Legislative Updates

Legislative Update - Wrap Up - May 11, 2009

The 2009 session of the Kansas Legislature finally came to an end early Saturday morning May 9th, with a surprising number of accomplishments. And operating in the midst of a $1 billion projected deficit, the transition from Governor Sebelius to now Governor Parkinson, new leadership at the helm in the House, these legislative accomplishments are even more surprising and impressive.

In the end, legislators were left to choose the best of some very bad budget options. No one can be happy with the outcome except to say “we did the best we could with what we had to work with.” The result was a bi-partisan effort in both the House and the Senate.

There were a number of myths shattered this year, a good reminder that “conventional wisdom” is oftentimes flat wrong. Here’s a re-cap:

Myth: The budget shortfall is so large; lawmakers won’t focus on other policy issues this session.

Reality: More than 300 bills and resolutions were passed by lawmakers and some of the most sweeping legislative changes in years were signed into law this session. Many of these are detailed later in this report.

Myth: The stalemate over energy and the proposed coal-fired power plant in western Kansas will drag on and on, mired in partisan politics.

Reality: A major energy package was crafted for Kansas and approved by lawmakers just days after Governor Mark Parkinson assumed the governorship. The agreement also contained provisions for renewable energy development and plans for critically important transmission lines to serve the western portion of Kansas. Sunflower had originally sought permits for two plants, but hailed the agreement with Kansas for a single, larger plant.

Myth: With new leaders at the helm in the Kansas House, the House will get off to a slow start and will suffer more than the usual “hiccups” in operations.

Reality: Newly minted Speaker Mike O’Neal and Minority Leader Paul Davis operated the Kansas House like old pros, and kept the chamber operating in an orderly, non-chaotic manner. Civil debate and respectful exchanges during consideration of legislative proposals were the norm.

Myth: The session will be one of the longest in recent history, given the hard decisions facing lawmakers.

Reality: The session lasted only 89 days, considerably shorter than most legislative sessions. And many weeks saw legislators complete their work by late Thursdays or early Fridays, allowing them to spend more time in their home districts.

Budget measure trims across the board another 2.75%

Legislators worked and re-worked budget proposals in an effort to keep the state’s books in the black without making additional devastatingly sharp cuts in agency budgets or raising taxes on the citizens of Kansas. That was a mighty tall order, given the $1.34 billion projected budget deficit facing the state. In the end, funding from the federal economic recovery act saved the state from massive budget bludgeoning.

The final budget measure adopted by the legislature was crafted entirely by the Senate and trims expenditures in most agencies by an additional 2.75 percent. This was an additional budget cut that comes on top of two previous measures enacted earlier in the session. So, for most state agencies a 10% reduction in spending was approved. (Combined FY 2009 and FY 2010 budgets)

Governor Mark Parkinson was a central figure in building support for a bi-partisan approach to addressing the budget, working to keep cuts to education at a minimum and allow a part of the revenue shortfall to be filled with tax code changes estimated to generate $61 million in the coming year. The budget shortfall was further addressed by not paying cities and counties an estimated $70 million in property tax relief promised by the state, budgeting $50 million in anticipated new gaming facility license fees, shifting $17 million from certainly special revenue funds to the state general fund and transferring $25 million from the state highway fund to the state general fund.

But even after all of that budgeting, cutting of spending and collecting “loose change” in unpaid tax collections, the state’s ending balance is estimated to be only $17,000.

So, with such a thin cushion and little economic certainty it is likely that Governor Parkinson will be forced to take further budget action. He can either trim state spending himself through legal tools available to him or ask the state legislature to come back for a special session to address any major budgetary shortfall.

The House was unable to craft a Republican-only budget measure despite repeated attempts. In the end, the Senate package was supported by a strong coalition of House Democrats and moderate House Republicans.

While the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and other anti-tax lobby organizations joined conservative Republicans to oppose any tax increase in the 2009 session, more than a few legislators are ready to explore new tax sources as a way to help address future budget shortfalls.

Education

K-12 public schools and state universities lost millions (nearly $200 million), but the bi-partisan budget package blocked deeper reductions sought by the House. In addition, major higher education reform measures were enacted this year in an effort to give more governing powers to the Kansas Board of Regents. Admission standards, tuition waivers and other policy matters will rest in the hands of the Board of Regents not the state legislature after July 1.

Energy

Discussed earlier, this policy area will continue to be “hot” as it is one of Governor Parkinson’s top priorities. The deal to allow construction of a single 895-megawatt power plant at Holcomb in exchange for more renewable energy incentives will clear the way for more policy discussions in the year ahead.

Health

The Kansas Health Policy Authority brought back its 21-point plan for lawmakers’ consideration. But budget shortfalls overshadowed the debate and state spending of health care and social services was slashed. Federal economic stimulus funds, however, allowed lawmakers to fund the expansion of the state’s Healthwave program (SCHIP) they’d approved last year. An estimated 8,000 additional low income Kansas children will be served. In addition, the legislature was able to dedicate new tobacco settlement dollars for physician training at the state’s Wichita Center for Graduate Medical Education (WCGME).

Safety

The Senate would clearly take the honors if awards were given for work on safety measures. The Senate repeatedly passed legislation making it easier for police to enforce seat belt laws, only to see the bills stopped in their tracks in the House. If enacted, the laws would have made Kansas $13 million richer in receipt of federal highway dollars. (You guessed it. The same folks who voted against this proposal also were against filling the budget shortfall with any adjustment in taxes. The consistently opposed faction, I would say)

The House also rejected legislation to enact a statewide indoor public smoking bill. The measure contained several definitions of public locations exempt from the ban, but even with those exemptions the measure was not acceptable to the House.

Additionally, lawmakers debated but did not enact legislation that would have repeated the state’s capital punishment law.

Workers’ Interests

For the first time in more than twenty years, the legislature approved an increase in the state’s minimum wage. The increase from $2.65 to $7.25 per hour will take effect January 1.

And a bill to allow Kansans access to nearly $70 million in federal aid for unemployed Kansans was adopted. Strangely, conservative legislators and anti-tax groups balked at the measure. Fortunately, once the paranoia was doused by fact and information, the bill was approved.

Sine Die

Lawmakers are out of session for the year, but they do have one last opportunity to override any items that might be vetoed by Governor Parkinson when they meet briefly (like, a whole hour) on June 4th. Referred to as Sine Die, legislators will convene at the statehouse and officially close the books on the 2009 session. Often the summer and fall months are spent by lawmakers studying key policy issues and proposals in preparation for the coming session. This year is likely to be “light” on the study front, as shrinking state resources will keep this and other activities on hold.

Politics

With the 2010 elections promising watershed changes in the state’s political lineup, the summer of 2009 will see these campaigns for U.S. Senate, Governor and other statewide offices begin to pick up. Democrats are said to be scrambling to find candidates for these statewide races, while Republicans are preparing for another round of bitter primary battles between hard-line conservative factions and those who consider themselves less strident in the GOP. Somewhere in these campaigns, we can hope there will be an honest airing of policy choices and the advancement of new ideas for Kansas.

As always, I enjoy representing the 71st district in the Kansas House of Representatives. It is a high honor and a privilege to serve you, my constituents.

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