Community members are invited to a Legislative Update Coffee hosted by the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce. The event will take place on Saturday, February 29, 2020 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Empress Event Center in Downtown Fort Scott.

Kansas Sentators Caryn Tyson and Richard Hilderbrand and Representatives Trevor Jacobs and Ken Collins will give an update on the current session as well as address any issues or questions presented from the audience.

If you have a particular item you would like to have addressed and plan to attend, you may email the Chamber at [email protected] by 5:00 p.m. Thursday, February 27th.

The general public is invited and encouraged to attend this Legislative Update on Saturday, February 29th. Coffee, juice and light breakfast refreshments will be served.

The event is being sponsored by the Fort Scott Professional Building and Empress Event Center.

For more information please contact the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce at (620) 223-3566 or visit fortscott.com.

February 21, 2020

You may have seen reports on the Gallup ‘Mood of the Nation’ poll conducted in January, stating that 86% of American’s are satisfied with their personal life and that confidence in the U.S. economy is at a 20 year high.  We are blessed to be in Kansas, the heartland of America.

Legislation 101  Senate Bill (SB) 294, the bill we are following in these updates, that brings transparency to your property tax increases, did not have any movement to date.  Hopefully, the majority leader will bring the bill above the line for a debate on the senate floor.  We are almost to the half-way point of session, known as turnaround.  Bills that have not been in an exempt committee or passed the originating chamber before turnaround will die.  SB 294 is an exempt bill because Tax is an exempt committee.  Therefore, it could be worked on the Senate floor after turnaround.  I’ll keep you posted.

Kansas law allows for online driver license renewal under certain conditions.  SB 326 would change the upper age limit for online renewals from 50 to 65 years of age.  The bill passed 39 Yes to 0 No.

SB 342 would provide Kansans an option to receive electronic notification for driver’s license renewal notices.  I offered an amendment to the bill in committee that would allow you to op-out of electronic notifications, so that future notices would be sent by mail.  The amendment passed without objection.  The bill passed the Senate 39 Yes to 0 No.

SB 58 would allow a citizen to file a petition requesting a district court grand jury.  A judge would review the petition.  If a judge finds the petition is in proper form a grand jury will be called within 60 days.  If the petition is denied, the person who filed it can appeal the judge’s decision not to summon a grand jury.  The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 28 Yes and 11 No.  I voted Yes.

It is an honor and a privilege to serve as your 12^th District State Senator.

Caryn

February 14, 2020

Almost all work was in committees during week five of session.  Several bills were passed out of committees so there could be ample work on the Senate floor in the next two weeks.

Legislation 101  Do you remember the School House Rock video, “I’m Just A Bill”?  “I’m just a bill.  Yes, I’m only a bill and I’m sitting here on capitol hill…”  Kansas has a similar bill process that is a two-year bill cycle starting in odd years.  There have been 452 senate bills introduced this cycle. A list of the bills can be found online at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2019_20/measures/bills/senate/#1.

Once a bill is drafted and introduced, it is usually referred to a committee.  The committee may have a hearing, table, amend, and/or vote on the bill.  If it passes, it goes below the line for the body of the whole.  At this point the Majority Leader decides if and when a bill will be above the line for debate on the floor.  There are rules that allow legislators to pull a bill out of committee and above the line but it rarely occurs since it takes more than a majority and is a high threshold.  If the bill makes it to floor debate, it can again be amended.  If a majority vote yes during a final action vote, the bill is sent to the other chamber to begin the process again.  If a bill is amended in the second chamber, the originating chamber will vote to accept or reject the changes.  If rejected, the bill can be killed or a conference committee with three members from each chamber is formed to negotiate the changes and agree on a compromise.  Both chambers must pass the compromise before it will go to the governor.  The governor can sign the bill into law, veto the bill – an attempt to kill the bill, or allow it to become law without a signature.  Two thirds majority of each chamber can override a governor’s veto, in which a vetoed bill becomes law.

Maybe we can follow a bill along to see how this works.  SB 294 , that brings transparency to your property tax increases, has been voted out of committee and is now below the line in the Senate.  Do to the bill’s popularity I’ve been told it may be quickly moved above the line for debate on the Senate floor.  I will keep you informed on its progress through the system.

Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) You may have heard the Governor is attempting to mess with KPERS again.  Last year a supermajority of legislators sent a strong message (a veto override) to leave KPERS alone.  The Governor obviously did not get the message as she is attempting to re-amortize, basically refinance, costing Kansas taxpayers $4.4 billion dollars.  As with last year, I will fight to block the Governor’s effort to weaken KPERS and put our State in more debt.

It is an honor and a privilege to serve as your 12^th District State Senator.

Caryn

February 7, 2020

In the movie McClintock, John Wayne is asked if he has “a day off” and his response is “off day”.  That describes Wednesday of the fourth week of session.  Session was canceled for the Super Bowl celebration.  However, I and some of my colleagues worked on Wednesday but there were no committee meetings.

It was also an ‘off week’.  The House debated and fell 4 votes shy of putting SCR 1613, Value Them Both (mother and child) Constitutional Amendment, on the ballot.  In response, the Senate President moved all of the House bills that had passed out of Senate committees back to committee.  She threw down the gauntlet sending a message to the House – reconsider passing SCR 1613.

Hearings were held on Senate Bill (SB) 294 and SB 295 to promote transparency and fairness in our property tax system.  The only opponents to the bills were taxpayer funded lobbyist or local government employees.

SB 294 is based on the successful Utah and Tennessee property tax systems.  It would change the Kansas Truth In Taxation to require a notice of a planned property tax increase in the paper of record  and a mailed notice to each taxpayer stating the planned increase for that taxpayer.  The notices would also include a date, time, and location for a Truth In Taxation hearing at which time local government officials would vote on a property tax increase.  Yes, there would be a cost for the notices but all the taxing authorities should be in one mailing, thus cutting cost.  Utah has had a similar mailing system in place for almost 35 years.  The former President of Utah Senate Wayne Niederhauser, former Tax Chair, and a CPA spoke to Kansas legislators on the Utah program.  He said their taxpayers love it and the governing bodies have embraced it.  An example is the video posted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0pBFrILbXU.  He also said that he wouldn’t use the cost of the mailing as a reason not to pass the bill.  SB 294 would not stop property tax increases.  It would require local governing body actions and increases transparency to taxpayers.

SB 295 would stop your property valuation from increasing for normal maintenance.  It would still increase for remodels or additions.  It makes sense but again, taxpayer funded lobbyist testified against the bill.

The Senate passed SB 157 amending the Kansas Family Code to provide temporary equal time for parents during a divorce until a permanent agreement can be established.  The bill does have exceptions of abuse or the best interest of the child.  The bill passed the Senate 39 to 1.  I voted Yes.

It is an honor and a privilege to serve as your 12^th District State Senator.

Caryn