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E-NEWSLETTER
REPRESENTATIVE PAUL DAVIS
46TH DISTRICT
OFFICE:
423-South, State Capitol
Topeka, KS 66612
785-296-7642
davis@house.state.ks.us
DISTRICT OFFICE:
900 Massachusetts Street, Suite
601
Lawrence, KS 66044
(785) 843-7674
(785) 843-7672 (fax)
HOME:
1731 Indiana
Lawrence, KS 66044
(785) 749-1942
Greetings from the Capitol! This has been a fairly good week at the Capitol.
The House has concluded its business for the week, having worked several
dozen bills this week. The best news is that an education plan has emerged
in the House. The $500 million plan is bi-partisan and in my opinion does
a good job of addressing the issues pointed out in the Legislative Post
Audit study.
I don't believe that the headline in this morning's Journal-World was
a very accurate reflection of the impact that the plan will have on the
Lawrence School District. The plan, in its first year, would provide over
$4 million in additional money for USD #497. This would allow the school
district to reinstate all-day kindergarten, provide additional teacher
salary increases, roll back fee increases imposed on students and parents
over the last several years or take other measures that will benefit Lawrence
schoolchildren.
Saturday is this year's "turnaround" date in the 2006 legislative
session. That is the deadline for most bills to clear their house of origin
to stay alive in the current session. Certain measures, such as budget
and tax bills, are exempt from the turnaround deadline, but lawmakers
ordinarily work furiously to push through other measures. The Legislature
will take a brief break and return to session on Wednesday of next week.
Here's more information on the education plan:
HOUSE SCHOOL FINANCE PLAN INTRODUCED
The House Select Committee on School Finance introduced a bipartisan
education plan on Thursday to address the school finance lawsuit and the
Legislative Post Audit study on education that was presented the first
week of session.
The new plan addresses the needs identified in the Legislative Post Audit
report, but does so while at the same time granting flexibility in spending
by individual districts. Some of the main points of the plan include:
* Approximately $500 million in additional school funding which will
be phased in over three years, without a tax increase.
* Year one of the plan includes $175 million in additional monies and
sets aside $500,000 for teachers who wish to become certified under English
as a Second Language (ESL). These teachers transition teachers into English
speaking classes as quickly as practical.
* The second and third years of the plan would distribute an additional
$325 million and seeks to target poverty and at-risk students as identified
by the Legislative Post Audit study. Accountability for how schools spend
taxpayer dollars is a priority.
* School districts will be responsible for determining their own budgets
based on a needs assessment and specifying priorities within that budget.
Each district will be required to make specific reports on their budget
to the Kansas Board of Education.
* Failure by any school district to meet average yearly progress in the
first year will be examined by the Kansas Board of Education and the school
will be required to reallocate it's resources in the following year(s)
to address problem areas. A failure to meet average yearly progress in
subsequent years will be addressed with increasing intervention by state
education officials.
* Base Aid Per Pupil will increase by $50 on a yearly basis.
* The bill does not change the formula for low-enrollment districts.
* This bill fully funds the Post Audit recommendations on the at-risk
& urban poverty weightings by the end of the third year.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS KILL LEGISLATION THAT PROVIDES SMALL BUSINESSES WITH
OPPORTUNITY TO ACCESS AFFORDABLE HEALTH INSURANCE
One of the things that disappointed me this week was that the House Republicans
defeated a proposal that I helped to create which would have given Kansas
small businesses and individuals that are self-employed the opportunity
to purchase more affordable health insurance. On almost a party line vote,
the House defeated House Bill 2693. The bill would have established a
pilot project which would have allowed qualified small businesses and
self employed individuals the ability to purchase health insurance through
the state employee health care plan.
Those who would purchase this insurance would have to pay the entire
cost (the State would not subsidize their insurance) and provisions would
be put in place so that adverse selection would not occur thereby driving
up the cost of insurance for state employees. This concept has been tried
in a number of other states and has been successful. Right now, those
who don't work for a governmental entity or large business are at a significant
disadvantage in the health care purchasing marketplace. This proposal
would allow these businesses and individuals to enjoy the purchasing power
that the State of Kansas is able to leverage.
Much of the Republican opposition to the bill came after the Kansas Chamber
came out in opposition to the bill.
CLINIC REGULATION BILL PASSES HOUSE
Legislation passed the House of Representatives this week that would
increase regulations and inspections of medical clinics, including abortion
clinics. The measure would apply to every clinic in the state that does
office-based surgery or other medical procedures. The bill passed the
House on final action by a vote of 63-62. I supported this bill because
it applies to all clinics and doesn't just single out one type of medical
procedure.
Increased scrutiny of office-based procedures is needed because many
procedures once done in hospitals are now done in office settings. Last
year, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vetoed a bill that would have imposed additional
regulations on abortion clinics. She said she would sign a measure that
covered all surgeries performed under anesthesia in doctors' offices and
clinics. My hope is that the Senate will pass the House version of this
legislation so that this bill can be enacted into law and we can move
onto more important issues.
HIGHER EDUCATION INFRASTRUCTURE
A debate in the Statehouse over how to pay for hundreds of millions of
dollars of repairs at public universitites has revealed similar needs
at the rest of the higher education institutions. The Kansas Board of
Regents has been lobbying for adoption of an increase in the state sales
and property taxes and a bond issue to take care of $584 million in repairs
at Kansas University and the five other regents institutions.
In the meantime, proposals have surfaced that would include repairs needed
at the 19 community colleges and 11 technical colleges throughout the
state. One measure that was floated would have increased the statewide
property tax to establish a revolving loan fund to pay for repairs at
all higher education institutions. While applauded by the community colleges
and technical colleges, the regents gave it a thumbs down.
State universities already have the ability to borrow funds, Board of
Regents President and Chief Executive Officer Reggie Robinson said. "But
the critical point is they do not have the funding necessary to repay
those bonds or loan agreements as proposed in this bill," Robinson
said. The regents contend the backlog of maintenance has resulted from
inadequate funding in past years from the Legislature. The regents' plan
is to increase the state sales tax by one-tenth of a cent, increase the
property tax by one mil, and issue $150 million in bonds.
However, community colleges and technical colleges are not included in
that plan. Robert Edleston, president of Manhattan Area Technical College,
told lawmakers that his school is in desperate need of help to make necessary
repairs. His students have renovated buildings, and corporations are donating
materials, but more is needed, he said, as the demand for services increases.
He said that the technical college plans to add almost a dozen new programs
to meet community needs, but they have no room in our existing facilities.
He stressed that the non-regents schools shouldn't be ignored; eighty
percent of Kansas jobs require more than a high school diploma but less
than a four-year degree," he said. The executive director of the
Kansas Association of Community College Trustees, said the schools she
represents have at least $55 million worth of repairs that need attention.
Buildings at regents universities are property of the state, while buildings
at community colleges and technical colleges are property of local boards.
Under state law, the regents have authority over the six public universities
but are in charge of "coordination" of the community colleges
and technical colleges.
In 1999, after numerous studies and failed attempts, lawmakers adopted
higher education reforms, referred to in the Capitol as Senate Bill 345.
The bill restructured higher education governance, changed the way universities
were funded and promised increases for faculty salaries. The community
colleges and technical schools were placed under the Kansas Board of Regents
umbrella.
Budget problems have undermined some of the promised funding increases,
but Senate Bill 345 helped unify governance of higher education. After
several years of neglect, the Legislature, under the budget proposals
of Governor Sebelius, has taken significant steps towards fulfilling the
promises made in Senate Bill 345. I hope we will continue this in addition
to addressing the deferred maintenance needs at all Regents institutions.
OFFICIALS STUDY WHETHER TAX CREDITS HELP ECONOMY
The State of Kansas provides businesses with millions of dollars of tax
credits and exemptions each year, but many, including myself, have wondered
whether the tax breaks do what they are intended to do. Do they lead to
more jobs and investments? Is the Kansas economy strengthened?
Kansas Department of Revenue Secretary Joan Wagnon said state officials
are starting to collect information that could lead to answers. The Department
has been analyzing two major tax breaks offered to businesses - the high
performance incentive program, which is taken mostly by manufacturers,
and the business and job development program, which is taken primarily
by retail businesses. The high performance incentive program gives a tax
credit to qualified companies that make cash investments in training and
education of employees. The business and job development program allows
tax credits for job creation.
Sixty-four businesses received $12 million in tax credits under the high
performance program in the 2003 tax year, the latest for which statistics
are provided. Businesses reported investing $190 million. Nearly 500 businesses
received $6 million in job development tax credits, leading to nearly
14,000 jobs. The firms in the report are not revealed because of the confidentiality
of tax information.
Arthur Hall, director of the Center for Applied Economics at Kansas University,
will evaluate the two tax credits. Information required to be reported
to the state from the firms doesn't provide the detail needed to reach
certain conclusions, Hall said. But, he said, he used what information
was available to try to determine whether the tax credits were enough
to alter a business's decision to expand or increase. He concluded the
high performance investment credit had the greatest potential of pushing
a company toward making an investment decision.
The job development credit, while helping businesses, was not producing
the kinds of investment decisions that would benefit the general taxpayer,
he said. "My numbers show that the business and jobs credit is a
very small credit," Hall said. "No one is saying, 'I don't want
this money,' but it's not enough money to change the investment behavior,"
he said.
The Department of Revenue will seek legislative approval to be able to
obtain more data from companies that get the tax breaks.
TAX RETURN CHECK-OFF PROGRAMS
Senator Barbara Allen (R-Overland Park), herself a cancer survivor, introduced
a bill that creates the Kansas Breast Cancer Research Fund through a new
check-off on state individual income tax forms beginning in the 2006 tax
year. While there is a cost to the state for modification of the tax forms,
individual contributions to the fund wouldn't diminish state tax revenue.
It was passed unanimously by the Senate.
Allen is uncertain how much money the check-offs would generate, but
existing Kansas check-offs that benefit non-game wildlife and the Meals
on Wheels program for seniors have taken in $3.4 million since 1988. Generally,
no more than 5% of taxpayers participate in check-off programs. They typically
donate $10 each, Allen said. Forty-one states have tax check-off initiatives.
They raise $27 million annually for 80 different causes. Eleven states
have implemented specific check-offs associated with breast cancer, Allen
said.
The most frequently diagnosed cancer among women is breast cancer. It
is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among our state's female
residents. In the next year, at least 2,000 new cases will be documented
in the state. The disease will take the life of another 400 Kansas women.
The tax return check-off would be a convenient way for Kansans to support
research on the prevention, treatment and cure of breast cancer at the
state's only academic medical center. It also would nourish a broader
goal of attaching a National Cancer Institute designation to the university's
cancer center. An NCI designation, held by such institutions as the M.D.
Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.,
is a "good housekeeping" seal indicating a facility maintains
the highest standards in research and care.
And successful completion of the 10-year NCI designation process would
bring to Kansas the kind of clinical trials that patients like Senator
Allen have to travel to other places to obtain. People in this area of
the country could be part of a medical crucible from which new approaches
to therapy emerge and new hope is given to the sick. Women in Kansas should
not have to travel to Texas or Minnesota or Boston to obtain the highest
standard of care. Kansas women deserve to receive the best cancer care
available right here in the Midwest, at home with their family and friends
to support them.
A second check-off contained in SB 384 would set up the Kansas Military
Emergency Relief Fund. This would allow Kansans to make gifts to an aid
program -- food, housing, utilities, medical services -- for needy Kansas
military personnel and their families.
ABSTINENCE-PLUS SEX EDUCATION
Students, teachers, parents and pastors converged on the Statehouse this
week to insist on a law requiring abstinence-plus sex education in Kansas
public schools. The issue fell to the Senate Education Committee because
the Kansas State Board of Education allowed a mandate in place since 1987
that local school districts offer human sexuality classes to expire. Most
districts have continued teaching sex education, but there is nothing
to prevent all 300 from dropping the curriculum.
Under Senate Bill 508, local school boards would continue to provide
age-appropriate abstinence-plus instruction in elementary and secondary
schools. Information offered to students would deal with abstinence and
sexually transmitted diseases, especially AIDS. The bill includes an opt-out
feature for students who want to be excused. Nothing in a district's curriculum
could be construed as teaching birth control methods.
The bill's lone conferee speaking in opposition was the executive director
of Abstinence Education in Wichita. Debra Rukes, director of the Topeka
YWCA's teen pregnancy prevention program, said the reality is that students
need abstinence-plus programs in school. Two-thirds of teens have sex
by the time they are high school seniors, and 30% of women get pregnant
by age 20, she said. Erick Jensen, a science teacher in Kansas City, KS
said schools must counter misguided peer advice. A surprising number of
students think pregnancy can be avoided if they have intercourse while
standing up, he said. "Having factual, medically accurate and age-appropriate
curriculum and materials will help alleviate the urban legends."
SEX PREDATOR BILL ADVANCES IN HOUSE
One of the many bills that the House of Representatives took up this
week deals with penalties for sex predators. The bill, which has been
termed Jessica's Law (Jessica Lunsford was a 9 year old girl who was raped
and killed in Florida by a sex predator who had been released from prison),
substantially increases penalties for sex crimes against children and
takes those crimes off the sentencing guidelines that are in Kansas law.
Instead of using the sentencing guidelines, a person convicted of such
an offense would receive a 25 year sentence on a first offense, 50 year
sentence on a second offense and life in prison on a third offense.
The House Judiciary Committee made a number of changes to the bill because
of a feeling that the bill is too overbroad. Most significantly, it adopted
a provision, which I helped to draft, that gives prosecutors some discretion
in deciding whether penalties ought to be enhanced in certain cases. The
bill will now go to a conference committee where differences between the
House and Senate versions of the bill will be reconciled.
KEEP IN TOUCH
It is a special honor and privilege to serve as your voice in the Kansas
House of Representatives. I value and need your input on the various issues
facing state government. Please feel free to contact me with your comments
and questions. My office address is Room 423-South, State Capitol, Topeka,
KS 66612. You can reach me at (785) 296-7657 or call the legislative hotline
at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me. Additionally, you can e-mail
me at davis@house.state.ks.us.
You can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org.
Paul
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