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 adam.lusker@house.ks.gov. You can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org.