Kansas House of Representatives
Volume 2013, Issue 2: January 27, 2013
In This Issue
- Kansas Armed Forces Appreciation
- Veteran, Military & Homeland Security Committee
- Corrections & Juvenile Justice Committee
- Governor's Budget
- Arguing the Rules
- Keep in Touch
Kansas Armed Forces Appreciation Day
Surrounded by members of the Governor's Military Council, the Governor
signed a proclamation on Wednesday, January 23rd, declaring it as Kansas
Armed Forces Appreciation Day. After the ceremonies, the Governor's
Military Council convened in his office. The Council is made up of
representatives of our Kansas military installations, the Governor and
his staff, state and federal legislators, and the business community
throughout the state. This week's meeting focused mainly on a report
from Hyjek & Fix, the State's hired lobbyist firm in Washington DC, on
the current environment in DC and the Pentagon and the likelihood of
future BRAC and/or draw downs. The Council's focus is on what Kansas
can do to prepare and make Kansas as friendly to our military
installations as possible.
Veteran, Military & Homeland Security Committee
We have been busy in Committee, holding our first hearing and
introducing a number of bill concepts to be drafted into bills. The
Hearing was on HB2001, a bill introduced by Legislative Post Audit to
update the language in the statute that outlines the National Guard
Scholarship program in Kansas. The new bill introductions included
subjects such as: the acceptance of military experience and training in
lieu of some requirements for professional licensure in Kansas;
clarification of the language in the statute that outlines the state
grant program that enables Veteran Service Organizations to provide
Veteran Service Representatives across the state; where the money from
the Veteran Lottery Scratch Off Tickets goes; and exempting active duty
military Kansas residents from paying income tax.
Corrections & Juvenile Justice Committee
We heard reports from the Kansas Sentencing Commission, the Secretary of
Corrections, and the Justice Reinvestment Workgroup. The Justice
Reinvestment Workgroup was commissioned by the Kansas Legislature last
year to study the Kansas corrections system including recidivism rates.
It is part of a National Council of State Legislatures, non-partisan
data driven approach to reduce corrections spending and reinvest savings
in strategies that can decrease recidivism and increase public safety.
The workgroup came up with seven recommendations that could save over
$53.1 million over the next five years, with the further recommendation
to reinvest the savings in community based substance abuse programs.
The Secretary of Corrections, Kansas Sentencing Commission, and the
Legislature will determine if they accept the recommendations and what
steps to take for implementation.
Governor's Budget Proposal
The Legislative Research Department briefed the legislature this week on
its analysis of the Governor's proposed budget. The Governor recommends
expenditures of $14.6 billion from all funding sources in FY2014, which
includes $6.1 billion from the State General Fund (SGF) - the part
controlled by the legislature.
It increases spending from all funding sources by 1.3%, but decreases
spending from SGF by 1.9%. There is a proposed ending balance of $455.7
million. It depends on certain adjustments to tax policy to pass this
session including a bill to raise state sales tax to 6.3% and a bill to
eliminate the state income tax deductions for mortgage interest and
property tax while itemizing.
Many cuts in programs are proposed in order to send $115.7 million to
SGF including: $25 million from the Bioscience Authority, $15 million
from State Highway Fund, $14.7 million from the Oil & Gas Valuation
Depletion Trust Fund, $10.2 million from the Economic Development
Initiatives Fund, $300,000 from the State Fair Capital Improvement Fund,
$5 million from the Attorney General's Court Cost Fund, $1.1 million
from the Department of Education's State Safety Fund, and more.
Base State Aid Per Pupil is held at $3,838 for FY2014 and $107.3 million
is to come from the State Highway Fund to pay for student
transportation.
Arguing the Rules
We had our first debates in the House this week over setting the House
and Joint rules for the two year session. There were many amendments to
the House rules proposed, but none of them were accepted. The
amendments included things such as keeping the House session from going
past eleven pm and giving at least a ten hour break before gaveling back
in the next day unless the House voted to stay; allowing the use of
funds in the ending balance of the budget proposed by the Appropriations
Committee to be used in House debate; and limiting the bundling of bills
in conference committees to only two. The House will take a final
action vote on the rules on Monday morning.
Keep in Touch
I am privileged and honored to be your voice in the Kansas Capitol. You
can track my activities on my website www.meier4kansas.com, my Facebook
page www.facebook.com/Meier4Kansas, and Twitter
www.twitter.com/melaniemeier.
If I can ever be of assistance to you, please feel free to contact me at
home or in Topeka. My office in Leavenworth is at 309 Cherokee St. My
Topeka office address is Kansas State Capitol, Topeka, KS 66612. You can
also reach me at the legislative hotline, 1-800-432-3924 or e-mail me at
melanie.meier@house.ks.gov.
If you need to directly contact a particular agency in state government,
you can find useful telephone numbers online at
http://da.state.ks.us/phonebook.
