Adventures in the Statehouse
Volume 2014, Issue 4 (February 3-7, 2014)
• The First Debated Bills in the House
• Kansas Bureau of Investigation Budget
• Out of State Online Classes
• Interesting Hearings Scheduled this Week
• Keep in Touch
The First Debated Bills in the House
This is the first week that the House debated "General Orders."
General Orders is when the Speaker of the House pulls a bill that made
it out of Committee to the top of the calendar for debate by the full
House. The House had four bills to debate Friday and all were
recommended for passage and will be voted on in "final action" on
Monday morning.
HB2514 clarifies Kansas law to end uncertainties that could result in
insurance company members being treated less favorably than bank of
credit union members if the sale of collateral in an insurance company
insolvency proceeding was necessary. Proponents testified that the
uncertainties in the law could result in extensive delays in the sale
and in the possible loss of some collateral.
HB2516 would add licensed physician assistants, licensed advanced
practice nurses, licensed nursing facilities, licensed living facilities
and licensed residential health care facilities to the list of health
care providers covered by the Health Care Stabilization Fund (HCSF). It
also increases HCSF coverage for retired or inactive providers. The
HCSF provides professional liability coverage for health care providers
who practice in Kansas.
HB2223 would allow a homemade fermented beverage to be provided to
guests, or judges in a contest, so long as no compensation is provided
to the brewer. This was a bill that was held over from last year and
would ensure that there would be no penalty or taxes enforced on such
private home beer brewers.
HB2420 would allow the governing body of any township in Johnson County
to appoint, equip and train volunteers and employees as school crossing
guards. Under current law, only school districts, nonpublic schools,
cities and counties are authorized to provide school crossing guard
services.
Kansas Bureau of Investigation Budget
We heard the Kansas Bureau of Investigation's budget proposal this
week in the House Transportation & Public Safety Budget Committee. The
KBI Director testified that their biggest challenge is the back-log of
lab and forensic evidence processing. The KBI's new Forensic Lab at
Washburn University is scheduled to be complete in October 2015 and the
KBI was able to fund the construction entirely through bonding, so it
did not need to use the $300,000 that was appropriated for them last
year from Kansas Department of Transportation funds.
The Director also testified that much of the back-log is because of the
Bureau's large turnover of forensic scientists. He stated that it
costs approximately $190,000 to train a forensic scientist and once they
are fully trained, many leave for better paying jobs elsewhere.
Forensic scientist education requirements include a bachelor's degree
in a hard science, plus 18 or more month's additional training by the
KBI itself. The KBI pays a starting forensic scientist approximately
$60,000 in pay and benefits, $71,000 in pay and benefits for a
journeyman level forensic scientist, and $74,000 in pay and benefits to
senior level scientists. Benefits are figured at approximately 20% of
pay.
Additional challenges cited by the Director included the loss of federal
funding for three scientists in their drug analysis lab. The Director
testified that these three scientists completed 52% of the forensic
testing of drug samples in 2012, so the loss of these three positions
would greatly increase backlogs in pending drug cases across Kansas.
Out of State Online Classes
This week the House Appropriations Committee heard testimony from higher
education officials in favor of HB 2544, which would allow Kansas to the
State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) that establishes
standards for online courses and automatically authorizes the member
states to deliver distance education courses in each state. Under
current law, each school must individually pursue needed approvals in
each state where it enrolls students, which has proven to be complicated
and expensive. The Kansas Board of Regents testified that such a
reciprocity agreement could save our State public universities an
estimated $529,000 annually.
Interesting Hearings Scheduled this Week
You can check the upcoming hearing schedule in the House Calendar on
kslegislature.com. If you would like the Committee that is scheduled to
hold the hearing to hear your opinion and any facts you may have that
are relevant to the bill, you can testify in person or in writing. I
can help you submit your testimony – just let me know! Several
interesting bills in the coming week caught my eye:
HB 2564 is being heard in Pensions & Benefits Committee on Wednesday,
Feb 12th. It would provide for a cost of living allowance for Kansas
Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) retirees: .5% for those
retired on or before July 2014; 1% for those retired on or before July
2004; 1.5% for those retired on or before July 1999; 2% for those
retired on or before 1994; 2.5% for those retired on or before 1989; and
3% for those retired on or before 1984.
HB 2449 and HB2498 are now being heard in Judiciary and Taxation on
Tuesday, Feb 11th. They were postponed because of the snow last week.
HB2449 is the bill on the Kansas Historic Preservation Act and HB2498 is
the bill that proposes taking away the property tax exemption for
certain humanitarian service organizations. This means you have more
time to submit testimony in writing or in person.
HB2557 is being heard in Taxation on Wednesday, Feb 12th. This bill
would exempt a taxpayer from the current 50% penalty for filing an
incomplete or incorrect Kansas tax return, if the taxpayer resubmits
voluntarily within 30 days of notification of their tax liability.
Keep in Touch
It is a special honor to serve as your representative. I value and need
your input on the various issues facing state government in order to
better serve my district and this state. Please feel free to contact me
with your comments and questions. My office address is Room 541-S, 300
SW 10th St Topeka KS, 66612. You can reach me at (785)-296-7650 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 . Be sure
to follow the legislative session online and find many useful resources
at www.kslegisture.org
