Document Actions
Weeks 13 & 14: 2010 Legislative Session
What you’ll find in this newsletter:
Area Happenings: Old Shawnee Days Parade---June 5
Next Chat with Jill---June 5
Pony Express Celebration---June 21-23
2010 Legislative Wrap-Up: Seatbelts Required
Texting While Driving Prohibited
T-works (New Transportation Plan) Funded
Lexie’s Law, Licensure of All Childcare Facilities
Nursing Home Provider Assessment
The Budget
Input on the Federal Budget
Area Happenings
Old Shawnee Days Parade---Saturday, June 5th 10am
Will you join me for the Old Shawnee Days Parade? Walkers in stunning “Jill Quigley” attire will hand out candy and fans to those along the parade route. It’s a great way to get your morning walk, see your friends and neighbors, and help me at the same time. Please reply to this email if you would like to be in the parade. Families are welcome!
Next Chat with Jill---Saturday, June 5th 1-3pm
Join me for a chat about legislative issues on Saturday, June 5th from 1-3pm in the dining area at the HyVee on 87th & Pflumm. Stop by to introduce yourself, stay for a few minutes to discuss what’s on your mind, or interact with the group for the duration of the chat.
Pony Express celebrates 150th Birthday in June with Cross Country Ride
The first Pony Express riders began their mail route on April 3, 1860 and delivered mail for just 18 months. To commemorate its 150th birthday, a June re-ride of the historic mail route, done in sections by various riders, will begin in San Francisco and end in St. Joseph. The riders will carry a special mailbag called a mochila with a copy of President Abraham Lincoln’s 1961 inaugural address, the most famous piece of mail carried by the Pony Express. Riders will stop at these Kansas locations:
- At the Hollenberg Pony Express Station Historic Site near Hanover at 5pm on June 21; Historian Jim Hoy will present “Home on the Range.”
- At the Pony Express Barn museum in Marysville at 9:15pm on June 22; music, games, and other entertainment is planned, and
- In Seneca on June 23.
You can learn more about the Pony Express in a Department of Commerce publication, “Special Pony Express Rides Again” available at Travel Information Centers or by visiting www.NPS.gov.
Legislative Wrap-Up 2010
Well, the 2010 legislative session officially ended on May 11, my birthday! And what a birthday present…an end to one of the most divisive sessions in recent history. Of course, the big news is the budget. Our constitutionally mandated yearly legislative job is to pass a balanced budget for the state. This year, had it been possible to avoid this job, many would have chosen to do so because there were no easy solutions. Before diving into the budget, here is a recap of significant legislation that was passed in the final days of the session.
Primary Seatbelt Law
HB 2130 passed the House 68-55. I voted yes. To the Governor.
The Primary Seatbelt Law, passed by the Senate last year but held over by the House, was passed. A law enforcement officer can now stop a passenger car for a safety belt violation by anyone in the front seat or by anyone under 18. Adults in the back seat would not be required to wear a seatbelt. Starting on June 30, 2010, the fine will be $5 and will increase to $10 on July 1, 2011. With the passage of this bill, the state will receive $11 million in federal transportation funds, $1M of which must be used for safety programs. It is estimated that this law will save 25 lives and prevent 262 serious injuries in Kansas each year.
Texting and Driving Unlawful
SB 300 passed the House 105-18. I voted yes. To the Governor.
Beginning on July 1, 2010, it will be illegal to “text” while driving.. Texting would include writing, sending, or reading a written communication. Warnings only will be issued until January 1, 2011 then a $60 fine can be given.
T-works, the Next Transportation Plan
HB2650 passed the House 86-38. I voted yes. To the Governor.
The new transportation plan will be funded with new bonding authority, increased registration fees on heavy trucks and, beginning in 2013, a portion (0.4%) of the recently passed one-cent state sales tax increase. The plan is expected to cost $8.2B over the next 10 years.
Each of the 105 counties will receive $8M for projects (highway, airport and/or rail); that is an increase from $3Min the last comprehensive transportation plan. This will sustain 175,000 jobs.
This funding mechanism will provide for 100% of the maintenance needs and 39% of the proposed highway expansion and modernization projects. Over the next five years, 60,000 jobs would directly result and 150,000 jobs would indirectly result from the transportation plan.
For more information about T-works: http://ktoc.net/group_file.aspx?FileID=6d4aaccf406741fe96cca663729c1d37
Licensing and Inspection of all Childcare Facilities
HB2356 passed the House 66-56. I voted yes. To the Governor.
Last year, ten children died while in Kansas childcare. As a result, at least in part, of advocacy by several parents who lost children in childcare, all childcare facilities in Kansas will now be inspected. Having testified and been present for days awaiting action on the bill, those parents were in the gallery in the last hours of the legislative session when the bill passed. Given the eponym, “Lexie’s Law” In honor of one of the children who died, the advocacy of these parents is amazing testimony to what can be accomplished by a few dedicated individuals.
All childcare facilities in the state must now be licensed and inspected; before, one third of the childcare homes were unlicensed registered homes that were never inspected. The increased cost for licensing more homes will be funded by increasing the fees for licensure and placing those fees in fund dedicated to childcare facilities. Requirements for additional continuing education and guidelines for supervising children will be spelled out in rules and regulations developed by KDHE. An online database will give parents information about licensure and inspection results for facilities.
This bill is a great example of better legislation being developed through the committee process. Because of budget restrictions, the initial plan developed by the Senate proposed a risk-based inspection system. For three years, priority for inspections would be based on risk. Those previously uninspected childcare homes and homes that had complaints filed against them would have the highest priority and be inspected first; currently licensed childcare homes in good standing might not be inspected for as long as three years. Providers from currently licensed, inspected homes objected to this lag in inspections testifying about how useful the inspections were and how important inspections were in assuring parents of quality and safety. The House Health and Human Services Committee spent time in additional hearings and meetings and in conference committee working until we found a way to fund yearly inspections and license all childcare homes.
Provider assessment for nursing homes
HB 2320 passed the House 86-33. I voted yes. To the Governor.
Nursing homes will pay a yearly assessment of up to $2100 per bed. The federal government will match those funds to give nursing homes a total of $87M for Medicaid services. Most nursing homes will receive funds, only 3% will not. Currently, Medicaid covers just 85% of the cost of providing nursing home care. These additional funds will help fill that gap and must be used to improve quality of care, i.e. in-service training, more nursing staff, food services, etc.
This federal support for improvement in nursing home quality has been available for 15 years. Thirty-six states already use this federal match. For 15 years, nursing homes in Kansas had been unable to work out a funding structure that could be agreed upon by most providers. I initially opposed this legislation because Lenexa’s Lakeview Village was harmed in the original version of the bill; however, a compromise was reached late in the session, which addressed their concerns, so I was able to support the final bill.
The Budget
Revenue
(HB 2360) passed the House 64-61. I voted yes. To the Governor.
Spending
(House Sub for SB 572) passed the House 71-46. I voted yes. To the Governor.
So much can be said about the battle to balance the 2011 budget. The stage was set for the session when the Governor, in his State of the State address, proposed a tax package and vowed to protect education and services from further cuts. House leadership took the opposite stance, no new taxes and education would not be spared. The “all cuts budget” proposed by the House Appropriations Committee reflected those House leadership principles by:
- Restoring only half of the stimulus dollars to education. (Only supplemental aid was restored. Shawnee Mission School District would have received zero dollars from this.)
- Proposing tax amnesty. (Estimates of the yield from a tax amnesty were wide ranging. Leadership chose one of the higher estimated yields. This was voted down by the House but still included in the “all cuts budget.”)
- Saving $900,000 in health care costs from the passage of the smoking ban. (How the state general fund would realize these savings was not spelled out.)
- Including $10M in federal funds for passage of the primary seatbelt law. Most conservative supporters of the “all cuts budget” did not vote for this law.
- Counting $100M from the proposed sale of state assets by July 1, 2011.
What is apparent is that the “all cuts budget” was balanced without increased taxes by using a lot of soft money, money not guaranteed to be available, money that if all went as planned might be available. It is important to note that if this soft money did not materialize, the Governor would be forced to make further cuts until the budget was in balance. The legislature would have abdicated its responsibility and would have forced the Governor to make cuts that the legislature was unwilling to make. Even the House Appropriations Committee, which was dedicated to balancing the budget using only cuts, was unable to find and make solid budget cuts because further deeper cuts would indeed have harmed people and the economy.
Spending
A bi-partisan, bi-cameral coalition worked on compromise legislation that reflected different spending priorities and raised the revenue to cover that spending. House leadership chose not to become involved in this process.
In emails, phone calls, and in person, you repeatedly told me that excellent schools and services for our most vulnerable citizens were priorities for you, priorities worth paying for. After over $1 billion in cuts, most of you said NO MORE CUTS.
I responded to your budget priorities by voting for the compromise budget, a budget that funds public education, protects the disabled and elderly, and provides jobs.
Like all legislation, neither budget is exactly what I personally would have drafted. I responded to your budget priorities and voted for the compromise budget which better addressed our shared priorities:
- Funding education at 2010 levels by restoring all stimulus funding for K-12.
In addition, we attempted to increase locally controlled funding for schools. We tried three times to pass a county option for a quarter cent sales tax that could only be used for schools; we got 55 votes but needed 63. We also tried to increase the LOB (local option budget) by running KPERS (retirement benefits) through the formula (like the state currently does with special ed funds). Had the conservative representatives from Johnson County voted for this option, millions more dollars would have been available for Johnson County schools.
- Protecting social services, public safety, and corrections from further cuts. Other agencies received a 2.5% across the board cut.
- Increasing funds for the physically disabled and the developmentally disabled, so that 400 people could be removed from the DD waiting list and a rolling list could be maintained for PD.
- Restoring money to the Children’s Initiative Fund that supports many early childhood programs.
- Creating jobs by funding the transportation plan for all maintenance projects and some expansion and maintenance projects.
- Restoring funds to eliminate the previous 10% cut in Medicaid reimbursement to providers.
Revenue
This protection of education and services was only possible with new revenue. The coalition proposed a one-cent sales tax. The one-cent state sales tax will be in effect for three years. At the end of three years, 0.4% of the tax will continue to fund T-works, the new transportation plan. The food tax rebate program and the earned income tax credit were expanded to counter the regressive nature of the sales tax for low-income folks. We Republicans in the coalition rejected Increases in property taxes, changes to income tax brackets, and adding an income tax surcharge.
To view what Governor Parkinson has to say about budget spending and revenue:
Join a Discussion of the Federal Budget
Speaking of budgets, would you like the chance to participate in a national conversation about the federal budget? Consensus is working with the Johnson County Library to invite citizens to participate in an AmericaSpeaks National Town Meeting on June 26th.
The event, with 18 sites all over the country, is designed to include people from different political perspectives and walks of life. AmericaSpeaks will register participants for the Johnson County forum in the same proportions of Democrat, Republican and Independent as identified by the county election commission to assure that the conversation reflects the county's perspective.
You will join Americans at meeting halls across the country linked together by live video and the Internet to let them know what we think. The National Town Meeting is our chance to learn about the issues, find common ground, and present your priorities to leaders in Washington.
What: National Town Meeting
When: June 26, 2010
Where: Johnson County Library (and 18 other US locations and online).
Register today at USABudgetDiscussion.org <http://usabudgetdiscussion.org/participate> ! Participation is free, but seating is limited. The national discussion is being made possible by grants from The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
I’m home now and would be happy to discuss any of these issues with you by phone, email, or in person at my Chat.
Representing the you,
Jill Quigley
Representative, 17th District
Lenexa and Shawnee
jill@jillquigley.com
913-541-9645
website: www.jillquigley.com
To Unsubscribe, please click here.