Adventures in the Statehouse Vol 2013 Issue 3

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas House of Representatives
Volume 2013, Issue 3: January 28 – February 1, 2013

In This Issue

- Kansas Day
- Veterans, Military & Homeland Security
- Corrections & Juvenile Justice
- Health Exchanges
- Transportation & Public Safety
- Keep in Touch

Kansas Day

Tuesday was Kansas' 152nd Birthday. As we celebrated 152 years as a
state, action in the Capitol picked up with hearings and voting in the
separate chambers. The new legislators jumped right into all the
protocol and procedure – sink or swim!

Our own Leavenworth County Attorney, Todd Thompson, was in the Capitol
to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. He
introduced a bill through the Kansas District/County Attorney
Association to make it a crime to possess with intent to distribute
someone else's prescription drugs. This bill is in response to the
growing national trend of "pharm" or "skittles" or "trail
mix" parties. At these parties multiple types of prescription drugs
are combined in a bowl or bag and then taken randomly (often with
alcohol) to just see what happens. As the drugs are only prescription
drugs and not on the controlled substance schedule, there is no law
against providing them to others.

Veterans, Military & Homeland Security

We had some great testimony this week. We heard from the Kansas Center
for Safe and Prepared Schools and the Kansas Commission of Veteran
Affairs. We had hearings on HB2077 and HB2078, which are bills that
would help translate military training into civilian education
requirements. Many military occupational specialties require more
training than the civilian equivalents professions, so this bill could
aid many unemployed veterans in getting to work soon after their release
from the military without having to repeat training in the civilian
education system. The national rate of unemployment for veterans is
twice the rate of others, so this is a priority issue.

We also introduced a number of bills including the following issues:
- Creating a disabled veteran owned business preference in state
contracting
- Expanding protection from foreclosure for deployed service members
- Allowing veteran service organizations to have slot machines in their
facilities (the Darlene Kenny Memorial Bill)

Corrections and Juvenile Justice

The committee was assigned the Governor's Executive Reorganization
Order to combine the Department of Corrections and the Juvenile Justice
Authority. We will have a hearing over several days next week to decide
if the committee agrees. An ERO will automatically go into effect if
neither the House nor Senate disapproves. February 7th is the deadline
for submitting a resolution to disapprove.

This week we had several hearings on various issues including:
- HB2034, that would create a new type of search warrant for law
enforcement's use of GPS tracking devices in investigations.
-HB2044 would create 2 new crimes of distribution of a controlled
substance that causes great bodily harm and the distribution of a
controlled substance that causes death. The premise behind the bill is
that anyone who is distributing drugs illegally is acting recklessly.
The opponents stated that the law would place all the blame of a tragedy
on the person who distributed the substance, no matter the
circumstances.
- HB2043 brought in the TV cameras. It proposes creating 2 new crimes
of aggravated battery by DUI. Several District Attorneys testified that
there is a gap in the penalties between manslaughter by DUI and the
Class B misdemeanor of DUI. This bill would make a DUI in itself a
reckless act, therefore if anyone suffers severe bodily harm as a result
of a DUI the driver would be charged with aggravated battery.
- HB2065 creates the crime of home improvement fraud. It targets "fly
by night" operations that take a homeowners money with no intent to do
the work. We heard this bill last year in Judiciary Committee.
- HB2080 is another bill we heard in Judiciary last year. It would add
the intent to commit various domestic offenses, such as the violation of
restraining orders, to the crime of burglary. Burglary is the crime of
breaking and entering with the intent to commit further felony crime.

Health Exchanges

With open enrollment for the new Kansas Health Exchange just around the
corner (October 1, 2013), the Kansas Health Institute was here to give
legislators an idea of what it will look like. They explained that
starting in 2014, there will be no more exclusions for pre-existing
conditions. Your premium rates will be based on 4 factors: your age,
family status, geographical location and tobacco use. They said that
there will be 3 risk adjustment programs at first, to mitigate all the
new rules going into effect at once. The federal statute calls for 10
categories of essential health benefits that must be included in all
insurance plans, so the Kansas Health Institute is using the Kansas Blue
Cross and Blue Shield plan as a benchmark. As Blue Cross & Blue Shield
is the largest plan in Kansas and already has 8 of the 10 categories,
they believe it is the best system to estimate what the new plans and
cost will be. The only 2 categories that have to be added are pediatric
dental/vision benefits and habilitative services. To see what the
exchange will actually look like, there are now videos on the internet
that you can watch at http://www.youtube.com/user/CMSHHSgov.

Transportation & Public Safety Budget

We heard from various agencies this week in preparation to going through
their proposed budgets next week including: the Kansas Highway Patrol,
Department of Corrections, Juvenile Justice Authority, Board of
Indigents' Defense Services, Kansas Bureau of Investigation, State
Fire Marshal, and Department of Transportation. These are just some of
the 17 budgets the committee is responsible for. The Speaker has set a
strict timeline to get the budget put together and we have a lot of work
to do in a short time. We also heard from the Department of Corrections
and the Juvenile Justice Authority and what they think of the
Governor's Executive Reorganization Order to combine them. They
briefed their plan, so I had a short pre-view of the agency view of the
ERO prior to our hearings next week in Corrections & Juvenile Justice
Committee.

Keep in Touch

You can track my activities on my website www.meier4kansas.com, my
FaceBook page www.facebook.com/Meier4Kansas, and Twitter
www.twitter.com/melaniemeier. I am privileged and honored to be your
voice in the Kansas Capitol.

If I can ever be of assistance to you, please feel free to contact me at
home or in Topeka. My office is on the 4th floor of the Capitol, Room
451-S. To write to me, my office address is Kansas State Capitol,
Topeka, KS 66612. You can also reach me at the legislative hotline,
1-800-432-3924. Additionally, you can e-mail me at
melanie.meier@house.ks.gov. And do not forget to follow the legislative
session online at www.kslegislature.org.

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.

Adventures in the Statehouse, Vol 2013 Issue 2

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
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.

Adventures in the Statehouse Vol 2013 Issue 1

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas House of Representatives

Volume 2013, Issue 1: January 20, 2013

In This Issue

- Back in the Statehouse
- Governor's State of the State Address

- Governor's Budget

- Surprise from the Secretary of Agriculture
- Keep in Touch

Back in the Statehouse

Monday, January 14th, 165 legislators took their oath, the new House and Senate leadership were elected and the 2013 session started. There are many changes this session in the House. We have 57 freshman legislators. I have a new office on the 4th floor of the Capitol and a new committee assignment this year to the Transportation & Public Safety Budget Committee. I am still the Ranking Minority Member of the Veteran Military & Homeland Security Committee and serve on the Corrections & Juvenile Justice Committee.

Governor's State of the State Address

On Tuesday, January the 15th, the Governor gave his State of the State Address to a Joint Meeting of the House and Senate. He began the address by welcoming the first woman president of the Kansas State Senate, Susan Wagle. He reported that, "the state of our state is strong and blessed and leading America in several key arenas." He went on to outline what he would like the legislature accomplish this year. The following are some of the key proposals:

- establish the "Kansas Reads to Succeed" that includes: $12 million for reading programs, incentives to elementary schools that increase 4th grade reading scores, and holding 3rd graders back until they demonstrate their ability to read.

- raise the State sales tax to 6.3% and further cut income taxes to 1.9% and 3.5%.

- dissolve the Kansas Turnpike Authority

- redefine "suitable provision" for education in the Kansas Constitution

- elect appellate and supreme court judges (instead of the current merit system)

You can read the entire address at www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/chamber/documents/daily_journal_house_20130115113425.pdf

Governor's Budget

This year the Governor is proposing a 2 year budget and his staff presented it to the House Appropriations and the Senate Ways and Means Committees on Wednesday. These committees will start their work forming the budget with the Governor's proposal as a starting point. All the state agencies will testify before the committees about their particular sections of the budget. The House has budget sub committees, such as the Transportation & Public Safety Committee that I am on, that listen to agencies and then work those portions of the budget and bring the Committee's proposal to the full Appropriations Committee.

Some aspects of the Governor's proposed budget have already made the news. Such as his proposal to raise the State sales tax to 6.3% and eliminate the home mortgage interest tax exemption. His budget also calls for holding the K-12 Base State Aid Per Pupil (BSAPP) at the current level of $3,838, and proposes to raise it by $14 to $3,852 in the fiscal year starting July 1, 2014.

You can read the Governor's full budget proposal at the following websites (it is in 2 volumes) at http://budget.ks.gov/publications/FY2014/FY2014_GBR_Vol1.pdf and http://budget.ks.gov/publications/FY2014/FY2014_GBR_Vol2.pdf

Surprise from the Secretary of Agriculture

Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Dale Rodman told legislators this week that they should consider repealing the current Kansas restrictions on corporate farms because he believes they may be unconstitutional and that they hinder the recruitment of agri-business and its growth. For the past 80 years Kansas has limited corporate farming to family corporations or corporations with 15 or fewer Kansas resident shareholders.

 

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.

Adventures in the Statehouse, Vol 2012 Issue 22

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas House of Representatives

Volume 2012, Issue 22: October 28, 2012

In This Issue

- Constitutional Amendment on Your Ballot
- Keep in Touch

Constitutional Amendment on Your Ballot

I have had several people inquire about the constitutional amendment
question at the end of this year's ballot. The explanation of vote
written on the ballot reads:

"This amendment would allow the legislature to classify and tax
watercraft upon a basis different from other property.

A vote FOR this proposition would permit the legislature to provide for
separate classification and taxation of watercraft or to exempt such
property from property taxation and impose taxes in lieu thereof.

A vote AGAINST this proposition would continue the taxation of
watercraft in the same manner as all other property."

Then the ballot includes the text of the entire section to show what the
statute would look like if the proposition passed. If you look closely,
there are two italicized words – and watercraft - in the middle of
paragraph (a). These two italicized words are the proposed change.

Some background: Currently boats are taxed in Kansas as personal
property at 30% of their fair market value. Proponents for the
constitutional amendment say that it is much less expensive to register
a boat in the surrounding states, so many Kansans register their boats
elsewhere and Kansas is losing out on the tax revenue. The Kansas
Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) is also a proponent
for the change and has released a press statement urging Kansans to vote
yes. The press release explains that when a Kansan registers their boat
in another state, Wildlife and Parks does not get its registration fee
of $32.50 every 3 years and does not get matching federal funds.

If this proposition is adopted, it is only the first step in changing
the law. The legislature would have to introduce and pass a bill to
change how a boat is taxed. For example, back in 1992, a similar
legislative authorization for "recreational vehicles" was adopted as
part of a constitutional amendment. The Kansas Legislature in 1994
subsequently enacted a new tax system for recreational vehicles where
taxes are based on the weight and the age of the vehicles, rather than
on fair market value.

This is not the first attempt to change the tax rate on boats. A
proposed constitutional amendment (SCR 1629) was placed on the 2000
general election ballot that would have authorized a new tax system for
both watercraft and aircraft. It was defeated by less than 12,000 votes
(433,499 "no" to 421,621 "yes").

There are approximately 85,000 watercraft currently registered with the
Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism. KDWPT estimates that
as many as 10,000 Kansans unlawfully register their boats in Oklahoma,
Nebraska and Missouri, because these states do not have a property tax
on watercraft.

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.

Adventures in the Statehouse, Vol 2012 Issue 21

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas House of Representatives

Volume 2012, Issue 21: September 30, 2012

In This Issue

- NE Kansas 5 County Regional Transportation Study
- Keep in Touch

NE Kansas 5 County Regional Transportation Study

This summer, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) came to
Leavenworth to brief the county and cities on the results of their
Northeast Kansas 5 County Regional Transportation Study, in which KDOT
looked at transportation system management and travel demand. The two
phase study has three goals: assess multi-modal transportation, assess
and prioritize the needs of the region and develop strategies to address
them. This meeting was about Phase I of the study. The five counties
included in the study are Leavenworth, Douglas, Johnson, Miami and
Wyandotte.

There are five basic trends KDOT determined are affecting transportation
management and demand in the five county region: changing population,
vehicle technology, increased telecommuting/flex hours, development
patterns, and gas prices. They compared these trends to the projected
necessary funding twenty years beyond the current T-Works program.

T-WORKS is the 10-year, $8 billion transportation program designed to
preserve highway infrastructure, create jobs (175,000 jobs over the 10
years), and provide multimodal economic development opportunities across
the state that was passed in 2010. T-Works made the $8 million promise
to complete at least $8 million worth of projects in each Kansas county
and last January 32 projects were moved ahead of their original timeline
in order to accelerate $50 million worth of preservation projects to
produce jobs ahead of schedule and to take advantage of low construction
costs.

In the study, KDOT determined the area population that is aging needs
ways to stay home and not drive so far or as much, and the younger
population also wants to live closer to their place of employment and to
be able to ride their bicycles or walk. Vehicle technology is producing
more efficient vehicles and rush hour is changing because of the
increase in telecommuting and the use of flexible hours in employment.
The development patterns show that people are moving into core areas and
do not like urban sprawl. Then of course, rising gas prices are a big
factor resulting in more car pooling and less driving. As far as
funding, KDOT explained that prior to the T-Works plan they talked to
the communities of Kansas to get their input as to what each community
wants or needs in its transportation plan and then ranked them
accordingly. The KDOT priority list shows it would take $15 billion to
pay for items that are "wish list" type projects, $6.9 billion to
pay for "top tier" needs, and $5.7 billion for projects that already
have funding or can be achieved with already available funding.

KDOT explained their policy considerations used in the study to assess
the area needs. They were to manage existing road lanes before building
new ones. If new lanes were to be built in a metro area, they were to
be managed. They were to use new strategies for commute times such as
allowing buses on the shoulder, park & ride sites and ride share
programs. They were to correct any bottlenecks and expand their
incident management programs to cut down on congestion. They were to
enhance KDOT partnerships with counties and cities.

Projects for the Leavenworth County area included the bridge between
Leavenworth and Missouri and K-7. You have probably noticed the T-Works
sign on the bridge to Missouri. It is referring to an ongoing study of
the bridge as to how best to develop it for the future. It needs to be
widened so that it is not shut down when repairs are done, as we all
recently experienced, and needs to tie into the city's future and
ongoing development projects (a new National Guard Armory, the new
Hotel, etc). KDOT explained that Missouri only has the money to do road
maintenance right now, so no expansion or new projects such as work on
the roads to the airport are currently possible. KDOT said that the
study showed that K-7 needs to be a freeway with extensive intersection
and access management. They are also looking at bicycle and pedestrian
use for the future, especially on any bridges.

County officials asked questions during the meeting about several local
transportation and infrastructure issues and proposed projects including
K-5, the K-7/I-70 interchange and a possible outerloop/bypass in the
County. KDOT explained that Kansas Highway 5 was not looked at in this
study. The County and Lansing officials explained to KDOT that a study
needs to be done on K-5 because its current condition is negatively
affecting economic development. Lansing officials stated that
businesses that choose to open in Leavenworth County need more and
improved access to highways. KDOT stated that it would need more
information because the only study done on K-5 to this point was a
safety study years ago. KDOT stated that the K-7/I-70 interchange is an
approved project under the current T-Works and is scheduled to start in
May 2013, but T-Works is only funding the first few stages. KDOT also
agreed to the request of the County Commission to run a scenario on an
outerloop/bypass project from the intersection of County Road 1/I-70 to
Metropolitan in Leavenworth, to determine if the proposal should be
studied.

As the meeting came to a close, a KDOT representative explained to me
that the State has funds set aside for projects that would help a new
business decide to come to Kansas if access to infrastructure is what is
stopping them. So if a business approaches a city or the state and says
it is ready to open up shop in Kansas but access to the highways is
stopping them, that T-Works already has funds built into the program.
This is great information for economic development opportunities in our
county and cities. For more information on the five county study and to
track Phase II, go to 5countystudy.org.

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.

Adventures in the Statehouse: Kansas and the 19th Amendment

I was recently asked to speak at a Women's Equality Day luncheon. Below
are my abbreviated remarks!

Adventures in the Statehouse
Volume 2012, Issue 21
Kansas and the 19th Amendment

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

That is the entire 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States of America, just two sentences. It was adopted in 1920, 131
years after the constitution was ratified in 1789 and over 40 years
after it was drafted and first introduced to Congress in 1878.

The actual author of the two sentence amendment, Susan B. Anthony, had
ties to Leavenworth and Kansas because her brother, who was an editor
and anti-slavery activist, lived here. Susan B. Anthony maintained the
simple argument that "It was we, the people; not we, the white male
citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who
formed the Union."

When Susan B. Anthony joined her brother in Kansas in 1867, Kansas was a
highly progressive state. The question of whether Kansas women should
have the right to vote was first debated at the Wyandotte Constitutional
Convention in 1859. Three women were allowed to attend the convention,
and although they were not allowed to speak, they were granted the
unprecedented right to acquire and possess property and to retain the
equal custody of their children. With the passage of that constitution
and Kansas' admission to the Union as a state, women were also given the
right to vote in school elections in 1861. Thus Kansas recognized the
importance of education and recognized the integral role of women in
shaping our future generations by allowing women to vote in school board
elections.

When Susan B. Anthony campaigned for women's suffrage in Kansas in
1867, suffrage – or the right to vote -- became a statewide
controversy. An amendment was submitted to the Kansas voters to allow
white women the vote in Kansas, and although it was defeated, it made
Kansas the first state in the union to even consider women's suffrage.

In 1887, municipal suffrage was passed in Kansas which allowed women to
run for office in all city elections. On April 4th that year, Susannah
Medora Salter was elected mayor in the city of Argonia in Sumner County.
She was the first woman mayor in the nation.

14 more women were elected mayor in Kansas counties before the women's
suffrage amendment was resubmitted to the Kansas legislature in 1911 and
passed by 94 to 28. Governor Walter R. Stubbs signed it into law on
February 12, 1911. This was 9 years before the women's suffrage was
adopted for the entire nation in 1920.

In a special session of congress, called by President Woodrow Wilson,
the 19th amendment passed the House on May 21st, 1919 and then the
Senate on June 4th. It then required 36 states to ratify it to become
law. Three states ratified it by June 10th, and 3 more by June 16th
– which included Kansas. The 36th state ratified it on August 18th,
1920.

Unfortunately, Susan B. Anthony had passed away 14 years earlier, so she
never saw the women's equality that she fought for, but her words
still ring true today: "There never will be complete equality until
women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers."

When I think of the progress made, I look at what women are doing today.
They are in every profession and have held almost every leadership
office in the nation. They are talented athletes in every sport. They
serve in every branch of the military and almost every specialty and I
personally witnessed that change. Just over 20 year ago, when I was
contemplating which branch of service to join, women were much more
limited in the roles they could fill.

I will always remember a conversation I had with a friend I ran into
while serving in Tallil, Iraq. She was passing through and was stuck
overnight because Tallil was notorious for its upper atmosphere dust
clouds that regularly shut down all flights coming in or going out. She
was there on a battlefield circulation tour of her Military Intelligence
Battalion assets, which were stationed throughout all of Iraq.

As we caught up what we had been up to over the 10 years since we had
served together in Korea, she told me in a hushed voice that her
Battalion was run almost entirely by women, something unheard of when
we were lieutenants. She was the commander, her senior staff – the
Operations and Executive Officers – were both women and 6 of her 9
companies were commanded by women. As female lieutenants interviewing
for battery executive officer positions 20 years ago, we were actually
told that we were not eligible for some positions - not because the
positions were coded "male only" but because, as in one case, the
commander was an unmarried male so the XO had to be a married man with a
wife that could run the wives' group. In another case, the commander
was female and "....you know how females can't get along." Can
you imagine how that would go over today?

But that quote of Susan B. Anthony still haunts me, "There never will
be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect
lawmakers."

In the Kansas legislature last session, we had 32 women in the House of
Representatives and 12 women in the Senate. That is about 25% of the
legislature. In the US Congress, women make up 20% of the
Representatives and Senators. Here in Leavenworth County, we currently
have 4 state representatives and 2 state senators. Three of the 4 Reps
and one of the Senators are women. I like those figures better as there
are more women in the world than men, but unfortunately voter turnout is
decreasing in Kansas and across the nation.

If you saw the movie, "Iron Jawed Angels," you know that the lessons
we learned in our US History classes did not even come close to
describing what the progressive women who fought for the 19th amendment
went through. Alice Paul and the women of the 1918 Women's Suffrage
movement sacrificed their health, marriages and the limited amount of
freedom they had in the fight for future generations of women to have
the right to vote and run for office. The women were imprisoned and
force fed after picketing and hunger-striking; but survived to see the
results of their efforts.

After all of this conflict and struggle over allowing women the right to
vote, you would think it would be a valued right in our society. In my
district in 2010, I had over 22,000 citizens eligible to vote, but only
8000 were registered and only 3400 actually voted. That is only 15% of
the people – and that year we did not only vote on elected officials,
there was an amendment to the Kansas constitution and a local
referendum.

As you think of the trials and tribulations of the women depicted in,
"Iron Jawed Angels," you should join me in bafflement over this
trend of non-participation, especially in women. Add in the fact that
while we send our military to stand up for other nations and their right
to self determination and to vote, the United States voter seems to grow
ever more apathetic. The ideals our Nation is founded on demand
participation by the citizenry. Susan B. Anthony had the right idea, it
is "we the people" who form this nation. I encourage you all to use
your right to vote. I encourage all the women out there to stay
involved and use this right that we have only had for 92 years.

Adventures in the Statehouse, Volume 2012 Issue 20

Melanie Meier's Adventures in the Statehouse
Kansas House of Representatives

Volume 2012, Issue 20: August 10, 2012

In This Issue

- Drought Relief for Leavenworth Farmers
- Where do KS Lottery Veteran Scratch Off Ticket Proceeds Go?
- Keep in Touch

Drought Relief for Leavenworth Farmers

Leavenworth County has been designated a "contiguous disaster county"
because of the current drought, making our agricultural producers
eligible for federal disaster relief. In addition, the US Department
of Agriculture has approved haying on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
acres designated as CRP25. Hay is in short supply because of the
drought and being able to hay approximately 726,000 more Kansas acres
will provide immediate relief to livestock producers. The State has set
up a website, www.drought.ks.gov, to provide easy access to drought
information and links to state and federal resources for farmers and
ranchers, small businesses, Kansans, and cities and counties.

Where do KS Lottery Veteran Scratch Off Ticket Proceeds Go?

Since 2003, the profits from the Kansas Lottery's Veteran Scratch Off
Ticket game have been used to directly fund designated veterans
programs. This year's budget distributes the profits from the tickets
to fund the Kansas Veterans Home Fee Fund, the Veterans Enhanced Service
Delivery Program, and the state's National Guard Education Assistance
Program.

Many do not know this, but Kansas has its own state run Soldiers and
Veterans homes. These facilities are located in Fort Dodge and
Winfield Kansas. The Veteran Home at Winfield was established in 1997
on the grounds of the former Winfield State Hospital and Training
Center. As the renovation was completed, the Home opened for residency
and the first residents were admitted in 2000. In its first ten years
of operation, it has been home to 600 veterans and eligible dependents.
To be eligible to live there, a veteran must have served on active duty
and has either a service connected disability, or was a prisoner of war,
a Veteran of the Mexican Border Period, or a Veteran of World War I. If
space is available, a spouse or surviving spouse may also qualify.

The Veterans Enhanced Service Delivery Program is a set of 3 mobile,
fully equipped and handicapped accessible "offices on wheels" that
travel throughout Kansas to make applying for VA benefits more
accessible to Kansas veterans and eligible family members. Without the
mobile office, Veterans and their families would have to travel to
Topeka, Leavenworth, or Wichita to be able to speak to a Veteran Service
Officer face to face. These offices set up shop at designated locations
in your community or attend special events such as fairs, parades and
festivals throughout the State of Kansas educating veterans and
assisting them in getting the benefits they have earned, but may not
even know about.

Forty percent of the veteran lottery ticket profits go to the National
Guard Education Assistance Program. This program provides scholarships
to cover the cost of tuition and fees for members of the Air and Army
National Guard to attend eligible post-secondary schools. Legislators
and the Kansas Commission on Veterans Affairs expressed concern this
past session, that with the new expanded GI Bill, Kansas scholarships to
National Guard members may actually duplicate available federal
benefits. If true, the State money could be diverted to other veteran
services that are not duplicated by federal programs. A Legislative
Post Audit was requested to investigate this concern and the results
were made available in July.

According to the audit, there is some overlap of federal and state
educational assistance but federal dollars would not be able to fully
replace state benefits. The federal Post 9-11 GI Bill is available to
members of the guard who have served at least 3 months of eligible
active duty and the amount of benefits depends on the amount of time
served on active duty. To qualify for 100% of the GI Bill benefits, the
servicemember would have had to serve 36 months active duty. Very few
would qualify for the full benefits. Further, diversion of state money
from the education assistance program would have a large impact on
members of the Air Guard. The Army Guard is eligible for federal
tuition assistance through the Army, so they use the state funds as
secondary funding to cover any remaining costs. The Air Guard uses the
state funds as their primary source and actually use 90% of the
program's funding.

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.