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.
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.
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