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March 9, 2007

This week’s links:

The future of KPERS… 

What are the details of the proposal on a different KPERS plan for future teachers and state employees?

Click here to read the KPERS issue brief on the plan.

Special Note: current employees would not be under this plan! Your plan can only be changed if a change includes a benefit enhancement!

Is this the future for technical education?

The Technical School and Vocational Education Commission has issued its final report. Part of that report is in House Bill 2556.

Click here to read the Commission’s report.

Want to be a legislative know-it-all?

Stop hoping someone forwards this to you!

Subscribe to Under the Dome, KNEA’s daily legislative report.

School issues:

Military second count bill date

The Senate Education Committee held a hearing on HB 2159 which modifies the military impact second student count date in response to the time schedule for military redeployment to Kansas. The Legislature had approved a second count date (Feb. 20) for schools that see a large increase of students (25 students or 1% of their enrollment) who are dependents of military personnel due to the federal Base Realignment and Closure Act. Kansas will see a large increase in military personnel under BRAC.

The problem is that the second date was set for two years only and the realignment will not be completed until possibly 2011. This bill extends the count date for two more years. The bill, which has already passed the House, will be debated next week.

10-mile transportation bill

The Senate Education Committee held a hearing on HB 2123 which amends the “10-mile rule” under which buses can come into a neighboring district to pick up kids. Under current law if a child lives more than 10 miles from his/her attendance center in the resident school district and fewer than 10 miles from an attendance center in a neighboring district, the neighboring district can transport the child to the closer school. HB 2123 would delete the requirement that the neighboring district’s school be within 10 miles. The bill has passed the House twice but never made it out of a Senate Committee.

No action has been taken yet.

Salaries at Schools for Deaf, Blind

The House Education Committee held a hearing on HB 2422, setting the salaries for teachers at the Kansas Schools for the Deaf and Blind to the Olathe teachers’ salary schedule. The bill has been proposed every year for four years by Rep. Arlen Siegfreid (R-Olathe) and, although it has never passed as is, the provision has been put into an appropriations bill. Siegfreid hopes this time the legislature will pass it and get it into law.

KNEA joined representatives of the schools in supporting the bill. KNEA lobbyist Mark Desetti asked legislators to pass the bill but also consider as a long-term solution treating teachers at these two institutions the same as all other public school teachers.

Desetti told the Committee, “This bill is a fix that would not be needed if teachers at those institutions were treated the same as their peers throughout Kansas. We believe that the Legislature should put the teachers at the Schools for the Deaf and Blind under the professional negotiations act. By doing so, you would give those teachers a say in their salaries, benefits, and working conditions and empower them to be a part of the solution.”

Related services in special ed

The House Federal and State Affairs Committee discussed House Bill 2436 which would add some language to the “related services” section of the Kansas special education law. The intent of the proposed change is to get a specific program for children with autism into the statute.

KNEA and KASB jointly testified that the change was inappropriate in that it would statutorily mandate a specific special education intervention and that as written the fiscal note to the state would be approximately $11 million dollars.

There was much confusion in the committee room as legislators discussed whether or not the bill would address the concerns of the parents who brought it to the Legislature and whether the Federal and State Affairs Committee was the right place to hear an education bill.

The Committee adjourned without taking action.

At-risk bill pulled from floor action

Senate Bill 93 was pulled from the Senate floor and sent back to the Education Committee on Tuesday.

Senate Bill 93 changes the high density at-risk formula from a stair-step (one weighting for school districts with 40 to 49% poverty, a second one for districts with poverty at 50% and above) to a linear transition from 35% to 50% and above. Under the current law if a district was at 50.1% poverty and lost one child over the summer, they could lose thousands of dollars in aid. SB 93 would mitigate that loss.

KNEA supported the bill as introduced originally but pulled support because of an amendment added in the Committee earlier in the session.

To hold districts harmless would require an additional $2.6 million – an amount that is already in the ’08 education budget. The Committee amendment pulled the extra $2.6 million out of the bill thereby cutting money to most school districts. Representatives of the education community asked that the bill be reworked so that districts would not lose. Senate leadership did just that.

Post-secondary issues:

Two bills on Technical Education moving through the House

HB 2014, extending the Technical and Vocational Education Commission passed the full house on a vote of 104-17 and moved over to the Senate. The Senate Education Committee held a hearing on the bill but took no action. The Committee will consider taking action on bills on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

House Bill 2556 which establishes a Technical Education Authority – a kind of board of supervision – under the Kansas Board of Regents has passed the House Education Committee and will now go to the full House for consideration.

The only substantial amendment made in committee came from Rep. John Faber (R-Brewster). The Faber amendment allows the Board of Regents to pick their two representatives to the Authority rather than having the Governor pick two Regents to serve.

The Bill comes from a recommendation made by the Kansas Technical College and Vocational Education Commission.

Tax Issues:

Senate Tax Committee declines opportunity to modernize Kansas tax system

Continuing on the path of cutting taxes with no concern about the impact on state revenue, the Senate Tax Committee approved two tax cuts and decided to take no action on a bill to review the entire tax system with the intent of making it fair and stable.

Senate Bill 305 would have established a Tax Modernization Commission whose task would be to review the entire Kansas tax system in order to ensure that the system is fair to all citizens and businesses and provides a stable revenue stream for state services through good times and bad. The bill was supported by Kansas Action for Children, KNEA, KASB, the Kansas League of Municipalities and the Kansas Livestock Association.

The tax committees now work in a piecemeal fashion when making tax policy. They routinely enact tax cuts that put pressure on local units of government to make up the loss by raising local property taxes. KNEA and others have consistently urged the committees to review the tax system and consider how to widen the tax base so that the overall tax rate can be reduced, easing the pressure on local property taxes.

With a cut-cut here and a cut-cut there…

Instead of looking at the whole system, the tax committees have focused on cutting business taxes, adding sales tax exemptions, and moving constitutional amendments to cap property valuations.

The decision to set SB 305 aside is a disappointment. The enthusiasm with which the committees are passing tax cuts and caps will lead the state to a repeat of recent history. In the late 90’s the Legislature went on a tax cutting spree when economic times were rosy and found themselves cutting programs and raising taxes when the post 9/11 recession hit. Finding themselves in rosy economic times once again, they again embark on a tax cutting spree. Unfortunately economic conditions, like history, tend to repeat themselves.

At the same time, the full Senate has passed HB 2031 which reduces the business franchise tax and repeals income tax on social security benefits for certain low-income retirees. This bill will reduce state revenue by $50 million over three years. Neither the Senate nor the House have suggested how the loss will be made up.

KPERS Issues:

The Senate Ways and Means Committee unanimously recommended Senate Bill 362 which creates a new KPERS plan for people joining the work force after July 1, 2009. The new plan is similar to the current plan but uses a 5 year averaging instead of 3 years for benefit calculation, raises the retirement age, and increases the employee contribution from 4% to 6% in exchange for an annual 2% COLA beginning at age 65.

In a hearing earlier in the week, KNEA opposed the bill as bad for recruitment and retention of teachers. New teachers, we said, should not have to work longer for a lower benefit. United School Administrators also questioned the bill on the basis of recruitment and retention.

On Thursday, however the Committee with very little discussion voted to send the bill to the full Senate with their recommendation that it be passed. This action was not unexpected. The Senate has been toying with the idea of a two-tiered system for several years. If this bill becomes law it will have no immediate impact on the KPERS unfunded actuarial liability but down the road could reduce the number of years it would take to put the system in balance.

To see the details of the plan, read the KPERS Issue Brief. Click here.

A companion bill, SB 364, would raise the employee contribution for current employees from 4% to 6% and give them an annual 2% COLA beginning at age 65. This bill was sent back to KPERS for more consideration. Legislators were concerned about its cost and wondered if there were other options for granting a COLA to current workers. It is highly unlikely that this bill will resurface this session.

Both of these bills have House twins. SB 362 is HB 2557 while SB 364 is HB 2558. The House Select Committee on KPERS held a hearing on these bills Thursday. KNEA lobbyist Terry Forsyth testified against the two-tiered system before the committee.

The Select Committee plans to debate and work the bills on Monday evening.

Waiting in the wings

As for current retirees, there have been no hearings yet on proposals to grant a 3% ad hoc COLA to those already in retirement. We’ll keep watching.

This issue could come up in the KPERS “Omnibus” discussions. Every year there is a KPERS Omnibus bill which contains a plethora of ideas culled from the whole variety of bills that were introduced during the session. This work may begin next week.

Your bill tracker

Bills in limbo…

SB 109 allows school districts to pay employees at the first regularly scheduled pay date even if that is before September. This bill is idling in House Appropriations.

HB 2140, declaring English to be the official language of the state but allowing schools and other units of government to continue to serve the public in other languages, passed the House on February 21 and has had a hearing in the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee. There it sits.

HB 2185 which would allow Kansans who have left the state to return within five years and qualify for in-state tuition had a hearing the Senate Ways and Means Committee where it awaits action.

Bills up for action next week…

HB 2310, requiring schools to have policies on bullying and programs to implement those policies. It was amended on the floor by Rep. Kasha Kelley to have a “character education” requirement. It will have a Senate hearing on Monday.

HB 2343, an early graduation incentive program for students going into the construction trades. It will have a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

SB 22 provides grants to universities expanding teacher prep programs. House Ed will work this bill on Tuesday.

SB 23 consolidates a number of teacher scholarship programs into one mega-program. House Ed will work this bill on Tuesday.

SB 68 extends the non-proficient at-risk weighting that is set to sunset at the end of this school year. House Ed will work this bill on Friday.

SB 69 would allow districts to use the declining enrollment and cost of living local property taxes if they have an LOB of at least 25%. Current law requires the maximum LOB. House Ed will work this bill on Tuesday.

SB 129 is an adjustment in the school safety and security act to give districts and law enforcement more reasonable time limits and protect the rights of students. House Ed will work this bill on Wednesday.

SB 144 which extends the statewide 20 mill property tax levy for schools for another two years. This bill awaits a vote on the Senate floor.

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.