Adventures in the Statehouse
Volume 2014, #12
• The First Veto of the Session
• Veteran Bill Conference Committee Action
• House approves legislation allowing Southeast Kansas to open a
casino
• Child Autism treatment bill sent to the Governor's desk
• School Finance Bill Loaded
- First Veto of the Session
The regular legislative session is now over, which means we are taking a
break for most of April and will come back in May for Veto session. The
Veto session purpose is for the legislature to consider attempting to
override veto's or amend legislation that was veto'ed and resubmit
for Governor's signature.
The Governor vetoed SB99 last week. It is a bill that amends the
definition of a lobbyist. Currently, the statute says if a person
spends more than $100 per year for "lobbying" they are considered a
lobbyist and must register with the Secretary of State. SB99 would have
raised the amount to $500.
- Veteran Bill Conference Committee Action
Two of our Veteran Military Affairs & Homeland Security Bills have been
delivered to the Governor's desk for signature.
HB2681, the reorganization of the Kansas Commission of Veterans Affairs
Office bill was passed unanimously in both the Senate and House and the
Governor signed it making it law on the 17th.
HB2655, the sentencing bill for combat veterans with mental health
issues or post-traumatic stress related to combat to receive treatment,
also passed unanimously and is still awaiting signature. The Senate
added a provision to HB2655 that was a bill introduced last year
(HB2298) to update the statutes on the crime of creating a false alarm.
It would make it a crime for someone to try and hide their identity by
creating a false phone number to show up on caller id when they called
in a false report of a crime.
The Bills on the military funeral honors fund, the death gratuity
payments, and the inclusion of active duty guard members in the military
property tax exemption for 2 vehicles will likely be passed when we come
back from the break for veto/wrap up session. The Conference Committees
met and agreed on the wording of the legislation, but we ran out of time
for the actual vote.
- House approves legislation allowing Southeast Kansas to open a casino
On Wednesday, the House gave final approval to legislation to pave the
way for a casino in southeast Kansas. HB 2272 would modify the Kansas
Expanded Lottery Act by lowering the minimum investment in
infrastructure for a southeast Kansas lottery gaming facility to $50
million and reducing the privilege fee for the lottery gaming facility
manager of the southeast Kansas facility to $5.5 million.
First approved in 2007, The Kansas Expanded Lottery allowed for a casino
in four areas: Sedgwick County and South-Central Kansas, Wyandotte
County, Dodge City, and Southeast Kansas. Under the act, the minimum
investment and privilege fees for the Southeast gaming zone were equal
to those in the Sedgwick County and Wyandotte County zones, while a
casino was allowed in Dodge City at much lower rates. Since passage of
the Kansas Expanded Lottery Act, casinos have been built in Kansas City,
Mulvane, and Dodge City, while no successful bids were received to
operate a casino in Southeast Kansas. HB 2272 brings the requirements
for operation of a Southeast Kansas casino on par with those for the
Dodge City zone which is expected to generate renewed interest in
opening a new casino. The Governor allowed the bill to become law
without signing it.
- Child Autism bill sent to Governor's desk for approval
The Senate voted 38-2 on House Bill 2744 which would require insurance
companies to provide coverage for certain children diagnosed with
autism. Representatives in the House, some of whom described the measure
as a compromise among vested interests, adopted the bill 114-3 in March,
and the Governor has signed it, making it law.
Under the bill, about 250 children with autism would qualify for
benefits through large-group plans after January 2015. Approximately 750
children in small-group or individual-market plans established before
enactment of the federal Affordable Care Act would be able to secure the
coverage in January 2016.
State-regulated insurers would be required to cover applied behavior
analysis for up to 25 hours each week for four years following a child's
diagnosis. When the four-year clock expired or the child reached 12
years of age, coverage would be capped at 10 hours per week.
Professionals delivering treatment under the autism insurance program
would have to be licensed by the state by July 2016.
- School Finance Bill HB2506
Late on a Sunday night, with just 63 votes, the House concurred with the
conference committee report for HB2506. The Senate narrowly passed it
earlier in the evening with 22 votes.
HB2506 is the school finance bill that was fashioned to take care of the
two areas of school finance that the Kansas Courts found unequitable a
month ago: the Local Option Budget and Capital Outlay. Unfortunately,
the conference committee took advantage of the need to pass a school
finance measure to attach several school policy changes that have failed
to pass the legislature for years. The final conference committee
report was determined with only 4 of the 6 conferees signing it, and the
committee was also missing the session's chairmen of the House
Appropriations and the Senate Ways & Means Committees. The House
Chairman actually quit and the Senate Chairman went on vacation.
The House had passed SB218 the Friday before with 91 votes. It was not
perfect but was a better version as far as getting money into our
schools: it would have provided $58,812,885 in new classroom money and
$74,204,995 in property tax relief. As passed, HB2506 would provide
$48,482,335 in new classroom money and $78,083,673 in property tax
relief.
HB2506 is now on the Governor's desk waiting for his signature. Some
of the policy changes included in the appropriations bill:
- It will allow the hiring of teachers who have not completed
certification,
- It encourages corporate sponsorships for children to attend private
schools by granting the corporations tax credits,
- It eliminates the due process requirements before firing a teacher,
such as stating the reason for termination, giving a chance to improve
if possible, and allowing an independent review of the decision if
requested,
- It also allows school districts to raise their local option budget
mill levies to 33% of their general operating budgets. This means
school boards will be raising property taxes based on a fictional amount
of base state aid per pupil of $4490. Schools actually receive $4433
per student. This means they are raising the mill levy based on a larger
general operating budget than they really have. This provision expires
after two years.
The property tax relief comes from how LOB is calculated. When the
schools that are already at the maximum 31% LOB receive the state
equalized LOB money, the total will be above 33% of their general budget
that they are allowed by statute to assess on the taxpayer. Thus the
money above the 33% must be returned to the tax payers.
The Governor has the power to use a line item veto of items in
appropriation bills, but when asked by reporters if he would consider
line item vetoing the policy portions of the bill he says he does not
know if he can because this bill is a combination of appropriations and
policy.
Remember, if you no longer wish to receive this update just reply and
say so! Thanks, Melanie
