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.
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