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Format problems; Old news

Some of you have been experiencing format problems with my newsletter.  I have delayed sending out this newsletter so I could correct the problem.  This issue should be better.  Let me know if you are still having difficulties.  Thanks for your perseverance!

Be advised...this newsletter was written a week ago but is just being sent.  The upcoming hearings referred to below have already taken place.

Census Form Coming in March; Census impacts Redistricting

The U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States, and is required by the Constitution to be done every 10 years.  Accurate Census numbers are important because these numbers are used to determine qualifications for federal funding and the number of seats each state has in Congress and in the state legislature.

In March of 2010, census forms will be delivered to every residence in the United States and Puerto Rico.  There will be 10 short questions to answer and then mail back in the postage-paid envelope provided. Those who do not return the questionnaire may receive a visit from a census taker, who will ask the same questions from the form.

Any personal data you provide is protected under federal law.

Completed by August 2010, the census data will then be presented to the Secretary of State for adjustment.  The Secretary adjusts the data by determining whether the population of colleges, universities, and military bases are permanent residents or should be counted in another city/district.

The Legislature has responsibility for developing legislative, congressional, and State Board of Education districts using the census numbers. Traditionally, the State Legislature has utilized a House and a Senate standing committee to develop plans that are presented to the respective chambers for consideration.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the “overriding objective (of redistricting) must be substantial equality of population among the various districts, so that the vote of any citizen is approximately equal in weight to that of any other citizen in the State.”  In general, Congressional districts must be equal in population.  Kansas congressional districts drawn in 2002 had an overall deviation of just 33 people. Courts have allowed more leeway for state legislative districts.  In general, plans, in which the largest and smallest districts create a range of 10 percent or less, are acceptable. The 2002 Kansas House plan had an overall deviation of 9.95 percent.  The 2002 Kansas Senate plan had an overall deviation of 9.27 percent.

 Currently, a Redistricting Advisory Group, made up of Speaker of the House, Mike O’Neal who acts as chair through 2010; Senate President, Steve Morris who will chair the committee in 2011; Senate Vice President, John Vratil; House Majority Leader, Ray Merrick; Senator Anthony Hensley and Representative Mike Peterson, is making preparations for the 2012 redistricting.  You can read their initial report to the legislature at www.skyways.org/ksleg/KLRD/2009CommRepts/redistricting-cr.pdf.

Both the census and the resulting redistricting will be important for Johnson County.  Johnson County is growing so it is likely that Johnson County will get more state legislators.  An accurate census count will help the county qualify for federal funds and the representation that the county deserves.  Your participation in the Census is critical to obtaining accurate numbers.

Legislation of Interest

E-911---Renewed funding passed House

The current funding mechanism for 911 services expires in July 2010.  Substitute for
 SB 48, which passed this week on a House vote of 106-15, would restore the funding mechanism.  The wireless rate would be raised $.05 and wired rates would be lowered $.25 for a net $1.4Msavings.  A new assessment of 1.1% would be made on prepaid wireless cards sold in retail stores; currrently these cards can be used to access 911 services but are not contributing to the service.

Texting---Hearing Tuesday

HB 2132, a bill prohibiting texting while driving, will have a hearing in the House Transportation Committee on February 9th at 1:30 in Room 783 in the Docking office building. HB 2132 would prohibit a person operating a motor vehicle from sending, reading, or writing a text message.  This provision would not apply to voice-activated global positioning or navigation systems that are permanently affixed to a motor vehicle.  HB 2132 would also not apply to drivers who operate an authorized emergency vehicle, report illegal activity, summon medical or other emergency assistance, prevent injury to a person or property, or relay information to his or her dispatcher.  The bill also creates a fine of $60 for “unlawful texting.”   It is a compromise bill agreed to by telecommunications and law enforcement. 

K-2---“new” marijuana illegal by House vote

The House took a step towards becoming the first state to make K2, a synthetic marijuana, illegal.  On a vote of 110 to 11, the House passed HB 2411 which would amend the Kansas Controlled Substances Act to include certain synthetic cannabinoids as a Schedule I drug.  The bill would make it illegal to possess, use, or sell these drugs.  Law enforcement requested action on K2, a drug being used by youth in Johnson and Douglas Counties.

Death Penalty---Repeal passed out of Senate Judiciary

SB 208, a bill repealing the death penalty, passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week on a 7-4 vote. SB 208, as amended, would eliminate the state's 1994 death penalty law and would replace the crime of capital murder with aggravated murder, punishable by life in prison without parole.  Governor Parkinson, who as a legislator helped write the current law, has said he will veto any repeal of current law.  For more specifics about the bill, go to http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-legisportal/index.do, type 208 in “Full Text of Bills,” then click “supplemental note.”

 

Committee reports

Commerce and Labor

The House Commerce committee spent two sessions discussing what could be done this year to lessen the burden of the increased unemployment tax on employers.  Members asked for information regarding the possibility of spreading tax payments evenly across the quarters rather than having most of it due the first quarter.  There was additional discussion about long term changes that would shift more of the tax burden to negative balance employees who use more unemployment than they pay in, either by removing the tax cap or using surtaxes.

The committee completed hearings on HB 2238 having to do with the amount of retention/retainage the owner or general contractor can keep to assure quality of the completed work.  Early finishing subcontractors sometimes have to wait long periods to be paid for work completed.  Owners fear retaining 5% instead of 10% is not enough leverage.  Interested parties met on Friday to discuss possible compromises.

 HB 2596, which makes changes in the rules regarding remediation of lead based paints, will have a hearing on Tuesday.

Health and Human Services

Last week the committee had hearings on several bills: 

• HB 2223 would repeal registered day care homes, which are not routinely inspected, and would make them licensed day care homes that would be inspected. 
• HB 2220 would let the KDHE Secretary restrict admissions to any child care facility if necessary to protect a child and could revoke a certificate if safety information was falsified or if rules were repeatedly violated.
• SB 262 would create additional levels of emergency medical professionals, naming them according to a national model, and providing transitional training to prepare current practitioners for new roles.  A general description of EMS duties will be put in law but details of their practice will be spelled out in rules and regulations for more flexibility.
• SB 62 would require post secondary schools to develop a screening and control plan for tuberculosis for high-risk students.

 The upcoming week will be a busy one in the Health and Human Services Committee.  Many of you have been following the progress of the Kansas Clean Air Act so you will be interested in a new bill, the Kansas Non-smoker Protection Act (HB 2642) introduced by Vice Chairman David Crum.  The smoking “ban” proposed in this bill would allow restaurant and bar owners to simply pay a fee to remain a smoking establishment.  This lower standard would repeal more restrictive laws passed by cities like Shawnee and Lenexa.  The HHS committee will hold hearings on this alternative smoking ban bill on Wednesday.

 There will also be hearings on:

• SCR 1626 which calls for a constitutional amendment to insure the state’s right to determine health care services and funding (This will be a joint hearing on Tuesday with the Senate Public Health & Welfare Committee.)
• HB 2577 which would require licensure of all new addiction counselors,
• HB 2448 which would allow pharmacists to administer vaccinations,
• HB 2619 which would expand the duties of nurse anesthetists,
• HB 2584 which would allow optometrists to dispense a 24 hour supply of prescription only meds or lenses, and
• HB 2590 which would amend the qualifications of medical gas installers.

Transportation and Public Safety Budget

The Committee heard testimony from the KS Commission on Peace Officer’s Standards and Training, the State Fire Marshall, the Sentencing Commission, the Parole Board, the Indigent’s Board, and the Kansas Bureau Of Investigation, Board of Technical Professions, Abstractors Board of Examiners, and the Emergency Medical Services Board regarding their budget needs for 2010.

 

Kansas should have a law that…

1.      makes the use of cell phones while inside a car against the law.  This is for texting, talking or any other use and includes hands free.  The fine should be severe enough to make people really thing "do I want to take a chance"? (HB 2132 would restrict texting but not all cell phone use.)

2.      establishes tougher penalties on people who drive autos that are not insured with liability to pay for the persons injuries and property damage that they have accidents with.  It is the law, enough said.

3.      will help maintain the excellence of our public schools to keep real estate values high to keep businesses wanting to move here.  (This will be the major struggle of the current session…how to pay bills without hurting public education funding.)

4.     offers protection to a home owner who buys a lemon (I’m researching current law on this one.)

 

Jill’s Activities Last Week

• LiLa breakfast for legislators, Suzy Makalous discussed lifelong learning accounts.  For more information: https://www.mylilanow.com/index.php.
• Kansas Action for Children’s Celebration of their 30th Anniversary with a luncheon and guest speaker, Matt Miller, host of NPR’s “Left, Right, and Center;” columnist; and author of “The Tyranny of Dead Ideas.” http://www.kac.org/
• Kansas Chamber’s Annual Dinner with guest speaker, Joe Scarborough, former Congressman and host of “Morning Joe” on MSNBC.  My hosts were the Lenexa Chamber of Commerce and the City of Lenexa.
• City Hall Day at the Capitol, Councilwoman Cindy Green, Councilman Andy Huckaba, and Assistant City Administrator Matt Shatto reviewed Lenexa’s Legislative priorities for the 2010 session.
• Visited with Kim Galbreath, physical therapist and constituent, who talked with me about legislation giving physical therapist expanded treatment authority, SB 473.
• Visited with Gina McCord, Wyandotte and Johnson County Junior League President, whose organization was a founder of Kansas Action for Children.
• Visited with George Stafford, Deputy Chief of Staff for Senator Sam Brownback about the Senator’s openness to dialogue.
• Children’s Health in all Policies, third in a series, advisory panel of legislators and providers sponsored by the Kansas Health Institute.

“Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress”  …Mahatma Gandhi

Contacting me…

Please notice that my Topeka contact information has changed. 
·        My office is 174A in the Capitol on the West wing of the first floor. 
·        My administrative assistant is Cheryl Coffman. 
·        My phone is 785-296-7689. 

Security has been increased this year.  Bags are now scanned and visitors must pass through a metal detector.  But don’t let that stop you from dropping in to talk with me if you at are in Topeka.

 

Representing you,

Jill Quigley

Representative, 17th District

Lenexa & Shawnee

H:  913-541-9645                         P.O. Box 14823
C:  785-296-7689                         Lenexa, KS  66285
jill@jillquigley.com                         Legislative Hotline:  800-432-3924

 

Committee Assignments:  
9:00am      Mon-Fri           Commerce & Labor                          Rm 784 Docking
1:30pm      Mon-Fri           Health & Human Services                 Rm 784 Docking
3:30pm      Mon-Fri           Trans & Public Safety Budget           Rm 142S Capitol

 

 

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