The Pledge

Each legislator has the opportunity to lead the Pledge of Allegiance during the session.  I lead the Pledge on January 21st.  I was less nervous having lead the Chamber before but no less moved by the joined voices taking direction from those historic words…”with liberty and justice for all.”

Men from the Free-state Movement

I have been asked about the ten men whose names are inscribed on the walls of the House.  Each of the men is identified in some way with the free-state, anti-slavery movement.  I was given information about each of the men and will include a brief summary of one or two of the men in my next newsletters:

John Brown (May 1800 – December 1859)
Of all the characters involved in the drama of Bleeding Kansas, none compares to the controversial abolitionist, John Brown, also known as “Osawatomie Brown.”  Born in Connecticut in 1800, John Brown was 55 years old when he followed his sons to Kansas just as the struggle for control of the territory was taking shape.  The family settled in rural Franklin County, just southwest of Osawatomie. 

John’s father was an abolitionist so, from his earliest youth, the doctrines of abolition were drilled into him and the idea that all men ought to be free became an obsession.  His methods were not always of the best character, but he had the courage of his convictions and was willing to lay down his life for a principle. 

He was involved in, maybe responsible for, the “Wakarusa war” at Lawrence, the Pottawatomie Massacre, the battles of Black Jack and Osawatomie and the liberation of dozens of slaves from nearby Missouri. 

He continued the crusade after leaving Kansas in 1859.  Brown, with several of his sons and other followers, planned and conducted the ill-fated raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.  He was tried and convicted of conspiracy, treason, and murder charges stemming from this incident and was sentenced to be hung.  His execution took place on December 2, 1859.

Committee Activity

My committees are meeting and listening to reports from various agencies.  In Commerce & Labor, we heard from Jim Garner, the Secretary of Labor.  In Health and Human Services, we had updates from the Board of Healing Arts, Social and Rehabilitative Services, the Department of Aging, and the Kansas Health Policy Authority.

The number of bills being introduced appears to be down this year, undoubtedly due to the restricted budget.  Two bills that have been introduced in committee are:

• Home inspector bill revisions---HB 2315 was passed last year; we are being asked to change a few provisions. (Commerce)
• Requiring continuing education in personal safety for social workers (HHS)

The Transportation & Public Safety Budget Committee is touring some of the agencies whose budget we will be looking at.  On Thursday we toured the Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab in Topeka.  They are facing a tremendous increase in DNA testing and subpoena requests are driving their testing priorities.  They have needed a larger lab for years but obviously 2009 is not the year for an expansion.

Unemployment Benefits

I have gotten several calls from constituents who are facing unemployment for the first time and are very frustrated with the unemployment application process.  Secretary Garner addressed this problem in the Commerce committee this week.  Perhaps it will help to know the causes of the problem and what the agency is doing to address it.
There are several reasons for the difficulties

• You must apply online or by phone for unemployment benefits.  There is no in-person application.
• The website is antiquated.  For example, if you need to change your address or your password, you cannot do that on the website.  You must call the call-in center in Topeka.
• The call center is overwhelmed with calls.  The average wait time on the phone is 25-35 minutes with some waits of 60 minutes.  If the wait is “really long,” you are disconnected. 

• With the downturn in the economy, lay-offs are up and applications for benefits have increased.  In 2008, the number of claims was 178,000, an increase of 24% over 2007.  The last four months of 2008 (Sept-Dec) the increase was 65% over 2007.  In November the unemployment rate was 4.8% (up 1% over last year).

• Applications are also complicated by new unemployment benefits.  Two new federal programs have been added in the last year.  In July, the Emergency Unemployment Act extended unemployment benefits by 13 weeks.  In November, the Act extended benefits by an additional 7 weeks.  This makes applying for benefits potentially a 3-step process---each program requiring a separate application with different requirements.  There are many questions to be answered about these new programs, for which over 19,000 applications have been received.

• c.    Unemployment checks are now issued via debit card instead of paper (authorized last session for a savings of $300,000 in postage and more than $50,000 in paper).  This change has also triggered lots of calls.

Steps are being taken to immediately deal with the problem:

1.    The website has been moved to the top priority in the Depart of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance Modernization project.  The address change glitch had been corrected---485 of the applications on line the next day involved address changes; that’s nearly 500 fewer calls to the call center.

2.    Ten additional temporary employees were hired in mid-Dec and as many as 20 additional will be hired.  Current staff is working evenings and weekends.  24,000 applications were processed in November, 36,000 in December---an increase of 12,000 with the additional staff.

3.    They are also streamlining the number of questions asked in the application process.

The Secretary will return to the Commerce and Labor Committee in two weeks to report on their progress.

More Detail about the Budget

Budget projections for the remainder of 2009 have gotten even gloomier.  The state revenues are already $45 M below the November estimate.  The next revenue report is due out January 31st.  Since it will reflect the hoped for holiday rebound, it will be crucial to budget planning.  We continue to hear about the federal economic stimulus package but do not know how much Kansas would receive or when.  We are now advised to plan for a minimum $200M budget shortfall for 2009.  Both the House and the Senate are scrambling to address this budget shortfall. It becomes harder to make cuts the later into the fiscal year we get---the agencies have spent more and have less money available. So on one hand we need to respond quickly, on the other hand we await the January revenues and the federal stimulus package.

The Governor’s budget revisions for 2009 left a balance of  $58.3M, but that budget was based on the November revenue estimates.  We are already $45M below that.  To balance the budget as required by the Kansas constitution, there must be further cuts or we must find more income.  The “T” word makes legislators nervous but there is talk of cigarette, liquor, and fuel taxes---of course, these taxes alone will not be enough.  What would you do?  Make deep cuts across the board?  Make “surgical” cuts aimed at certain programs or agencies?  If so, what should be excluded? Raise “sin” taxes?  Some combination of these?

The Senate Ways and Means Committee is holding hearings on SB 23, the Governor’s proposed budget.  The Senate bill has gotten stalled over disagreements on how to cut education.  The Governor’s budget keeps total K-12 funding at the 2008 level---resulting in a $22 fall in base aid this year and a $66 for next year.  The Senate feels that, with the continued declines in revenue, the schools will have to take bigger cuts and are looking at a 3% across the board cut for school and all agencies including social services.

Jill’s Activities

• Celebration of the Opening of the Shawnee Mission Medical Center’s Critical Care Expansion
• Johnson County Delegation Luncheon---Impact of proposed budget cuts on the cities of Overland Park and Lenexa
• Meeting with Stuart Little (Shawnee Mission Schools), Bob Vancrum (Blue Valley School) regarding the impact of proposed budget cuts on schools
• Kansas Choice Coalition Luncheon recognizing the 36th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
• MP3 Innovator Dinner KTEC Pipeline, guest of Joel Wiggins, Enterprise Center of Johnson County

Let me hear from you this session,

Jill Quigley

Representative, 17th District

Office phone:  785-296-7682
jill@jillquigley.com


 

 

 

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