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This week’s links:

SB 461 is on the Governor’s desk! Click here to send her a message asking her to veto this workers comp “reform!”

Keep up with happenings in Congress; click here to visit NEA’s Legislative Action Center

Iris Van Meter says she won’t run for re-election to the State Board of Ed; click here to find out how you can help moderate the State Board

Will they never learn?

The answer to this age-old question is “apparently not.” Yes, history is bound to repeat itself and in this case it is the history of tax cuts, tax cuts, and more tax cuts.

Back towards the end of Graves’ administration, a booming economy had left the state of Kansas flush with funds. In response, legislators went on a tax cut binge. The logic was the state was collecting in taxes more than it needed to fund services, so why not give it back. Indeed that does sound logical except when you consider that economies don’t grow forever – they look more like roller coasters than up escalators.

In 2001 the economy took a major hit with the combination of the 9/11 terror attacks and a downturn in the markets. It was bad and the state paid the price through flat funding for education and cuts in other services. Promises to the state highway plan and post secondary education were shelved and legislators assured the public that when good economic times returned, the state would get back on track for education, social services, and highways.

Flash forward to 2006. The economy is on the rebound. Tax revenues are up. Highway planners are thinking about the new chance to get projects back on line; social service agencies are looking at the chance to reduce waiting lists; post-secondary institutions are thinking about the promises of the higher education reorganization act; and schools see a chance to deal appropriately with the school finance lawsuit.

Faced with the chance to begin funding state services appropriately, what actions do our legislators take? Use the new revenues to restore cuts? Meet the Supreme Court ruling on school finance? Sorry – it’s déjà vu all over again!

The House has passed a major tax cut for business in HB 2619 – eliminating sales tax on new business machinery and equipment purchases and cutting state revenues by an estimated $370 million. And now the House has passed a phase out of the franchise tax - $1.25 for each $1,000 in capital of a company in Kansas – which will cost the state an additional $50 million.

Fortunately so far the Senate has been more thoughtful in their deliberations and is hesitant to slash too much from the state’s coffers. But it makes one wonder – why would the House cut over $420 million in revenue when faced with a cost study that shows they need to increase school funding by at least $500 million?

It just goes to prove what teachers already know – some students need re-teaching and remediation. Perhaps we need a No Legislator Left Behind Act under which 100% of them would be required to be proficient in economics.

Senate Ed Committee half-heartedly passes a school finance bill.

The Senate Education Committee met for three and one half hours Monday to hammer out a school finance bill for the full Senate to consider. Committee Chair Jean Schodorf (R-Wichita) had announced her intention of getting a bill out come what may!

The first issue of debate was whether or not to have a three year plan. Some members of the Committee are alarmed over predictions that the state will not have the money to complete the plan in year three. After being assured that they could make adjustments in the future if there were fiscal issues, the Committee agreed to pass out a three year plan.

Using SB 584 as the starting point, the following decisions were made:

• Base State Aid Per Pupil – stick with the proposal in SB 584 or $50 in 2006, $50 in 2007, and $70 in 2008.
• At-risk funding – The Committee debated the merits of using free lunch for distribution of funding with Senator John Vratil (R-Leawood) arguing to change the method to “below proficient on either the math or reading state assessment.” Senator Barbara Allen (R-Overland Park ) moved to distribute aid on the basis of free lunch or below proficient but to keep the overall funding level the same. More kids would qualify but each would generate fewer dollars and those dollars would be distributed differently around the state. The Allen motion failed on a vote of 5-6. Senators then agreed to keep at-risk on free lunch and change the weighting as per SB 584 (.268 in 2006, .318 in 2007, .368 in 2008).
• Flexibility – This part of the House plan (HB 2986) was moved into the Senate plan and allows school districts flexibility in spending at-risk, bilingual, and vocational dollars with some added reporting requirements.
• High at-risk – the weighting originally deemed “urban poverty” in the LPA study was altered in the Senate plan to be given to the five districts with the highest poverty (Kansas City, Wichita, Topeka, Liberal and Dodge City). A motion to return to the LPA study proposal (Kansas City, Wichita, Topeka, and Turner) failed. The Committee settled on the original language in SB 584.
• Special Education – The Committee adopted the SB 584 provisions (92% in 2006, 95% in 2007, 98% in 2008).
• LOB recapture (mandatory student performance improvement fund) – This was adopted along with a subsequent amendment to do away with local property tax relief as an exchange. With the tax relief, the state would not get credit for the money.
• LOB increases – A provision in SB 584 to allow districts to increase their LOB by 2.5% in 2006, 5% in 2007, and 6% in 2008 without equalization and to be spent only on items not required by the state, was adopted on a vote of 4-3.
• All Day Kindergarten – A motion to phase in funding for all day kindergarten was defeated but a statement saying districts could spend at-risk funds on all day kindergarten was adopted.

The bill was then passed out of Committee on a vote of 6-5 – hardly a ringing endorsement. The lack of enthusiasm in Committee signals a bill in trouble when it hits the floor. We’ll see what kind of talking goes on between now and the vote.
 

House Select finishes work on HB 2986 – school finance

HB 2986, the House Select Committee’s school finance bill, took three days to amend up but it was finally passed out of committee today (Friday).

Day one (Wednesday) focused on a series of amendments brought by Rep. Mike O’Neal (R-Hutchinson) many of which are, in one way or another, intended to reduce the State’s obligation to the K-12 school system. Most of these amendments were not voted on today and will be “reworked” for the final bill.

Among his proposals:

• The State Board shall design an administrative reorganization plan for school districts. (This one was adopted.)
• The Legislature shall not be required to pay any costs attributable to meeting federal law or rules and regulations or standards adopted by the state board in conformance with such federal law. (So who will pay those costs?)
• The Supreme Court shall not have original jurisdiction in any suit challenging the constitutionality of new legislative enactments. (If the legislature passes a finance bill with $1 in new money on BSAPP, it is deemed constitutional and challenges must start in the lower courts rather than the Supreme Court examining the bill to see if it meets the current ruling in school finance.)
• The State Board shall not reimburse school districts for costs attributed to the transportation of students who are not required by law to be provided transportation. (O’Neal withdrew this one when he realized that he had made a motion to strip the Hutchinson Schools of almost all transportation aid.)

On day two (Thursday) it was Rep. Ray Merrick (R-Stilwell) who dominated. He focused his amendments on benefits for Johnson County and got two of them to pass.

Merrick ’s amendments would:

• Re-establish the so-called “sweet 17” provision (the one the Court has stayed) that allows the 17 wealthiest school districts to raise additional local funds through a local property tax increase. Merrick twisted the idea a bit by equalizing it. To the tune of about $2.5 million, a few of the property wealthy districts will qualify for state aid.
• Change the distribution of at-risk weighting from free lunch to students below proficient on either the math or reading state assessment. His amendment would extrapolate mathematically the percentage of kids who are not taking assessments but might be below proficient. See day three!

In a related amendment to the sweet 17, Rep. Mike O’Neal (R-Hutchinson) proposed that the State Board of Education make recommendations to the Governor for adjustments in funding per pupil to account for “differences in the cost off living among the school districts in the state.” This amendment also passed.

An amendment was made to the high density at-risk proposal that would keep the current HB 2986 portion (35.1% free lunch and 212.1 students per mile) and add districts with greater than 50% free lunch students. This would give the high at-risk weighting to Kansas City, Topeka, Wichita, Leavenworth, Hutchinson, Dodge City, Liberal, Elk Valley, Galena, and Coffeyville.

Another at-risk proposal that passed deals with “at-risk academies.” Under this proposal, either Liberal or Dodge City will use some of the high at-risk weighting to create three “at-risk academies” – one elementary, one middle school, and one high school – of no more than 100 pupils to provide assistance in bringing these students up to proficiency.

An amendment by Rep. Willa DeCastro (R-Wichita) would establish vocational education start up grants to pay the costs of starting new vocational programs. Such grant applications would be reviewed by the State Board of Education.

The Committee had planned to meet in the evening on Thursday but cancelled those plans opting instead to come back on Friday.

The morning of Day three (Friday) saw a reversal of Merrick ’s new at-risk funding proposal. When the Committee members discovered the impact of what they had done on Thursday, they took a step back and returned at-risk funding to free lunch instead of below proficient on reading or math. It seems that a number of school districts would lose significant amounts of money under the Merrick amendment. Wichita Republican Willa DeCastro who supported the amendment found, for example, that the Wichita schools would lose more than $8.5 million! Topeka Republican Lana Gordon who also supported it discovered that Topeka Schools would lose over $2 million! Good reasons to change minds!

In the afternoon session, Rep. Merrick had another motion. This time he moved $10 million out of the high at-risk weighting and allocated it for students who are below proficient on the math or reading assessments. The amendment passed. They are whittling away the high at-risk funding – $10 million for the Merrick amendment.

In a motion by Mike O’Neal, the Committee stripped out the second and third years of the plan, making HB 2986 a one-year, $175 million plan to address a $400 million minimum cost study!

Lots O’ Bills Week in Senate Ed

Getting hearings this week in the Senate Education Committee were:

• HB 2604, a bill allowing a legislator serving on the Midwest Higher Education Compact Executive Committee to serve an additional two-year term. (Passed)
• HB 2695, a bill allowing students at Barclay College access to financial aid grants under the comprehensive grants program. The Senate had already passed such a bill (SB 305) only to have it gutted and replaced with a financial assistance program for Kansas National Guard members in the House. (Passed)
• HB 2578, a bill amending a scholarship program for teachers wishing to earn special education licenses and endorsements. The bill increases the scholarship and allows for more time to complete the program. It was amended in committee to include those wanting an endorsement to work with gifted students as well as those wanting to work with disabled students. (Passed)
• HB 2634 allows the Satanta and Sublette School Districts to join together for the purposes of calculating assessed valuation per pupil with ½ of the assessed valuation assigned to each school district. This lets the two districts “share their wealth” but does not consolidate them. This was amended to allow the same thing to happen for four school districts in Cherokee County in the event that the Kansas expanded lottery act passes. (Passed)
• HB 2572, a technical higher education statutory amendment on out of state institutions. (Passed)
• HB 2575, a bill allowing gifted 9^th and 10^th graders to participate in concurrent enrollment. (Passed)

The Committee also discussed – once again – HB 2722, a bill providing assistance for low-income Kansans who wish to save for a child’s college education. And once again the bill became bogged down in questions over federal regulations and how to ensure that the money invested, including the state match, gets spent on higher education. Action on the bill was put off until next week.

Senate kills expanded gaming bill touted as revenue source for school finance

After a long and particularly nasty debate, the Senate killed SB 587, the expanded gaming act that was offered as a way to pay for the costs of school finance in years two and three of the proposed funding plan.

Senator Phil Journey, (R-Haysville), threw out a conflict of interest amendment that may have been meant for Senator John Vratil (R-Leawood). Vratil’s law firm represents some gaming interests. Senator Karin Brownlee (R-Olathe), suggested that the bill was drafted during secret meetings of a majority of a quorum of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee.

Senator (and gubernatorial candidate) Jim Barnett (R-Emporia) attacked Senator Anthony Hensley (D-Topeka) for taking campaign contributions from gaming interests after which it was revealed that the Barnett/Wagle campaign for Governor had taken even more contributions from gaming interests.

The bill had specified that 75% of the state’s take would be earmarked for public schools and, given the lack of interest in a tax increase, proponents suggested that this bill was the only way to avoid reneging on the promises in any three-year school finance package.

In the end, the bill went down 16-20 with four Senators taking a walk and passing.

On a roll call vote to advance the bill, here’s how it went:

Voting YES: Senators Barbara Allen (R-Overland Park),  Jim Barone (D-Frontenac), Pete Brungardt (R-Salina), Jay Emler (R-Lindsborg), Mark Gilstrap (D-Kansas City), David Haley (D-Kansas City), Anthony Hensley (D-Topeka), Laura Kelly (D-Topeka), Janis Lee (D-Kensington), Steve Morris (R-Hugoton), Derek Schmidt (R-Independence), Chris Steineger (D-Kansas City), Ruth Teichman (R-Stafford), Dwayne Umbarger (R-Thayer), John Vratil (R-Leawood), and David Wysong (R-Mission Hills).

Voting NO: Senators Pat Apple (R-Louisburg),  Jim Barnett (R-Emporia), Karin Brownlee (R-Olathe), Terry Bruce (R-Hutchinson), Les Donovan (R-Wichita), Tim Huelskamp (R-Fowler), Nick Jordan (R-Shawnee), Phil Journey (R-Haysville), Carolyn McGinn (R-Sedgwick), Kay O’Connor   (R-Olathe), Ralph Ostmeyer (R-Grinnell), Peggy Palmer (R-Augusta), Mike Petersen (R-Wichita), Roger Pine (R-Lawrence), Dennis Pyle (R-Hiawatha), Roger Reitz (R-Manhattan), Vicki Schmidt (R-Topeka), Mark Taddiken (R-Clifton), Susan Wagle (R-Wichita), and Dennis Wilson (R-Overland Park).

PASSING: Senators Donald Betts (D-Wichita), Marci Francisco (D-Lawrence), Greta Goodwin (D-Winfield), and Jean Schodorf (R-Wichita).

With the failure of SB 587 and little legislative appetite for any other kind of revenue increase (see Will they never learn? – our article about tax cut madness), any multi-year school finance plan will have no guarantees past the first year.

Disposable worker act passed by House – but barely

Senate Bill 461, the evil Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry workers compensation reform-through-evisceration bill, passed the House on a vote of 67 to 56 setting up a possible veto fight.

Sixteen Republicans joined 40 Democrats in supporting working Kansans by voting NO. Those  sixteen Republicans were Mike Burgess (Topeka), Willa DeCastro (Wichita), Mario Goico (Wichita), Don Hill (Emporia), Deena Horst (Salina), Becky Hutchins (Holton), Ward Loyd (Garden City), Jim Morrison (Colby), Judy Morrison (Shawnee), Ted Powers (Mulvane), Richard Proehl (Parsons), Clark Shultz (Lindsborg), Tom Sloan (Lawrence), Dale Swenson (Wichita), Lee Tafanelli (Ozawkie), and Jene Vickrey (Louisburg). At one time both Barbara Craft (Junction City) and Tim Owens (Overland Park) had also voted NO but changed to AYE following a “call of the House” which is a maneuver under which absent legislators are forced to vote and pressure to change is put on others.

All Democrats with the exception of Valdenia Winn (Kansas City) and Bob Grant (Pittsburg), who were both absent, voted NO. Winn was attending a conference in Great Britain and Grant was absent due to a death in the family.

Who said it best?

“I have yet to find anyone in the body look me in the eye and admit SB 461 is not a political game. When we use our political wiles to make someone look bad and we use our voters as the pawns to do it; this is diabolic. Representative David Heinemann and company did workers compensation right in 1994. Now we make our vets less than non-coms, our firefighters with a short hose and our workers without a shovel. Just to get a veto! Today, 3/15/06 is the Ides of March. Don’t turn a shovel into a dagger. Et Tu, Brute!! I vote no on SB 461.” Representative Ted Powers (R-Mulvane)

“I vote NO on SB 461. When firefighters and police officers are hurt at work, they will now be faced with proving a preexisting condition should not be counted against them. With this legislation first responders must defend themselves against asymptomatic and undiagnosed ailments claimed by doctors hired by insurance companies. Adding insult to injury, our military veterans returning from Iraq may someday face proving the hardships their bodies endured in war should not be counted as preexisting conditions. Draconian and unfair, SB 461 makes Kansas workers disposable.” Representative Candy Ruff (D-Leavenworth)

The bill now goes to the Governor. Most people believe Governor Sebelius will veto the measure and that a veto override is not possible (it takes a 2/3 majority). Hall talk is that this is what the proponents really want – a chance to paint the Governor as “anti business” because of her veto. Like we have said from the beginning – bad policy, pure politics.

Full House passes concealed carry by wide margin allowing guns to be carried at non-athletic school activities

Senate Bill 418, the concealed carry of handguns bill, passed the full House by a veto-proof margin of 90-33. Every time the bill has passed before the governor vetoed it – Governor Graves in 1997 and Governor Sebelius in 2004 – but this time it looks like the measure will become law.

The House did make two changes requested by KNEA when they prohibited guns in churches, temples and child care facilities but they still refused to prohibit guns at school activities held off campus. The bill only prohibits guns at school athletic activities held off campus. Field trips and non-athletic activities will have no prohibition.

KNEA Legislative Contacts

Blake West, President
Mark Desetti, Director, Legislative and Political Advocacy
Terry Forsyth, Director, Political Action

The KNEA Lobby Team consists of elected leaders and staff. The Lobby Team welcomes member feedback on issues before the Legislature and on this site.