Happy Kansas Day!  On Thursday, January 29th, the legislature celebrated the day Kansas became the 34th state with its annual sing-a-long of Home on the Range led by an enthusiastic Representative Barbara Ballard, Lawrence.  I thought of all the school children across the state involved in Kansas Day activities---square dancing, eating pioneer foods, hearing Kansas history.  I also remembered last year’s animated storytelling by history-loving, now former Representative Candy Ruff. 

Former 17th District Representative Stephanie Sharp runs for JCCC Trustee

My friend and predecessor, Stephanie Sharp, will once again be on the ballot, this time for Johnson County Community College Board of Trustees.  Stephanie says,
“The JCCC Board is a way to serve our community – close to home and work – and use my passion for education to share the JCCC story. Most of you are well aware of the amazing resource we have in JCCC, and over the next four years, if I am elected, I intend to highlight the hidden gems, help enhance existing programs, and spur progress toward new and exciting opportunities.” Ten have filed for the four open seats.  The non-partisan, county-wide election is on Tuesday, April 7th.  Watch for the Sharp Record in your email boxes as Stephanie kicks off her campaign.  For more information or to show your support, go to her website:  http://www.stephaniesharp.com or call her, 913-579-4376.

Change of page dates

My original page dates included March 17th, over Shawnee Mission School’s spring break.  I have gotten that changed to April 29th, the first day of the veto session.  Hopefully, this will work better with the school schedule.  This date is my only open date so check you calendars and respond quickly if you know someone 12 years old or older who would like to spend a day at the Capital being a page.

Continuing Biographical Information on the Free Staters

Henry J. Adams   February 10, 1816 - June 2, 1870

Henry J. Adams was a partisan on the free-state side during the Bleeding Kansas era.  He was born in Rodman, New York in 1816 and attended Oberlin College in Ohio.  He became a public school teacher in Cincinnati, where he also read law, graduated from the Cincinnati Law School, and was admitted to the bar.

In March 1855 Adams moved to Kansas Territory and soon took up residence in Leavenworth.  During the next winter he became deeply involved in the political struggles of his new home. He was elected under the Topeka Constitution to the first free-state legislature and was among the members of the Leavenworth party taken prisoner by Kickapoo rangers. Subsequently, Adams, who was considered a good orator, became the first free-state mayor of Leavenworth in spring 1857, chaired a committee of the 1858 legislature to investigate the Oxford, Kickapoo and other election frauds.

Adams was a delegate to the Leavenworth Constitutional Convention, and was nominated and elected governor under the Leavenworth Constitution in 1858. However, Congress failed to admit Kansas as a state and therefore he was never installed in office.  He narrowly missed nomination as Republican delegate to Congress in 1858 and was second only to Charles Robinson in support among Republican delegates for the gubernatorial nomination in 1859.

In 1859, Mr. Adams was appointed a member of a committee to audit claims against the United States government for losses sustained by citizens of Kansas because of plunder and destruction of private property during the border war.  In 1861, he was sent to Washington, D. C., as a delegate to the U.S. Peace Conference, and in 1868 he became a judge.  After his 1870 death in Waterville, Marshall County, a biographer wrote that Adams "will not soon be forgotten by any of the thousands who knew him well as one of the purest and noblest of the men of Kansas."

Budget update

Last week’s legislative activity continued to be all about the budget.  In a politically unlikely alliance, Senate Democrats and conservative Republicans joined together to pass a revamped budget bill, Sub SB 23.  Differences over how or whether to cut K-12 funding was the thorn in the side of the Senate bill.  The bill that passed the Senate Thursday afternoon on a vote of 25 to 14 has these main points:

• Further cuts of 1.5% for most areas (excluding K-12)
• Reduction of the Machinery and Equipment Slider payments to local government by 6.5% (from $44.8M to 41.9M) and delaying that payment until May 15
• Funding the Kansas Academy of Math and Science for $.3M as scheduled (due to have its first class this fall)
• Cutting an additional $11 in Base Student Aid per Pupil for a total reduction of $33 BSAPP.
• SRS is included in the additional 1.5% cuts but the home and community based services physical disability waivers are frozen so that no one is removed from the list but no one is added.

The House Appropriations Committee held hearings on Sub SB 23 Friday and passed out a revised bill, House Substitute for Sub SB 23.   The details will be available Monday.

Thank you for the many replies to my last newsletter with suggestions for making budget adjustments.  Your thoughtful suggestions reflected your views as business owners and tax payers.  You will recognize some of your views below:

• Fee sweeps, transfers, etc. are one-time, short-term solutions.  Long-term changes are still needed.
• Fee sweeps send the wrong message by discouraging saving.
• Hiring freezes and not filling vacancies are first responses; lay-offs should be considered just like in private business.
• We must keep the economic engines (schools, transportation, the Bioscience Authority, KTEC, and higher ed) going in order to stimulate the economy.
• Don’t try to solve the state’s problems by shifting the problems to the county and local government.

To reiterate the budget situation…The state faces an estimated budget shortfall of $200-300M for this fiscal year (ending June 30).  The state is currently operating using that budget.  The budget was established by the legislature based on estimated receipts; actual receipts have been far less.  In December, receipts were $38.5M less than expected, making our deficit approximately $185.8 M.  Just out today, January receipts are slightly more encouraging at $21M less than estimates.  Here are the obvious difficulties:

• Cutting a current operating budget----there is less money available to cut as each day passes; contracts are in place for the year, programs and services are committed.
• Meeting the unknown bottom line---usually the revenue estimate are fairly accurate but with the economic downturn, estimates are more difficult.  $200M is likely, $300M is possible, and $350-400M is feared.
• Knowing that the Federal Stimulus Package will offer some assistance but  being unsure when, in what areas, and with what requirements.

Jill’s Activities

• Panelist on Advocacy for Beginners moderated by Tom Laing, Interhab, for disabilities advocates from across the state.
• League of Municipalities Reception, informal talks with Lenexa Mayor Mike Boehm, Lenexa Councilwoman Cindy Green, and Lenexa Councilman Andy Huckabee.
• City of Overland Park Legislative Dinner, discussion of the city’s legislative priorities.
• Kansas Building Industry Association Kansas Wine Tasting event, highlighting green building and showcasing Vin Vivante Wines from Wamego.
• Kansas Association for the Gifted, Talented, and Creative Shadow Day, Christopher Wartko (Trailridge Middle School) and Sarah Green (Harmony Middle School).  My thanks to Representative Sheryl Spaulding for graciously allowing my students to shadow her when I became ill.
• Meeting* with Bill Lucero, Kansas coordinator for Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation, discussing the cost of death penalty cases during the budget crisis.
• Shawnee Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Dinner, La Fiesta, as a guest of Chris Carroll, AT&T

*There is so much construction at the Capital that space is limited.  Many offices and committee meetings have been shifted to the Docking Office Building.  Logistics-wise many of my meetings that would have been “At the Rail” are now occurring in my office but are still the short, touching-base-on-an-issue type meetings. 

Committee Activities

Friday was the last day for most committees to request bill drafts.  In Health and Human Services, 15 bills have been introduced.  The eight bills introduced in Commerce and Labor deal with contractor continuing ed and pension reform, bus driver unemployment, real estate broker licensure and title company ownership, elevator safety, and technical changes to last year’s home inspector bill.  Most do not have bill numbers yet so it will be next week before you can find them on line.

There were several presentations given in my committees this week:

• Steve Kelly, Assistant Director, Department of Commerce
• Secretary Roderick Bremby, Kansas Department of Health and Environment.  You can find health statistics tabulated specifically for the 17th district at http://kic.kdhe.state.ks.us/kic/Reportcard/2007/HOUSErpt17.pdf.
• Tom Thornton, Bioscience Authority.  Mr. Thornton reminded the committee of the Bioscience’s successes in bringing scholars and new business to the state and helping new businesses expand.  Eight businesses* in Lenexa have been assisted by the Bioscience Authority and one** in Shawnee.  The Authority faces a $12M cut (from $47M to $35M) in both the Governor’s budget  and in SB 23.

*Lenexa businesses include:  VasoGenix Pharmaceuticals, KC BioMediX, ImmunoGenetix Therapeutics, TVAX Biomedical, Innovia Medical, Thermo Fisher Scientific / Remel, OncImmune, and American Ingredients Company / Caravan Ingredients.

**The Shawnee business:  KC BioMediX

I appreciate hearing from you,

Jill Quigley

Representative, 17th District

In Topeka:  785-296-7682
Home:  913-541-9645
jill@jillquigley.com