Submitted by Christopher Petty

The Kansas State University Meat Animal Evaluation Team won National Champion honors in the 2017 Collegiate Meat Animal Evaluation Contest in Manhattan, Kans. The team was recognized Tuesday, April 4, at the Stanley Stout Center following the three-day competition.

Team member Chase Gleason, Uniontown, Kans., won high individual overall honors at the National Collegiate Meat Animal Evaluation Contest. He also won high individual in the market animal and swine divisions.

The event, previously known as the AKSARBEN contest, now rotates between host institutions across the country. The competition includes live market animal carcass predictions and pricing, breeding animal evaluation and meat judging competition, and truly serves as a capstone judging experience for students with its incorporation of so many industry-applicable concepts.

The team first won the market animal, breeding, swine and communication divisions of the contest.

Individually, K-State had three place in the top 10 overall. Gleason, Uniontown, Kans., won the high individual title. Shelby Teague, Fort Morgan, Colo., placed third overall and Brooke Jensen, Courtland, Kans., was fourth overall.

“We are proud of our students and coaches for their hard work and accomplishments,” says Ken Odde, K-State Animal Sciences and Industry department head. “This is a challenging contest that not only tests a student’s ability in meat and livestock evaluation, but also requires that they understand pricing, which is particularly important in today’s value-based marketing system.”

Submitted by the Office of the Governor

Governor Sam Brownback [Tuesday] announced his appointment of Senator Jake LaTurner as Kansas State Treasurer. Current State Treasurer Ron Estes was recently elected to represent the fourth congressional district in the House of Representatives. LaTurner will assume his new position once Estes vacates the office later this month.

“Jake LaTurner is a dedicated public servant with a keen intellect who will serve the people of Kansas well,” said Governor Brownback. “He is a man of character, principle, and integrity, reflecting the values of our great state.”

LaTurner, a native of South Eastern Kansas, graduated from Pittsburg State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. At 24 years old he was elected to the Kansas Senate where he has served with distinction for the last five years. Twice elected to represent the 13th senate district, he successfully authored and passed the property tax lid, allowing Kansans to have a direct voice in their property tax rate, by requiring a local vote on proposed property tax increases beyond inflation. An alumnus and representative of Pittsburg State University, LaTurner has long championed higher education understanding that education is the path out of poverty.

“Being selected to serve as state treasurer is both humbling and exciting,” said Senator LaTurner. “I look forward to getting to work, meeting with folks across the state and continuing the quality work that Kansans have rightly come to expect from their state treasurer.”

Prior to his election to the Kansas Senate, LaTurner worked for former state treasurer Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins.

“As a former state treasurer, I am proud to learn that Jake LaTurner will become our next Treasurer of Kansas,” said Congresswoman Jenkins. “I have known him for more than a decade and hired him as a staffer during my first term in Congress. I have always been a big fan of Jake and know he will continue to be an outstanding public servant to the people of Kansas. I wish him and his family all the best.”

As the outgoing state treasurer, Congressman-elect Ron Estes noted the role of the Treasurer in serving Kansans.

“As outgoing Treasurer, I take great pride in the service the office provided to the citizens of Kansas,” said Congressman-elect Estes. “I trust that Senator LaTurner will continue that great service from the Treasurer’s office.”

LaTurner and his wife, Suzanne, have four children, Ava, Joe, Maggie, and Gus.

 

Submitted by Senator Adam Lusker

This is the final week before the Kansas legislature adjourns for a three-week long break, during which the governor signs off on or vetoes the bills passed this session. We will return for veto session May 1.

Kansas House Fights for KPERS

On Thursday [April 7], the House and Senate passed Senate Sub for Sub HB 2052, a rescission bill that essentially fixed the budget for the current fiscal year. The current budget was in a deficit of $290 million. Fiscal year 2017 ends June 30.

The House stood its ground on this bill to ensure that the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System (KPERS) was fully funded through the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017. The budget passed by the legislature and signed by the governor in 2016 had not made full payments to the retirement system.

As a result of the House position standing firm for working Kansans, an additional $86 million was appropriated to KPERS and payments will be made through the fourth quarter of FY 2017.

This Week on the House Floor

Before the break, several bills were passed through on the House floor. Here are a few. You can read about all of the bills to hit the floor this week here: http://kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/chamber/house/journals/2017/4/

HB 2319: An act concerning abortion; relating to the woman’s-right-to-know act, relating to certain physician information to be disclosed.

HB 2391: An act concerning driving; relating to driving under the influence and other driving offenses; authorized restrictions of driving privileges, ignition interlock device; expungement of convictions and diversions.

SB 55: An act concerning public construction contracts; relating to performance and payment bonds; Kansas fairness in public construction.

SB 149: An act concerning the attorney general; relating to briefs in a criminal matter or post-conviction case in the supreme court or court of appeals; legal representation charges; legal services; creating the attorney general’s state agency representation fund.

HB 2360: An act concerning the administration of the state employee health benefits plan; creating the division of state employee health benefits plan in the department of administration.

H Sub for SB 70: An act concerning amusement rides; relating to the Kansas amusement ride act.

SB 184: An act establishing the Kansas intelligence fusion center act.

Sub HB 2230: An act concerning property taxation; relating to exemptions, property owned by a redevelopment authority and located in a redevelopment district within a former federal enclave.

HB 2279: An act concerning courts; relating to disposition of failure to comply with a traffic citation reinstatement fees; judicial branch nonjudicial salary adjustment fund.

I look forward to continuing to work for you and Kansas when we come back May 1. Until then, please take care. It is a special honor to serve as your state representative. I both value and need your input on the various issues facing state government. Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions. My office address is Room 50-S, 300 SW 10th, Topeka, KS 66612. You can reach me at (785) 296-7698 or call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me. Additionally, you can e-mail me at [email protected]. You can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org.

This Week on the House Floor

It was a busy week on the House floor, as we passed multiple bills. Some of these are listed below. You can find more about this week in the House here: http://kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/chamber/house/journals/2017/3/.

HB 2273: an act concerning consumer protection; relating to the Kansas no-call act; restricting use of automatic dialing-announcing devices.

SB 36: an act concerning the state corporation commission; relating to motor carriers, definitions, registration.

HB 2047: an act concerning the office of inspector general.

HB 2306: an act concerning the Kansas sexually violent predator act; relating to examinations; transitional release; conditional release.

SB 112: an act concerning crimes, punishment and criminal procedure; relating to evidence; videotaping of certain felony, custodial interrogations; domestic battery; creating the crime of aggravated domestic battery; controlled substances; unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia; burglary; expungement; arrest records.

H Sub for SB 40: an act concerning human trafficking and related crimes; creating the crimes of unlawful use of communication facility, promoting travel for child exploitation, internet trading in child pornography and aggravated internet trading in child pornography; relating to training for commercial driver’s license applicants; sexual exploitation of a child; buying sexual relations; commercial sexual exploitation of a child; offender registration; expungement of juvenile adjudications; victim compensation.

Sub SB 74: an act concerning persons needing assistance with cognition; relating to motor vehicle, placards, identification cards; state-issued identification cards and driver’s licenses.

H Sub SB 101: an act concerning crime victims; relating to protection orders; protection from abuse act; protection from stalking act; sexual assault evidence collection examinations and parental notification; the crime victim’s compensation board and claims for compensation.

SB 124: an act concerning the care of children; relating to the Kansas family law code; child custody, residency and parenting time; evidence of domestic abuse; relating to the revised Kansas code for the care of children; rules of evidence; admissibility of certain test results.

HB 2319: an act concerning abortion; relating to the women’s-right-to-know act; relating to certain physician information to be disclosed.

Medicaid Expansion Bill

Two weeks ago, the Kansas House passed a Medicaid expansion bill that would help cover more than 150,000 Kansans without insurance and aid our numerous hospitals and clinics whose budgets have been slashed multiple times over the last few years.

This week, the bill hit the Senate floor with the Medicaid expansion amendment, and passed. The bill was sent to Governor Brownback, who vetoed the expansion bill on Thursday morning.

The veto brought the Medicaid expansion bill back to the House floor later Thursday morning, where a debate ensued over whether to override the veto. In the end, the bill was tabled until likely next week. This means the debate will continue and the vote will occur when it’s reintroduced on the floor.

The bill was pulled from the table Monday morning. The override fell short by three votes with an 81-44 tally. It appears working poor Kansans will go another year without health care coverage, leaving the burden on those of us with insurance or the medical facilities that treat them. Our federal income taxes will continue to be spent in other states while Kansas will see more hospitals close.

We will have another newsletter out at the end of the week to wrap up 1st adjournment. The legislature will be out of session from April 7, thru May 1.

It is a special honor to serve as your state representative. I both value and need your input on the various issues facing state government. Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions. My office address is Room 50-S, 300 SW 10th, Topeka, KS 66612. You can reach me at (785) 296-7698 or call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me. Additionally, you can e-mail me at [email protected]. You can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org.

Last Week on the House Floor

Last week, the House was busy passing numerous bills. The many pieces of legislation ranged on issues from technology to healthcare to agriculture. Find a few of these bills detailed below.

Sub HB 2331: An act concerning information systems and communications; creating the representative Jim Morrison cybersecurity act; relating to digital information security for Kansas executive branch agencies; establishing the Kansas information security office; establishing the cybersecurity state fund and cybersecurity state grant fund in the state treasury, creating the Kansas information technology enterprise.

H Sub for SB 60: An act concerning agriculture; relating to the Kansas department of agriculture; certain fees, authorizing the Kansas secretary of agriculture to collect a fee for processing paper documents.

SB 20: An act concerning financial institutions; relating to certain acts under the administration of the state bank commissioner.

H Sub for SB 51: An act concerning controlled substances; the state board of pharmacy; relating to scheduling of controlled substance analogs, controlled substances and new drugs; emergency scheduling.

HB 2313: An act concerning the Kansas lottery; dealing with lottery ticket vending machines; repealing the lottery sunset.

HB 2232: An act concerning adult care homes; relating to electronic monitoring.

SB 68: An act concerning health and healthcare; relating to hospitals; enacting the Kansas lay caregiver act.

HB 2353: An act concerning state contracts and purchases; relating to purchases of products and services from not-for-profit entities; employment of persons with disabilities.

School Finance

As most of you know by now, on Thursday, March 2, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled our current block grant unconstitutional. In addition, without a set dollar amount, the court ruled in favor of Kansas children. The court said that the legislature is not meeting the Kansas constitutional requirement to adequately fund public schools (Article 6 of the Constitution). Here is a link to the Kansas Constitution https://www.kssos.org/other/pubs/KS_Constitution.pdf, page 26, Article 6-Education. Thank God our forefathers had the foresight to protect the investment of educating our citizens in our state’s constitution.

It is our duty to provide equal and adequate education to all our youth. It makes no difference if they are born in Leawood or Arcadia, Goodland or Sublet. All Kansans have the right to a good education.

In the next few weeks we will come up with a new school finance plan. We must by June 30, according to the court’s deadline. The challenge will be a statewide plan that is acceptable by our most prosperous county. Johnson County is key to the new formula. A new proposal was introduced by Johnson County Representative Melissa Rooker and Shawnee County Senator Laura Kelly which is similar in many ways to the old school finance formula, in place prior to the block grants. It appears to meet constitutional muster and SEK would definitely be a beneficiary. While many Johnson County legislators support a plan that benefits the entire state and provides for an educated workforce in the future, not all are on board. There is an effort to keep Johnson County dollars in Johnson County. Regardless of the fact that we have a statewide economy, they remain narrowly focused.

Regardless of the fact that all our citizens statewide benefit from being better educated, they believe the most populous should benefit the most. Regardless of the fact that all corners of the state pay their fair share of income, sales and property tax for the greater good, some in Johnson County believe that the most affluent and populated county has no reason to be part of the greater good.

A better tomorrow is the great American dream. We have become the greatest nation in the world by investing in our future. For Kansas to stop now is to step backward. All good things come with a cost. A sound public educational system is the most important investment a state can make in its citizens. Failure to provide a better path leads down the wrong road. Bad things cost even more. Now is the time to put all of Kansas on the path to success. We know what works and how to get there. We must just do it and do it soon.

Read the Gannon Ruling on Adequacy here: http://www.kshousedems.com/school-finance-update.

Coming up in the Kansas Legislature

This week, the Medicaid expansion bill passed the Senate and has been sent to the Governor. [Governor Sam Brownback vetoed that bill Thursday, full statement can be found at this site: https://governor.kansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Medicaid-Expansion-Veto-Message.pdf]

Republicans in the Senate have said they will wait to act on an education finance formula until the House addresses it first. Conversations as to how to solve this issue are underway, with many ideas being introduced. A bill has been proposed this week in the Kansas House, and we expect action on that bill to begin this week.

A tax plan to restore the revenue in Kansas has not yet been enacted. Previously in the session, the House put forth and passed a tax bill, which then passed through the Senate. The bill essentially repealed Gov. Brownback’s “march to zero” tax experiment. The Governor vetoed the bill, after which the House overrode his veto. The Senate failed to override by just three votes. A new tax plan should be coming soon from the Senate side.

It is a special honor to serve as your state representative. I both value and need your input on the various issues facing state government. Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions. My office address is Room 50-S, 300 SW 10th, Topeka, KS 66612. You can reach me at (785) 296-7698 or call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me. Additionally, you can e-mail me at [email protected]. You can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org