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.