Tax Fraud Prevention
The Senate voted to strengthen requirements for Kansans claiming the food sales tax refund on their state tax returns. Under the Senate plan, taxpayers requesting the refund would be required to provide valid Social Security numbers for all claimants, as well as a statement indicating which criteria they meet. To be eligible for the tax refund, taxpayers must be Kansas residents who earn $35,000 a year or less and meet one of the following criteria: (1) are 55 years of age or older, (2) are blind or permanently disabled, or (3) have a dependent child under age 18 living with them. In strengthening the filing requirements, we can increase accountability within this program, and prevent fraud and abuse from happening in our tax system.

Arts Commission
A number of Kansans visited the Statehouse this week for a hearing regarding the future of the Kansas Arts Commission. The Governor has recommended abolishing the Commission and replacing it with a private, non-profit organization that would receive reduced funding through the state historical society. Opponents expressed concern that Kansas would become the only state without a state-funded arts agency, and that our national and regional arts funding could be jeopardized. The full Senate will consider later this month whether to abolish or maintain the Commission.

Did You Know?
Thousands of Kansans have property - including stocks, insurance payments and dividends - waiting to be claimed in the State Treasurer’s office. Are you one of them? State Treasurer Ron Estes is working to return unclaimed property to Kansas taxpayers. Go online to http://www.treasurer.state.ks.us to see if you or your family members have unclaimed property, or call the Treasurer’s office at 1-800-432-0386.

FLOOR ACTION

General Orders. The Senate heard debate on the following bills, all of which were passed on Final Action and will go to the House for consideration.

• Senate Bill 101 which excludes associations or common interest communities that do not own or manage real property from the Uniform Common Interest Owners Bill of Rights Act.
• Senate Bill 114 eliminates certain requirements of associations that do not own or manage real property from the Uniform Common Interest Owners Bill of Rights Act.
• Senate Bill 193 stipulates that no claims could be allowed under the food sales tax refund program unless applicants provide valid Social Security numbers issued by the Social Security Administration for all claimants, household members, and dependent children, as well as a clear statement as to which of the three qualifying demographic criteria claimants are seeking to utilize.
• 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. Under the bill, a local exchange carrier that elected to be regulated a telecommunications carrier would be referred to as an “electing carrier.” The bill also outlines the rights and responsibilities of an electing carrier.
• Resolution 1818 proclaims March 3, 2011, as World Kidney Day and March as Kidney Awareness Month in Kansas. More than one in eight American adults have chronic kidney disease and more than 2,500 Kansans receive life-sustaining dialysis treatment. High blood pressure and diabetes are the main causes of chronic kidney disease. By monitoring and treating high blood pressure and diabetes, individuals can help delay or prevent chronic kidney disease.
• Resolution 1820 establishes the first full week of October as Anti-Bullying Awareness Week in Kansas, which will correspond with National Anti-Bullying Awareness Month. Recognizing the seriousness of bullying, the Kansas Legislature has already required local school boards to adopt and implement plans to address bullying. This is another step to stop the climate of fear among students that bullying creates, which can inhibit students’ ability to learn.

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. This week the committee heard testimony on the following bills:

b>House Bill 2008. Making identity theft a personal felony. This bill would amend current law to by making identity theft and identity fraud crimes a personal felony. Currently, the crimes are nonperson felonies.

House Bill 2023. Amending the drug schedule by adding additional unlawful substances. This bill would amend the Kansas Controlled Substance Act by adding additional drugs to the list. The Drug Enforcement Administration updates the list annually. This bill would bring Kansas law into concurrence with federal law. HB 2023 passed out of committee.

House Bill 2028. Uniform trust code; insurable interest of trustee. This bill would amend the Kansas Uniform Trust Code. It would provide clarification as to when a trustee has an insurance interest in an individual whose life is to be subject of an insurance policy to fund the trust. If passed, the trustee would have an insurable interest if, when the policy is issued, the insured is either a settlor of the trust or an individual in whom a settlor of the trust has, or would have had, if living at the time the policy was issued, an insurable interest. In order to have an insurable interest, it would be required that the life insurance proceeds be primarily for the benefit of one or more trust beneficiaries who have either an insurable interest in the life of the insured, or a substantial interest engendered by love and affection in the continuation of the life of the insured, and who are related within a third degree, either by blood or law, or are the insured’s stepchildren or the children of the insured’s stepchild, either by blood or law. The bill has no fiscal impact.

House Bill 2027. Rules and regulations filing act. HB 2027 would make several changes to the Rules and Regulations Filing Act. The bill states that only rules and regulations that comply with the requirements of the Act would be legally binding. The bill also describes that an agency can bind parties through orders following adjudications, adopt internal agency policies, provide forms, and provide guidance or information to the public. HB 2027 lists items that would not be subject to the Act. The bill also eliminates the list of agency actions excluded from the definition of “rule and regulation” and simplifies the definition of “rule and regulation.” This legislation would also allow an agency to issue a guidance document to adopt rules and regulations. This document would not have to follow the procedures of the Act. Each agency would have to maintain and publish an index of all effective guidance documents on the agency’s website. HB 2027 passed out of committee.

House Bill 2038. Amending the procedure regarding jury trials for upward departure sentences. This bill would clarify Kansas Statute by stating that a court-conducted departure proceeding would be unconstitutional if a defendant had not clearly waived their right to a jury during an upward durational departure sentencing. The bill was passed out of committee.

House Bill 2057. This bill would add the Johnson County Sheriff’s lab and the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center as admissible forensic examination centers. The bill would have no fiscal impact. The bill was passed out of committee.

House Bill 2151. Concerning crimes; criminal procedure and punishment; relating to breach of privacy and blackmail. This bill would prohibit the dissemination of any video tape, photograph, film or image of a person that was obtained unlawfully and with the intent to invade a person’s privacy, thus amending the breach of privacy crime. It would also make it a personal felony to install video equipment or disseminate unlawfully obtained images for the purpose of committing a breach of privacy offense. Additionally, blackmail would become a severity level 4 personal felony. It would inject language that includes recording inside of a home to the current state law. Under this bill, prison bed space is expected to increase by one by 2012 and by four by 2020.

Public Health and Welfare Committee. The committee held a hearing on the proposed closing of the Kansas Neurological Institute. The committee heard testimony in opposition to the closing from Dr. Kevin Sundbye, who is Medical Director for KNI. He spoke of the specialized care required to adequately provide for the medical needs of the residents. The committee also reviewed a letter from Robert Erickson, President and CEO of St. Francis Health Center, and Maynard Oliverius, President and CEO of Stormont-Vail HealthCare, which outlined the medical needs of KNI residents. The committee also heard the following bills:

House Bill 2049, which seeks to control compounds used in synthetic cannabinoids with a general chemical class approach, rather than listing compounds individually. Last year, the legislature passed a bill adding certain chemical compounds used in synthetic marijuana to the drug schedule. Since last year, a proliferation of new compounds have emerged in the formulation of these drugs.

HB 2249 seeks to address the synthetic drug that is sold as "bath salts." Like synthetic marijuana, these drugs pose a risk to users and have resulted in deaths and serious injuries in Kansas. The chemicals are very similar to methamphetamine, and have no legitimate use other than to provide a high for the user. Adverse effects include agitation, anxiety, elevated blood pressure, intense hallucinations, numbness, pallor, tachycardia, tingling, vomiting and, in some cases, tremors and seizures.

Natural Resources. This week the committee heard testimony on the following bills:

Senate Bill 214. Redefining "person" in the groundwater management district act. SB 214 amends and repeals Kansas statutes by defining "eligible voter" as one who is "18 years of age or older" and redefining "person" for purposes of the statute as "an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government; governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality; public corporation or any other legal or commercial entity." SB 214 passed out of committee.

Senate Bill 152. Clarifying that a person with a concealed carry permit may carry a concealed firearm while legally hunting, fishing or furharvesting. SB 152 amends Kansas statutes to make them clear about allowing persons with appropriate permits to carry a concealed handgun and any lawful suppressive devices for a handgun while lawfully hunting, fishing, or furharvesting.