Senator Karin Brownlee – District 23

Senator Jeff Colyer – District 37

Senator Mary Pilcher-Cook – District 10 (sent regret due family illness)

Senator Terrie Huntington – District 7

Senator Julia Lynn – District 9

Senator Tim Owens – District 8

Senator John Vratil – (sent regrets)

Senator Tim Owens

Senator Owens stated he serves on the Federal and State, Education and Judiciary Committees. In the 8^th Senate District there are five representatives. Four of those representatives are Democrats. Upon analyzing the voter registration, there are more Democrats and Independents than there are Republicans in his district.

As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Senator Owens stated that the Judiciary Committee heard about one hundred bills this session. The Judiciary Committee met for one hour every day and had a very heavy workload.

Senator Owens stated he supported SB 1615, the Sovereignty Resolution, and said it most likely would be passed in the Senate. The next bill was Health Care Freedom Amendment, SB 1626. Initially, this bill was referred to the Health and Human Services Committee and the Judiciary Committee. The bill was returned from the Health and Human Services Committee with no recommendation. The Judiciary voted on the bill, which resulted in a tie, with two members absent. Since the calendar was crowded, Senator Owens referred the bill to a sub-committee and appointed Senators Bruce, Lynn, Vratil and Kelly to that committee. The committee heard Constitutional Attorneys address the issue. The committee decided to reduce the bill to resolution. The vote failed when it was presented to the full committee. An attempt was made to take a bill from the House, remove the contents, and add the resolution. Since there was no time to hear that bill in committee, Senator Owens decided to have a vote on the bill. The vote was a tie and Senator Owens broke the tie and voted against the bill. Senator Owens stated that since the recommendations from the committees were weak and the bill had not been vetted. Senator Owens stated that he did his best to give the bill a fair hearing in the process according to the rules.

Senator Karin Brownlee

Senator Brownlee stated she serves as Chairperson of the Commerce Committee, Vice-Chair of the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee and Vice-Chair of the Utilities Committee. Senator Brownlee reported that Conservatives are not in the majority in the Senate.

Senator Brownlee reported that Kansas has spent $766 million on unemployment benefits. The Federal Government refused to reduce the benefit. In fact the Federal Government increased unemployment eligibility to sixty weeks and added $25 to the benefit. Kansas had to borrow from the Federal Government to comply with the law.

There are many taxes being proposed: tobacco products, sugar in soft drinks, alcohol, etc. This is not a good time to begin taxing small items instead of discussing long-term tax policy. These tax increases will not help the economy. Tax policy should be promoting growth across the state and create business incentives. Senator Brownlee stated she is opposed to tax increases.

Senator Brownlee stated that in the Financial Institutions Committee, she learned that banks are paying huge increases to refill the coffers of the FDIC. Banks are being asked to pre-pay their share along with the added increase.

The Utilities Committee discussed the enhanced 911 capability. This bill would allow texting. To pay for this enhancement, the landline tax would increase to 40 cents and the cell phone tax would increase to 55 cents.

In the Insurance Committee the Autism bill was discussed. Autism therapy is very costly. The bill would require insurance companies to cover Autism therapy for one year. After one year the success of the therapy would be assessed. This would be very helpful for families with insurance who have Autistic children and learn if the therapies are effective.

Senator Julia Lynn

Senator Lynn stated she is Vice-Chair of the Assessment and Taxation Committee, the Business and Labor Committee, the Commerce Committee and a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Kansas will need to decide how to repay the Federal Government for the loan that will fund unemployment benefits. There will most likely be a surtax on business. Senator Lynn does not want to increase any taxes without deciding future tax policy. All programs and agencies need to be evaluated to find efficiencies. In regard to SB 1626 Senator Lynn stated that she voted for the bill and believes that Senator Owens did his best to accommodate everyone.

Senator Lynn stated that the Autism Bill would help families with an opportunity to receive insurance assistance for their children with Autism and provide an opportunity to assess the therapies available.

Senator Terrie Huntington

Senator Huntington stated she serves on the Assessment and Taxation Committee, Ethics and Elections Committee, Local Government Committee, and Transportation Committee.

Senator Huntington reported that 10 year comprehensive plans for Transportation began in 1989. Another plan was instituted in 1999. In 2009 there was no money to for another 10 year plan. The Transportation plan has been used as a kitty as other agencies have borrowed from it to cover tax shortfalls. That money has not been repaid. Unless another plan is put in place, potholes will go unfilled and needed construction will not occur. There are 2 bills currently being discussed. One bill has a 6-cent increase in the gas tax that would begin in 2013. The tax would increase 2 cents per year. Another bill would increase vehicle registration fees. Highway 69 needs to be completed. There has been a proposal that would allow buses to drive on the shoulder of the road when traffic is slower than 35 mph. This would be a 3-year trial.

Senator Huntington stated that the annexation bill is not out of committee. There is a bill that would require Homes Associations to have open meetings, elections and financial records available to members. There needs to be a statute that covers by-laws for Homes Associations.

Senator Huntington stated that the State Board of Education wants to increase donations from schools districts.

Senator Jeff Colyer

Senator Colyer serves on the Taxation and Assessment Committee, Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee and the Public Health and Welfare Committee.      

Senator Colyer stated that Johnson County is the largest county by population in the state. There are tremendous shortages across the board. The Legislature has borrowed from “Peter to pay Paul”. They may need a “Hail Mary” to come out of the session with a balanced budget. Population and spending are unbalanced. Since 2005 the Legislature has increased spending by 9% in spite of a decrease in revenue. There are fewer private sector jobs in 2009 than there were in 2000. Kansans want good schools but there needs to be more local control. Growing the economy is a necessity.

Although the Legislature has postponed final decisions on the budget, it is necessary to wait for the final estimates for revenue before spending can be determined.

Kansans have an opportunity to elect a new governor in November that will set the tone and tenor to lead the state in a different direction. We need to frame the debate around how many state employees are needed, re-do how we govern, solve the pension problems, re-do the funding formula for schools, and make highways a priority. There needs to be a top to bottom review of all government functions. Certain functions can be privatized so that some state employees can be moved to private industry.