Representative Vickrey Proposes Constitutional Amendment to Cap Property Valuations for Seniors

Working on the Agenda

Republicans set a serious and multi-faceted Legislative Agenda on the first day of session and just two weeks later those priorities are seeing action. The House began floor debate on Tuesday with HB 2002, HB 2019 and SB 30. Both HB 2019 which addresses satellite voting and SB 30 which contained pre-funding for the out years of the school finances plan addressed top issues of the House Republican Caucus Agenda. The debate was good, the vote was solid and on Wednesday, January 24, the House saw its first Final Action votes.

Promise made:

EDUCATION

Republican House members have pledged to ensure our public school and universities maintain their high standards of education and to encourage our children to attend college in Kansas. The following bills address state funding for K-12 and Regents schools.

Promise kept:

• SB 30
• This was the #1 issue on the Republican Agenda and was one of the first bills debated on the House Floor

– Passing the House 105-17, the measure pre-funds year 2 and 3 of the school finance plan and addresses the Regent’s crumbling classrooms bond issue. It was amended on the House floor to include a 40 million a year debt reduction fund. The Republican caucus has taken the lead in demonstrating that our students are a top priority and that we back our commitments.

ELECTION AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

The votes of every qualified Kansan should be counted in elections. To ensure this, we must bring more creditability to our state's electoral process.

Promise kept:

HB 2019 - Unanimously passed the House, expanding voters’ access when casting their ballots. The bill provides all counties with the option of establishing satellite and advance voting.

Election Reform was another of the House Republican’s top agenda items and was brought to the floor of the House for swift and appropriate reform demonstrating our commitment to bringing more credibility to our state’s electoral process.

Promise made:

HEALTH CARE

Every Kansan deserves access to affordable, quality health care. The burden of increasing premiums for individuals and small businesses has spun out of control. Kansans must be in charge of their health care dollars and the Republican caucus is committed to addressing this problem now.  

Promise Kept:

• Creation of Health Task Force

– This thirteen member task force is focused on finding ways to make Kansas healthier by assisting individuals in taking care of their own health. The current Health Care system is broken and we are charging this task force with working towards massive reform this year.

The task force has already begun hearings to uncover ways to immediately address the problems facing Medicaid, commercial insurance, and the uninsured. We must promote access to quality care for all Kansans.

From these examples you can see that we are serious about swiftly providing responsible solutions to the problems facing our constituents across the state. We came to Topeka with a lofty goal in mind, to achieve what is best for all Kansans. Three weeks into the session we have passed two significant pieces of legislation and are hard at work addressing other priority issues.

Summary of Legislative Events - Week Five

Historic Times in the House

Revenue estimates are up, the political posturing associated with the recent elections has mostly subsided and now five weeks into the 81^st meeting of the regular session, the House continues to focus on crafting good policy on a number of issues effecting Kansans from all walks of life.

In the midst of bill hearings, floor debates and business as usual, Kansas House members have had two unusually important Legislative opportunities this week.

Joint Session of the House

For the first time in seventeen years, the House conducted a joint session on Monday, February 5^th U.S. Senator Pat Roberts addressed the joint session regarding the state’s efforts to bring the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) to Kansas.

Senator Roberts describes the opportunity to host this national defense facility as "a once in a generation opportunity" that Kansas is uniquely qualified for. Kansas is widely recognized as a world leader in plant and bio-sciences and boasts a uniquely central location in both the "bio health corridor" and the bread basket of the Midwest, stretching through Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

The NBAF would replace the aging Plum Island facility, the federal government’s most secure location for animal disease research. Sites in Leavenworth and Manhattan are among 18 sites in 12 states which have advanced to the next phase of the competitive process. Competition across the country for this facility is intense. The estimated economic impact is in the billions – an unprecedented opportunity for our state.

The House has shown its dedication to securing the opportunity to host this facility. In previous years Legislation has been passed which increased research grants and facilities – effectively infusing the state with qualifications for just such a defense facility. In addition to previous legislation, this week the House passed the following motions to indicate the serious consideration our merits warrant and that we believe will eventually bring this federal facility to the place best suited to utilize bio science research to protect our nation’s world class agriculture industry.

HB 2303

, unanimously passed the House, creating the Kansas National bio and agro defense facility interagency working group act., was unanimously adopted, pledging the Kansas Legislature’s support for the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility and urging the United States Department of Homeland Security, the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, President Bush, the Kansas Congressional Delegation and others to consider two sites in Kansas as the location for this new federal laboratory.

SB 252

, unanimously passed the House and Senate, authorizing the state board of regents to convey certain real estate located in Riley county for and on behalf of Kansas State University and the state of Kansas to the United States government and the department of Homeland Security.

CONTESTED ELECTION

The House Select Committee on Contested Elections today submitted its report regarding the challenged November election results of House District 16 to the Committee of the Whole.

After careful review of the evidence and hearing from both parties, committee members unanimously agreed to recommend House members vote to uphold the judge’s ruling that Gene Rardin won the election over John Dennis Kriegshauser by two votes.

Mr. Kriegshauser withdrew his challenge of the election result yesterday (Wednesday), but the Select Committee is still required by statue to submit a final report to the full House. Chairman O’Neal said the committee’s examination of the case brought up the need for possible legislation.

A review of how county boards of canvassers handle input from interested parties during a recount has been suggested. Currently, in Johnson County, the board doesn’t allow non-board members to speak up if they witness a potential violation of state law. In the case of the Rardin-Kriegshauser race, an attempt to point out an error in the procedure utilized by the board was turned aside. Its believed that listening to the public input, in all likelihood, would have prevented the resulting election contest

BACK TO BUSINESS

Legislative deadlines are fast approaching, keeping committees hard at work to crank out priority legislation for consideration by the entire House. This week, the House passed 12 bills and considered dozens more in committee.

Final Action Votes:

HB 2037,

unanimously passed the House, this act would allow for income taxation credits and deductions relating to energy efficiency expenditures.

HB 2038

, passed 95/28; amended acts concerning siting permits and certain property tax exemptions for nuclear power plants. This act will create a new nuclear electric generation in Kansas and reduce the dependency on fossil fuels in the United States.

HB

2066, unanimously passed the House, this act addresses the extension and upgrades of electric transmission lines.

HB 2152

, unanimously passed the House, amending the requirements for the membership of the commission on emergency planning and response.

HB 2161

, unanimously passed the House, amended the counties covered by a portion of the act concerning enforcement of county codes and resolutions.

SB 36

, unanimously passed the House, an act concerning the unification of certain cities and counties.

HB 2181,

unanimously passed the House, altering reinstatement requirements for the licensure of social workers.

HB 2182

, unanimously passed the House, changing the requirements for temporary permits to practice out-of-state licenses from the behavioral sciences regulatory board.

HB 2036

, passed 117/7, changing the applicable standards and certain required disclosures for the thermal efficiency of buildings.

HB 2067

, unanimously passed the House, changing requirements for employees of the Kansas commission on veteran’s affairs.

HB 2112

, passed 116/7, eliminating the requirement that consent by the president and secretary of insurance companies manually authenticate with the seal of the corporation.

SB 33

, unanimously passed the House, an act concerning surplus property and public airport authorities.

Next Week at the Statehouse

The House Republican Caucus priority to pass a Franchise Tax repeal will come to the House floor for a vote early next week.

After some weeks of hearings and committee work, Alexa’s Law is expected to come out of committee and be heard by the whole House.

For more news and information about what is currently happening in the Kansas House of Representatives, please visit our website at

www.kansashouse.org