Weeks 8 and 9...

Last week on Tuesday, March 11th, I led the Pledge of Allegiance during the opening of the House session.  Saying the pledge as a body before starting each day’s session is meaningful in a way I never expected.  The words of the pledge remind me daily of the responsibility I have undertaken…with liberty and justice for all, to represent all people in the republic.  Leading the pledge for the first time reminded me that I am part of a select group charged with maintaining and improving our system of government, elected to be responsive to those we serve, and yet expected to lead the way on some issues despite public opinion.

There is movement in this legislative process, but sometimes the movement is agonizingly slow…bills languish in committee because they don’t catch the interest or approval of the chairman, some points are belabored for private or political purpose, some ideas simply take more or wider consideration than our 90 day session allows.  The campaign finance legislation mentioned in my last newsletter is an example of this slow movement (check out “Our reps win a big one,” a March 13 news article in the Sun on www.kccommunitynews.com).  Sometimes there is a rush of activity…the powers align, a deadline is set, all stops are pulled out, committees hold double hearings, bills are hammered out.  The attempts at energy policy and health reform this session are examples of this accelerated movement. To a newcomer like me, both extremes of movement bring frustration.

At the Rail…and beyond

•    Susanne Wikle, Director of Health Policy for Kansas Action For Children, discussing changes to health coverage for children
•    Terri Roberts, Kansas State Nursing Association, discussing nursing workforce, smoking and health issues
•    Barbara England, DeSoto Parents as Teachers discussing increased funding for extending the rolls of PAT
•    Marya Schott, United Community Services of Johnson County, discussing children’s health care
•    Tom Thompson, Sierra Club, discussing environmental issues
•    Maury Loridon and Lee Thaete, National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors of Kansas, discussing Stoli and other insurance issues.
•    Johnson County Delegation presentations by Linda Leeper, Shawnee Chamber; Dawn Kuhn, Shawnee City Councilwoman; Scott Heidner, Chris Price, and Steven Bachenberg representing the Eastern Chapter of the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers; Paul Snider, KCPL; Chris Carroll and Dan Jacobsen, AT&T; and Sara Ritter, DeSoto Chamber; Mayor Dave Anderson, City of DeSoto; and Dr. Sharon Zoellner, Superintendent of DeSoto Schools.
•    Medical Society of Wyandotte and Johnson Counties legislative breakfast discussing health care reform and immigration issues.
•    Shawnee Chamber of Commerce monthly legislative meeting discussing issues of interest to the business community.
•    Caucus on Higher Education luncheon discussion on math and science workforce needs and issues
•    Clean Energy Day and luncheon discussing the use of renewable energy and energy    efficiency.
•    Beth Driessel at the Disability Rights Center of Kansas 30th Anniversary Celebration where  we saw a video exposing the warehousing of people with disabilities at Willowbrook in 1972 and heard from a survivor and the physician who blew the whistle on the institution.
•    Bill Lucero, Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation, discussing the death penalty
•    Three KSU graduate students explained their impressive research to me at the 5th Annual Capitol Graduate Research Summit:
            Sandeep Rana  “Untangling Alzheimer:  Synthesis and Biological Studies of Novel                     Pyrone Inhibitors”

            Matthew T. Basel  “Modified Mycobacterial Porins as Selective Chemotherapy Agents”

            Arbin Rajbanshi  “Sesorcinal Based Molecular Capsules for Drug Delivery”

Civics Lesson continued…

Let me clarify that the bills I have described in my past newsletters are not yet law.  These bills have been passed out favorably either from one of my House committees or by the House and sent to the Senate.  All bills have to be approved by both the House and the Senate.  Those bills have to be exactly the same, word for word.  Those bills then have to be signed into law by the Governor.  There are numerous steps along the way where a bill’s progress can be stopped.  So while I share progress on certain bills that I believe may be of interest to you, they are still far from becoming law!

Most bills that make it to the House floor pass by a high margin because compromise has often been reached in committee.  I will try to share my vote on the bills I discuss but if you ever want to know my vote on a specific bill, please call or e-mail me.  Simply for space reasons and readability, I may not always include vote tallies or my specific vote; but I would be happy to share that with you.

Issues…

The next few weeks will see several volatile issues come to the House floor.  Health Care Reform will be debated this week.  Immigration will be debated next week.

Health Care Reform
The 2007 Legislature directed the Health Policy Authority, a nine-member board responsible for coordinating a statewide health policy, to develop health reform options. The agency’s board and four advisory councils, 22 community listening tour, stakeholder groups and concerned citizens provided input to the resulting 21 point reform package presented to the Governor and Legislature in November 2007.  The rather modest reform package included measures to promote personal responsibility, prevention and medical homes, and affordable health insurance for small business, children, and the uninsured.  To see the 21 reforms in detail go to http://www.khpa.ks.gov/ and click on Health Reform Recommendations of 2007.

In the House, a sub committee of the Health and Human Resources was formed to pull together these recommendations and five bills dealing with health reform (HB 2822, HB 2889, HB 2934, SB 540, SB 451) into one reform bill.  This sub committee, chaired by Representative Jeff Colyer, and the House Health and Human Services committee passed SB 81 (formerly HB 2934) with a single vote margin.  While offering incentives and options to those already insured, this bill does not include many of the reforms recommended by KHPA, does not extend insurance coverage to low income uninsured, and does not decrease the number of uninsured in general.  I voted against this bill in committee.  It will see debate on the floor this week. 

 
Immigration
The House immigration bills have had their hearings, been consolidated into House Sub for SB 329, and will be considered on the House floor next week.  I encourage you to read the supplemental note on this bill by going to www.kslegislature.org and typing in the bill number, 329.

Many of you have shared your concerns about this issue with me.  Some of you want to protect jobs and salaries and are worried that undocumented workers are obtaining benefits that raise costs to citizens.  Some of you are worried about unknowingly hiring workers whose documentation is later found to be false and then having your business license revoked, hurting not only your business but your workers, your suppliers, and your customers.  Some of you are worried about legal aliens who may be discriminated against or profiled.  Some of you are worried about losing your workforce of legal workers who leave out of fear or to be with illegal family members.  Some of you wonder what will happen to regular police service if law enforcement is shifted to immigration enforcement.  Some of you fear being asked to become immigration enforcers before giving health services.

The federal government needs to secure the borders, offer faster legal immigration, and offer more guest worker permits.  If someone is caught coming into the country illegally, that is a criminal offense.  However, once here being here is illegal but not a criminal offense.  Typically, the immigration service will only detain and deport an undocumented worker who has also committed a crime.  This makes legislation geared toward punishment of the undocumented workers themselves impossible and is the reason for punitive measures for businesses.

Education
I heard from many of you in response to an article in the KC Star on Wednesday, March 13th regarding the involvement of the District Attorney in determining reading materials in schools.  SB 492 was heard in the House Education Committee last Thursday.  Concerned Parents mainly from the Blue Valley School District spoke regarding their concerns about the appropriateness of book selections.  Others countered that appropriate measures for addressing these concerns are already in place and that involvement by the District Attorney was unneeded.  Many on the committee feel the bill will not be brought forward and believe the committee would not pass it out of committee if it was.  I do thank you for alerting me to this issue.  Although I am not on the Education committee, I was able to contact those on the committee with your concerns and to follow up with them on the hearing.

Other bills of interest passed by the House…

SB 437 allows students at community colleges to qualify for ROTC scholarships.  Passed 122/0, I voted yes.

HB 2714 gives special consideration in educational opportunities to military families.  Passes 122/0, I voted yes.

HB 2873 takes back money allotted for planning and building new correctional facilities.  A recent study shows we will not need additional corrections beds until 2017.  Passed 104/18, I voted yes.

SB 267 allows Wildlife and Parks to suspend privileges of those who ignore a citation and to not issue a new license until a fine is paid. Passed 121/0, I voted yes.

HB 2916 outlines a new pay plan for state officers and employees based on merit instead of longevity and a 5 year gradual implementation to raise salaries to market level.  Passed 104/18, I voted yes.

Coming soon...

Join me for “A Chat with Jill” on an upcoming Saturday morning in April at the HyVee at 87th and Pflumm.  We will have coffee, juice, and muffins while talking about issues and your concerns.  I’ll send out an e-mail when the date is set and post fliers at area locations.  I hope you will come visit with me.

Jill Quigley

Representative 17th District

300 SW 10th Avenue

L26/27 Docking

Topeka, KS  66612

785-296-7680

jill@jillquigley.com

 

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