• From the Statehouse: Week 7
• Appropriations update
• First half summary of legislation
• Smoking ban passes
• House passes business tax cut
• Senate bills flood house committees

Short week marks halfway point

The House took the first two days of the week off and worked two bills of little consequence on Wednesday and advanced them for final action on Thursday.   Things got a lot more interesting on Thursday when a motion to concur on the smoking ban was brought forward.  Friday saw a long debate on a tax cut for business that began around 8:30 and continued with some breaks until after noon. We were on the road home by 2:30 Friday afternoon.

Appropriations update:

The House Appropriations committee continues to slog through agency budgets with little controversy.  Although it seems that we can work through an agency budget of millions of dollars with little effort, when we are looking at something small like the Home Inspectors Board budget of around $36,000 we can get bogged down in endless trivial questions.

Here is the schedule of budgets and bills the committee took up this week:

Wednesday, February 24

Introduction of proposed legislation

Budget Committee Report On:

• Kansas, Inc.
• Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation
• Guardianship Program
• Health Care Stabilization Fund Board of Governors
• Kansas Lottery
• Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission

Hearing and possible action on:

HB 2355 - Limitation on outstanding principal of state general fund bonded debt.

SB 387 - Claims against the state; appropriations.

Thursday, February 25

Introduction of proposed legislation

Budget Committee Report On:

• Board of Accountancy
• Board of Veterinary Examiners
• Department of Credit Unions
• Securities Commissioner
• State Bank Commissioner
• Board of Home Inspectors
• Board of Healing Arts
• Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board
• Board of Barbering
• Board Cosmetology

I expect in the course of the next couple of weeks we will be rolling out the first budget draft for 2011.  This is known as the "mega" bill and serves as the base for the final budget that is issued after the April Consensus Revenue Estimating Group sets the spending limits for the "omnibus" bill.

The first budget bill debate will set the tone for future budget debates and give members of the House an opportunity to express their values and priorities.

First half summary of legislation

The legislative session has passed the turnaround or about half way through the session.  The following is a quick review of the major issues and the progress made.

State budget

The House and Senate have approved the adjustments necessary for the current year budget and sent it to the Governor for his signature.  This is known as the rescission bill and although it balances to the revenues projected in November, it seems apparent that revenue continues to fall below expectations and this last round of $92 million budget cuts are still not enough.

Budget Committees in the Senate and House continue to propose recommendations for the coming year budget and many of these have been accepted.  The House Appropriations committee will continue its work in the coming weeks. The state is facing a projected $416 million budget shortfall for the next fiscal year, but so far the agency budget recommendations have been at the current 2010 budget level.

Tax policy

At the beginning of the legislative session the governor proposed to increase the sales tax by $.01 and to increase the tax on tobacco products.  The House Tax Committee has rejected the sales tax increase but endorsed a bill to eliminate some tax credits that are very rarely used. The House Tax Committee voted down a resolution that would place a moratorium on further tax exemptions and then expanded tax breaks to businesses to the tune of $90 million over the next five years.

On the Senate side, they have voted to remove the cap on tax credits for historic preservation.  That is expected to create an annual cost to the state of $6 million.

Unemployment taxes

As unemployment continues to increase and the number of jobless rises there has been a considerable drain on our Unemployment Fund.  The law requires the assessments to businesses to increase as the fund is depleted.  The consequence is a $209 million increase in the tax this year.  Employers who have had few or no unemployment claims would pay the bulk of the increased tax.  The House has passed legislation that would cap the rates for most employers and provide a 3-month grace period before having to pay penalties.

States rights

Two measures are making their way through the process that deal with the rights of states.  The first is a simple resolution calling on the federal government to pay greater attention to the 10^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  That amendment gives powers to the states that are not reserved to the federal government.  The House Judiciary Committee had a hearing on this recently.

The second proposal would change the state constitution declaring that no individual or business can be forced to purchase health insurance.  This measure is a reaction to the debate in the U.S. Congress on health care reform and is meant to thwart any reform to Kansas.

Death penalty

The House has not held any hearings or debate on capital punishment but the Senate, in a surprise turnaround, debated the issue two weeks ago.  The repeal bill was defeated on a tie vote of 20-20.  That will kill any further action on this issue for the year.

Smoking ban

In another surprise, the House debated a statewide smoking ban bill that was amended and passed by the Senate.  After nearly two hours of debate, the House approved the measure sending it to the governor for his signature to become law.  The bill provides exemptions for private clubs, country clubs, and casinos.  The bill will take effect on July 1.

Abortion

During a debate on a bill concerning life insurance an amendment was offered that would prohibit health insurers from including coverage for most abortions.  The amendment would require the consumer to purchase a rider to their policy if they wanted abortion coverage.  The amendment passed but the bill was sent back to committee and no action was taken on the House floor.

Seatbelts

A bill to allow law enforcement officers ticket motorist for not wearing their seat belt without having other reasons to stop vehicles has passed the Senate.  The Senate also banned texting while driving.  Although the Senate has taken the imitative on this measure in the past, the House has refused to pass the bill know as "primary stop seat belt law".  It is unlikely that the House will pass it this year also.

Immigration

The House debated a bill to create a Council on Efficient Government that would impose additional requirements on state purchasing.  During that debate an amendment was offered that would bar any vendor from state contracts who were found to willfully hired illegal workers.

The Kansas Chamber of Commerce was adamantly opposed to that amendment and the bill was sent back to committee for additional consideration.

Smoking ban passes legislature

Proponents of a statewide smoking ban evoked a procedural move on Thursday to force a debate on the Senate version of the bill.  The Senate had replaced a House bill with the statewide ban and passed it on final action at the end of March last year.

The House has delayed any action on a smoking ban so the proponents made a motion to concur with the Senate amendments to the House bill.  This procedural motion meant that the House could not offer any amendments of their own and could only debate the merits of the bill and vote it up or down.

Those that opposed the current bill did so because the bill was imperfect, as there were exemptions for Class A and B private clubs, private country clubs, and casino floors.  They have a very valid point.  I would have preferred that the casino floors were included in the bill.  However, this legislation was a compromise and compromise is always imperfect.  The fact is that if we only voted on perfect bills, we would never vote.  No legislation is perfect.

I supported the ban because over 70% of the voters in my district who felt this was important supported a statewide smoking ban.  I believe that I must represent the constituents of my district.  In addition, I know that those in the House who oppose any statewide ban are in a position to block the bill and we would never get the opportunity to vote one way or the other.

House passes business tax cut

When the legislative session began, I knew we would be faced with tough choices.  Should we cut more in education or services to the frail and elderly?  Will we be able to maintain funding for the disabled and health care for poor children?  Where will we get the $400 million we are in the hole?

Nowhere in the equation did it occur to me that we would cut 10% to Medicaid, cut bedbug inspections and then give businesses a $95 million tax cut!  Yet, that is exactly what we did on Friday when HB 2538 came to the House floor for debate.

This bill would allow employers to keep 95% of the payroll taxes they would normally have to pay if they can show that they added jobs or chose not to leave the state with their jobs.  Unfortunately, the Legislative Post Audit has show that of the billions of dollars we have granted to business in the form of tax credits, tax exemptions, and other incentives there is no evidence that any of the policy objectives were met.  What happens is that it goes straight to the bottom line making business more profitable by shifting their tax obligations to property tax payers, individual income tax payers, and sales taxes. 

We have cut over $1 billion dollars from our state general fund budget this last year causing: schools to lay off teachers; a 10% cut to Medicaid; growing waiting lists for services to the disabled, frail and elderly; increased tuition to our state colleges and universities; fewer parole officers to supervise offenders; and even such things and not inspecting hotels for bedbugs!  Yet even now with a $400 million dollar expected deficit in next year's budget, we cannot say no to a huge tax cut for big business!

Senate bills flood house committees

Now that we are past turnaround the House committees are flooded with bills passed by the Senate and now awaiting their turn for hearings and debate.  Most of the policy committees such as Federal and State Affairs, Education, Judiciary, Energy and Utilities, and Corrections and Juvenile  Justice are gearing up for a slate of bills.

Those bills that are not heard and debated will die at the end of March when the session goes to first adjournment.  These bills generally become shell bills for exempt committees to introduce legislation needed in the final days of the session.