Terry L Calloway

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE, JANUARY 28TH, 2011

“Governments do not reduce deficits by raising taxes on people; governments reduce deficits by controlling spending and stimulating new wealth”. Ronald Reagan

We have just completed day 17 of the session and all committees are in the process of doing what they do. Most all of them have received briefing from the various Division or Agency heads and we all have received the governors proposed budget.

This week we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Kansas’ statehood with a special singing of “Home on the Range” on the House Floor. During these turbulent financial times for our state, we must remember in the course of our history we have weathers far worse times and have always been visionary when it came to our future as a state. I would like to remind everyone that I have been somewhat consumed these last weeks and if there is some important event that I should know about, please send me an email with details. I certainly would like to hear from you.

2011 Session, week three

As I’ve indicated in earlier updates, the main focus of this session will be addressing the $550 million state budget deficit and repairing the Kansas economy. The first step in addressing the budget comes in the form of House Bill 2014 which freezes the state budget for the 2011 fiscal year. The bill, as presented by Governor Brownback, makes approximately $120 million in cuts, orders several funding transfers and would create a $35 million surplus in the State General Fund for this fiscal year. This week the House Appropriations Committee held hearings and began working on amendments to HB 2014. As they continue to fine tune this piece of legislation, I will look forward to the final draft in order to see the complete picture and how it will affect our district.

Simultaneously, the Senate is working on its own version of the budget bill through a similar process. Once the House and Senate pass their respective versions of the budget, a compromise will bring the final bill for a vote. . If passed by both, the budget finally makes its way to the governor for his signature or veto. If you have a question on the budget or are concerned about funding cuts that could affect your family, please feel free to email me with your concerns.

Arts Commission Funding

Many constituents have contacted me to express their concern over the restructuring of the Kansas Arts Commission (KAC). There is no question the non-profit arts and cultural sector is a growing market in Kansas. However, as we continue to face astounding revenue declines we must find a way to restructure government while focusing on providing essential services. To provide an example, with the amount of money saved by restructuring KAC, we would keep 60 developmentally disabled children on our state wavier program – providing them the care they desperately need.

The Governor’s plan to restructure the commission as a non-profit is a viable option. The State of Vermont has successfully adopted a non-profit structure for their arts commission and several other states are contemplating similar proposals. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which provides federal funding for the KAC, has threatened that federal money may not be available as a result of this action. However, the enabling legislation for the NEA has also been thoroughly reviewed and no requirement for state funding to match federal funding has been found. The Governor has extended a $200,000 budget for the transition into a private non-profit organization called “Kansas Arts Council”. While this will continue to be an issue of concern, please rest assured that I am committed to ensuring the arts do not suffer.

Expanded Liquor Sales

This week legislation was introduced that would allow grocery and convenience stores to sell full-strength alcoholic beverages. Currently, gas stations, grocery stores and convenience stores are limited to selling 3.2 beer and wine coolers. The bill (Senate Bill 54) would also allow liquor stores, who are currently limited to selling just alcoholic beverages, to sell food, gas and other items.

As a business owner in our District, I have firsthand knowledge of the investment one must make to be successful. This bill (SB54) would affect many Mom & Pop businesses in our community, so I am asking for your opinion on SB 54. As always, if you feel it is important to speak to me personally, my phone number is 785-296-7677. A topic like this will usually have many layers, so it’s important to research all of our opinions thoroughly before reaching a conclusion. I look forward to hearing from you.

Education Committee Notes

We have spent much time going over the way our schools are funded. It is a very complicated formula that addresses unique differences for schools across Kansas to make sure all children have the same opportunities when it comes to their education. Fortunately, we have heard testimony from many experts in the Education field on an array of subjects covering everything from Funding Formula’s to Education Reform.

Kansas Policy Institute unveiled a new website, www.kansasopengov.org , that will be a useful tool in analyzing State wide average revenue per pupil, spending per pupil, and a tool to compare school district to one another. This information has been compiled from state records and gives Legislatures, such as myself, a complete picture of funding Education in order to improve the formulas. I found the demonstration impressive and I encourage you as a taxpayer to check this site out. Very user friendly.

Education Reform was also addressed by Matt Ladner with the Goldwater Institute discussing the successful education reforms made by Florida. Although one reform cannot be considered the silver bullet, between 1998 and 2007 Florida was able to bring its NAEP reading scores at or above the basic level from 53% to 70%. This project has thrusted Florida into the national spot light as a leader in Education Reform.

This was a very thought provoking presentation and the need for our students to excel in the 21st century will depend upon Education Reform to meet higher goals. The House is looking at these and other reforms to improve the Kansas education system.

Legislative Bill Coming Up

SOS Kobach's Secure and Fair Elections (SAFE) Act HB 2067 was introduced which I am a co-sponsor, while The Kansas Healthcare Freedom Amendment is introduced Dr. Milton Wolf (President Obama’s cousin), Senate Concurrent Resolution 1626 House Concurrent Resolution 5032. I encourage you to read these bills & form an opinion. Here are the links: http://www.kansashealthcarefreedom.com/ http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2011_12/year1/measures/hb2067/

Additional Notes:

You may hear proposals and learn of proposed legislation that is quite innovative and forward thinking, and yes some proposals can be quite troubling. My recommendation is if you hear of something that causes you concern contact my office to express your concerns and voice your opinion.

I have received many comments from individuals expressing concern over the proposed 7.5% pay cut in state employee pay. Feel free to offer your option or counter offer to anything that is proposed. Right now as I understand it the proposal would be a reduction in operating overhead equal to 7.5% of the payroll. The department and agency managers have a choice as to whether to make direct payroll reduction or combining this with reductions from other areas of their last 6 weeks budget. In other words the entire reduction does not have to come from payroll. If we all start living below our means and really look at our expenses we can help ourselves.

Most requests for assistance on unemployment claims issues are for help making contact with the DOL to discuss the individual cases. Unfortunately many requests come from those that have exhausted their benefits and the 99 weeks of entitlement has expired. One would hope in that time that many have worked on training or schools to increase their job skills.

A major factor in long-term unemployment and the resulting absence from work is the loss of job skills. From a technical standpoint many lose competency quickly when they are not exposed to their normal work duties, training and retraining is a very necessary requirement.

New legislation is being proposed that will address topics that regularly pop up to include: raising the speed limit to 75 on some divided highways, repealing or modification of the smoking ban, abortion, Voter ID, budget shortfalls, water rights, farming practices, open records, and reorganization of state agencies. What do you think?

I am receiving some interest in having some of you come to Topeka for a “shadow” day. I remind you that we will not be in session April 3d-26th and after that only a couple of days in April for Veto Session and that will be it for 2011. If you want to talk about it, just get in contact with me.

I consider it an honor and privilege to be your Representative in Topeka and I want to know what you think.

Rep. Terry L. Calloway
3rd District