentence whether they possess or try to sell one gram or a pound. 

The Committee also held a hearing on HB2322 which is a proposal to adjust the Kansas Offender Registration Act to comply with the Federal Adam Walsh Act.  Proponents testified that the current Kansas registration act is spread over several statutes and should be combined in one place.  Opponents testified that there is a reason that only 4 states have adopted the provisions of the 5 year old Adam Walsh Act.  They stated that the Act is very arbitrary and this bill affects more than sex offenders because in Kansas the registry includes sex offenders, violent offenders and drug offenders, approximately 9000 people.  Therefore, this bill would make not only the 5000 sex offenders lifetime registrants, but also the 4000 others.  The committee will continue the hearing next week.

Judiciary Committee

The Committee held several hearings this week on bills we received from the Senate.  SB12 is a proposal to allow the exemption of the earned income tax credit from bankruptcy proceedings.  The Earned Income Credit is temporary assistance to needy families, available only to people who are working low income jobs with dependent children.  Proponents testified that this bill is designed to keep the working poor working and off of State and Federal assistance programs.  There were no opponents.  Other bills included SB62 which would allow Kansas courts to assess court costs from the sale of seized and forfeited property.  The Geary County Court Clerk testified that if the bill passes, that Geary County could retrieve up to $70,000 in court costs per year.  SB45 would remove the taxpayer ID from Certification of Trust paperwork that is filed on line.  The Kansas Bar Association testified that with today's technology, the taxpayer ID or social security number is vulnerable by being available in a public record. 

 

Around Home

Amy Falk and Karole Bradford were here in Topeka this week with Saint Vincent Clinic which is a member of KAMU, the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved.  Saint Vincent Clinic was established in 1986 as an affiliate of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System to provide a wide range of medical services to low income, uninsured adult residents of Leavenworth County. 

We had members of Kansas' Parents as Teachers program and approximately 300 mental health advocates in the Capitol this week.  They filled the halls and lobbied their legislators to continue to provide early childhood education and mental health services to Kansas' most vulnerable citizens.

I am looking forward to this coming week with pages from home coming to work in the Capitol.

Keep in Touch

It is a special honor 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.  To write to me, my office address is Kansas State Capitol, Topeka, KS 66612.  You can also 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.  Don't forget that you can also follow the legislative session online at http://www.kslegislature.org/, including live broadcasts of the House and Senate while on the floor.    

Adventures in the Statehouse, Vol 2011 Issue 7

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas House of Representatives
40th District


Volume 2011, Issue 7: February 21-27, 2011

In This Issue

+ Turnaround Week

+ Seat Belt Law Amended

+ Veterans, Military & Homeland Security Committee

+ Corrections & Juvenile Justice Committee

+ Judiciary Committee

+ Around Home

+ Keep in Touch

Turnaround Week

This week the Legislature wrapped up its hearings and worked its final
bills in preparation for "turnaround" day on Friday, February the
25th. "Turnaround" is when the House sends its approved Bills to
the Senate and the Senate sends its approved Bills to the House. So we
spent many hours on the floor debating and voting on 68 bills in order
to get them over to the Senate. Starting in March the House and Senate
will hold hearings and work each other's bills before sending them to
the Governor in April. If the House or Senate changes anything on each
other's bills, they will meet in a conference committee to negotiate
the final version and the bill will need to be voted on again by both
the House and Senate.

Seat Belt Law Amended

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives debated HB 2192. The bill
would make the fine for violating the primary seat belt law uniform
across the entire state. Currently, there are cities and government
entities that have used the previously passed seat belt law to raise
money for their local communities by adding court costs of $65-$95 to
the initial $5 penalty. This year, the fine will increase to $10 on
July 1st. The intent of HB 2192 is to keep the focus on safety issues
rather than revenue issues. Another bill, nicknamed the "Dead Red"
bill was tacked on to the seat belt law. The "Dead Red" amendment
would allow both motorcycles and bicycles to turn left or proceed
forward when a traffic light does not function properly. Testimony was
presented that traffic signals often do not function properly because
some road sensors fail to detect lightweight motorcycles or bicycles.
Cyclists still must yield the right of way to any vehicle in the
intersection or approaching the intersection.

Veterans, Military & Homeland Security Committee

The Committee held a hearing on House Concurrent Resolution 1605 urging
the United States Congress to extend equal benefits and compensation for
the treatment of Agent Orange exposure to Vietnam era veterans who
served outside of Vietnam. The Veterans Administration recognizes the
diseases associated with Agent Orange for veterans and their
children's birth defects, if the veteran stepped foot in Vietnam
during the time period that the defoliant was in use. But still today,
the VA fails to recognize Agent Orange exposure in veterans that served
aboard ships and in countries surrounding Vietnam even though they
handled the toxic chemical when loading aircraft, clearing vegetation
around airfields and other combat support missions. The House of
Representatives is forwarding the Resolution to the Senate for
concurrence, and then on to Congress to urge them to work with the VA to
ensure that Vietnam era veterans who served in support of the Vietnam
War are able to receive the same medical benefits and compensation for
the treatment of Agent Orange exposure as those who served within the
country's borders.

Corrections & Juvenile Justice

The Committee held a hearing this week on Executive Reorganization Order
(ERO) 34 that abolishes the Parole Board and establishes the Prisoner
Review Board within the Department of Corrections. Secretary Ray
Roberts, Kansas Department of Corrections (DOC), testified as a
proponent. He stated that the legal counsel for DOC has advised him
that there is no conflict of interest to appoint three current employees
of the DOC to a Prison Review Board to serve in the same capacity as the
Parole Board. The board would rely heavily on parole officers and use
video conferencing as much as possible. He assured the Committee that
although he would select the 3 members of the board he would have very
little involvement unless absolutely necessary so that the board could
make neutral and detached decisions. Justin Stowe from Legislative Post
Audit testified as a neutral party. Post Audit has published a report
that states merging the 3-member Parole Board into the DOC would not
achieve any additional operating efficiencies because the Board's staff
functions are already carried out by the DOC staff, and it could create
a conflict of interest if the Prison Review Board was within the DOC.
Patti Biggs, a member of the Kansas Parole Board, also gave neutral
testimony. She stated that when offenders are sentenced to prison, they
are sentenced to the custody of the Secretary of Corrections for a term
of incarceration and a term of post release supervision. She stated that
the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on this Constitutional issue that the
body charged with final hearings related to the withdrawal of the right
to community-based liberty must be neutral and detached, thus the DOC
with its custodial role cannot be both. She also testified that the
Parole Board generates savings well in excess of the state dollars spent
on it and is a high-yield investment of state dollars. By statute if
the House or Senate does not pass a resolution disapproving an ERO, it
will automatically become law on July 1st, 2011.

Judiciary

The Committee did not hear any new bills this week but worked several
bills and sent them to the House floor for debate and final action. One
was the "Apology Bill" that was sponsored by the Leavenworth Sisters
of Charity. Substitute for House Bill 2069 was amended by the committee
to allow "facilitated conferences" to be held in a hospital so the
patient, health care provider and hospital administrator can meet and
talk openly; with anything said in the meeting ineligible for use as
evidence in litigation. This is not exactly what the Sisters wanted,
but they stated that it is a good first step.

Another bill sent to the House floor was HB 2031 which proposes a new
way to call a grand jury. Under current law a petition of the voters in
the district or a majority of the district judges may order a grand jury
to be summoned in any county in the district when it is determined to be
in the public interest. Under HB 2031, the attorney general, a district
attorney or a county attorney may petition the chief judge of a district
to order a grand jury to be summoned to investigate serious felony
violations. The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and
Families testified that the use of a grand jury, which is a closed
proceeding, protects victims and their families because they are not
subject to seeing all the evidence that would have to be presented in a
preliminary trial. The accused would also benefit because the press
would not have seen or released details of the crime so potential jury
pools could not be tainted.

Around Home

Despite the full days on the floor of the House this week, I did get to
visit with several folks from home. Monday, February 21st, Brenda
Taxeras was in Topeka with Leavenworth County 4-H members participating
in "Citizenship In Action." On Tuesday, February 22nd, I attended
the Leavenworth County Humane Society board meeting. Wednesday, Dave
Lowery and other members of our Leavenworth County Retired School
Personnel were here to check on the status of KPERs. Thursday, Gen (R)
Bob Arter and Col (R) Bob Ulin were here to attend the Governor's
Military Council. Friday, the McCormick family from Fort Leavenworth
visited with me and we toured the Capitol.

Saturday, February 26th I was home for the ninth annual "A Taste of
Leavenworth." It was a great night full of food, music and fun. I
purchased a wooden eagle for my office that was hand carved by local
artist and Heritage center volunteer, Larry Everitt. Sunday, Archbishop
Nauman was here in Easton for a pastoral visit and we enjoyed a
delicious brunch in the Saint Lawrence hall after mass. In the
afternoon, I enjoyed the Premiere of the 2011 Leavenworth-Lansing
Leadership Class Video Project, "Their Stories." It was an excellent
history of our community through the eyes of three of our most admired
citizens: Marguerite Strange, Gene Young, and Jack Walker.

Keep in Touch

It is a special honor 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. To
write to me, my office address is Kansas State Capitol, Topeka, KS
66612. You can also 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. Don't forget that you
can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org,
including live broadcasts of the House and Senate while on the floor.

Adventures in the Statehouse, Vol 2011 Issue 6

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas House of Representatives
40th District
Volume 2011, Issue 6: February 14-20, 2011

In This Issue

Last Week before Turnaround

Workmen's Compensation

Veterans, Military & Homeland Security Committee

Corrections & Juvenile Justice Committee

Judiciary Committee

Around Home

Keep in Touch

Last Week before Turnaround

Last week was extremely busy and this coming week will be no different. Friday the 25th of February is "turnaround" when the House sends its approved Bills to the Senate and the Senate sends its approved Bills to the House. All committee work must be wrapped up by Tuesday at noon and the rest of the week will be spent on the Floor in debate and final action voting.

Workmen's Compensation

This week, we debated HB 2134 on the House Floor. For decades, workers and employers have not been able to reach an agreement on workmen's compensation that has been acceptable to both parties. Throughout this stalemate, the cost of living has skyrocketed while work compensation benefits remained stagnant, dropping Kansas to 47th in workmen's compensation benefits for the United States. HB2134 started out as an historic compromise written jointly by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. Both agreed to the "prevailing injury" standard that when the injury was caused by the job, that recipients are now entitled to life long benefits so they will not have to prove they were injured on the job every year, the percentage of benefits will be determined by the percentage of work the injured worker can still do, and injured workers must look for new employment. Unfortunately, the House Committee that worked the Bill made several amendments and now the workers are very uncomfortable with it. They say that it is no longer their compromise and one of the amendments may even encourage a business to hire undocumented workers because the proposal would allow the denial of benefits to them no matter how long the person worked before being injured.

Veterans, Military & Homeland Security Committee

The Committee held a hearing on HB2210 this week. This bill proposes establishment of a program "to provide mental health services for combat-related conditions including, but not limited to, combat fatigue, post-traumatic stress and depression, and readjustment counseling and services to veterans of any branch of the armed forces of the United States and their spouses and dependents." The Kansas Commission on Veteran Affairs, the Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas, Inc., the National Guard Association of Kansas, the Kansas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, and the American Legion all sent representatives to testify in support of the concept.

The Governor's Military Council and the Legislature have both recognized that although all returning veterans have six months of health care coverage as if they are still on active duty, that signs of Post Traumatic Stress do not usually manifest until a service member has been home about that same time. In addition, the veterans that return to rural Kansas often do not have access to VA services or Active Duty Bases without taking time off work to spend the day traveling.

Although everyone is in agreement of the concept, there will be many details to work out between all the service providers and the KCVA. There is currently a pilot program being run by the KU Medical Center and VA to provide services to the rural areas through tele-medicine and determine the feasibility and effectiveness of such a program. The committee has decided to work the bill next year once the results of the pilot program are available and all the health providers and the KCVA can work on the details of an all encompassing Mental Health Services Program.

Corrections & Juvenile Justice

The Committee held many hearings this week. HB2197 is a proposal to give Public Defenders the option to refuse to accept court appointed cases if their active case load is too large for them to provide an adequate defense. The chief judge of the district would then appoint attorneys from the panel for indigents' defense services to take the cases. Another hearing was on HB2044, which would raise the penalties for hit and run cases that result in injury or death. There have been instances in Kansas when drivers have been involved in accidents, but they left the scene without rendering aid or calling for help for victims who had suffered serious injury and died. The police must track the driver down, often days later, and the only consequence is probation or a fine for leaving the scene of an accident. District Attorneys and families of victims are seeking to raise the penalties to presumptive imprisonment in an attempt to get drivers to stop and do the right thing.

Judiciary
The Committee held a hearing on HB2101 this week. This Bill proposes selecting Supreme Court Appeals judges in the same manner that Federal Supreme Court judges are selected. The Chairman of the Committee introduced this proposal with the announcement that the bill already has a constitutional problem that must be amended before it goes anywhere because by the Kansas Constitution, the legislature can not set terms past 4 years. If the proposal becomes law, the judges on the Kansas Supreme Court of Appeals would be selected by the Governor and the Senate would have to confirm them within 30 days for a life long appointment. The current Nominating Commission would be abolished. We heard 21 proponents and opponents to the Bill. Most of the proponents testified that while they did not support election of judges, they felt that leaving the nominations up to lawyers is "arrogant and elitist." They testified that by having the Senate, who is elected by the people of Kansas, confirm the nominees, that the will of the people of Kansas would be served. Although when questioned, the proponents stated that all the Appeals Courts judges that have been selected since 1977 have been very good judges and that they could not name a decision that they felt was biased in anyway.

The current nominating commission system was established in 1977 and is made up of 4 lawyers with a chair that is elected by all lawyers in the State plus 4 laymen appointed by the Governor, one from each Congressional District. When a position comes open on the



Appeals Court

Every licensed lawyer in the State is notified and can submit an application. The Selection Commission reviews each application and writing samples, investigates each applicant's background, interviews the applicant and interviews others who have worked with them. The Selection Commission forwards the top 3 applicants to the Governor who chooses one and makes the appointment. All the judges stand for retention in the State general elections.

The opponents to HB2101 testified that by going to the Federal system of selecting judges the system will become political. They said that the Governor would still need help in selecting a person to nominate because he would not have the time to do the extensive background checks and interviews; then the selected nominee would have to stand to the scrutiny of the Senate, like the Federal system which would "bring the circus to town" by attempting to impose DC politics on our Kansas court system. They testified that the everyday citizen of Kansas would lose their input because they would no longer be able to vote whether to retain the judges. The opponents also pointed out that a special session of the Senate would have to be called if a nominee was selected when they were out of session and that would cost more money.
Around Home
This week I had many visitors in Topeka. Tuesday the 15th, the President of the NE Kansas Chapter of the American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., along with 5 other Gold Star family members testified with me before the Transportation Committee in Support of the issuance of a Kansas Gold Star Family license plate. That evening Lois Reed and other members of the Atchison Achievement Services for the developmental disabled visited. On Wednesday, Wes Williams, a Gifted and Talented Student from Tonganoxie High School, was my Legislative Shadow and two German exchange students that are living in Leavenworth visited me, the Governor and Senator Kultala at the Capitol. That evening Bill Bohne visited with the Kansas Association of School Boards as the representative of the Easton School Board. The annual American Legion/VFW Convention was also this week and I was able to visit with Ralph Beckwith, AC Byrd, George Grimm and others to discuss veterans issues. On Thursday, the Executive Director of the Guidance Center, Keith Rickard and board members, including Kathy Meyer from Leavenworth visited with me about Mental Health issues facing Kansas.

Keep in Touch

It is a special honor 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. To write to me, my office address is Kansas State Capitol, Topeka, KS 66612. You can also 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. Don't forget that you can also follow the legislative session online at http://www.kslegislature.org/, including live broadcasts of the House and Senate while on the floor.

Adventures in the Statehouse, Vol 2011 Issue 5

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas House of Representatives
40th District


Volume 2011, Issue 5:  February 7-13, 2011

In This Issue
·         A Busy Week
·         "Pay Go" and the Budget
·         Veterans, Military & Homeland Security Committee
·         Corrections & Juvenile Justice and Judiciary Committees
·         Around Home
·         Keep in Touch

A Busy Week

We had more snow in Topeka this week, but I am happy to report that there were no interruptions in the Legislature's calendar.  Most committees had a full schedule of hearings and we had a full week of debate on the House floor.  We also reached an important legislative deadline.  Wednesday was the last day for bill introductions in nonexempt committees.  From now on, only exempt committees (such as Appropriations, Taxation, and Federal & State Affairs) can introduce new legislation.  The halfway point of the session is next week, and "turn around" is February 25th.   That is the day the House sends all its bills to the Senate and the Senate sends its bills to the House for consideration.

"Pay Go" and the Budget

Tuesday, February 8th, we debated the rescission budget on the House floor using our new House rule of "Pay Go."  These are the budget cuts to get us though June 2011 under our current budget with the governor's goal of a $36 million ending balance.  "Pay Go" dictates that no item on an Appropriations Committee bill can be increased without a corresponding cut in the same bill.  "Pay Go" only applies to Appropriations bills, so any bill that comes from a different committee does not have to make a corresponding cut for any spending increase.

Twelve amendments to the rescission budget were proposed and debated.  Three amendments to replace veterans' funds with funds from the Kansas Board of Regents and by cutting three new proposed positions in the Post Audit division were offered, but only 2 were passed.  An amendment to delete the bill's proposal to move part of the Department of Corrections funding "off budget," was defeated.  When an expense is moved "off budget," the legislature can no longer monitor the fund.  A provision to accept $3.5 million from Aramark, the company that provides the food to Kansas corrections facilities, in exchange for signing a 10 year contract with them was included as revenues.  An amendment to delete the provision for the unsigned contract, because it is counting on money that does not exist and it appears to be a payoff, was defeated.

Attempts to reinstate the $16.7 million that the House budget bill cut from special education were not allowed to be debated.  The first because the amendment proposed to pay for special education with proceeds from selling Kansas assets and the second because it proposed taking the needed funds from the Kansas Information Technology Fund which is another "off budget" fund.  Both amendments were found to be "out of order" because they did not cut an agency budget from the proposed bill.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee passed its own version of the budget on Thursday. They restored $25 million of proposed education cuts, including the $16.7 million for special education.  The proposal was made to enable Kansas to meet its federal maintenance levels and avoid losing federal matching funds this year and in the future.  

Veterans, Military & Homeland Security Committee

The Committee has many bills it introduced that are being worked, but most of the bills have been assigned to other committees for hearing.  The Gold Star Family license plate hearing will be in Transportation Committee on Tuesday, February 15th.  The Check off Block on income tax forms has been assigned to Taxation Committee.  A bill to allow State preference for contracts with disabled veteran owned businesses will be heard by the Commerce Committee.  

We did hold hearings for two bills in our Committee this week.  HB2060 directs Kansas courts to recognize the Department of Defense's Form 93, which active duty and activated service members use to designate who their remains will be released too in the case of their death.  There have been issues in other States where courts did not recognize the DD93, which is the last form a deploying service member fills out, and service members' remains have had to sit at Dover AFB waiting for court decisions.  We also heard HB2168, a bill that allows every person that has been honorably discharged from military service to receive free vehicle passes to Kansas State Parks and to receive free tuition to Kansas post secondary education institutions.

Corrections & Juvenile Justice and Judiciary Committees

In addition to its scheduled hearings and working many bills, the Committee heard a report from the Kansas Sentencing Commission that affects every bill we will hear regarding judicial sentences.  Kansas state prisons can hold a total of 9054 inmates, 8259 men and 785 women.  Kansas is already overcapacity for male beds.  For 5 years the prison population steadily declined but then spiked up 13% in 2010.  The Sentencing Commission attributes this spike to several trends:  the decline in the economy, a decrease in community services (especially in job placement), and a spike in probation revocations.  The Sentencing Commission believes the spike in revocations could be attributed to a lack of jobs because holding a job is a condition of release.  According to the current trend, by June this year Kansas will be over capacity by more than 100 beds.

The Governor's proposed budget includes $2.5 million for contract prison space in 2012.  It is estimated that each prison inmate costs the state approximately $25,000 a year.  The House and Senate have many proposed bills that would raise the sentences for crimes such as identity theft, blackmail and contracting fraud, and make more things illegal such as synthetic marijuana.  All these bills have the propensity of adding more inmates to our already overburdened corrections system.  Most of these crimes need to be addressed to protect the public, but we will have to consider the cost.  Do we send more money to corrections or do we let more people out early to make space?
 
Around Home

This week I made it to Basehor during another Topeka blizzard for the Leavenworth County Humane Society's Annual Membership Meeting and I had many visitors in Topeka.  Shanda Gilfert visited with the Kansas Credit Union Association, Connie Hachenberg visited with The Travel Industry Association of Kansas, our Atchison County  and Leavenworth County Treasurers: Sheila Bilderback and Janice Young were here with the Kansas County Treasurers Association, Bob Topping from our own Prairie Queen Bed & Breakfast was here to finalize a bill about the tax classification of B&Bs and Blaine Weeks was here to testify on behalf of Geiger Ready Mix in a Judiciary Committee hearing.  

Friday afternoon, February 11th, the Leavenworth/Lansing Chamber of Commerce held its first Legislative Forum for the session at the Carnegie Arts Center in Leavenworth.  We had a good sized group in attendance and fielded various questions concerning issues such as the Governor's proposed abolishment of the Kansas Arts Commission, the Kansas Neurological Institute, and Early Head Start, as well as budget cuts to mental health grants, schools, and proposals to change laws dealing with alcoholic beverage licenses.  Unfortunately, I missed the KU basketball game on Saturday, as I was fulfilling my duties at the 35th Infantry Division.  It was drill weekend!

Keep in Touch

It is a special honor 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.  To write to me, my office address is Kansas State Capitol, Topeka, KS 66612.  You can also 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.  Don't forget that you can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org, including live broadcasts of the House and Senate while on the floor.

Adventures in the Statehouse, Vol 2011 Issue 4

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas House of Representatives
40th District
Volume 2011, Issue 4: January 31 – February 6, 2011

In This Issue

Snow Daze!

Budget Update

Unemployment Benefits

Veterans, Military & Homeland Security Committee

Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee

Judiciary Committee

Around Home

Keep in Touch

Snow Daze!

Legislative activities were canceled on both Tuesday and Wednesday this week as a blizzard swept over Northeast Kansas, which postponed the debate of the current budget. Other key committee meetings were also postponed. The House Elections committee had originally planned to hold a full week of hearings on the Secretary of State's proposed voter ID bill. They did hear from supporters on Monday and Friday, but opponent testimony will have to wait until next Wednesday. Additionally, the House Federal and State Affairs Committee had scheduled a hearing Wednesday on the repeal of the state law giving the children of illegal immigrants in-state tuition. The committee will not meet until next week.

Budget Update

Governor Brownback had originally requested that revisions to the current year budget be on his desk by the end of the month. We had expected to debate the rescission bill this week, which obviously did not happen. It is now expected that the budget debate will happen next Tuesday, February 8th. Significant work on next year's budget will not begin until the current year budget is revised.

The House Appropriations Committee produced a new version of their budget on Monday. Most notably, the across-the-board 7.5% state employee pay cut (included in the Committee's original bill) has been deleted. The cut will stay in place for legislators, justices, statewide elected officials, agency heads, and any state employees making over $100K a year. Overall, the House budget bill in its current form would end the fiscal year with a $36 million ending balance.

We received some good revenue news Monday, learning that the state collected $29.5 million more than anticipated in January. The increases were due to larger collections of individual income tax, corporate income tax and use taxes. Through January, state revenues are now running $6.5 million ahead of an estimate made in November.

Unemployment Benefits

A Senate Bill introduced Monday proposes reinstating the waiting week to unemployment benefits. For decades, unemployed workers were forced to wait a full week before receiving benefits because time was needed to manually process a claim. Current computer technology has made this practice outdated and unnecessary so in 2007, the legislature eliminated the waiting week. If passed, SB77 will go back to the waiting period used prior to 2007.

Veterans, Military & Homeland Security Committee
The Gold Star Family license plate was designated as HB2132 this week. Although it was introduced in our Veterans Committee, the Speaker of the House will most likely assign it to the Transportation Committee to hold hearings. Our local Gold Star families who have lost a loved one while serving in the military proposed this license plate to raise public awareness across Kansas that many Kansan family members have volunteered their lives for their nation.

I introduced a Bill to add a check off block to the Kansas Income tax form so that individuals can donate money to the Kansas Commission on Veteran Affairs. This would establish a fund of private donations to support our "Kansas Hometown Heroes" through our Kansas Veteran Service Officers that work for veterans and get them their earned benefits. The KCVA estimates that for every State dollar that goes into Veteran Services, over $117 in federal benefits are gained for our Kansas veterans. So if the bill passes and you decide to check the box on your income tax form, just remember your $5 is bringing $585 to our Heroes!

Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee

In 2009, the Legislature established an electronic logging system to track the sale of nasal decongestants, such as "Sudafed" and "Claritin-D," containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in methamphetamine. This week the Committee received a status update on the tracking system. Bottom line, the electronic system is still not in place. The State has just recently come to an agreement with a company that provides the computer tracking program to states for free. It is paid for by drug manufacturing companies in an attempt to keep their products available over the counter.

Meanwhile, HB2098 has been introduced in the House to make pseudoephedrine available only by prescription. Proponents want Kansas to join Oregon and Mississippi who have already passed similar legislation and claim a 65% drop in METH labs within 6 months in Mississippi and a 96% drop in Oregon since 2006. The proponents of the Bill claim that electronic tracking systems do not work. Opponents of the Bill point out that this would force law abiding Kansans to make an appointment to see their doctor for common colds and allergies, which would result in postponing treatment and raising health care costs significantly.

Judiciary Committee

This week we had several hearings on proposals to protect consumers, especially the elderly. HB2068 was proposed by the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division. The AG Division stated that the Durable Power of Attorney is being used by some to exploit the elderly because of a lack of understanding of the difference between a Durable POA and a normal POA. The proposal requires criminal charges language to be included in the paperwork and requires the person appointed as "Attorney in Fact" to sign and notarize. Opponents to the Bill fear that the criminal statements may dissuade some banks and relatives from serving as "Attorney in Fact" and the additional requirements put a burden on the Notary Public to determine if a person really understands the process. Current estate and probate attorneys expressed a concern that if the Bill passes it will make all prior Durable POAs that do not include the language void.

Around Home
On Monday night, I headed home during a lull in the snow storm to avoid being stuck in a Topeka hotel room for the week. I was able to dig out on Wednesday to attend Marguerite Strange's funeral. As the card on the large flower arrangement from Melissa Etheridge stated, Marguerite was an "Awesome Woman" who spent her life tirelessly serving our community as a public servant for the City (City Clerk, Manager, Mayor, Commissioner), leader in the Leavenworth/Lansing Chamber of Commerce, Chairperson of the Leavenworth County Republican Committee, board member of many charitable organizations including founding the Leavenworth Historical Museum Association, and volunteering in almost every charity in town. She will be greatly missed and we were all blessed to have had her touch our lives.

Thursday I was honored to be visited in Topeka by Dr. Paul Kittle and Dr. Joe Jones. They are both active in their respective Dental and Chiropractic Associations and willing to fight for their fellow Kansans. Saturday I joined the Atchison Chamber of Commerce and Representatives Henry and Gonzalez for a legislative update in the historic Santa Fe Depot in Atchison. It was a good sized crowd and lively discussion of their concerns. Next Friday will be the Leavenworth/ Lansing Chamber Legislative Update at the Carnegie Arts Center in Leavenworth.

Keep in Touch

It is a special honor 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. To write to me, my office address is Kansas State Capitol, Topeka, KS 66612. You can also 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. Don't forget that you can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org.