1/31/10 Rep. Wetta Legislative Report
FROM THE STATEHOUSE - Vince Wetta Report
Vince Wetta, Representative, 80th District * 1204 N. Poplar * Wellington, KS 67152 * 620-326-5205 (home)
Sumner & Harper Counties
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Due to the cost of sending newsletters by mail, this e-mail will continue to be used to communicate with constituents. Please share this with friends and we will send this to anyone interested. My address and phone numbers may change. The e-mail address in Topeka is the same, vince.wetta@house.ks.gov.
From The Statehouse: Week 3
Kansas celebrated its 149th birthday this week. Marilyn and I attended the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas banquet Friday evening. Robert Gates was honored as Kansan of the Year. His acceptance speech was very emotional and made us proud of him and our Kansas heritage. His ending sentence was that with all he has accomplished, “You can take the boy out of Kansas, but you can’t take Kansas out of the boy.” He was very inspirational and we all have to demand that our representatives in Washington work for the good of the country and not political agendas.
At the Capitol in Topeka, we’re now into February and it is time we started getting this mess straightened out.
Budget Update
The House Appropriations Committee continued to hear briefings from state agencies last week regarding individual agency budgets. Unfortunately, the committee has yet to work a budget bill. Legislators and constituents alike are growing increasingly frustrated with the slow pace. The committee met six times throughout the interim to get a running start on the budget crisis. Given the extended working period, it seems reasonable to expect some type of concrete proposal 20 days into the 90-day session. If the majority leadership plans to make additional cuts to the FY 2011budget, they have a responsibility to begin specifically identifying what they feel can go to the chopping block.
Before we can begin work on FY 2011, we must first pass an FY 2010 rescission bill (which is necessary to officially enact cuts made by the Governor during the interim. The rescission bill ensures that Kansas meets its constitutional requirement to end the fiscal year with a positive ending balance). We have yet to do any work on this, but since the Senate passed its rescission bill on Wednesday, the House will hopefully follow suit and begin their work next week.
Medicaid cuts have devastating impact
There have been hearings in multiple committees for the last three weeks regarding the impact of the recently imposed 10% Medicaid cut. Kansas has cut more from Medicaid than almost any state in the union. Because the state receives 50-90% in matching funds from the federal government for this program, the total loss in revenue for health care providers who serve Medicaid patients is three times greater than the savings to the state. Cuts of this magnitude force providers to cut staff, salaries, and critical health services for our most vulnerable citizens. If funding is not restored in FY 2011 the impact will be twice as damaging, with a $130 million cut to providers in exchange for only a $70 million savings to the state.
Kansas Health Policy Authority processes Medicaid claims. Their operating budget has been reduced by 15% in the last fiscal year. KHPA’s call center, which received 250,000 calls last year from patients, has been closed. Customer service is an integral part of both state government and health care. These cuts are directly affecting our Sumner Mental Health and Futures Unlimited and Sumner Regional Medical Center. If we do not fund these programs, our most vulnerable citizens will either end up in nursing homes, which is much more expensive, or will die. Medicaid providers fall under the umbrella of SRS, Aging, and Health Policy Authority. These agencies and providers are essential to protecting those who are in dire need of medical care. Without proper funding, thousands of Kansans are left without services that- in some cases- literally keep them alive.
Hearings continue on Governor’s sales tax proposal
After hearing testimony last week in support of Governor Parkinson’s proposed sales tax increase, opponents got their say on Tuesday. Overall, opponents argue that a sales tax increase would have a negative impact on small businesses in the state and decrease economic activity. Discussion also focused on maintaining competitiveness with our border states, especially Missouri, noting that some business owners may consider moving their business out of the state if the sales tax increased.
Some suggested that the problem was with excessive spending and that deeper cuts are the solution to the budget crisis. Others emphasized that an increase in sales tax would be regressive, harming those on the lowest end of the income scale the most because they have the least disposable income to spend, especially on consumable goods like groceries.
The committee passed the bill out of committee unfavorably on Wednesday. I am not ready to endorse or reject any revenue proposal just yet. I will consider both sides with a singular focus on what is best for our district and state. The Governor’s budget proposal does not increase state spending. If his revenue package passes, it will only maintain current funding levels. After five rounds of cuts, those funding levels have been reduced by over $1 billion. Ultimately, state government can’t keep you safe, educate your children, or help you through this difficult economic time unless it has the funds to operate.
I am interested in your honest feedback on these discussions. Should we maintain state services or should we seriously consider a revenue package of some kind? Please contact me and tell me what you think.
Kansas Expanded 911 Bill
HB 2423 was worked in the Energy and Utilities Committee last week. The fee structure for wireless 911 service will change after June 30, 2010. This bill would address how we pay for the expensive upgrades and continue this vital service to our communities. Counties with a population of fewer than 75,000 have received grants to fund their 911 services. Only 5 counties, Douglas, Johnson, Shawnee, Sedgwick, and Wyandotte counties are large enough to be ineligible for the grants. This bill will define how we pay for and administer this program in the future. This bill is the result of negotiations between the League of Municipalities and the telecommunications industry, like Cox, Verizon, and AT&T. One of the problems is how to bill for prepaid wireless customers. The prepaid wireless customer has access to Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP’s) in an emergency; yet pay little or nothing to support them. We will be voting on this bill in the near future.
SmartGrid Electric Technology
You will be hearing more about the SmartGrid and how it will affect you. This is a new idea that is being tested in Lawrence. There are many benefits to the utilities but some of the customer benefits are:
- Enhanced service reliability and response to outages.
- Daily use and cost information available to customer
- Optional services such as text or email alerts for bill trends and outages
- Robust web portal with energy savings tips, carbon footprint calculator, neighborhood comparative analysis information.
- Enables offering demand side programs such as two way thermostats and smart, time of using pricing option.
- Support of “behind the meter” emerging products such as smart appliances, in home energy displays and personal home energy management applications.
This may seem like StarWars type stuff but I am giving this information to the City and they may be interested in using some of this in the future.
Ethanol update received in Agriculture Committee
On Monday, the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee received an update on ethanol production in Kansas. Twelve ethanol factories exist in the state currently, and Kansas ethanol plants have led the country in performance and recovery in the past. Grain prices have risen due to the increased need in the surrounding areas of ethanol manufacturing. Kansas has potential for increasing production of ethanol and producing grain sorghum, an advanced bio-fuel.
The use of ethanol as a major source of energy is beneficial not only to the United States by lessening dependence on foreign oil, but also for Kansans economically. Environmentally, ethanol is a cleaner burning fuel resulting in lower amounts of harmful greenhouse gases. Production plants have the potential to become self sufficient by using heat produced in the fermentation process, which could significantly reduce the industry’s carbon footprint. If the federal government and the world are serious about carbon capture, we might as well benefit from it here in south-central Kansas. SB 298 would require the location and signage of all oil and gas wells. This is vital if we are to store carbon in the Wellington oil field as I explained in an earlier newsletter. At some point in the future, I expect that our children or grandchildren will be pumping that same CO2 back out of the ground and using it. We might as well take advantage of the technology. While we are talking about it, let’s talk about the possibility of a coal and natural gas and biomass power plant in Sumner County. If we start the permitting process now, it would take 10 to 15 years to get this done. By then, there will be clean coal plants and we could store the CO2, that we don’t use to grow algae at our ethanol plant, in the Wellington field. We have the railroad and all the biomass and infrastructure to do this.
Keep in Touch
It is a special honor to serve as your state representative. I 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 L 8, Docking State Office Building, Topeka, KS 66612. You can reach me at (785) 296-7665 or call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me. Additionally, you can e-mail me at vince.wetta@house.ks.gov. You can also follow the legislative session online at www.kslegislature.org
