The Kansas legislature has taken quick action to protect the 3-year K-12 school finance plan and provide start-up funds for the Regent’s “Crumbling Classrooms” initiative. SB 30, on its way to the Governor, sets aside $271.7M in FY 2007 for the FY 2008 and 2009 school finance increases approved by last year’s legislature. It also sets aside $76.6M from the State General Fund in the current year to address specific Higher Ed building maintenance and repair needs. The measure not only protects our commitment to education funding but also protects against spending general fund dollars on unnecessary new or expanded programs at the expense of education or Kansas taxpayers.
Additional taxpayer protection, in a year that shows the state with a budget surplus, will come in the form of tax cuts. The Governor has proposed around $12M in tax cuts but the Republican-controlled House & Senate are proposing more than $60M in tax cuts. The largest cut would come from elimination of the despised franchise tax, saving Kansas businesses some $44M annually. The Governor’s proposal to adjust the tax would save only $7M. Only 19 states levy such a tax and our tax has made us non-competitive. Both the Governor and the legislature agree that corporate tax rates need to come down and we agree that unemployment taxes must be adjusted. The final tally of tax reductions will have to wait until later in the session but it appears very likely that Kansans will enjoy some levy of tax relief this year. We’re also hoping to get on the ballot a constitutional amendment to be voted on by Kansans that would give the legislature the power to grant residential property tax relief to those over age 65.
The House has also taken quick action on an election reform measure that will increase the availability of advance voting places in the state. Advance voting has become a popular alternative and the House bill allows and encourages counties to establish satellite advance voting locations. The House will also be looking at other election and campaign finance reforms, including needed reforms that the Governor vetoed last year. Measures to protect against voter fraud and to assist with voter identification will be considered as well as reforms in campaign finance reporting. Virtually everyone agrees we need to address those annoying robo-calls, require timely reporting of contributions made in the closing days of the campaign and provide more disclosures relating to third-party advocacy ads.
One election reform measure would cure a problem experienced here locally with the write-in campaign of James Schlickau in the 101st Dist. legislative race. The Secretary of State advised Schlickau of the number of write-in votes he needed in the Primary held in August. Schlickau succeeded in getting more than the required number, only to be told by the Secretary of State’s office after the fact that they had made an error in making the calculation. The error cost Schlickau and voters in the 101st District an opportunity for a choice in the fall election, even though the error had been made by bean-counters in Topeka. The reform measure would provide for an easily verified number of votes necessary in a write-in election so calculation errors would be eliminated.
Tuesday, I’m expected to be named to a select committee to hear evidence in the contested election involving the 16th District House race. That election was initially decided by a mere 4-vote margin and, after judicial review, the margin is now down to 2 votes. By law, the matter has now been sent to the House of Representatives to have a committee made up of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats review the evidence and recommend to the full House who should be seated. The Committee has 10 days from its appointment to consider the evidence and make a recommendation. I’ve served on two prior contested election committees. One, in 1995, resulted in a tie vote after judicial review and House review and the outcome was determined by drawing a colored backgammon chip out of a hat.

Last week I reported on some of the key components of the Governor’s State-of-the-State message. One additional point worth mentioning is the fact that the Governor’s proposed budget honors our continuing commitment to the comprehensive highway plan by providing for the transfer of $175M in sales tax revenue to the Kansas Department of Transportation.
The Governor’s call for a universal health care plan has drawn a good deal of skepticism and concern. Specifics details of the Governor’s proposal haven’t been released but many are concerned it calls for what would essentially be socialized medicine and a shift to significant reliance on government sponsored health care at the expense of the private sector. As I’ve reported previously, Kansas ranks at the top of all states in government sector job growth and near the bottom in private sector job growth. What we need are more incentives for employers to offer health care plans and incentives for a more favorable health insurance market.
To that end, House Republicans have announced the formation of a special task force on health care to put together a comprehensive health care strategy for Kansas based on free market principles and not socialized medicine. I have been appointed to the task force and look forward to helping to improve the availability and affordability of health care coverage.
Prior to the Governor’s message, House Republicans announced our own legislative priorities for the 2007 session. We would set aside sufficient funds this year and next to fund the 2nd and 3rd years of last year’s school finance plan. We would set up a $75M trust fund for specific building repairs for state universities and colleges, and develop a tuition equity plan for the Regents institutions. As Vice-Chairman of the House Education Budget Sub-Committee I’ll be working on these initiatives in the coming weeks.
On the issue of tax relief, we’d repeal the franchise tax retroactively to January 1 of this year, permanently reduce the unemployment tax rate by 40%, exempt social security income from the state income tax, restructure the corporate income tax rates and push a constitutional amendment to ease the property tax burden for elderly Kansans. These proposals go much further than the Governor’s tax relief plan as we would limit overall state government spending. Increases in the cost of health care coverage have been characterized as a CRISIS by the Governor, but her own budget would increase government spending by a greater percentage. We feel that the need to curb government spending is as important as reducing the cost of health care coverage. They go hand-in-hand and include lessening the tax burden on Kansans.
On immigration, we’d establish English as the official state language, require proof of citizenship for state services and enhance worker ID enforcement. There has been much confusion over the English as the official language initiative. It has little to do with the spoken language and more to do with what the State and private businesses are required to do in print. The proposal would protect the state and private business from having to print official documents in a language other than English. Printing in other languages would be permitted as an accommodation but not required. The state would not be allowed to burden private businesses with a requirement to print in multiple languages. It would have no effect on bi-lingual education in the schools. Immigration is a fact but it shouldn’t be too much to ask that our foreign guests learn English if Kansas is to be their chosen residence.

The 2007 Kansas legislative session got underway Monday with the swearing in of all 125 House members. On Wednesday, Gov. Sebelius delivered her annual State-of-the-State message. Here are some highlights from the Governor’s budget message.
The Governor would add to last year’s 3-year school finance plan by increasing funding by $15M to apply toward all-day kindergarten programs. Her long-term plan is to increase this funding each year until each kindergarten student counts as a full-time equivalent student for purposes of the funding formula. They count ½ currently.
The Governor has earmarked an additional $40M for higher ed, of which $30M would go to the regents’ schools. Washburn, the community colleges and technical schools would get 4% increases and $3M would go for increased student financial aid.
An additional $4M in funding would be added for birth-to-age-5 health care coverage for poor children, which is calculated to draw down another $6M in federal funds. Also, an additional $40M would be earmarked for elderly & disabled programs plus $1.5M to add a new government program aimed at assisting autistic children.
The Governor would spend an additional $6M on rural development and other economic development programs and would provide for free State Park admissions, costing $3.2M annually. She’d add another $750K for life insurance for Kansas Guard members, extending last year’s Republican Guard benefit plan.
The Governor apparently supports the Republican’s call for corporate, unemployment and franchise tax relief, at least to a limited extent. She would reduce the franchise tax by about $7 by increasing the threshold from $100K to $1M, removing about 16,000 businesses from franchise tax liability. This would leave approximately 5,000 businesses still paying the same amount of tax. The Governor would drop the corporate surtax on income above $50K from 3.5% to 2.95% next year and to 2.75% the following year. That’s worth about $5.8 M in tax cuts in this budget year and a little over $22M next year. The Governor’s tax reduction proposals are far less than those being proposed by the Republican-controlled House & Senate but the legislature welcomed her proposal to use part of this year’s surplus on tax relief.
In terms of more additional spending in the budget, the Governor proposes adding $7M for correctional facilities and programs and $750K for installation of cameras in Highway Patrol cruisers. Additional Medicaid spending would amount to some $60M and she’d add $22M to fund 4% pay raises for state employees. It doesn’t appear from our initial review that the Governor proposes to pay for pay increases with an overall reduction in the government sector workforce. Kansas ranks at the top in government sector job growth, a statistic that has hampered the state’s status in the business and industry sector.
Importantly, the Governor’s proposed budget honors our continuing commitment to the comprehensive highway plan by providing for the transfer of $175M in sales tax revenue to the Kansas Department of transportation.
Prior to the Governor’s message, House Republicans announced our legislative priorities for the 2007 session. We would set aside sufficient funds this year and next to fund the 2nd and 3rd years of last year’s school finance plan. We would set up a $75M trust fund for specific building repairs for state universities and colleges, and develop a tuition equity plan for the Regents institutions.
On the issue of tax relief, we’d repeal the franchise tax retroactively to January 1 of this year, permanently reduce the unemployment tax rate by 40%, exempt social security income from the state income tax, restructure the corporate income tax rates and push a constitutional amendment to ease the property tax burden for elderly Kansans.
On immigration, we’d establish English as the official state language, require proof of citizenship for state services and enhance worker ID enforcement. Additional House initiatives will be reported on in the weeks to come.

TODAY, MONDAY JANUARY 8, MARKS THE START OF THE 2007 KANSAS LEGISLATIVE SESSION, HELLO AGAIN, AND THIS IS THE FIRST OF MY WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE UPDATES FOR THE 2007 SESSION. THE 2007 SESSION KICKS OFF WITH THE TRADITIONAL SWEARING-IN CEREMONY AT 2:00 FOR ALL 125 HOUSE MEMBERS. NEARLY 20% OF THE KANSAS HOUSE TURNED OVER IN NOV., WITH 24 NEW MEMBERS TAKING OFFICE TODAY. (One veteran legislator resigned after the election) THE 2006 ELECTIONS SAW THE HOUSE REPUBLICAN MAJORITY DROP FROM 83 TO 78 MEMBERS. DEMOCRAT MEMBERSHIP WENT FROM 42 TO 47.
MY ASSIGNMENTS REMAIN NEARLY THE SAME AS LAST TERM. I CONTINUE TO SERVE AS CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE. THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON SCHOOL FINANCE I VICE-CHAIRED LAST TERM HAS BEEN ELIMINATED BUT I NOW VICE-CHAIR THE EDUCATION BUDGET SUB-COMMITTEE AND SO WILL STILL HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL ROLE IN DETERMINING SCHOOL FINANCE ISSUES, WHICH WILL NOW INCLUDE HIGHER EDUCATION BUDGETING AS WELL.
THE GOOD NEWS FOR 2007 IS THAT OUR REVENUES HAVE GREATLY EXCEEDED ESTIMATES AND IT NOW APPEARS LIKELY WE WILL BE ABLE TO FUND THE SECOND AND THIRD YEARS OF THE 3-YEAR K-12 SCHOOL FINANCE PLAN WE PASSED LAST SESSION WITHOUT A TAX INCREASE OF ANY SORT. WE ACTUALLY START THE SESSION WITH A BUDGET SURPLUS AND MANY OF MY COLLEAGUES AND I ARE INTERESTED IN BANKING THAT SURPLUS TO GUARANTEE PAYMENT OF THE SCHOOL FINANCE PLAN AND ELIMINATE THE TEMPTATION FOR SOME TO SPEND THE MONEY ON NEW GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS.
KANSAS LEADS THE COUNTRY IN THE RATE OF GOVERNMENT JOB GROWTH AND IS NEARLY DEAD LAST IN PRIVATE SECTOR JOB GROWTH. WE HOPE TO BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH THINGS IN 2007 THAT WILL STIMULATE PRIVATE SECTOR JOB GROWTH AND INVESTMENT, REDUCE THE LEVEL OF BUREAUCRACY AND REVERSE THE TREND OF ADDING GOVERNMENT JOBS AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE.
AS OF YEAR-END, TAX-ONLY REVENUES WERE UP $61.3 M OVER ESTIMATES. BIG GAINERS WERE CORPORATE INCOME TAXES ($26.1m OVER ESTIMATES) AND INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX PAYMENTS ($34M OVER ESTIMATES) SALES TAXES WERE UP SLIGHTLY. YEAR-TO-DATE TAX-ONLY RECEIPTS ARE UP 9.2% OVER LAST YEAR, SPURRED IN LARGE PART BY ENERGY-RELATED RECEIPTS WHICH WILL LIKELY DECLINE IN 2007. STILL, THE REVENUE NEWS IS GOOD AND WE’RE LIKELY TO BE ABLE TO GRANT BUSINESS TAX BREAKS IN THE 2007 SESSION, INCLUDING A MORATORIUM OR MAJOR REDUCTIONS IN UNEMPLOYMENT TAXES. WE EXPECT THE GOVERNOR TO AGREE AND INCLUDE THIS TAX BREAK IN HER STATE OF THE STATE MESSAGE WEDNESDAY.
2007 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR HBUTCHINSON/RENO COUNTY WILL INCLUDE FUNDING OF THE STATE’S PORTION OF THE EATON, CORP. JOB RETENTION INITIATIVE AND CONTINUED FUNDING OF THE FINAL COMPONENT OF THE 1999 COMPREHENSIVE STATE HIGHWAY PROGRAM – THE 4-LANE HIGHWAY BETWEEN HUTCHINSON AND MCPHERSON.