repeat messages!
Representative Melanie Meier's
Adventures in the Statehouse
Volume 2014, Issue 3 (January 27-31, 2014)
• New Sub-Committee Appointment on Juvenile Justice Reform
• PEAK hearings in Commerce & Labor Committee
• Interesting Hearings Scheduled this Week
• Keep in Touch
New Sub-Committee Appointment on Juvenile Justice Reform
Big news! I have been appointed to a sub-committee in Corrections and
Juvenile Justice to study possible reform of the Kansas Juvenile Justice
System. During the week we the Corrections & Juvenile Justice
Committee heard an informational hearing on Juvenile Justice Reform
Initiatives. Representatives from the National Campaign to Reform State
Juvenile Justice Systems, the Kansas Appleseed Center for Law & Justice,
the Texas Right-On-Crime, and the Kansas Department of Corrections
discussed the current system in Kansas and other states and made
recommendations for improvements.
Our current Juvenile Justice system was created in 1996, with a goal to
promote public safety, hold juvenile offenders accountable for their
behavior and improve their ability to live more productively and
responsibly in the community. Kansas is among the 12 states with the
highest rates of juveniles in custody and 40% of our 320 incarcerated
youth have not committed a crime against another person.
Recommendations by the conferees include applying for a federal waiver
to use funds for a greater range of intervention programs to be used
before a youth is removed from their home. Our sub-committee will take
a deeper look at the recommendations and decide whether there is
legislation that should be proposed or if more study is warranted.
PEAK hearings in Commerce & Labor
The Promoting Employment Across Kansas (or PEAK) Act that was enacted in
2009, offers incentives for start-up companies, encourages businesses to
relocate to Kansas, and aids expansion of existing Kansas businesses.
Qualifying companies are allowed to keep up to 95% of the income
withholding taxes for employees that are paid at or above the median
wage of the county in which the business is located for a number of
years determined by contract with the KS Department of Commerce.
In September 2013, the nonpartisan Legislative Division of Post Audit
issued a report that says, "Assessing the benefits of the Promoting
Employment Across Kansas (PEAK) program is difficult because the
Department of Commerce has not compiled meaningful information on the
program." Auditors were unable to evaluate the benefit to the state
versus the $21 million spent since 2009.
Post Audit reported that nearly 80% of the jobs credited to PEAK are
located in the Kansas City metropolitan area, with many relocating from
Missouri and that the Department of Commerce had exceeded the limit
existing in the law for authorized tax incentive payments. The law
limits PEAK to a total of $6 million per year for in-state companies
that expand, yet in the current fiscal year nearly $7.5 million has been
contracted for deferred withholding tax. Over the next ten years, the
Departments commitments exceed what is allowed in the law by $22.5
million.
On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, members of the House Committee on
Commerce & Labor heard testimony on House Bill 2430 which would allow
the Department of Commerce to extend by two years, the PEAK benefits for
companies who entered into an agreement to participate in PEAK prior to
January 1, 2013. Secretary of Commerce Pat George told Legislators that
the bill was intended to address the concerns raised by Post Audit by
making minor fixes to the program. Some Legislators expressed concerns
the bill extends benefits while doing little to address the
accountability and reporting concerns found by Post Audit.
Interesting Hearings Scheduled this Week
You can check the upcoming hearing schedule in the House Calendar on
the Kansas Legislature webiste. Several interesting ones caught my eye
for this
comming week:
HB 2463 is being heard in Corrections & Juvenile Justice on Monday. It
would create a crime at the felony level for raising, soliciting,
collecting or providing material support/resources with the intent that
such will be used to plan, prepare, carry out or aid in acts of
terrorism. It also includes, the acts of indecent solicitation of a
minor and sexual exploitation of a child to the list of crimes subject
to forfeiture of seized property.
HB 2372 is being heard in Health & Human Services on Wednesday. It
would require that all local governments that provide artificially
fluoridated water notify consumers of certain findings regarding the
ingestion of fluoride. The bill would permit the notice to be included
with or printed on water bills or by any other means that the city felt
would adequately make the consumers aware of the findings.
HB 2449 is being heard in Judiciary on Tuesday. Currently if the State
Historical Preservation Officer determines that a building project will
damage or destroy a historic property, the project cannot proceed until
the Governor or a governing body has determined that there is no
feasible and prudent alternative to the proposal and that the project
includes all possible planning to minimize harm to the property. This
bill would change the law to require that the decision be based only on
substantial evidence that the project is planned to minimize harm, and
would limit the person who can seek a review of the decision to the
proposed project applicant or the owner of an historic property who is
directly involved with the proposed project (rather than just anyone).
HB 2498 is being heard in Taxation on Tuesday. It would change the
definition of a non-profit humanitarian service organization that is
exempt from property tax. It would add the stipulation that if such
organization receives 40% or more of its funding from membership dues or
providing services that other for profit businesses provide, it would no
longer be exempt from property tax. This bill appears to be related to
SB 72 that would grant property tax exemption to health clubs. This
bill concerns me because our veteran service organizations receive a
large proportion of their funding through membership fees!
SB 72 is being heard in Taxation on Monday. This is the bill that would
grant an exemption from property taxes for health clubs. It has
received quite a bit of attention since the Senate passed it last year.
The Senators' explanations of votes in the journal for the day of
their debate explained their vote by saying that the YMCA is no longer a
humanitarian service organization and received unfair advantages by
their exemption to property tax. This is why I think HB 2498 is related
to this bill.
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.
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