“We set some very clear priorities going into this Legislative Session,” said Senate President Steve Morris. “Staying focused on those priorities has paid off. We’ve been able to pass significant pieces of legislation, most notably a balanced budget, a solid voter ID plan and changes in our tax policy that will help grow the state’s economy.”

This past week, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a balanced budget that cuts $800 million in total spending, leaves the state with a positive ending balance and doesn’t raise our taxes. Key provisions in the Senate’s budget bill include:

• ELDERLY: The Senate budget protects services for senior citizens, including funding for home-based nursing care so that Kansas seniors can stay in their own homes if they wish to do so and adds $43 million for nursing home-based care for the elderly.
• K-12 SCHOOLS: The Senate proposes minimizing the cuts to our local schools. Under the Senate plan, K-12 schools would receive $3,786 in base state aid per pupil, which is a reduction of $151 per student from 2011. Special education and other dollars paid to our local schools would continue to be funded as well.
• COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES: The Senate budget stabilizes funding for Kansas universities, community colleges and technical colleges, including adding $15 million in matching grants to support research being performed at KU Medical Center for cancer prevention, Wichita State University for aviation, and K-State for animal health.
• DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED: The Senate budget fully funds waivers for the developmentally disabled and provides $6 million in additional funds to help alleviate the number of disabled Kansans on the waiting lists for services. The Kansas Neurological Institute (KNI) would remain in operation under the Senate’s budget until adequate care can be identified to meet the needs of these vulnerable Kansans.
• MENTAL HEALTH: The Senate proposes restoring funding for mental health services back to 2011 funding levels so that Kansans will continue to have access to affordable, professional care to address their mental health needs.
• EARLY CHILDHOOD: The Senate budget would restore funding for Early Head Start and protect funding for Parents as Teachers so that these two critical early childhood programs can continue to serve young children and families in our communities.
• TEEN PREGNANCY: The Senate plan adds $100,000 to strengthen efforts to prevent teen pregnancy in our state.
• ARTS: The Senate budget maintains the Kansas Arts Commission and allows for funding in a reduced amount for its continued operation. The Arts Commission provides support and financial resources for our local arts and music programs.
• GOVERNMENT SALARIES: The Senate plan reduces salaries for judges, justices, statewide elected officials and certain agency heads by 2.5%. It further reduces pay for legislators by 7.5% and eliminates about 2,000 state government jobs, most of which have been vacant for nine months or more.

When the Legislature returns for its Veto Session, we will work to negotiate differences between the Senate and House budget proposals, then will forward a final version of the budget to Governor Brownback for his consideration.

FLOOR ACTION FINAL ACTION. The Senate worked and passed out the following bills this week.

• Senate Substitute for House Bill 2158 allows school districts to spend, rather than just receive, motor vehicle-related revenue derived as a result of ancillary school facilities weighting, cost of living weighting, and declining enrollment weighting. Passed 39-0.
• House Bill 2184 amends the definition of "recreational purpose" regarding liability of landowners who choose to open up their private property to recreational activities. The new definition adds "noncommercial aviation activities" to the definition of "recreational purpose." Passed 39-0.
• House Bill 2312 requires registration of scrap metal dealers and outlines the specifics of registration fees and restrictions. Passed 37-2. Senate Substitute for Senate Bill 234, the budget bill for Fiscal Year 2021, cuts $800 million dollars in total spending and leaves the state with an estimated $8.1 million ending balance. Passed 36-3.
• Senate Substitute for House Bill 2080 would make numerous changes to election law. The changes relate to campaign contributions, expansion of some voting opportunities, e-balloting, federal write-in absentee ballots, filing deadlines, candidate appearance in an ad or public service announcement, presidential preference primary, filling vacated Senate offices, disclosure statements in radio and television advertisements, fees credited to the Governmental Ethics Commission Fee Fund, and dates of lobbyist spending. Passed 37-1.
• Substitute for House Bill 2135 would revise procedures used to determine if employees have been misclassified as independent contractors. Passed 36-2.
• Senate Substitute for House Bill 2267 would make the following changes to the Kansas Uniform Common Interest Owners Bill of Rights Act that would apply only to an association for a common interest community for a recreational lake development where less than half of those units contain a residence: An owner’s right to vote would only be exempted in cases regarding failure of paying assessments and fees; It would exempt these associations from bylaws requirements; and it would allow such an association to deliver any required notice for meeting other than the annual meeting by posting the notice on the association's website or by posting a notice on a bulletin board in the association's office, by sending a notice by electronic mail if the unit owner requests such notice, or by posting a sign containing one meeting notice at the main entrance to the community. Passed 38-0.

• House Bill 2076 would make amendments to certain statutory time requirements specified for municipal pools and group funded workers compensation pools, extend the sunset provision that allows anti-fraud plans to remain confidential, enact the Surplus Lines Insurance Multi-State Compliance Compact, and make amendments to the current law governing the allocation of surplus lines' premium tax revenue. Adopted 37-2.
• House Bill 2147 would amend the “home plus” definition in current law to increase from eight to twelve the number of individuals who could be cared for in a home plus facility, so long as staffing and resources are adjusted to meet the current level of nursing standards. The bill also would require that personnel of any home plus who provide services for residents with dementia take annual dementia care training. Adopted 38-1.
• House Bill 2151 modifies the definition of the crime of “breach of privacy.”Adopted 31-8. House Bill 2044 would amend current statute concerning required action and notification in a motor vehicle accident. It would add accidents resulting in damage to vehicles or property to the list requiring immediate stop and reporting while also amending the penalties for leaving the scene of an accident. Adopted 38-0.
• House Bill 2104 would amend current statute to allow personnel of mental health treatment facilities to disclose patient information to law enforcement responding to a call concerning an individual which they believe may benefit more from treatment at a mental health institute than incarceration. Adopted 38-0.
• House Bill 2105 would prohibit a court from ordering that a child be removed from the parent’s custody solely because the parent is homeless. Adopted 38-0.
• Senate Substitute for House Bill 2049 would amend current law concerning controlled substances included in Schedule I by creating a new subsection to address cannabanoids, inserting additional substances in that subsection, and adding the class of substituted cathinones (bath salts). This bill would outlaw K-3 and is believed to prevent another subsequent form of the drug from being created. Adopted 35-2.
• House Bill 2119 would prevent a municipality from charging an accident response service fee to persons receiving emergency services inside or outside the municipality, except for the actual costs of providing emergency services in response to a motor vehicle accident. Adopted 35-3.
• House Bill 2172 would designate the junction of U.S. 24 and K-7 highways in Wyandotte County as the Representative Margaret Long Interchange. Additionally, it would designate a portion of I-70 as the Truman/Eisenhower Presidential Highway. Adopted 38-0.
• House Bill 2192 would combine several provisions regulating traffic. Key sections of the bill would increase the fee for vehicle identification number inspection fees and raise the speed limit from to 75 miles per hour on separated multi-lane highways or as designated by the Secretary of Transportation. Adopted 23-14.
• House Bill 2271 would amend various provisions of the Kansas Plant Pest Act and clarify authority given to the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary’s designee. Adopted 38-0.
• House Bill 2020 would allow revenues from rents, boarding fees, and other charges related to university student housing at state universities to go to either the Housing System Suspense Fund or directly to the Housing System Operations Fund, at the discretion of the university. Additionally, interest earned from the Housing Systems Repairs Fund to be transferred into those funds. It would also require that the interest earnings from the Johnson County Research Triangle sales tax be transferred from the State General Fund to the Johnson County Education Triangle Fund of KU, KU Medical Center and K-State. Adopted 36-2.
• Substitute for House Bill 2134 would revise portions of the Workers Compensation act pertaining to definitions contained in the Act, exceptions from compensation benefits, notice of injury, drug testing, administrative hearings, preexisting conditions, permanent total and temporary total disabilities, wage calculations, the caps on benefits, lump sum retirement benefits, medical treatment, and ancillary provisions. In addition to injury caused by an accident, as it exists in current law, the bill would require and employer to be liable to pay compensation to an employee that has been injured in the course of employment because of repetitive trauma or occupational disease. Adopted 37-0.

• Senate Bill 9 would amend the Kansas Code of Civil Procedure, mainly with technical changes. Substantive changes would expand the time period for filing a motion to transfer an appeal to the Supreme Court from 20 to 30 days, expand from 5 to 7 working days the time period for a court adjudicating a juvenile offense to send case files to sentencing court, clarify that the three-day mail rule applies to service by tax and electronic means, and add requirements for a docket fee and case file number for foreign subpoenas file in Kansas. Passed 39-0.
• Senate Bill 112 would address the appointment and duties of surveyors while modifying recordkeeping requirements, requirements for replacement of certain monuments, and requirements for survey plats. The bill would permit county commissioners to appoint a land surveyor who would be titled county surveyor as well as a deputy surveyor. The surveyor could serve in multiple counties. Passed 38-0.
• House Substitute for Senate Bill 101 would permanently restrict cities and counties from adopting or enforcing any ordinance, code, or other policy that would require the installation of a multi-purpose residential fire protection sprinkler system in a residential structure. Passed 33-3.
• Senate Bill 80 would allow microbreweries to raise the content of the micro-brewed beer from eight to ten percent alcohol by weight while allowing them to serve domestic beer free of charge at special events monitored and regulated by the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Additionally, the bill would allow the board of county commissioners or the governing body of any city to issue a temporary special event retailer’s permit allowing a temporary permit holder to sell cereal malt beverages for consumption, subject to certain conditions. Passed 38-0.
• House Substitute for Senate Bill 72 would amend existing telecommunications law to allow any price-cap regulated local exchange carrier that has deregulated a majority of its local exchange access lines to elect to be regulated as a telecommunications carrier rather than as a local exchange carrier. The bill would define a local exchange carrier that elected to be regulated as a telecommunications carrier would be referred to as an “electing carrier.” Passed 31-7.
• Senate Bill 224 contains provisions related to electric supply and demand reports as well as the gas systems reliability surcharge. The bill would require the Kansas Corporation Commission to issue a biennial report on electric supply and demand for all electric utilities in Kansas. Additionally, the bill would allow a regulated natural gas company that collects a gas system reliability surcharge from its customers to request an extension of up to 12 months beyond the current 60-month requirement for a full rate review by the KCC. Passed 38-0.
• Senate Bill 227 would address two property issues involving renewable energy by preventing the permanent severance of wind and solar rights from a tract of land and establish daylight marking requirements for anemometer towers. Passed 37-1.
• Senate Bill 125 would make changes in election statutes. The bill would change the filing deadline from June 10 to June 1 for candidates filing for national, state, county, and township offices. Additionally, it would change the filing deadline for extension districts from five weeks prior to the election to the Tuesday ten weeks before the election. Passed 38-0. Appointments. The Senate voted and approved Robert Siedlecki as the Secretary of Social and Rehabilitation Services. His appointment is at the pleasure of the Governor.

• Senate Resolution 1835 congratulated the McPherson High School boys’ basketball team for winning the 2011 Class 5A State Basketball Championship. The team finished the season with a record of 24-1, and made its 50th appearance in the state tournament - the most in state history.
• Senate Resolution 1836 congratulated seven of the state’s best teachers who were honored as Kansas Master Teachers. The Kansas Master Teachers Award was established in 1954 by Emporia State University. The awards are presented annually to teachers who have served the profession long and well and who also exemplify the outstanding qualities of earnest and conscientious teachers. This year’s Kansas Master Teachers are: Sonda Copeland, an art teacher for grades nine through 12 at Manhattan High School; Teresa Disberger, a math teacher for grades seven and eight at Council Grove Middle School; Martha Hadsall, a third-grade teacher at Harper Elementary School; Rick Hildebrand, an art teacher for kindergarten through grade 12; Nancy Pence, a social studies teacher at Blue Valley North High School; Janice Romeiser, a special education instructional coach at Flint Hills Special Education Cooperative; Mary Herbert Educational Center in Emporia USD 253, and a resource director at the Teachers College at Emporia State University; and Marcia Troutfetter, a physical education teacher for grades six and seven at Salina South Middle School.
• Senate Resolution 1837 congratulated the Tribune-Greeley County High School boys’ basketball team for winning the 2011 Class 1A Division II State Basketball Championship. The championship game was held at Fort Hays State University’s Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays where they defeated Hope 42-35.
• Senate Resolution 1838 congratulated the Norton Community High School girls’ cross country team for winning the 2010 class 3A State Cross Country Championship. Cross country is one of the more grueling high school sports, requiring dedication, determination and many hours of intense training. Dustyna Sprigg was also honored for being named to the Academic All-State Cross Country team by the Kansas Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Association.
• Senate Resolution 1839 congratulated the Tribune-Greeley County High School girls’ and boys’ cross country teams for winning the 2010 Class 1A State Cross Country Championships.
• Senate Resolution 1840 congratulated the Norton Community High School wrestling team for winning the 2011 Class 3-2-1A State Wrestling Championship. This is the school’s second straight state wrestling championship.
• Senate Resolution 1841 congratulated Ness City High School girls’ and boys’ cross country teams for winning the 2010 Class 2A State Cross Country Championships. Ness City became only the second school to sweep the 2A cross country titles. It is also honored Josh Snodgrass for being named to the Academic All-State Cross Country team by the Kansas Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Association.
• Resolution 1843 congratulated the Scott Community High School boys’ basketball team for winning the 2011 Class 3A State Championship. The team won the championship by two points, scoring the game-winning basket with 2.6 seconds left. The team had appeared three times in the championship game in the last six years, but this was their first title since winning the 4A title in 2006.
• Resolution 1844 congratulated the Ness City High School boys’ track and field team for winning the 2011 Class 1A State Championship. The team scored 62 points with the runner-up scoring only 45.5.
• Resolution 1845 designates May as Lupus Awareness Month. Lupus is an acute and chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system is unbalanced and can affect any part of the body. Around 1.5 million Americans suffer from the disease, and lupus can lead to seizures, heart attacks, and other serious ailments. Women of childbearing age are mostly at risk, but no one is truly safe from the disease. Kansans are urged to educate themselves on the symptoms and impact of lupus and to join and support the Lupus Foundation of America.

CONFERENCE COMMITTEES
Before a bill can go to the Governor for it to either be signed into law or vetoed, it must come out of both the House and Senate in exactly the same form. In some instances, a bill will not match and go into “conference committee” where members from both Senate and House committees meet to compromise on the differences in their respective versions of the bills. After a compromise is reached, the bills are sent back to the Senate and House for final approval.

The Senate Agriculture, Education, Commerce, Federal & State Affairs, Financial Institutions & Insurance, Public Health and Welfare, Judiciary, Local Government, Natural Resources, Transportation, and Utilities Committees all met with their counterparts in the House to discuss bills. Below is a list of all the bills that were in Conference Committees this week:

Senate Bill 23, juvenile jury trials>
Senate Bill 37, Kansas Offender Registration Act
Senate Bill 55, electronic communication and harassment
Senate Bill 61, expanding the individual development account tax credit & changes to the High Performance Incentive Program (HPIP) income tax credits
Senate Bill 63, sexual exploitation of a child
Senate Bill 77, unemployment
Senate Bill 93, law enforcement; racial profiling and biased policing
Senate Bill 101, cities and counties and restricting the adoptions of ordinances which require the installation of a multipurpose residential fire protection sprinkler system
Senate Bill 115, state agencies and public bodies
Senate Bill 123, fees for wildlife and park cabins
Senate Bill 124, creating the Lower smoky hill water supply access program
Senate Bill 125, candidate filing deadline
Senate Bill 127, campaign reports and contributions
Senate Bill 150, annexation
Senate Bill 193, requiring social security numbers when claiming food sales tax refunds
House Substitute for Senate Bill 196, expensing of investment expenditures, IMPACT program, income tax credits and PEAK act
Senate Bill 213, lightweight vehicles
House Substitute for Senate Bill 214, definition of “person” for the purposes of the Groundwater Management District Act
House Bill 2010, civil forfeiture crimes list
House Bill 2020, state educational institution housing system funds
House Bill 2071, community correction grants
House Bill 2088, cities and counties and restricting the adoptions of ordinances which require the installation of a multipurpose residential fire protection sprinkler system
House Bill 2105, child in need of care and removal from parental custody
House Bill 2119, accident response fees
House Bill 2133, moneys recovered from water litigation and funding for local health departments.
House Bill 2134, workers comp
House Bill 2147, home plus facilities
House Bill 2172, vehicle registration
House Bill 2192, seat belts
House Bill 2271, inspection of live plant dealers and plant pests
House Bill 2282, lodging inspections and food safety fees

STANDING COMMITTEES
The Senate was in session every day this week and spent the majority of those days on the Senate floor. During lunch hours and breaks throughout the day, committees chiseled out time to meet and finalize work on bills. Among the committees meeting:

Ways and Means. The Ways and Means Committee met on Wednesday and finished its hearing for Robert Siedlecki as Secretary of the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. His nomination was passed out of committee. The committee also held a hearing on House Bill 2357, which would establish the Arkansas River Gaging Fund in the State Treasury. The fund would be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture and the first expenditures from the Fund would be used for the operation and maintenance of the gages along the Arkansas River to manage the River under the Arkansas River Compact. The Ways and Means committee also began its discussion of the Omnibus Bill.