Monthly Archives: October 2019

Government, Kansas

Kansas Ahead in Tax Collection Dollars

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State’s September tax collections are $43.2 million ahead of estimates

 

TOPEKA – The state’s total tax collections for September showed the continued trend upward at $744.1 million; 6.2% or $43.2 million above the estimate. These collections are $48.2 million more than September of Fiscal Year 2019.

 

Retail sales tax collections are $200.5 million; $2.5 million or 1.3% more than the estimate. Those collections are $3.4 million more than the same month in Fiscal Year 2019. Compensating use tax collections are $36.9 million; $1.9 million or 5.5% more than the estimate. That’s $1.4 million more than September of Fiscal Year 2019.

 

Individual and corporate income tax collections are above estimates. Individual income tax collections are $375.1 million; 5.7% or $20.1 million more than estimated. Corporate income tax collections are 23.7% or $19.0 million more than $80.0 million estimate.

 

“This is an encouraging end to the first quarter of the fiscal year,” Secretary Mark Burghart said. “We are seeing the increase in revenue in large part due to increases in regular and estimated individual and corporate income tax collections.”

 

“This is a positive sign as we slowly recover from the Brownback-Colyer tax experiment. However, with economic uncertainty ahead in a possible recession, we must remain cautious and continue to show fiscal restraint,” Governor Laura Kelly said.

 

Government, Health Care, Kansas

Council on Medicaid Expansion Meets

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Governor launches first meeting of bipartisan Council on Medicaid Expansion

 

Governor Laura Kelly’s call for a bipartisan, Kansas-specific plan to expand Medicaid coverage took an important step forward Monday with the first meeting of the Governor’s Council on Medicaid Expansion.

 

“Many Kansans struggle to cover the costs of basic health care. Some people can’t afford coverage at all. The status quo is not working for Kansans,” Kelly said. “No family should have to choose between health coverage and paying the mortgage.”

 

Medicaid expansion would provide access to affordable healthcare for approximately 150,000 Kansans who fall in the “coverage gap,” where an individual does not qualify for Medicaid, but does not make enough to afford healthcare.

 

In the 2019 legislative session, Governor Kelly presented a Medicaid expansion plan with bipartisan support that mirrored a similar bill that passed both chambers in 2017, but the bill was ultimately vetoed by then-Governor Sam Brownback.

 

Last session the House of Representatives passed the Governor’s bill, but the Senate did not allow a vote. Instead, the Senate promised to vote on a Medicaid expansion bill in the early months of the 2020 legislative session.

 

“As I’ve made clear, Medicaid expansion tops my 2020 priority list,” Kelly said. “I was encouraged that both chambers and both parties ended the last session in agreement: 2020 will be the year we finally get this done.

 

“After all the years Kansans have had to wait for Medicaid expansion, we must get this right.

 

“That’s why we need some kind of ‘compass’ to help prevent things from veering too far off course should unvetted, risky policies surface at the end of the process. I hope whatever you come up with can be used as one tool to help evaluate whether various ideas move us closer to —  or further away from — our desired outcomes as a state.”

 

Governor Kelly asked the Council to focus on two questions:

 

  1. What do we need Medicaid expansion to achieve for Kansas?
  2. What can we learn from other expansion states that will help — or hinder — those goals?

 

“Good public policy is the product of thoughtful, bipartisan discussions, supported by data-driven decision-making. That’s the conversation I am asking this Council to have,” Kelly said. 

 

Among discussed items during the initial Council meeting:

 

  1. A review of the Medicaid expansion landscape across the U.S., with a focus on the fiscal and health impacts associated with expansion as well the different policy levers used in implementation. Overall, expansion states saw a substantial decline in the uninsured rate for non-elderly adults, as well as improved financial and health outcomes for recipients.

 

  1. An overview of the Kansas Medicaid system, KanCare, and the promising impact of expansion on access to preventative and behavioral healthcare for low-income Kansans.

 

  1. Presentations by experts from Montana and Ohio on the economic and health outcomes associated with expansion. Montana found that Medicaid made it easier for residents to find work, generated about $30 million in yearly cost savings, and increased access to care for veterans and their families. Ohio saw similar benefits, noting expansion’s role increasing the state’s capacity for behavioral health services and decreasing medical debt for enrollees by half.

 

The Governor’s Council on Medicaid Expansion’s next meeting is Oct. 29.

 

For access to the handouts, slides, Executive Order and other materials, go to: https://governor.kansas.gov/council-on-medicaid-expansion/

Government, Kansas

Grants To Help Families Prevent Need for Foster Care

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Department for Children and Families Awards New Family First Prevention Grants

 

 

Kansas families will now have access to strong evidence-based programs designed to prevent the need for foster care.

Governor Laura Kelly along with Department for Children and Families Secretary Laura Howard awarded 18 agencies from across the state with $13 million in Family First prevention grants.

 

“From day one of my administration, I’ve made it clear that the safety and well-being of children in Kansas is my top priority,” Kelly said. “I am proud that Kansas, as one of the first states in the nation to implement Family First, has partnered with community organizations to support vulnerable families.”

 

The Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) provides new federal funding for prevention activities. The funding is available for children at imminent risk of placement in foster care as well as parents or kinship caregivers. The Act provides federal matching dollars for evidence-based services rated as “well- supported” in the areas of mental health, substance use disorder, parent skill building and kinship navigation.

 

DCF awarded substance use disorder grants to:

  • DCCCA for Adolescent-Community Reinforcement Approach services to teens in Crawford county.
  • Kansas Children’s Service League for the Parent-Child Assistance Program in Shawnee county.
  • Saint Francis Ministries for Seeking Safety in Sedgwick county and five counties in the West Region.

 

DCF awarded mental health grants to:

  • Community Solutions, Inc. for Multisystemic Therapy in selected counties for each DCF region.
  • Cornerstones of Care for Functional Family Therapy in the Kansas City Region
  • Horizons Mental Health Center for Parent Child Interaction Therapy in Reno county and four counties in the Wichita Region.

 

 

  • TFI Family Services for Parent Child Interaction Therapy in selected counties in the East, West, and Wichita Regions
  • Saint Francis Ministries for Family-Centered Therapy in the West and Wichita Regions.

DCF awarded kinship navigation services to:

  • Kansas Legal Services for Kin-tech. This program will serve 400 families statewide.

DCF awarded parent skill building grants to:

  • Child Advocacy and Parenting Services for family mentoring in Saline and Ottawa counties.
  • FosterAdopt Connect, Inc. for fostering prevention in Johnson and Wyandotte counties.
  • Great Circle for Health Families America in selected counties for the East and Kansas City regions.
  • Kansas Children’s Service League for Healthy Families America in Sedgwick county and selected counties in the East.
  • Kansas Parents as Teachers Association for support to Parents as Teacher’s programming across the state.
  • Success by 6 Coalition of Douglas County for Healthy Families America in Douglas County in the Kansas City Region.
  • University of Kansas Medical Center Research Institute, Inc. – Project Eagle for Attachment and Bio-Behavioral Catch-Up Program in selected counties in the Kansas City and West Regions.

 

DCF also awarded the FFPSA grant evaluation to the University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc. The agency is required to engage in an evaluation of our Family First implementation and programs. In its role as Grant Evaluator, KU’s Center for Research will work with DCF prevention grantees to evaluate program data and information regarding outcomes in communities where the new programs are implemented.

As part of the evaluation effort, KU will convene regional and statewide advisory teams around Family First Prevention Services Act implementation.

The evaluation activities in this grant award begin in October and the grant may extend up to five years.

“I am excited that we are able to partner with agencies across the state to make Family First a reality in Kansas,” Howard said. “Whether you are in Cherokee or Cheyenne county, families will have access to strong evidence-based programs all with the goal of preventing the need for a child to enter the foster care system.”

 

DCF received 55 proposals for Family First prevention grant services. Grant review teams represented each region, DCF administrative staff, and representatives from the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund.

 

Team representatives had program expertise in foster care, mental health, early childhood programming, quality assurance, substance use disorder services, and prevention services.

 

The grants term awarded is October 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020.

 

Bourbon County, Fort Scott, Government, Kansas

Division of Vehicles at Fort Scott Closed Oct. 9 For Training

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Division of Vehicles announces dates offices will be closed for regional training meetings

 

TOPEKA – For the next two months, the Kansas Department of Revenue’s Division of Vehicles will intermittently close driver’s license offices across the state for regional training meetings. These will close offices for one day by region. The purpose is to improve consistency across the state in customer service and process training.

 

“Our goal is to ensure adequate and consistent training for an improved customer service experience at our offices across the state,” David Harper, Director of Vehicles, said.

 

The driver’s license offices will be closed as follows on their respective dates:

 

October 7 – Sedgwick County Region

  • Wichita, Derby, Andover, Winfield

 

October 9 – East Region

  • Atchison, Baxter Springs, Chanute, Ft. Scott, Independence, Iola, Leavenworth, Ottawa, Parsons, Pittsburg

 

October 14 – Johnson and Wyandotte Counties

  • Kansas City, Mission, Olathe, Overland Park

 

November 6 – Shawnee & Douglas Counties

  • Lawrence, Topeka

 

November 13 – West Region

  • Colby, Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend, Hays, Liberal, Phillipsburg, Pratt, Scott City

 

November 18 – Central Region

  • Concordia, Emporia, Hutchinson, Junction City, Manhattan, McPherson, Salina, Seneca

 

Obituary

Obituary of Eva Mae Byerley

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Eva Mae Byerley

Eva Mae Byerley died on September 26, 2019, rejoining spiritually her husband, Edward, who predeceased her less than a year prior. Eva was born on January 7, 1928, at the family farm near Barnesville, KS, the daughter of Fred E White and Lora A. White (Higbie). She was the youngest of seven children, five girls and two boys.

Eva graduated from Fulton H.S. (KS) in 1945. She married her high school sweetheart, Edward, after his return from active military duty in the Navy in 1946.

Eva was a homemaker and mom extraordinaire to their three sons during the early years of marriage. In the late 1960’s to mid – 1980’s, Eva worked at The Western Insurance Companies as an automobile rater and in human resources.

Eva and Ed retired full time to Sun City West, AZ in 1986, enjoying nearly 30 years of the sunny weather and the activities offered in that retirement community. Eva was a passionate and competitive amateur bowler, who carried a high average for several years. She also enjoyed playing bocce, cooking, and watching KU basketball games on television.

Eva is survived by three sons, daughter’s-in-law, six grandchildren, and one great grandchild.

There was cremation. Graveside service will be October 28, 2019, at 11:00 a.m., at the U.S. National Cemetery. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.

Bourbon County, K-State Extension

MyMedicare.gov: Portal of Personalized Information

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K-State Research and Extension Southwind District , Joy Miller 620-223-3720 or [email protected]

 

MyMedicare.gov program is starting this fall to help Medicare beneficiaries manage personal Medicare benefits and service information. Registering with MyMedicare.gov gives you access to your personalized information at any time. Registering lets you:

  • Check your Medicare information, such as your Medicare claims as soon as they are processed and important Medicare-related information specific to you.
  • Find your eligibility, entitlement, and preventive service information.
  • Check your health and prescription drug enrollment information.
  • View your Part B deductible information.
  • Manage your prescription drug list and other personal health information.
  • Print an official Medicare card.
  • Create an “On the Go Report” that allows you to print your health information to share with your healthcare providers.

Medicare uses the same information that the Social Security Administration (SSA) has on file for you (or the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) if you get RRB benefits) to verify your information and set up your online account. To register online, you’ll:

  • Enter your Medicare number (as it appears on your red, white, and blue Medicare card).
  • Register with the same address that the SSA or RRB has on file for you. During Registration, you will be asked you to validate your address. This is an important step to protect your personal information, because Medicare may send you mail at this address that contains important personal account information.
  • Create a username and password that you can remember and use to sign into MyMedicare.gov each time you visit.
  • Provide information to reset your username or password if you forget it in the future.

Medicare will mail you a confirmation letter and send a confirmation email if you provided one during registration.

The security provided by MyMedicare.gov prevents others from illegally gathering data from or about you, keeping your personal information safe. Your MyMedicare.gov account may only be accessed by signing in with your own username and personalized password. You or your appointed Authorized Representative are the only people who should have this information.

Remember, you play an important role in protecting your personal information (including your Social Security number) from unlawful access. Always log out of your MyMedicare.gov account after you are finished with your session. Do not share your login information with anyone. Keep your username and password stored in a safe place.

Annual Medicare Open Enrollment is October 15th– December 7th, make an appointment with a Senior Health Insurance Counselor for Kansans (SHICK) for assistance in setting up your MyMedicare.gov account when reviewing Part D prescription and Advantage Plan options for 2020. If you have questions or would like to make an appointment at one of the Southwind Extension District offices (Fort Scott, Erie, Iola, and Yates Center), contact me at 620-223-3720 or [email protected].

Business, Fort Scott

Key Industries Starts New Division

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Luke Halsey, left, and Bryan Pitts are account executives for Key for Business, a new embellishment division of Key Industries.

Luke Halsey and Bryan Pitts are the new account executives for Key for Business, a newly created division of Key Industries, Inc.

The division was started this summer and has the ability to embroider or screen print clothing and other items.

“Key for Business is focused on working directly with businesses to provide quality workwear for the company and their employees,” Halsey said. ” We can provide work uniforms with the company logo on it, which, we do here in-house in our new embellishment center.”

The new embellishment machine produces a Fort Scott logo.

The advantage of being produced locally is the turn-around-time, Halsey said.

“We can do a project in a few days and (for a business) to send it off it would take about two weeks,” he said.

Pictured is a shirt and caps that Key For Business has produced.

The division employees have the ability to embellish almost all of Key Industry garment items with either direct-to-garment printing or embroidery services, he said.

Key for Business employee Bud Moore begins an embroidery project on the machine.

“We are offering company discount programs with no contract necessary, as we believe enough in our quality and services we won’t need to lock customers in,” Halsey said.

The company believes this feature will keep customers coming back, he said.

Although Halsey has been working at Key Industries for only a short time, Key has been in business for over 110 years and is known for making “The Nations Finest” workwear for the American worker. Halsey said.

The following is a list of what Key produces:

Regular workwear: work shorts, jeans/dungarees, work pants, T-shirts, polo shirts, and button-down work shirts.

The foyer of Key Industries displays some of the workwear the company is known for.

 

Outerwear: premium work coats/jackets, vests, sweatshirts, overalls/coveralls.

 

Specialty: High visibility items and fire-resistant apparel

Luke Halsey holds a high visibility sweatshirt that can be embellished to suit a client.

 

 

 

Business, Fort Scott

Community Closet Meeting Today at 6 p.m.

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The 2nd
Organizational meeting for the
Fort Scott Community Closet
will be held TONIGHT
Tuesday, October 1 at 6pm.
Anyone interested in being a part of this project/organization is welcome to attend.
Meeting will be held at
Fort Scott Washateria
501 S. National Ave.
Greetings!
My mother, Carol Oakleaf, and I have
opened the new laundromat, Fort Scott Washateria at 501 S. National.  As part of our commitment to community service, we have organized a 501(c)3 association,
“Fort Scott Community Closet Association”,
to collect clothing donations and distribute clothing to those in need in our community.
We are uniquely qualified to host this endeavor as we are committing to provide a collection site at our laundromat, laundering of the clothing donated and have put in place a building from which to distribute the clothing.
The 2nd organizational meeting will
take place TONIGHT, October 1st, at 6pm
at the laundromat.
Please attend if you are interested in participating as a volunteer in this initiative.
We would love to have many more church and civic organizations involved.
Please feel free to call or text me at 620-215-1314.
Lori Lovelace