Budget
The budget continues to be our top priority. The Senate and House continue to meet in conference to try to come to an agreement. The House proposal matches the Governor's recommendations, while the Senate version does not. I look forward to voting for a rescission bill which will reigns in spending and puts our state back on a path to fiscal health.

Rural Opportunity Zones
The Senate approved the Governor’s initiative to implement Rural Opportunity Zones. This is part of a concentrated effort to encourage more young people to stay in rural Kansas and to recruit people living in other states back to Kansas. The Rural Opportunity Zones - which will involve 44 Kansas counties - will offer a five-year income tax break as well as student loan repayment options for those moving into these designated counties. The Rural Opportunity Zone initiative will be focused on counties that have lost eight percent of more of their population over the past decade. I supported this bill, which is an additional tool for promoting our state to prospective new residents and business owners, and a first step toward rebuilding rural Kansas.

Alcohol Sales
The Senate will debate a proposal next week that would permit grocery stores, convenience stores and other retailers to sell full-strength beer, wine and liquor. Right now, Kansas law limits these sales to liquor stores. There has been a lot of interest in this issue at the Statehouse over the past couple weeks with some saying alcohol sales will help grocery stores in smaller towns keep their doors open, while others say that a change to existing law would drive independent liquor stores out of business.

Presidential Primary
The Senate approved a recommendation this week from the Secretary of the State to forgo having a 2012 presidential primary, saving taxpayers approximately $1.3 million. It has been common practice in Kansas to forgo the presidential primary election and instead utilize the caucus system. In fact, Kansas has only hosted a presidential primary in 1980 and 1992. Forgoing the primary does not affect the state’s other primary elections. Primaries would continue to be held for statewide officers, legislators, local elected officials and other races.

FLOOR ACTION

This week the Senate spent three full days on the floor, presenting, debating and casting final vote on a number of bills.

Appointments. On February 22, the Senate confirmed Robert Moser as the Secretary of Health and Environment. His appointment is at the pleasure of the Governor.

General Orders and Final Action. This week, the Senate debated and passed the following bills, sending them to the House for consideration:

• Senate Bill 80 allowing microbreweries to increase their strength of alcohol content in their beer from eight to ten percent. In addition, microbreweries would be allowed to serve beer, free of charge, at special events monitored and regulated by the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
• Senate Bill 115 which abolishes the State Highway Advisory Commission.
• House Bill 2033 extends vehicle registration as a fleet, rather than registration of individual vehicles, to commercial fleets of 250 or more vehicles on which personal property taxes are paid. Current law allows fleet registration only for fleets of 250 or more vehicles that are exempt from personal property tax or are assessed under tax laws for motor carriers.
• Senate Bill 6 repeals current law, which codifies the exception to the warrant requirement for a search made incident to an arrest by a law enforcement officer.
• Senate Bill 23 clarifies that a juvenile has the right to a jury trial in a felony or misdemeanor case, but would have to make the request in writing within 30 days of entering a plea of not guilty.
• Senate Bill 24 allows a habitual violator whose driver’s license has been revoked to apply for and be issued a class C license for the operation of motorized bicycles.
• Senate Bill 36 amends current law to exempt certain assets in retirement plans provided for in specific sections of the Federal Internal Revenue Code from the claims of creditors.
• Senate Bill 46. This bill allows courts to begin e-filing, so courts may keep electronic forms of records and information instead of paper copies of all relevant documents. The legislation changes current wording which requires court clerks to keep filed papers in a carefully wrapped, dated and stamped envelope. It also clarifies that the Supreme Court, rather than the Chief Judge of a judicial district, would issue the order of when records and information would be maintained in computer information storage and retrieval systems versus dockets and journals.
• Senate Bill 52 requires the courts to consider grandparents as interested parties to child in need of care proceedings and requires they receive notification of court hearings regarding their grandchildren.
• Senate Bill 55 would amend the crime of harassment by telecommunications device to include the use of a telecommunications device to transmit an obscene, lewd, lascivious, or indecent image or text. The bill also would make it illegal to use a telecommunications device to transmit any comment, request, suggestion, proposal, image, or text with intent to abuse, threaten, or harass any person at the receiving end. Additionally, the bill would define “telecommunications device” to include telephones, cellular telephones, facsimile machines, and any other electronic device which uses an electronic communication service. The bill would remove the word “filthy” from the description of proscribed communication content and clarify that a person charged under this section also may be charged with and convicted of indecent solicitation of a child, electronic solicitation, sexual exploitation of a child, or promoting obscenity. Finally, the bill would make several technical amendments to ensure consistency.
• Senate Bill 97 extends the Judicial Branch surcharge through FY 2012.
• Senate Bill 8 creates a new definition of “IT project” for state universities under the control of the Board of Regents. State universities undertaking an IT project would not have to act pursuant to the IT Act unless the project has an estimated cumulative cost of $1 million or more. An amendment was added to ensure that certain infrastructure projects, with expenditures between $250,000 and $1 million, be in compliance with the information technology architecture adopted by the information technology executive council.
• Senate Bill 28 allows the schools in the Johnson county Research Triangle to utilize the interest garnered in the money raised by a sales tax increase.
• Senate Bill 41 allows the Board of Regent’s Private Postsecondary Division to make permanent the new categories of fees and increased fee levels established by 2010 legislation; to set the fees within limits set by statute; and to lower the minimum fees.
• Senate Bill 90 adds language allowing the Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board to deny, eliminate, or otherwise restrict the license of an applicant or licensee when a determination of substantiated abuse, neglect or exploitation becomes final.
• Senate Bill 108 requires that all taxes, prior to a property being changed physically in description, have its taxes paid in full.
• Senate Bill 123. This bill allows the Secretary of Wildlife and Parks, with the approval of the Kansas Wildlife and Parks commission, to set rental fees for cabins owned by the department. The bill also establishes maximum fees for rental.
• Senate Bill 134. This bill would amend current law to update the title of an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) to Advance Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), and would change licensure and education requirements for the role of the APRN.
• Substitute for Senate Bill 33, known as the School Sports Head Injury Prevention Act. This bill requires the compilation of information on concussions and head injuries in high school athletics and the risks involved when athletes continue playing or practicing after a concussion or head injury. The information and a release form will be required of all student athletes before participating in school sports, and additionally requires that a student suffering from a concussion or head injury cannot return to playing without an examination and clearance from a licensed health care provider. An amendment was attached on the Senate floor allowing students to participate in non-school swimming athletic training or diving programs during the high school sport season so long as the non-school training is under the jurisdiction of a qualified program and the student meets school established requirements for athletic participation.
• Senate Bill 67 amends current law to allow gubernatorial inauguration contributions that are not otherwise obligated for the payment of expenses incurred for the inauguration to be donated to any charitable donation that qualifies as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation.
• Senate Bill 85 amends a statute governing policy requirements for group life insurance to delete specified participation percentages required for covered employees to place a group life policy in effect. Under the bill, policy premiums could be paid by the policyholder, the insured employee, or both. The bill also would delete requirements that group life policies must cover a specified number of individuals at the date of issue. Finally, the bill would increase from 50 percent to 100 percent, the limitation of coverage allowed for dependents covered under an employee’s group life insurance policy. Under current law, group life insurance premiums are paid by the policyholder.
• Senate Bill 93 deals with racial profiling, but changes the name to “racial or other biased policing” and prohibits such actions. Under this bill, city and county governments may set up Community Advisory Boards to work with local law enforcement agencies.
• Senate Bill 100 would amend the Addictions Counselor Licensure Act which passed during the 2010 Legislative Session. The bill would eliminate case management from the scope of addiction counseling; clarify that clinical addiction counseling includes independent practice and the diagnosis and treatment of substance use disorders; makes provisions for addiction counselors who are exempt from licensure; clarifies the need for coursework for licensure; adds another option available to meet the licensure requirements; adds a grandfathering provision; provides clarification of the continuing education requirement differences for a clinical addiction counselor or an addiction counselor; and makes other technical amendments.
• Senate Bill 103 would improve voting access for men and women serving in the military.
• Senate Bill 119 allows cities and counties, in coordination with railroads providing service, to enter into loan or grant agreements with the Secretary of Transportation to obtain Rail Service Improvement Funds by pledging Special City and County Highway Fund receipts as collateral.
• Senate Bill 120 requires a title to be issued on all watercraft vessels owned by Kansas residents. Most lien holders require a title and Kansas does not currently title watercrafts.
• Senate Bill 125 changes the filing deadline for national, state, county and township offices from noon on June 10, to noon on June 1. This will aid in the preparing and mailing of federal military and overseas ballots.
• Senate Bill 126 limits candidates running for office from appearing in public service announcements or advertisements 60 days before an election.
• Substitute for Senate Bill 127 would - in the case of school district, city officer, or community college trustee offices - require a primary election only if more than three candidates would be on the ballot. It also would require that the names of the top two vote-getters in the primary election be placed onto the ballot for the general election. If the election-at-large method is used, the bill would require a primary election only if the number of candidates is more than three times the number to be elected, and the number on the general election ballot would equal twice the number to be elected.
• Senate Bill 128 this bill excludes Kansas from the 2012 presidential preference primary, but picks it back up again for the 2016 elections. Kansas has only held a presidential primary election in 1980 and 1992.
• Senate Bill 150 amends current law to alter the population minimum for incorporation into a municipality from 300 residents to 250.
• Senate Bill 170 creates a basis for the sale of portable electronics insurance in Kansas by providing a licensing framework and a regulatory structure governing the sale this type of insurance. It also states that an insurer may not terminate a contract based only on the age of the device covered.
• Senate Bill 186 is a clean-up bill after laws regarding pesticides were amended last year. The clean-up deals with hearings for the suspension of a pesticide business license.
• Senate Bill 59 amends current law and changes the interest rate charged on any delinquent or unpaid taxes levied or imposed by the state of Kansas.
• Senate Bill 61 increases the individual development account credit from 50% to 75%.
• Senate Bill 76 permits the use of the term “doctor” by physical therapists if they have earned a doctorate of physical therapy, but they must use the credentials “physical therapist" or "doctor of physical therapy."
• Senate Bill 122 gives the Director of the Kansas Water Office the authority to grant easements on state property along the Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri rivers for the purpose of conservation projects.
• Senate Bill 188 would change existing law to expand the Kansas Department of Health and Environment's (KDHE) authority to approve the disposal of the demolition waste of buildings or structures at, adjacent to, or near the site of the building or structure without requiring a solid waste permit.
• Senate Bill 145. This bill includes language for television and broadcasting political advertising where sponsoring organizations or individuals responsible for the advertisement must make a disclosure statement as to their sponsorship of the advertisement. It also makes similar provisions for newspaper advertisements, telephone calls, brochures, factsheets, or websites.
• Senate Bill 133. This is the Kansas Health Information and Technology Exchange Act. It addresses legal barriers to health information exchange and provides a framework for addressing the secure exchange of health information via health information technology.
• Senate Bill 139. This bill amends and updates Kansas statutes regarding trauma councils and trauma advisory committees. For statutory purposes, the bill considers advisory committee members and regional trauma council members to be peer review officers when acting in their official capacity.
• Senate Bill 143 creates the Postsecondary Tiered Technical Education State Aid Act, replacing the current funding structure. Beginning with FY 2012, and in each fiscal year thereafter, each community college, technical college, and the Washburn Institute of Technology would be eligible for postsecondary tiered technical education state aid from the State General Fund for credit hours approved by the State Board of Regents, using a credit hour cost calculation model.
• Senate Bill 155. This bill allows property tax from the development of 13,000 acres near Parsons, known as the Kansas Army Ammunition Plant, which is being developed by the Great Plains Development Authority, to be distributed evenly among school districts in Labette County.
• Senate Bill 179 amends current Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association Act and adds language to improve the operations and provide uniformity in coverage to Kansas residents as compared to other states’ residents.
• Senate Bill 63 adds “or a person whom the offender believes to be a child under 18 years of age,” to current statute covering sexual exploitation of a child. The bill does not add a new offense, but clarifies existing penalties.
• Senate Bill 74 would broaden the scope of crimes that allow forfeiture of assets to include the crimes of electronic solicitation and sexual exploitation of a child.
• Senate Bill 79 would amend the state debt setoff law to provide that the collection assistance fee for all debts owed to a court shall be paid by the debtor as an additional cost, rather than deducted from the debts owed to a court.
• Senate Bill 83 would allow judges who have been retired for five years or less to enter into senior judge contracts at any point during the year and that they would not be required to wait until 30 days prior to a retirement anniversary date to enter into the contract. In addition, SB 83 would allow the court to enter into a senior judge contract with a retired judge, without limiting consideration to only those judges who have been retired for five years or less.
• Senate Bill 104 would amend the Kansas Tort Claims Act by removing “Kansas Administrative Regulations” citations related to charitable health care providers that provide dental service and replacing the citations with the phrase “rules and regulations adopted by the Kansas Dental Board.”
• Senate Bill 176 requires courts, when considering the release of a person on appearance bond, to take into account whether a defendant is lawfully present in the United States.
• Senate Bill 9 conforms Kansas civil procedure statutes to the federal ones.
• Senate Bill 160 amends the Kansas Income Withholding Act to allow a court trustee enforcing a support order to serve an income withholding order on a payer (employer) by personal service, by registered mail, return receipt requested, or by any alternate method accepted by the payer. The bill also would amend the state debt setoff law to include in the definition of “debt” any amount of support due and owing an individual who is receiving assistance in collecting that support by a court trustee. The definition of “debtor” would be amended to include any person who owes support to an individual who is receiving assistance in collecting that support.
• Senate Bill 135. This bill would make it a severity level 2 personal felony to participate in or benefit from an enterprise engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity.
• Senate Bill 124 creates the Lower Smoky Hill Water Supply Access District, the Lower Smoky Hill Water Supply Access Program, the Lower Smoky Hill Special Irrigation District, and the Lower Smoky Hill Water Supply Access Fund.
• Senate Bill 136 limits the types of damages an injured owner or operator of an uninsured vehicle can recover in Kansas if in an automobile accident.
• Senate Bill 112 amends several statutes relating to land surveyors, primarily: (1) requires counties to appoint a county surveyor, rather than have one elected; requires reviews of surveys by the county surveyor or another land surveyor designated by the county before the plat can be recorded with the register of deeds; and (3) cleans up the language in statute so that it conforms to modern surveying practices and does not require county surveyors to perform engineering duties.
• Substitute for Senate Bill 50 creates a new fee structure for 911 fees, as well as creating a 911 coordinating council.
• Senate Bill 177 would establish a three-year statute of limitations for taxpayers to claim sales tax exemptions. Refunds are limited to one year under current law. The bill would extend the limitation retroactively upon enactment, thus making eligible certain exemption claims that would currently be ineligible.
• Senate Bill 1 requires retailers collecting sales taxes to print the cumulative state and local sales tax rate on receipts issued to consumers, or to conspicuously display the rate on easily readable signs located near cash registers.
• Senate Bill 10 allows Edwards County to put the question of a proposed 0.375% countywide sales tax increase for retailers before voters. The revenue from this increase would be used to finance the cost of economic development in areas where the county has lost growth.
• Senate Bill 116 would relax current confidentiality provisions to authorize the Secretary of Revenue to share certain information with the State Treasurer to help better assist in connecting individuals with their unclaimed property.
• Senate Bill 212 amends language in current law concerning the public availability of information concerning tax abatement records.
• Senate Bill 198 creates Rural Opportunity Zones, which allow for qualifying residents establishing domicile in a participating county to receive a repayment of student loans of up to $15,000 and a full tax credit against their own state income tax liability.

The following is a list of key activities in my committees this week. We have hearings on a number of bills, which are included below. Judiciary Committee. The committee held hearings on the following bills:

Senate Bill 176. Making lawful presence in the United States a specific consideration in determining conditions of release for a person charged with a crime. SB 176 would require courts, when considering the release of a person on appearance bond, to take into account whether a defendant is lawfully present in the United States. Enactment of SB 176 would have no fiscal effect, according to the Division of the Budget.

They passed the following out of committee:

• Senate Bill 9 conforms Kansas civil procedure statutes to the federal ones.
• Senate Bill 63 adds “or a person whom the offender believes to be a child under 18 years of age,” to current statute covering sexual exploitation of a child. The bill does not add a new offense, but clarifies existing penalties.
• Senate Bill 79 would amend the state debt setoff law to provide that the collection assistance fee for all debts owed to a court shall be paid by the debtor as an additional cost, rather than deducted from the debts owed to a court.
• Senate Bill 83 would allow judges who have been retired for five years or less to enter into senior judge contracts at any point during the year and that they would not be required to wait until 30 days prior to a retirement anniversary date to enter into the contract. In addition, SB 83 would allow the court to enter into a senior judge contract with a retired judge, without limiting consideration to only those judges who have been retired for five years or less.
• Senate Bill 104 would amend the Kansas Tort Claims Act by removing “Kansas Administrative Regulations” citations related to charitable health care providers that provide dental service and replacing the citations with the phrase “rules and regulations adopted by the Kansas Dental Board.”
• Senate Bill 135. This bill would make it a severity level 2 personal felony to participate in or benefit from an enterprise engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity.
• Senate Bill 160 amends the Kansas Income Withholding Act to allow a court trustee enforcing a support order to serve an income withholding order on a payer (employer) by personal service, by registered mail, return receipt requested, or by any alternate method accepted by the payer. The bill also would amend the state debt setoff law to include in the definition of “debt” any amount of support due and owing an individual who is receiving assistance in collecting that support by a court trustee. The definition of “debtor” would be amended to include any person who owes support to an individual who is receiving assistance in collecting that support.
• A resolution disapproving Executive Reorganization Order 34. ERO 34 consolidates the parole review functions into the executive branch by abolishing the Parole Board and establishes the Prisoner Review Board within the Department of Corrections. Either body of the legislature may create a resolution to either approve or disapprove of an ERO. If one body, either the House or the Senate, disapproves through a resolution and by a majority vote, an ERO will not go into effect. At this point, this resolution will be sent to the full Senate for a vote.

Public Health and Welfare Committee. The following bills were passed out of committee:

• Senate Bill 76 permits the use of the term “doctor” by physical therapists, if they have earned a doctorate of physical therapy, but they must use the credentials “physical therapist" or "doctor of physical therapy."
• Senate Bill 133. This is the Kansas Health Information and Technology Exchange Act. It addresses legal barriers to health information exchange and provides a framework for addressing the secure exchange of health information via health information technology.
• Senate Bill 139 amends and updates Kansas statutes regarding trauma councils and trauma advisory committees. For statutory purposes, the bill considers advisory committee members and regional trauma council members to be peer review officers when acting in their official capacity.