KANSAS SENATE BILLS for Years 2003-2004:

Last Updated 02/24/2004         To check the status and history of a bill:                          Bill Status

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SB3, the deletion of the criminal defamation definition bill, is being heard in committee. The thrust behind it is to remove a law that has great potential for misuse/misapplication.

SB5. School finance revisions.

 SB 9 - gives tribal law enforcement authority within reservation boundaries, in response to mutual aid requests from outside the reservation, on streets and highways adjacent to reservation boundaries, and while transporting persons in custody to appropriate facilities. The "on streets and highways" clause creates overlapping jurisdiction and there is no county control over their actions - they become involuntary sheriff deputies without being under the sheriffs' control. The goal could be reached by the local sheriffs deputizing the tribal law enforcment people, an action that can be taken within current law.

SB15 - Revises landlord/tenant law - states that a tenant's signature on a notice of termination shall not bind the tenant to any additional terms not found in the original rental agreement.

SB16 - States that a person cannot hold a valid drivers license and a state-issued ID card at the same time. Requires social security number be provided for drivers license or an affidavit that the person does not have a SSN. I have been told that someone I respect opposes it in committee - have not had opportunity to find out why.

SB17 - Deletes the requirement that a chief judge in a district has to obtain the concurrence of the other judges to appoint the court clerk and other court-related positions such a court reporters, bailiffs, etc.

SB18, 19, 20, 21

SB22 - Allows school districts to use capital outlay funds for the acquisition of computer equipment.

SB23 - Allows people who have distinctive license plates that expire after 1/1/04, issued under laws that expire on 1/1/04, to use them/display them until their expiration.

SB24 - Declares English to be the official language of the State.

SB25 - Gives local government the authority to enact ordinances that provide for the gradual elimination of sport shooting ranges which constitute non-conforming uses, and requires that such closing be compensated for the land, improvements, and economic loss.

SB26

SB27 - Adds requirement to DUI law that all alcohol and drug safety action education programs shall be at least 10 hours long and approved by SRS. A new set of Clerks.

SB28 - 16 pages changing corporation law and the definition of "professional service." Need a corporate attorney to tell if changes good or bad.

SB29 - 105 pages changing laws about corporations and stockholders. Ditto.

SB30 - Appropriations act for various boards, agencies, and departments for the current FY that reduces some amounts and increases some. Among the increases: Board of Nursing, Board of Examiners in Optometry, Board of Pharmacy, and Department of Revenue. One provision is that no funds will be transferred to cities/counties after 11/26/02 in FY03 from the local ad valorem tax reduction fund, the county/city revenue sharing fund, and the special city and county highway fund.

SB33. Adds to DUI law authority for judges to include in sentences the impounding and/or immobilization of the offender’s car, with all costs for such action paid for the the offender.

SB39. Could be called Fairness in USD Budgeting Act. Requires USDs to include all sources of funds in their budgets and states that their budgets must reflect the anticipated ending balances to be carried forward.

SB41 - Makes the 2000 International Building Codes the standard for all school construction.

SB42 - Once again the state fire marshal is trying to extend his empire with certification and licensing requirements for companies who install fire suppression systems and who manufacture, purchase, store, transport, or use fireworks. The certification fee goes from $200 to $500. (Fees have their place, but recently read that in the State of Washington, fees have gone from being reasonable to outrageous, with people being charged an hourly fee to talk to an agency employee.)

SB46 - Gives citizens a procedure for preventing the euthanasia of their seized dog pending legal action by posting bond sufficient to pay for 30 days of care, and to extend the period by successive posting of bonds.

SB54. A very short bill that opens wide the gates for prosecution of people for "negligent homicide" defined as causing death by criminal negligence. Criminal negligence is defined as "the failure to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk that an act or omission may cause or contribute to the injury or death of a human being. The risk shall be of such nature and degree that the failure to perceive such risk constitutes a gross deviation from the standards of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation." Let your imagination flow as how this definition can be stretched to second-guess every decision made that results in a death of someone. Exactly what is the reasonable person standard? Is it case specific? Does it presume detailed and technical knowledge about all the elements of the situation? or is the ‘reasonable person’ a person who sees a bogeyman behind every tree, expects everyone to be omniscient, and demands government protection from the risks of living? They are out there who embrace the precautionary standard - just think of those who say that even though there is no proof that global warming is a threat, we still have to shut down energy production and technological advances and live in caves. IMHO, enactment would appear to provide a cause of action that could easily be used to harass and shutdown businesses that are on PC-hit lists. Comments?

SB56. Creates the "putative father" registry, another government list of a specific group of people. As I read it, the putative father places his own name on the list at his option; his name is not placed on the list by someone else. In anyevent, another government function that provides rationale for more Clerks and $$$.

SB58. Authorizes USDs to establish "alternate teacher compensation plans" and provides for grants to operate the plan.

SB59. Establishes the state-run "exemplary school recognition program." With recognition comes $$$ subject to the appropriatins process.

SB60. Modifies teacher retirement law to include a means of USDs using retired teachers without affecting benefits.

SB61. New law setting up the "Uniform Athletic Agents Act," requiring registration and certification by the state.

SB62. Another appropriations bill making changes in the current year budget, some up, some down.

SB67, Adkins. Makes child in need of care and juvenile court records open records when the topic is life threatening injury or death of a child.

SB68, Taddiken. Establishes "Helping Schools" license plates with the $50 royalty fee going to the USD of the car owner’s choice, less S&H extracted by the state BOE. Here is a chance for all those people who advocate tax increases for education to do their bit. I am not holding my breath.

SB69, Bunten. Changes the primary date to the first Tuesday after the 4th Monday in August in even years.

SB71, Judiciary. Repeals the expiration date for the law establishing the deadbeat dad Kansas Payment Center. (They probably have in some instance, but I can’t remember a sunset provision being allowed to operate - they are so easy to extend or repeal.)

SB72, Judiciary. Another bill incorporating the SSN for drivers licenses requirement. See comments at end.

SB74, many bipartisian sponsors. Directs the state BOE to implement "Personal Financial Literacy" programs in the state’s schools. (Please, no snide comments regarding how about first worrying about plain old literacy.)

SB76, Elections/Local Governments. Requires conformance to the OMA by all committees and task forces created by local units of government, and includes the committees/task forces formed by an incoming governor. Take that, Guv.

SB77, Elections/Local Governments. Allows cities of 2nd or 3rd class, and counties, to designate a website or a newspaper to be the official publication source for official announcements. This is a lousy idea. It would effectively reduce the "visibility" of what governments are doing. Who wants to spend any more time than absolutely necessary in front of these infernal devices? Who is going to go on the net to read legal notices?

SB79, Jackson, Bunten, Hensley. Changes the law on how people who live in an extraterritorial zone can block the city from extending city building codes into the ETZ. It provides a 90-day window following passage of the law for those living in an ETZ in which city building codes have already been imposed to bring the imposition to a vote.

SB81, Ways and Means. Double red flags on this one. Creates "conservation stamps" which will have to be purchased in addition to hunting and fishing licenses, with the money going to WL&Ps to purchase more land. More state land requires bigger budgets to oversee and maintain, more state land means that the tax rolls will be shrunk. There will be glorious promises of more land for recreation, but the trend in government land management is to lock up land acquired, keeping people off it. Think Wildlands Project. The introduction of this bill also provides an insight into the workings of the Senate leadership. It was introduced in Ways and Means, which has become a rubber stamp committee for the spenders (this is the one Tim Huelskamp was removed from,) and not in Bob Tyson’s natural resources committee where it logically belongs - and where it would get a critical look.

SB83, Fed/State Affairs. Deletes the 5-year limit on USD abilility to impose capital outlay mill levy and says that capital outlay funds can be used for utility bills, casualty insurance premiums, and purchase of technology, including software. Strips another opportunity for citizens to be able to contest a tax increase.

SB84, Fed/State Affairs. Appears to give USDs new taxing authority to provide revenue for the districts’ "enrichment funds," limited to 5% of the district’s general fund budget. If you education experts read this differently, please let me know.

SB85, Corbin. Eliminates the property tax exemption for wind energy sources. He is actually trying to eliminate a subsidy.

SB87, Haley. Once again Senator Haley is trying to enact the Scruffy law, making it a felony to kill, maim, torture, burn, or mutilate or cause serious physical injury to an animal. Named Scruffy in honor of a dog that was torched by two people lacking brains. Haley has been trying to get this enacted for years.

SB89, Ways & Means. Establishes procedures for teachers and school boards to terminate employment contracts if Guv has not signed school appropriation bill by April 16.

SB91, Ways & Means. Exempts from US citizenry prerequisite for law enforcement training Canadian citizens who have previous law enforcement experience and reside in Stevens County. (Yup, the central committee in the budget debate has time on its hands.)

SB92, Fed/State Affairs. Allows Sunday booze sales if approved by county citizen vote.

SB94, Schmidt, Adkins, Jackson, Schodorf, Taddiken, Teichman, Vratil. Repeals KSA 2002 Supp 79-15,127 relating to inheritance or succession tax, abolishing tax liability and refunding any tax paid under what was repealed. Sorry, didn’t have time to look up the cited KSA.

SB96, Election/Local Government. Exempts state candidates who receive or expend less than $500 from appointing a treasurer or campaign committee.

SB99, Legislative Post Audit. Gives county appraiser authority to require the owner of income producing property to annually report income and operating expenses on form provided by appraiser. Failure to do so results in penalty equal to 10% increase in the assessed value of property. More paperwork, more record keeping - and there is no provision for holding confidential competition sensitive information.

SB100, Public Health/Welfare. Adds "hourly child care facility" to definition of child care facilities bringing them into the regulatory web.

SB102, Elect/Local Gov’t. This bill says that a replacement ballot issued when an advance ballot is lost, destroyed, spoiled, or not received shall be considered a provisional ballot and subject to provisional ballot scrutiny.

SB103, Elect/Local Gov’t. How do we give up a bit of freedom today? Make it more difficult for citizens to participate in government. This bill revises the recall law to make it more difficult to recall anyone. It creates boards of politicians to review recall petitions and pass on their acceptability. The boards have to find that the facts support the grounds for recall, in affect passing judgment on the validity of the recall charges. If the boards deny the petition, or the incumbents want to challenge the recall, any court action has to be filed within 30 days.

SB105, Commerce. How do we give up a bit of freedom today? Let government get bigger and more intrusive with the power to tax and non-judicially levy fines. This bill creates a state occupational safety plan, replacing one page of law with many pages. Creates a new bureaucracy (think OSHA) and gives it broad powers to write regulations dictating the actions of employers. The agency will conduct educational and informational programs. The agency will be funded by a fee (tax) on insurance carriers, self-insurer, or group-funded workers compensation pool, NTE 1% of the workers compensation benefits paid by the entity. Authorizes the assessment of civil penalties up to $70K for citations, based on circumstances.

SB106, Public Health & Welfare. How do we give up a bit of freedom today? Give The Clerks less than specific directions, turning them loose on their own. This bill directs KDHE to implement Healthy People 2010, subject to approriations. The bill really does not say much other than it is a national initiative and a follow-on to Healthy Kansans 2000. Supposedly the purpose is to (1) establish a limited number of major health care issues which are most pertinent to the citizens of Kansas, and (2) to establish objectives and priorities intended to ameliorate the adverse effects of such conditions and to develop action plans to accomplish such goals. Are you getting a warm and fuzzy feeling?

SB108, Fed/State Affairs. Authorizes the Kansas Lottery to conduct video lottery games and operate machines. There are people who think we can gamble our way to prosperity.

SB112, 7 Demo senators. How do we give up a bit of freedom today? Let government bias the market place by dictating wages. (Socialism it is called.) This bill imposes a mininum wage standard on all employees of companies constructing state public work projects. (Think Bacon-Davis, or is it Davis-Bacon?)

SB113, 8 Demo senators. How do we give up a bit of freedom today? Let government force people into contracts they oppose. This bill mandates that non-union member employees pay "fair share representation" fee to union when the union has been certified as the exclusive bargining agent at their place of employment. Gives union right to go to court to collect.

SB114, 4 Demo senators. How do we give up a bit of freedom today? Let government bias the market place by dictating wages. This bill increases the state minium wage from $2.65/hour to $5.15/hour and repeals an exemption for certain business specified in Section 6 of the 1938 Federal Fair Labor Standard Act (20 USCA 206).

SB115, Assessment/Taxation. Reduces the number of members on the State Board of Tax Appeals from 5 to 3.

SB116, Emler (by request). How do we give up a bit of freedom today? This bill bans smoking in all restaurants with list of exceptions - all of which will be easy to amend out as time goes by, one by one, until the anti-smoking Nazis get their way. (I think I read somewhere that Hitler was violently anti-smoking.)

SB117, Education. Revises law relating to hearing process for teachers contesting non-renewal/termination of contracts.

SB121, Bunten. Enacts the School District Budget Law, 21 pages of very specific instructions on what has to be in a USD budget and how it is to be presented. Bunten has a goal of making USD budgets comprensible to patrons.

SB122, Hensley. Revises the Open Meetings Act to force open meetings of the political party caucuses in the House and Senate, plus the Senate Committee on Organization, Calendar, and Rules. No more smoke-filled back rooms. Not sure the gambit in play, but suspect part is harassment of Senate leadership or a barginning chip in some deal to be proposed.

SB123, Judiciary. 21 pages. Creates a nonprison sanction of certified drug abuse treatment programs for certain offenders who have no prior felony convictions and who the court decides will not jeopardize the safety of the public. Cost of treatment a responsibility of person under treatment. Applies retroactively to 7/1/93 for certain convictions.

SB124, Agriculture. Renames the Department of Agriculture the Department of Agriculture and Food Safety as of 7/1/03 and transfers KDHE food and food service responsibilities to the newly named department.

SB125, Agriculture. Creates a big game animal depredation fund and a stampa to fund the fund. The stamp will be up to $5.00 for residents and $10 for non-residents in addition to hunting license, and a $5.00 surcharge on big game guide permits. The fund will be used to pay damages that result from vehicle collisions with animals or from animals eating or trampling field crops. The amount that can be paid out is limited in certain cases, and if not enough money in the fund to pay all claims, the amount paid will be prorated.

SB126, Commerce. Adds ot the definition of "unsolicited consumer phone call" a call for the sole purpose of arranging a subsequent face-to-face meeting between a salesperson and the consumer.

SB128, Education. *** How do we give up a bit of freedom today? Need another reason why perhaps you should not send your child to public schools? We give school employees the ability to talk to our kids and not be able to find out what they talked about unless the child says in writing that it is OK. This one page bill prohibits school counselers or psychologists from disclosing to any person information or communications given to the person by a child, unless the counseler/psychologist suspects child abuse or that the physical or mental health of another person may be in jeopardy.

SB129, Public Health & Welfare. *** How do we give up a bit of freedom today? Let government get your child’s name and health information on a list at birth. This bill establishes the Birth Defect Information System, placing mandatory reporting requirements on doctors and hospitals and forces open medical records of any child reported into the system. Parents, upon request, can have names stripped from the records. Noble purpose of identifying problems and trends, but ...... I guess the right to privacy "found" in the Constitution only applies to killing babies.

SB132, Public Health & Welfare. Extends Good Samaritan protection to people who make automated external defibrillators available.

SB134, Commerce. Extends liability protections in existing law for people who open their property for recreational purposes to people who provide agritourism and ecotourism opportunities.

SB136, Fed and State Affairs. Expands current law to give recognition and authority to campus police officers employeed by community colleges and school districts.

SB137, Haley. *** Increases penalties for crimes in which "hate" was an element.

SB138, Haley. Restores the right to vote to felons upon completing their sentences. The findings section finds that the disenfranchisment has a disproportionate impact on minorities, especially African-Americans and Latinos.

SB140, Commerce. Creates a state tourism advertising fund and earmarks a percentage of tax revenue from tourism-related businesses to the fund. The tax revenue earmarked is a percentage of the amount that exceed 3% of the year-to-year increase in tax revenue from the businesses. No 3% increase in tax revenues, no money into the fund.

SB141, Judiciary. 51 pages, didn’t get past page 4. Establishes the Office of Administrative Hearings with a director appointed by the Guv. Over the succeeding years, hearings heard by hearing officers in departments and agencies will become the responsibility of the new department.

SB144, Financial Institutions & Insurance. Greatly restricts how insurance companies can use credit history in underwriting personal insurance.

SB145, Corbin. Eliminates the State Board of Agriculture, the board which nominates three people to the Guv from which to select the Secretary of Agriculture, and gives the Guv the outright ability to appoint the Secretary of Ag.

SB146, Assessment and Taxation. What government giveth, government can taketh. This bill says that Kansas will continue to double tax dividends if the the feds eliminate dividends from adjusted gross income.

SB147, Assessment and Taxation. Allows Chase County to impose a county-wide sales tax.

SB148, Assessment and Taxation. 23 pages enacting the Kansas Estate Tax Act. Congress may be on the verge of eliminating death taxes, but Kansas politicians want their pound of flesh, even out of the coffin. Tax attorneys/CPAs are going to have the evaluate the details of this one.

SB149, Elections/Local Gov. Expands the list of expenses which must be reimbursed when redeeming property sold by the county.

SB150, Elections/Local Gov. States that no real estate shall be permitted to remain unsold if taxes remain unpaid for a period of one year. Shape up or ship out.

SB151, Public Health/Welfare. Amends definition of hospital in county hospital law to include "joint enterprises for the provision of health care services" operated in connection with operation of medical care facility.

SB152, Fed/State Affairs. Requires USDs which permit non state residents to attend its schools to collect tuition in an amount not less than the average operating cost per student.

SB153, Commerce. Cell phone bills go up. Establishes the Public Safety Loan Fund, funded by appropriationsa and by a new $0.25/month fee on every wireless service user. The fund will make loans to local government for the purpose of enhancing wireless 911 service; local governments with such loans can charge a fee to assist in repaying loans.

SB154, Natural Resources. Revises how members of the the Kansas Animal Health Board are selected.

SB155, Natural Resoures. Tightens control of waste tire accumulations and disposal. Provides for use of waste tire fund to make grants to startup/enhance projects that recycle waste tires or recovery energy.

SB 157, Lyon. New law. Established standards/procedures for an alternate teacher certification program.

SB158, Judiciary. Puts a hold on the death penalty for two years while a newly created study commission investigates and evaluates the death penalty.

SB159, Transportation. Requires a vertical format for drivers licenses for people under 21 to make the fact "readily distinquishable."

SB161, Assessment/Tax. Eliminates the property tax exemption after 12/31/05 for elderly people housing facilities operated by charitable organizations and by not-for-profit corporations. This reminds me of Lawrence Reed’s 4th Principle of Sound Public Policy - "If you encourage something, you get more of it; if you discourage something, you get less of it."

SB162, Assessment/Tax. Extends the 20-mill school levy through 2004-2005 school year.

SB163, Assessment/Tax. As of the effective date of the bill, any property tax abatement approved by a local jurisdiction would not include abatement of the property tax levied by USDs, and makes other changes relating to property tax abatements. Property tax abatements, in the name of equity to all taxpayers, should be eliminated, if not by law, then by jurisdictions refusing to grant them. The world would not end.

SB164, Public Health/Welfare. Certain violations by a non-resident pharmacy become violations of the KS Consumer Protection Act.

SB165, Public Health/Welfare. New law requiring health benefit plans to apply consistent coinsurance, copayment, and deductible factors to all drug prescriptions filled by a participating pharmacy provider. I have no idea what evil this addresses.

SB166, Elections/Local Gov’t. When an elected office becomes vacant, the party of the person vacating the office gets to select the successor. This law says that the party to do the selecting is the party of the person vacating the office on the day of his election. Guess it could be called The Turncoat Rule.

SB167, Elections/Local Gov’t. Deletes requirement that cities have to mail nuisance abatement demands by certified mail, return receipt, says 1st Class mail is OK. Another step to tilt the operation of gov’t to gov’t’s favor.

SB 168, Education. To include “origins science” in schools.

SB170, Ways and Means. Requires withholding tax on payments of management or consulting fees to non-residents. Don’t have the up-to-date KSA supplements cited to evaluate.

SB171, Buten. 10 pages changing primary election dates. Too many shifts to summarize.

SB173, Financial Institutions/Ins. Revises unclaimed property relating to demutualization of insurance companies.

SB174, Financial Institutions/Ins. Lets insurance agents/brokers count membership in a professional society as two CEUs.

SB179, Lyon. Revises the grounds for divorce - makes it easier to divorce if no children in household, and adds a laundry list of grounds if children are at home.

SB180, Commerce. Major revisions to wireless 911 law. Establishes a new $0.50/month fee for all wireless subscribers for the newly created Enhanced Wireless 911 Fund and creates the Enhanced Wireless 911 Board.

SB182, Adkins. In estate tax law, cites a newer US Code but directs a disregard of a particular session. Have not a clue as to impact. Tax attorney/CPA comment? (Wonder what Adkins is running for now - he introduced 5 bills today.)

SB183, Adkins. 16 pages of new law enacting "The Interstate Compact for Juveniles." Any interstate compact is suspect; one proposed by Adkins doubly so. Both attorneys and those interested in family matters should take a look at this one.

SB184, Adkins. Requires state to post on web names and addresses of all persons whose drivers licenses were revoked or suspended for a variety of reasons.

SB185, Adkins. Revises DUI law. Gives state authority to seize cars used in a 3rd or subsequent violation, or a boat in a 2nd or subsequent violation. Divies up the proceeds, ½ to arresting law enforcement agency and ½ to Crime Victims Compensation Fund. Deletes the voluntary intoxication defense. Seizure laws are horrible - they provide an incentive, a bounty to law enforcement to make arrests.

SB186, Adkins. This is probably the most dangerous bill introduced this session, a direct attack on religious freedom and the Catholic Church. Adkins’ bill requires ordained ministers to inform authorities if they suspect child abuse or neglect or sexual abuse as a result of their penitential communication with a person.

SB190, Education. Makes the state board positions non-partisan and shifts the election of state board members to the February primary/April general election cycle. Vacancies would be filled by board appointment.

SB191, Agriculture. Forces state to buy bulk fuel that is 10% ethanol blend, and forces the purchase of 2% biodiesel blend when available as long as cost is no greater than $0.10/gallon above diesel. Dictates such as this is what drives up the cost of government.

SB192, Assessment/Tax. 60 pages (no, I did not read them all) that makes extensive changes to sales tax law, enacts the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (read internet and catalog sales), and authorizes municipalities to impose up to a 1% "Local Sales Transportation District Tax" on sales and services for purposes of financing a project in the defined district, and gives authority to issue bonds for such a district. Besides jamming the hand of government deeper into your pocket, the streamlined sales and use tax agreement in effect removes authority over sales taxes from state and local governments. Tea party anyone?

SB193, Hensley. Provides for local option electronic gaming machines at racetracks.

SB194, Jordan. Forces KDOT to install electrically operated traffic control devices at the intersection of K-7 and Clear Creek Parkway. Meddling or frustration?

SB195, Ways/Means. Reduces parole board to 3 members.

SB196, Fed/State Affairs. States that before a portion of a government employee’s salary can be withheld for a contribution to a political party, the employee must have signed permission form on file. No form, no withholding.

SB197, Fed/State Affairs. It would appear to make it illegal for a parent to furnish a beer to his child, but don’t have the 2002 Supp available to check context.

SB198, Fed/State Affairs. Adds cities in Wyandotte County as Class D city for sales tax purposes.

SB199, Public Health/Welfare. Deals with audiologists.

SB200, Public Health/Welfare. 12 pages of new law enacting "The Addiction Counselor Licensure Act." Sets education and experience required - and sets fees for license applications - $175, original license - $175, examination - $275, renewal - $75, etc. The addiction here is of The Guardians to gain control of every facet of living, and have the market place and taxpayers pay for their addiction. I always find it fascinating that government wants to certify professionals for the "common good" but refuse to take any responsibility if a certified professional screws up.

SB201, Financial Institutions/Ins. A short bill filled with cross citations, dealing with group health insurance contracts issued to a small employer.

SB202, Commerce. New law relating to broadband deployment, incentive company regulation, and price cap regulation. I have no expertise in this subject, good or bad???

SB203, Haley. Authorizes a Class A city to impose a 1% earnings tax, subject to popular vote on employees of employers who have been granted a property tax exemption or abatement, or whose business is located in a specified districts, such as a racetrack redevelopment zone. By outline format, it appears that something is missing in the issued bill. What is missing, I believe is that the tax can also be imposed on business earnings of businesses with abatments or in the specified districts. For the bill, a Class A city is described as any consolidated city-county established by KSA 12-340. All other cities are Class B. Cannot figure out motive for introduction - maybe revenge. Targeted bills such as this are just plain bad law - and this one is a disincentive for development. Why locate in such a district or be employed by someone with a tax abatement if you are going to get socked with another tax burden? And if it should make it on the books, how simple it will be for a future legislature to expand its net by simple changes to the definitions. Yuck.

SB204, Public Health/Welfare. Revises the lead poisoning prevention law, increasing its scope, its coverage, and its restrictions. Gives the agency broad power to adopt implementing regulations. How easy it is for the legislature to pass something that sounds good, and hand the dirty work off to an agency. Legislatures should not be allowed to give the agencies what amounts to law-making powers. A response is that there is a legislative committee to review/OK rules/regs to ensure that they meet legislative intent. Pure fig-leafs - from the operation I have seen, nothing but a rubber stamp.

SB205, Hensley. Establishes the Kansas Commenorative Coin Design Commission to make recommendation to the feds for the design of the Kansas Quarter. Requires the commission to invite artists to submit designs, the commission to select four, and the high school students of the state to select the winner by a statewide election.

SB206, 10 Republican, 2 Democratic. Places a one-year statute of limitations on the filing of habeas corpus petitions.

SB207, Ways/Means. 29 pages authorizing electronic gaming machines and other lottery games at various locations throughout the state.

SB208, Corbin. 28 pages authorizing electronic gaming machines at various locations throughout the state. (Did not attempt to find the differences between the two bills.)

SB209, Judiciary. Gives fire districts authority to seek reimbursement of expenses involved by a fire district responding to a fire determined to be arson from the person convicted of the crime.

SB210, Lyon. Establishes a prerequisite to issuance of a marriage license, the completing of a program in premarital counseling conducted by a licensed professional or an official representative of a religious institution. Establishes professional standards for the counselor. Thought struck as I was writing - is this getting the state involved in establishing a religion? Would have to read it again to see if it dictates what the "official representative of a religious institution has to do/say.

SB211, Fed/State Affairs. 13 pages enacting the Kansas Parent Control of Education Act. Provides education vouchers to "Program Eligible Child" as defined in the bill - appears to be targeted to low income families.

SB212, Hensley. Makes it illegal to place in a political ad false statements of material facts or statements that leave a false impression, and lists what is covered - statements about candidate’s education, profession, voting record, endorsements, etc. Holds the media harmless unless the media was involved in creating the ad. This strikes me as a limitation on political free speech.

SB213, Public Health/Welfare. Requires Medicaid recipients to notify SRS of any prearranged purchase of burial plot contracts.

SB214, Steineger. Gives Wyandotte County the authority to impose a 1% county wide sales tax.

SB215, Steineger. Gives Wyandotte County the authority to impose a 1% earnings tax.

SB216, Natural Resources. Adds the burning of untreated wood or sawdust to the definition of "construction and demolition landfill" in the solid waste law.

SB217, Haley. Transfers the powers and duties of the Governmental Ethics Commission to the Secretary of State.

SB218, Haley. Abolishes the Kansas Sentencing Commission and transfers its duties to the Department of Corrections.

SB219, Haley. Creates the Department of Financial Institutions and transfers to the the duties of the State Bank Commissioner, the Securities Commissioner, and the Credit Union Administrator.

SB220, Haley. Abolishes the office of State Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner and transfers their responsibilities to the Department of Administration.

SB221, Natural Resources. Establishes an Upland Game Bird Restoration stamp, cost $10, that will be required in addition to hunting license to hunt game birds. 50% of the money will go to increase public access to private land, 50% to improve habitat on private land, none to buy land. Rather than get the state involved, why not just let landowners charge people to hunt on their land without the state meddling. There are many examples of private stewardish improving habitat and the stock of animals.

SB222, Ways/Means. Gives authority to KDFA t o get into the business of providing mortgages for moderate income families in need of housing, with the agency allowed to define "moderate." It gives agency specific authority to make mortgage loans direct to individuals. Makes the agency the exclusive issuer for any unit of government’s programs for home mortgage loans. This shows where the Guv is headed with her reorganization. The state government is being set up to be in direct competition with all private sector mortgage providers in an expanded market place. Bond attorneys, and credit union and bank officials should look this one over carefully. All this is is bigger government getting bigger.

SB223, Commerce. Revises the law that sets up the reverse auctioning electronic procurement process. Any purchasing agents out there to look this one over to see how good or bad it is?

SB224, Commerce. Establishes the broadband deployment loan fund and tells who controls it and how it will be used.

SB225, Public Health/Welfare. 33 pages making extensive changes to the law regulating physical therapists, including everything involved with the change from being registered to being licensed. And of course there is a whole new set of fees to be imposed.

SB226, Judiciary. 25 pages allowing electronic gaming machines at racetracks. Why Judiciary? Don’t have the foggiest. Does make it a local option decision. Buried in it are such things as making it illegal to be drunk when playing a machine, requiring operators to post a sign with a toll free number telling complusive or problem gamblers where they can get help, exempts the sale of the machines from the sales tax, and authorizes grants to provide for the training of addiction professionals. All this for a few million dollars. Just how much morality is there in the state actively enabling people to become societal problems, then throwing some money at the problem to salve a conscience. Bah humbug.

SB227, Fed/State Affairs. Changes the definition of fair market value for property taxation assessments to exclude the value of special assessments.

SB228, Fed/State Affairs. Amends open meetings act to exclude the meeting of any administrative body that licenses or regulates a profession or occupation when such body is exercising its investigatory functions or when making determinations concerning an investigation or the initiation of a disciplinary hearing. I can see keeping an investigation quiet so as not to alert the alleged evildoer, but does not the public have a right to know when a determination is being made? -jda- your thoughts?

SB229, Fed/State Affairs. Here is another one that expands the power of The Clerks over society. Gives the real estate appraisal board the authority to issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum.

SB230, Fed/State Affairs. Deletes the retailer lottery certifiicates.

SB231, Judiciary. Adds to definition of "aggravated battery against a law enforcement officer" bodily harm caused with a motor vehicle when the person knows that the person being struck is a police officer.

SB232, Judiciary. Makes many due process changes to the law governing the civil commitment of sexually violent predators. I did not evaluate who the changes favor, the state or the person being charged.

SB233, Assessment/Taxation. Gives Shawnee County the authority to levy a county-wide ¼ cent sales tax, subject to electorate vote, with revenues dedicated to rebuilding the Topeka Avenue bridge. The tax expires when the project is paid off. I can hear it now - everyone is used to paying the tax, lets just extend it for this or that project.

SB234, Public Health/Welfare. Government gets bigger, the price of health care goes up. New law requiring the registration of pharmacy benefits management companies with the Commissioner of Insurance. Commissioner has to determine that company is solvent and well managed. $500 registration application fee, $500 annual renewal fee. Gives the Commissioner authority to levy civil penalties for various misdeeds cited in the bill.

SB235, Commerce. Adds definition of "Special Bond Project" to the list of definitions in the TIF law, and gives new authority to cities to establish TIF for such projects. A Special Bond Project is one with $50M in capital investment and $50M in projected gross annual sales revenues. Does anyone know of some blue sky project that this TIF amendment is tailored to accomodate?

SB236, Agriculture. New law giving the Secretary of Agriculture dominion over genetically modified crops. Establishes hearing and review process for applications for certification of such crops.

SB237, Ways/Means. 21 pages giving Labette and Johnson county commissioners the authority to establish a redevelopment district, and create a redevelopment authority, to cover any and all of a federal enclave (Sunflower Ammo Plant) in the two counties. The bill allows the counties to impose a ½ cent sales tax within the redevelopment district but without a public vote. Authorizes TIF and other bonds. Let’s see, the Oz project on the land fizzled, wonder who is now out to tap the public till for what grand purpose.

SB238, Ways/Means. "The Efficiency in Local Government Act." Allows cities and counties to establish joing government operations subject to citizen vote. Another step towards government getting bigger and further away from the electorate.

SB239, Ways/Means. Authorizes the Secretary of State to adopt rules/regs fixing the fees to be chargee for providing information and services, such as copies of the KSA and session laws.

SB240, Ways/Means. Repeals KSA 48-323, deleting requirement for NG to carry casualty insurance on armories under their control. ?????

SB241, Ways/Means. Enacts "Agricultural Opportunities and Value-Added Partnership Act." Establishes a grant program for up to $75,000 annually, with the grants going to just about anyone associated with agriculture except independent individual farmers. The purpose of the grants is to develop ways to enhance the development and marketing of value-added means for farmers to stay in business. (For an example of farmers/ranchers trying to keep their heads above water, check out http://www.ranchfoodsdirect.com/.) A special fund will be set up to fund the grants - the fund will be funded by gifts, grants, donations, proceeds from contracts for services, and reimbursement of expenses. The SecAg is directed to seek $$$ from the feds, commodity check-off funds, private donations, and private grants. Add another shell to the tax dollar shell game.

SB242, Ways/Means. Revisess developmental disabilities reform act, apparently separating intake/service referral functions from treatment/care functions.

SB243, Ways/Means. Adds dichloralphenazone to the controlled substance list in KSA 65-4111. According to the Merck Index, the chemical’s category is "sedative, hypnotic."

SB244, Ways/Means. Revises law concerning the burial of indigents to cover situation when there no immediate family or next of kin who will accept burial responsibility. The county of residence gets the honors.

SB245, Fed/State Affairs. Gives state fire marshal authority/responsibility to assess costs of responding to hazmat incidents, to determine responsible parties, and to assess costs to responsible parties. If costs not paid, fire marshall can take person to court in Shawnee County district court. Person assessed can appeal through administrative procedure hearing and/or ask for judicial review.

SB246, Fed/State Affairs. Significant change to charter school law, repealing all existing law except 30 charter school limitation and replacing with new law. Creates seven member Advisory Board on State Charter Schools with four members appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the Governor. Did not make comparison of old/new to see what might be buried in it. If someone familiar with charter schools does do a line-by-line review, would appreciate knowing the results.

SB247, Fed/State Affairs. For a building on leased ground to be assessed to the owner of the improvement, the bill requires that the lease have on the first page of the lease the words "Building on Leased Ground," be recorded, and a copy provided to the county assessor within 60 days of being recorded. If any of these requirements are not done, the improvement will be assessed to the land owner.

SB248, Fed/State Affairs. Enacts the Kansas Surety Recovery Agents Act. Requires bounty hunters to be licensed by the Attorney General. The agents must complete an AG approved training course and six hours CE training annually. There is a $250 application fee, a $100 license renewal fee, and a $10 photo ID fee. Violation of the act carries with it fines and jail time. At the rate the legislature sets up these license/training/fee requirements, every occupation will end up requiring a state license with its associated bureaucracy.

SB249, Ways/Means. Another 29 page bill authorizing electronic gaming machines and other lottery games a certain locations. Did not try to read it. An extension of gambling is an extension of gambling.

SB250, Ways/Means. Repeals the KS Performance Review Act (KSA 75-7101, 7102, 7103, 7104, 7105, and 7107.) The purpose of the KS PRA is to perform a continuing process to review functions of state government to determine whether they are being executed in the most efficient manner possible. Not being in the capitol, could not ask around to find out why the repeal. On the face of it, the politicians don’t want anyone looking over their shoulder, then again, it may have been a toothless tiger, taking up space in the KSA. Would appreciate hearing from anyone who has insight into this one.   From Senator Stan Clark:  I am not an authority ... but I think we quit funding the Perforance Review Board and office 2 years ago and this just removes the statutes from the law books.  This was a creation of Pat Ranson and they served about the same function as Legislative Post Audit.

Stan

 

SB251, Ways/Means. Provides a means for members of the State Finance Council to absentee vote on matters which require a unanimous vote.

SB252, Ways/Means. 13 pages establishing the Board of Fire Services and subsumes the State Fire Marshal and his office into the Board’s functions. Of the 13 members, the Guv gets to appoint nine. Amongst the Board’s authorities is to right rules/regs and appoint the State Fire Marshal. Establishes long lists of fees and assessments to fund the Board. I have a question out to an expert in this field asking what is afoot.

SB253, Ways/Means. 25 pages of state appropriations, primarily for capital improvement spending, for Fys ending 6/30/04 and 6/30/05.

SB254, Fed/State Affairs. Rhode Island Nightclub Act. Adds new criteria for revoking or suspending any license issued pursuant to the Club and Drinking Establishment Act: any violation of any state/city/county building, fire safety, fire suppression, or occupancy code/rule/reg. Gives cities and counties similar authority for cereal malt beverage license holders.

SB255, Ways/Means. Provides due process for situation where a property valuation has been reduced due to a final determination but the tax roles for the current year hve been certified to the county clerk.

SB256, Ways/Means. Adds to crime victim compensation law the category of a Kansas domiciled person subjected to a violent crime while abroad.

SB257, Ways/Means. Significant increase in fees for animal dealers.

***SB258, Ways/Means. A one-page bill that opens the door for cities, counties, and taxing authorities to funnel dollars to USDs. The bill changes existing law to say that a USD can use gifts for any USD operation or function, or as a donor specified. The new section classifies as a gift dollars voluntarily transferred to a USD by any local subdivision or taxing authority, even if the dollars were derived from taxes. Would appear to be an effort to provide basis for the Johnson County levying a sales tax for in-county USDs and to stand as barrier to law suits that say such transfers are not legal as they violate the equal-funding mandate.

SB259, Ways/Means. Slips by one year the implementation of the planned increase in the number of judges on the court of appeals.

SB260, Ways/Means. Revises KPERS contribution law by limiting the growth of the state’s year-to-year contribution.

SB261, Ways/Means. Transfers the Information Network of Kansas, Inc., to Kansas, Inc. Increases Kansas, Inc., membership fro 17 to 20.

SB262, Ways/Means. Transfers the Division of Accounts from the Department of Administration to the State Treasurer.

SB263, Ways/Means. A 221-page appropriations bill for FYs ending 6/30/03, 6/30/04, and 6/30/05. The contents are left as an exercize for the diligent reader.

+++SB264, Ways/Means. The bill eliminates the ability of one house of the legislature to direct the AG to take a specific action in the courts. Currently, either house can direct the AG to take an action in a specific matter before the courts. This bill requires that both houses so request by concurrent resolution. My paranoic side says this attempt is being made to prevent the House from requiring a pro-life action stand by the AG, knowing that such direction would not make it through the Senate.

SB265, Ways/Means. Revises ethics law. Current law bans a state employee/official involved in making a contract with a private firm from being hired by the firm until two years after state employment stops or two years after the completion of the contract. The bill would allow immediate hiring if the employee was laid off for several specified reasons such as a budget crunch or reorganization.

SB266, Ways/Means. In campaign finance law, changes definition of "local" office to include USD board and community college board positions when the student population is 18,000 or more pupils enrolled the previous year.

SB267, Ways/Means. Places restrictions on "percent of proceeds gas purchase agreements."

SB268, Ways/Means. Establishes the "Civil Registration and Health Statistics Fee Fund." Gives KDHE Secretary authority to set fees (no limit stated) for certified copies or abstracts of certificates and for search of birth, death, fetal death, marriage, or divorce records when no certified copy or abstract is made.

SB269, Way/Means. Adds section titles in unemployment insurance law and provides for 27 weeks of benefits in FY04.

SB270, Ways/Means. In unemployment insurance law, deletes one week waiting period for new claims filed in FY04.

SB271, Ways/Means. Another "let us gamble our way to properity" bill, this one dealing with electronic gaming machines. For railroad buffs, the bill contains a definition of "gaming train." Anyone know of any Kansas passenger railroad that wants to install electronic gaming machines on a train?

SB272, Ways/Means. 11 pages revising Medicaid law, with extensive revisions concerning property and assets that can be considered in determining a patient’s available resources. Provides for filing of liens against real property by state. Needs careful review to determine if equitable due process has been incorporated.

SB273, Fed/State Affairs. Dry Kansas. Gives city voters opportunity to stop package liquor sales, to declare their city dry. If the vote is such, any package store license holders could operate for 90 days or to whenever their license expires, whichever occurs sooner. Also gives county voters the ability to vote for Sunday sales.

SB274, Fed/State Affairs. Similar to 273 without the county Sunday sales.

SB275, Ways/Means. New law that allows Secretary of Corrections to enter into contracts with private firms to construct and operate prisons.

SB276, Ways/Means. Revises Workers Comp law to consider disability retirement benefits obtained from other sources.

SB277, Ways/Means. Provides for income tax deduction and credit for long-term care insurance premiums paid by individuals.

SB278, Ways/Means. Repeals two sections of KSA that gave certain property tax exemptions to electrical utilities.

SB279, Ways/Means. Implements the accelerated payment of withholding, sales, and severance taxes.

SB280, Ways/Means. All the world’s problems can be solved by gambling. This bill establishes an instant lottery scratch-off game designated as the Veterans Benefits Game with the net profits divided 50% to the National Guard assistance program for NG scholarships and 50% to the soldiers home and veterans home fee funds.

*** SB281, Ways/Means. This one should be titled "Put Taxpayers in Hock so Boeing Gets $500M Act." The title given it is actually "The Economic Revitalization and Reinvestment Act." It gives the state the authority to issue bonds to foster product development leading to new manufactured products in Kansas. To be eligible, the company would have to have $600M in average gross Kansas compensation, paid at least $50K average annual gross compensation per Kansas employee, and have invested at least $1B in real and tangible property in Kansas. Oh, by the way, the eligible company would also have to carry the industrial classification of "aircraft manufacturing" and propose the spending of $500M on the product development. Now how many companies fit the mold. This is pure corporate welfare, a transfer of dollars from taxpayers to bond holders so that Boeing can develop the 7X7 or whatever. If it is such a winner, let Boeing go out on its own and get the funds.

SB282, Ways/Means. 24 pages shifting the licensing of adult care homes from KDHE to the Department of Aging.

SB283, Ways/Means. 29 pages - another gambling expansion bill.

 

SB286 *** 16 pages. 20 plus senators. A tax increase. Changes the effective date for sales tax destination sourcing to July 1, 2004, eliminates the state sales tax reduction of 0.1% that was supposed to go into effect on July 1, 2004, shoves the reduction to 5% back f rom 7/105 to 7/1/06, and lets retailers decide whether they will collect destination sales tax or the tax rate at their place of business until 7/1/04. After all is said and done, businesses and taxpayers are still saddled with all the problems and inequities of destination sales taxes and a tax reduction is pushed off. What the government giveth, the government can taketh.

SB287 Lyons. Adds a definition of "agriculture" and "farming" to the KSAs that give local governments zoning authority.  It is another step towards absolute state control of local zoning. "New Section 3" mandates what cities and counties must do in a particular situation. Today 1,000 feet between stables and residential districts, tomorrow the color of your house. It is an unneeded intrusion into the lives of citizens and a diminution of Jefferson's government closest to the people is most responsive principle and the principle of subsidiarity.

SB288 Hensley sticking to the Topeka good old boys. Makes the Topeka convention and visitors bureau subject to the open meetings and open records act. If only the senate would amend this case specific bill to extend KOMA/KORA to any organization that feeds off taxes, such as Adkins’ groups in the KC area.

SB289 Schmidt. Rome is burning and our elected officials are fiddling with mission-expanding make work. Authorizes a competition to design town entrance signs proclaiming the town to be the hometown of a Kansas governor and says it is OK to place the signs if KDOT receives sufficient private dollars to install the signs. The bill neglects to say who is going to pay for the actual construction of approved signs, and gives the design function to a committee of KDOT, Department of Commerce, State Historical Society, and Kansas Arts Committee. Ah, hah, more justification for an increase in budgets.

SB290 Jackson. Reduces the membership of the Capitol Area Plaza Authority to 11 members by 7/1/05 and fiddles with how many members the Guv can appoint. The Plaza Authority is in effect the planning commission for the "state zoning area" in Topeka. The Authority also has a say in the placement of memorials on state land in and around the capitol.

SB291 Joint Committee Rules/Regs. Adds to driver’s license KSA a list of KSAs, the conviction of which constitutes a moving violation.

SB292 Barnett and Schmidt. Gives fire districts the authority to pay for the installation and maintenance of fire hydrants. I am told that there is existing law which prevents such expenditure.

SB293 Lyon. In school safety law, removes the clause that restricted one of the weapon definitions to a device with a bore of more than one-half inch, and tightens to specific items to which the word "weapon" does not apply.

SB294 Schmidt and Schodorf. New law named "Agritourism Promotion Act." Provides for the designation of an "agritourism activity" and provides liability protection for the owner/operator of an agritourism activity from claims by tourists that resulted from risks normally associated with agriculture.

SB295 Confirmation Oversight Committee. Makes changes to the law governing the appointment of people to the Kansas Agricultural Remediation Board and to the Kansas Hospital Authority.

SB296 Agriculture. Transforms the Department of Agriculture into the Department of Agriculture and Food Safety, with the new department assuming all the food safety work now within KDHE. I have no idea of what problems this fixes or if it is bureaucratic musical chairs.

SB297 Judiciary. Repeals a change in the distribution of docket fees that was supposed to go into effect on 7/1/05.

SB298 Judiciary. Adds a $5 docket fee to any case filed under Article 7, Chapter 60 of the KSA.

SB299 Special Committee on Judiciary. Adds new law regulating bounty hunters and surety agents.

SB300 Legislative Educational Planning Committee. Gives the regents authority to sell 1.75 acres in Manhattan to the KSU Foundations, with the proceeds going into KSU’s parking fees fund. The land is in Section 18, T10S, R8E. Sorry, don’t have the necessary maps to find out exactly where it is.

SB301 Ditto. Directs that all moneys collected in the form of tuition, fees, and authorized charges shall be deposited in the general fund of the state educational institution collecting such monies.

SB302 Ditto. *** Once again, an attempt is being made to make illegal aliens citizens of the state for the purpose of tuition and fees at the state’s colleges and universities.

SB303 Ditto. Makes several changes to the family postsecondary savings program, including exempting money in such programs from being garnished, attached, or executed.

SB304 Ditto. New law setting forth how state aid will be computed for a new school district formed by the consolidation of two districts, or for a school district to which new territory is added by the disestablishment of a school district.

SB305 Special Committee on Judiciary. 19 pages. Makes significant changes to the laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages. Among the changes: prevents cities and counties from exempting themselves from the state law, declares null and void any local law conflicting with state law, provides a mechanism for approving Sunday sales, and gives the citizens of a city the ability to vote itself "dry." Needs a careful read by someone familiar with the state’s booze laws.

SB306 Legislative Post Audit Committee. Repeals KSA 74-8840 relating to financial audits of the racing and gaming committee.

SB307 Provides for the extension of a special sales tax in Clay County if the voters approve.

SB308 ***Special Committee on Assessment and Taxation. 15 pages. Gives cities and counties new authorities to raise sales taxes for an expanded list of wonderful projects - including, for counties, the funding of highway system enhancements listed in the KDOT master plan, the provision of health care services, and the preservation, access, and management of open spaces. At least the bill as introduced still requires any raises to be voted upon by the citizens. Would not surprise me to see an attempt made to either: (1) take out the election process or (2) turn it around so that it only goes to a vote if a protest petition is successfully run.

SB309 Utilities. Jumps the maximum fine for failing to comply with a KCC order or a law for which a penalty is not otherwise specified from $1,000 to $20,000.  I have been told that this bill essentially creates the same penalties as currently are in the Consumer Protection Code.

SB310 Utilities. Clamps down on public utilities by giving the KCC the task to make sure the utility does not use regulated operations to subsidize nonregulated activities, and that the unregulated activity does not materially impair the finances or credit of the public utility. Should we call this the Westar Law?

SB311 ***Financial Institutions and Insurance. Allows insurance companies to issue policies in languages other than English upon meeting a list of conditions. Adds titles to sections of existing law. While it states that the English version of the insurance contract is the controlling version (which can easily be deleted at any time), all this is a foot in the door for further Balkanization of our society.

SB312 ***Ways and Means. A tax increase. Extends the sunset date for the levy on insurance companies to support the state fire marshal’s office and the emergency medical services board.

SB313 ***Assessment and Taxation. Allows the Douglas County Commission to submit to the voters the question of imposing a 0.5% county wide sales tax to USDs having jurisdictional boundaries within Douglas County. Excuse me, if the state has the constitutional duty to fund schools and given Bullock’s finding that the distribution is inequitable, is not a single county giving more $$$ to a USD compounding the inequity?

SB314 Education. Expands the authorities of the governing boards of technical colleges. The authorities added appear to be those needed for the proper administration of an entity, such as enter into contracts and leases, select a chairman, appoint a college president, and hold title to real estate.

SB315 Judiciary. Expands to all post-decree motions the application of the docket fee, but does not change the amount of the docket fee.

SB316 Judiciary. Changes the English in the law relating to execution of judgments, and requires that executions and orders of sale be signed by a judge.

SB317 Judiciary. Provides for the destruction or return to a custodian of business records 30 days after the termination of a case if the records were not introduced in evidence or required as part of the case record.

SB318 Judiciary. Eliminates the 3-day waiting period between applying for a marriage license and the issuance of the license.

SB319 Judiciary. Makes it the duty of the judge, not the clerk of the court, to issue sentencing orders following conviction with a death sentence.

SB320 Vratil. New law, the "Grandparents as Foster Parents Act." Establishes such a program in SRS and details SRS duties, and program guidelines.

SB321 Judiciary. Removes limits on the power of a municipal judge to find and punish contempt, giving municipal judges the same contempt power as district judges.

SB322 Judiciary. Excludes from 10 day limit on filing appeals from a municipal court judgment any day that the municipal court clerk’s office and the district court clerk’s office is closed.

SB323 Ways and Means. Changes to April 20 (from the 4th) the required date for the estimate of revenues each year. (The December 4 required report remains.)

SB324 Judiciary. Allows invoking the appellate jurisdiction of the supreme court when a preliminary of final decision in which a law has been held to be unconstitutional iaw Article 6 of the Kansas Constitution. This results from the Bullock decision.

SB325 ***Assessment and Taxation. A tax increase. Pushes out the dates when the sales tax rate was supposed to decrease. States that sales tax applies to the sale and service of pre-written software.

SB326 ***Agriculture. An added financial burden on business. Increases the financial assurance requirements of pesticide businesses by one order of magnitude.

SB327 Brungardt. States that home school pupils shall be eligible to participate in interscholastic activities of the school district in which the student resides.

SB328 Elections and Local Governments. Changes the law regarding liens against property when water and sewer charges are not paid, stating that if the service was contracted for by a tenant, the lien cannot be made on the landowner’s property.

SB329 Transportation. Changes child seat belt law, creating three categories of requirements depending on the age, weight, and height of the child. Increases fine from $20 to $60.

SB330 Transportation. Requires garbage trucks to have unique backing down signal device - whistle, bell, or other audible signal, such signal to be used only when backing down.

SB331 Utilities. Adds wind turbine related leases and easements to law governing the recording such documents with the register of deeds.

SB332 Ways and Means. Changes the term "First Responder" to "Emergency Medical Responder" in the emergency medical service law.

SB333 15 Senators. Requires automated teller machines to send an alarm to the police when a consumer’s PIN is entered in reverse order. (What about a low-balance alarm, or an over-drawn alarm?)

SB334 Schmidt, Schodorf, Brownlee, Jordan. Another agritourism promotion bill providing a liability defense to owners, says agritourism participants assume risks of participation.

SB335 ***Agriculture. Establishes a new permit, inspection, and fee system under the state fire marshal for the storage and selling of liquefied petroleum gases. Imposes general liability insurance coverage requirements. Imposes per tank and per truck annual permit fees. Gives state fire marshal plan approval authority for new facilities with greater than 2,000 gallon capacity, and yes, there is a fee for the approval. Gives the state fire marshal authority to write whatever rules/orders needed. Each session there seems to be at least one bill increasing the state fire marshal’s empire.

SB336 ***Public Health and Welfare. Establishes the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program in KDHE - a rationale for more budget $$$, more FTEs. Requires annual reports to the Guv and legislature. Sets up a special fund for the program - where the $$$ are coming from is not specified, but we all know - taxpayers wallets have no bottom.

SB337 Judiciary. Repeals KSA 21-4007, something to do with hypnotic exhibitions. Intriguing, but did not look it up.

SB338 Financial Institutions and Insurance. Changes from 20 to 60 days the time certain liens can be attached.

SB339 FI&I. Changes home owners insurance law by adding word "to" in definition. Appears to be a typo-fixing bill.

SB340 FI&I. Revises an effective date in the definition of Risk-Based Capital instructions as published by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

SB341 ***FI&I. Fee increases on insurance companies and agents.

SB342 FI&I. Change word "or" to "and" in a string of conditions that must be met to pay "usual, customary and reasonable charges" in accident and health insurance policies.

SB343 Vratil. Repeals KSA 2003 Supp 65-441a dealing with hospitals. Did not look it up.

SB344 Education. Gives tax exemption to any group or organization sponsored by a school, but not to the sale of items by the group.

SB345 Education. Establishes a mediation process to resolve differences between USDs transferring territory.

SB346 Education. Excludes from FTE student count any student enrolled in a virtual school in a USD but who is not a state resident. Defines virtual school as any K-12 offering credit for distance learning primarily on the internet, with teacher and pupil not necessarily within a local education agency. The virtual school concept is an element of school choice.

SB347 Financial Institutions and Insurance. Says that an insurance company cannot adversely report a consumer inquiry until such inquiry is a formal claim filed by the consumer iaw the insurance contract’s provisions.

SB348 FI&I. Changes reference to a specific federal law to the broader term "federal law" in section of the law governing accident and health insurance policies.

SB349 Emler. Deletes the township population greater than 5,000 provision in liquor license law regarding unincorporated areas. Deletes from microbrewery law the provisions that established a lower limit on the amount of beer that could be produced. Current law reads 100 to 15,000 barrels. This bill makes it 0 to 15,000 barrels. As I read it, brings the little microbreweries into the clutches of the liquor license laws.

SB350 Emler. Gives municipal judges the authority to establish parole terms for up to two years vice current one year.

SB351 Emler. Establishes a program to pay tuition and fees at state educational institutions for people volunteering to be emergency medical services providers, subject to appropriations process. Establishes an obligated service period of six months for each semester. Good idea, but six months is a throw-away. Should be at least a year.

SB352 Agriculture. Changes definition of "technical representative" in law dealing with weights and measures.

SB353 Agriculture. Deletes 6/30/05 sunshine date from law covering serica lespedeza disaster areas.

SB354 ***Judiciary. Although only three pages long, it makes many changes in municipal court procedures, the consequences of which are murky to me. From KSA 12-4203 is deleted words that direct the city attorney to take specific action upon receiving a copy of a complaint from a municipal court. In 12-4209 is deleted two subparagraphs giving directions on when a warrant be issued and four new subparagraphs are inserted which expand on when warrants and notices to appear can be issued. The fourth subparagraph gives the municipal judge sole authority to allow affidavits or sworn testimony in support of probable cause to be made available for examination except to the defendant or defendant’s counsel. In 12-4213, words giving direction to law enforcement officers on protective custody are deleted and new words inserted, including the right to hold a person in custody who has not made bond until the earliest practical time for such person to appear in municipal court. If held in custody for 48 hours, and is still waiting for a first appearance, shall be released on the person’s personal recognizance. (In the words deleted, the 48 hours was 18 hours.) Absent some overriding rationale that is not obvious, and given the closing of access to due process documents and the new ability to hold for 48 hours, this one should not make it out of committee.

SB355 Judiciary. Defines "cognitive disability" and states that no person with cognitive disability is eligible for the death penalty.

SB356 Judiciary. In a violation of probation case, takes away from judges the authority to order that a lesser sentence be served.

SB357 Judiciary. 16 pages. The Kansas Notary Public Act. Restates law governing Notary Publics and repeals the existing Notary Public law.

SB358 Judiciary. 50 pages. Establishes the Office of Administrative Hearings, with director appointed by Guv, and transfers all administrative hearing responsibilities from individual agencies and offices in the Executive branch to the new office.

SB359 Education. Makes editorial changes in education law dealing with enrollment calculations and adds a recognition in enrollment calculations the enrollment of students in alternative schools.

SB360 Utilities. Significant revisions to KSA 66-117 regarding how Natural Gas Public Utilities and Electric Public Utilities can recover the cost of new facilities in rate making law.

SB361 Utilities. Another 66-117 revision, this one regarding the recovering of costs when a facility has to be relocated for such reasons as a new road or public facility.

SB362 ***Adkins. The Guardians are looking out after you. The bill deletes the seat belt law provision that seat belt violations are a secondary offense, citable only if another law has been broken. If this passes, you could be pulled over for not wearing a seat belt.

SB363 Natural Resources. Requires all hunters more than 12 years old to have been issued a certificate of completion of an approved hunter education course. Kids under 12 can hunt only if under direct supervision of an adult > 18 years old. Sets the length of the course as at least 10 hours and allows the establishment of a course of less length for people from other states entering the state to hunt. Deletes a provision restricting big game permits for persons less than 14 years old.

SB364. Natural Resources. 18 pages. Adds a new section to wildlife permits authorizing the wildlife and parks commissioners to issue "commissioner permits" to take big game, such permits shall be available only to nonprofits that actively promote wildlife conservation and the hunting and fishing heritage. Specifically excluded are organizations that oppose hunting and fishing. The purpose of the permits are to give the non-profits something to sell to obtain maximum financial benefit. Other changes: deletes turkeys from definition of big game animal and other sections of the big game permit law; adds a separate turkey permit/tag at a maximum cost of $100/$20 for residents; and provides for the reissuance of certain permits for military personnel forced to forfeit a permit because of deployment.

SB365 Ways and Means. Deletes portion of post-audit law exempting the audit of any person regulated by the KCC.

SB366 Public Health & Welfare. Expands the definition of health care provider as used in the law setting up the Cancer Registry and requires all health care providers to report all new cancer cases treated or diagnosed within 6 months.

SB367 Financial Institutions & Insurance. Deletes the modifier "capitated" in front of the term "managed care plan" in the law governing the state’s children’s health insurance program. Have no idea of the impact/implications of this change.

SB368 Assessment & Taxation. Revises law governing claims for the refund of fuel taxes, adding that automated invoices approved by the director may be submitted to support claim.

SB369 A&T. Adds definition of "lease number" to mineral severance tax law and changes severance tax exemption law regarding required reports and exemption validity periods.

SB370 A&T. Adds to state income tax law an allowable subtraction from federal gross income for premiums for qualified long term care insurance policies, starting at $500 in 2005 increasing on a ramp to $1,000 in 2010. Conforms to Reed’s Principle #4 of Sound Public Policy: If you encourage something, you get more of it; if you discourage something, you get less of it.

SB371 A&T. Gives qualifying retailers a one-time tax credit of $500 for costs incurred in implementing destination sourcing. Big Deal. Throw them a bone, maybe they won’t continue to howl about how we have messed them up.

SB372 *** A&T. Tax increase. Shoves back dates when state sales tax is supposed to decrease. Adds words setting forth how to determine the selling price of a motor vehicle for sales tax purposes.

SB373 Education. Authorizes two or more USDs which are considering consolidation to discuss the issues and states that the discussions can be held in any of the districts involved.

SB374 ***Education. New law establishing the Kansas School Board Development Program. Requires all school board members to gain 10 credit hours of board development each year. Bad idea. Don’t have all my thoughts in order - it places on an official elected to represent citizens a non-Constitutional office-holding requirement, one that no other elected representative has to meet. It creates a non-education mission creep expense on the USDs. The legislature was certainly quick several sessions ago to reject any notion that they should be subject to even a non-binding test on the Constitution -talk to Kay O’Connor about the reception her bill got. I could probably buy into 374 if it was amended to say that no legislator could hold office without passing an annual test on the Constitution written and graded by Dr. Thomas G. West or Dr. John Willson. Would appreciate comments.

SB375 *** Commerce. New law establishing the Kansas Regulatory Flexibility Act. Only three pages but packed with what on first read appears to be common sense approaches. One requirement: before any new rule/reg is written that would have an adverse impact on small businesses, an economic impact statement has to be prepared. The downside is history - similar federal laws have done little to slow down the rule/reg tsunami.

SB376 Elections & Local Governments. Changes campaign finance law relating to accounting of funds. Needs a review by someone very familiar with campaign finance law to see if there are red flags.

SB377 Federal & State Affairs. Adds the Office of Livable Neighborhoods at the Indian Springs Market Place to the list of locations where the Wyandotte County/Kansas City government must make available its expenditures. Whoopee.

SB378 Agriculture. Eliminates dual inspection of kennels by both state and federal governments.

SB379 ***Federal Institutions & Insurance. Amends seizure law by adding "lis pendens" to the list of means by which property can be seized constructively, and states that the seizing agency must make reasonable effort to notify the owner within 30 days of seizing the property.

SB380 FI&I. Revises the law governing notification of lienholders of record when a vehicle is held to satisfy a towing charge.

SB381 Bunten. 14 pages. Changes the definition of beneficiary in KPERS law, and allows the employee to specify a different beneficiary for death and long term disability benefits than for other benefits provided by law.

SB382 Utilities. Deletes the 7/1/04 sunshine date from the provisions of law that allows utilities to recover security costs.

SB383 ***Transportation. New fee. Adds requirement that for a hazardous material endorsement to be added to a commercial drivers license, the applicant must comply with federal security screening requirements and pay a fee, not to exceed $100, for the screening process.

SB384 Transportation. Increases speed limit to 75 on separated, multilane highways, and changes the speed ranges for which a violation will not be considered a moving violation. It also limits the ability of insurance companies to adjust rates or cancel policies when the speeding violations are by law "not a moving violation." Wonder if this gives pause to insurance companies doing business in Kansas.

SB385 Transportation. Doubles fines for speeding in a school zone.

SB386 Emler. Reduces the term of office for county appraiser contracts from 4 years to one year.

SB387 Emler. Adds the topics of intelligence, anti-terrorism, and disaster recovery to the list of what can be the subject of interlocal agreements.

SB388 Emler. *** Extends the law enforcement jurisdiction of Capitol Area Security Patrol to the entire state. Just what we need, another state-wide police force.

SB389 Emler. Extends authority to appoint special deputies to all sheriffs, not just those in counties with populations >100,000. Extends special deputies’ authority to call upon/deputize any other peace officer or private citizen to assist in terrorist attack situations.

SB390 Vratil. Revises law governing the refunds of homestead property tax by changing upper limit of an income bracket and provides for upper limits to be adjusted by inflation.

SB391 FI&I. Revises the allowed charges related to processing worthless checks.

SB392 FI&I. Gives the Committee on Surety Bonds and Insurance authority to negotiate and enter into contracts for the purpose of purchasing insurance, surety coverages, and similar coverages, and for the acquisition of consulting services.

SB393 ***Commerce. Creates the Kansas Center for Entrepreneurship within the Department of Commerce. The purpose is to enhance the quality of life by "increasing the availability of an accessibility to capital" and other neat things. The principal beneficiary of this bill will be the Department of Commerce’s empire. Government cannot create wealth, bureaucracies cannot create jobs, other than for bureaucrats. What government should be doing is getting out of the way. I might be able to go along with this if the Center’s only mission was to, within a year, identify all the waste in the Department of Commerce, all the overlapping "I am here to help you" programs, all the regulatory barriers to business development throughout state government, all the taxes that make Kansas the high tax point on the prairie, and then disband. Entrepreneurship is an ethereal undertaking that thrives on freedom and independence - it is not an endeavor that can be created by following a manual. Best that the Center never come into existence as its mere being sucks dollars out of the private sector.

SB394 Commerce. Makes miscellaneous changes to the IMPACT Act (KSA 2003 Supp 74-50,103) scattered throughout the KSA which do not make much sense in and of themselves. Did not take the time to try to figure it out.

SB395 Commerce. Revises law governing special obligation bonds. Deletes "received by the city" in subsection that talks about pledging the revenue from various taxes to pay off the bonds.

SB396 Natural Resources. Creates a radiation control operations fund for remedial action funds and gives KDHE carte blanche to fix the fees for state provided radiation services authorized by law.

SB397 Public Health & Welfare. Directs KDHE to create, subject to appropriations, the Electronic Communicable Disease Reporting System, and sets forth the criteria for the system.

SB398 ***PH&W. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act. While excluding abortion, the ultimate act of violence against an unborn human being, the act does extend the definition of person or human being in Kansas criminal code to include an unborn child. A step forward.

SB399 FI&I. A bill that only a corporate attorney could love. Provides criteria for asset disposition in the case of an insurance company reorganization, rehabilitation, or demutualization.

SB400 Elections & Local Government. Adds definition of "law enforcement" to the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Act.

SB401 Utilities. Extensive expansion of information reporting requirements associated with the payment to interest owners for oil and gas sales. Gives all district courts authority to enforce the requirements.

SB402 Agriculture. Adds to the list of allowed activities by a farm winery licensee: donation of wine to a non-profit and government sponsored fund raising activities; serving samples and sale of unopened containers at trade shows, festivals, and charitable events; and sale of wine by the glass at restaurants on the farm winery or contiguous to it. Sets the annual fee for sale at the restaurants at $125.00.

SB403 ***Assessment and Taxes. 21 pages. Many changes to school finance law. *** School finance. Some of the provisions. New section that lets kindergarten pupils be counted as one pupil depending upon how many pupils in the school are eligible for free or reduced price meals. New section that establishes the School District Capital Outlay Fund to give districts help in funding capital outlay projects. Requires school districts to have a district health care benefits program similar to the state’s system. Raises base state aid, incrementally, to $4,113 for the 06-07 school year. Inceases, incrementally, the weighting factors for bilingual education and at-risk pupils. Increases the statewide mill levy to 21 in the 05-06 school year. Imposes a 5% income tax surcharge starting in 2004. Increases, incrementally, the state sales tax to reach 5.7% on 7/1/06.

SB404 Federal & State Affairs. 9 pages. Tightens up real estate licensing criteria. Adds a subjective criteria for the commission to consider when considering granting a license or renewal: "Any conduct of the applicant which reflects negatively on the applicant’s honesty, trustworthiness, integrity, or competence to transact the business of real estate."

SB405 F&SA. Makes what appears to be editorial changes in the tax incremental funding law and adds words that environmental remediation projects can be done in phases.

SB406 F&SA. Revises domestic battery law. Says that upon a second conviction, the person has to serve a minimum of 5 consecutive days in jail. Recognizes grandparents in part dealing with custody.

SB407 F&SA. Authorizes race tracks to "take out" 25% (was 22%) from the betting pool to cover multiple and exotic bets.

SB408 ***F&SA. Changes public works bonding laws giving cities the authority to opt out of bonding requirements as a means of encouraging participation in the bidding process by small businesses.

SB409 Agriculture. Revises Water Appropriations Act as regards sand and gravel pits in areas where the net evaporation rate is >18 inches/year.

SB410 10 Senators. 12 pages. Significant revisions in defining misconduct due to drug or alcohol use in employment security law.

SB411 Assessment & Taxation. Revises the law governing the taxation of marijuana and controlled substances relating to tax assessment and appeal process.

SB412 A&T. Adds "personal property" into law governing sheriff’s sale of property to cover delinquent taxes.

SB413 A&T. New law requiring 21 specific entities or organizations claiming a sales tax exemption on its purchases to get an ID number from the revenue department. The 21 were listed by citation - did not look them up.

SB414 A&T. 7 pages. Revises liquour licensing law, saying that a license cannot be issued to anyone delinquent in certain taxes unless a formal appeal is in process or the owed taxes are being paid off on a schedule and payments are current.

SB415 ***A&T. In property appraisal law, changes residential definition to include all land and improvements whether or not contiguous to the land accomodating a dwelling or home used to store household goods and personal effects not used for the production of income.

SB416 ***Natural Resources. Tax increase. Allows local governments to collect a fee for operation of recycling program - citizens are forced to pay out more, politicians can say we did not raise your taxes. Government mandated recycling is a waste of tax dollars and a waste of resources - the market place tells you all you need to know when you have to pay to have someone take "recyclable" materials off your hands. I recommend to your reading "Eight Great Myths of Recycling" PERC Policy Series PS-28, September 2003. Is available on PERC’s website: www.perc.org.

SB417. Commerce. 8 pages. Deals with rural business development tax credits. The bill defines "regional foundations" as any organization that demonstrates a capacity to provide economic development services to regions elsewhere defined. The Secretary of Commerce gets to designate the authorized regional foundations. People donating money to a regional foundation for the purpose of establishing regional business development funds gets a tax credit, the tax credits to be "sold" by the regional foundation. The total amount of tax credits allowed are $2.5M for FY05 and FY06, and $2M for FY07. The only sure thing this bill does is (1) create a requirement for bigger government by all the oversight that will be needed, (2) divert dollars into the quest for designation as a regional foundation, (3) create a privileged interest group that, to ensure that it will survive, will expend a good effort to lobby for more tax subsidies, and (4) reduce the wealth of the state by sidetracking dollars into non-productive efforts. Government is incapable of economic development or the creation of wealth. Government is not subject to market discipline. Want to see businesses develop without the need for government involvement? Slash the incentive-draining bureaucracies and their stifling rules and cut taxes. Most importantly, cut taxes. Letting people keep more of their own money provides the source of capital in the private sector for business development. Government is not needed to provide venture capital - if the business environment is "friendly," business opportunities are there and private capital will flow. Thomas Jefferson must have faced similar pressures in 1821: "Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread." The same thought can be directed at Topeka.

SB418 ***Public Health & Welfare. Establishes a birth defects information system operated by KDHE. The stated purposes are for the state to facilitate intervention and prevention of defects and to facilitate access to treatments. Medical providers are mandated to submit required date to the state, including names. Parents can get names deleted from record by an administrative procedure set forth in the bill, but not the records for their child. Gathering incidence data is one thing, the rest smacks of Big Brother taking up residence in your home. No thank you.

SB419 ***Vratil. Current law says that the prevailing party can be awarded reasonable attorney fees in the recovery of property damages caused by the negligent operation of a motor vehicle only if the amount in question was less than $7,500. This bill deletes the $7,500 cap. Should I be surprised that this was proposed by a lawyer?

SB420 Vratil. Revises civil procedure relating to costs when an offer of judgment is involved.

SB421 Vratil. In eminent domain law, extends allowed time for a court-appointed appraiser to make his report from 20 days to 45 days.

SB422 Judiciary. 12 pages. Adds new law that says in capital murder convictions, if not sentenced to death, must be sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole and then goes on to prevent eligibility for probation and a whole lot of other possible sentencing options. Also makes other changes to criminal code involving murder charges/convictions.

SB423 Judiciary. Deletes prohibition that a party assigned a collection account cannot garnish wages.

SB424 Judiciary. New law that states the transfer of real or personal property to a trust shall not affect the coverage of any insurance, the trustee shall also be deemed to be so insured; the transfer to a trust does not affect any homesteand exemption or redemption rights; shall not cause a due on sale or similar clause to be effective if the transferor is the primary income benificiary of the trust.

SB425 Public Health & Welfare. Revises rules govering the administration of sedation and general anaesthethics by dentists.

SB426 ***PH&W. New fee. Revises rules governing the issuance of an "institutional license" by the Board of Healing Arts, including the authority for the board to collect a renewal fee not to exceed $500.00.

SB427 Ways & Means. For Kansas income tax computations, allows the subtraction from federal adjusted gross income of amounts received by retired employees of Washburn University as pension and retirement benefits under the university’s retirement plan.

SB428 ***Assessment & Taxation. New law given the state the ability, thru civil action, to shut down a business that is in arrears for 6 months on remitting sales taxes collected and withholding taxes to the state. Allows the business to be "posted" and anybody doing business with the business after it is shut down by the state can be fined $300.00. OK you tax slaves, just don’t forget who you work for - forget that nonsense that government is a servant. Kansas’s version of debtors prison.

SB429 Judiciary. Adds new felony classifications to bad check law when a person passes several bad checks in a 7 day period.

SB430 ***Judiciary. Revises adult care home law to state that the results of official state and federal inspections are not admissible as evidence in a civil action, other than in a few limited situations. Who is protecting whom? Why is it necessary to prevent a plaintiff from using what could be damning evidence in a suit against an adult care home?

SB431 Judiciary. Revises law governing criminal use of weapons to exclude lab employees at labs certified by the DOJ working with certain weapons in the course of duty.

SB432 Judiciary. 7 pages. Makes changes to law governing the termination of a police officer regarding the record of why terminated and to whom the record can be released.

SB433 Judiciary. Appears to be editorial changes in the law governing involuntary manslaughter while under the influence.

SB434 ***Haley. Limits the amount a candidate for the Kansas senate or house can spend on a campaign. Strange wording - it appears that the limit he wants to impose is $1 per constituent, with the number of constituents rounded up to the next 10,000. Does not say how the number of residents in the districts are to be determined. This is a further restriction on political free speech.

SB435 Fed & State Affairs. Provides KS income tax credits for qualifying donations to community service organizations and for addiction recovery and crime prevention facilities. Total credits allowed each FY cannot exceed $6M and during FY 05, 06, and 07, at least 50% of all the tax credits must be for ARCP facilities.

SB436 Judiciary. Extends the statute of limitations in civil law for recovery of damages from childhood sexual abuse from 3 years after turning 18 to 30 years after turning 18.

SB437 Judiciary. Increases the small claim limit from $1,800 to $5K and provides for future increases equal to the percent rise in the CPI.

SB438 Judiciary. Establishes two new crimes: automated teller machine robbery and aggravated ATM robbery. The first is a Level 4 Person Felony, the second a Level 2 Person Felony. Wonder why a new law is needed - are there not enough laws covering robbery already on the books?

SB439 Financial Institutions & Insurance. Changes law governing "payday" loans by lowering the allowable amount to be loaned to $500 (from $860) and setting just one allowable charge, $15 per $100 loaned.

SB440 Commerce. 42 pages. Revises employment security law relating to rating of successor employers. Did not read it.

SB441 Commerce. Adds to workers comp law an extended definition for the date of an accident to cover injuries as a result of a series of events, repetitive use, cumulative trauma, or micro traumas. Did not read it all.

SB442 Ways & Means. Establishes the Treasurer Services Reimbursement Fund and authorizes the state treasurer to establish fees for services provided to other state agencies. It is one way to hold the line on your budget, make other agencies eat it.

SB443 ***Public Health & Welfare. Revises the discipline authority of the Behavioral Science Regulatory Board by giving it authority to place conditions on a license. Gives the board authority to assess administrative fines NTE $1K per violation and allows costs NTE $200 to be charged if an order is adverse to a practitioner.

SB444 ***Assessment & Taxation. 17 pages. Revision to destination sourcing law. Too extensive to summarized. Makes revisions to cover sales tax situs considerations before and after Congress enacts a law authorizing the state to have out of state businesses lacking a physical presence in the state to collect state sales taxes.

SB445 ***Fed & State Affairs. New law, "The Kansas Fairness in Private Construction Act." States that the terms of the act cannot be waived by contract. Does not apply to single family or multifamily dwellings of 4 or less units. Places prompt payment requirements on owners and contractors. States that retainage has to be held in an escrow account. I wonder exactly what pressing societal problem needs this law to solve - is it anecdotal law in response to a particular situation?

SB446 ***Transportation. Makes editorial changes to definitions in highway construction and maintenance law. Deletes the requirement that construction warning signs must be supplemented at night by warning lights. (?????) Changes requirement to construct a detour from "shall" to "may" and deletes the requirement that the detour be passable. Deletes requirement that a county pay for the maintenance of a township road used as a detour.

SB447 Transportation. New law regarding the installation of culverts required when ditches are made alongside county roads. Specifies who is responsible for costs and maintenance.

SB448 Transportation. Repeals a grunch of articles in KSA 68 series. Looked up one at random, 68-150. Repealed is the requirement that the state transportation engineer shall make maintenance cost estimate for a road when 2 counties or townships cannot agree and that the estimate is binding on the parties.

SB449 Transportation. Extensive changes in the nuts and bolts of highway contracting. Should be looked at by someone familiar with highway construction and contracting.

SB450 Ways & Means. Expands the state’s Rail Service Improvement Program to cover the purchase of grain hopper cars.

SB451 Natural Resources. Changes Wildlife and Parks to the Department of Fish & Game. Changes Department of Commerce to Department of Commerce and Tourism. Responsibility for parks and boating are transferred to the new Dept of Commerce and Tourism. Musical chairs. Is this make work or does it solve a problem? will there be tax savings? will citizens be better off?

SB451. Proves again that it takes many different people to fully understand the purpose of a bill, not always evident on face value read. Found out the purpose - it will effectively eliminate W&P’s ability to subsidize Parks with Wildlife resources. More important, it cuts the Hayden kingdom in half. It has been reported that he is on a rampage. Too bad - he may be a Republican, but you could not tell it from the way he advocates big government agendas, including efforts to have the state own more and more land.

SB452 Public Health & Welfare. Deletes from psychologist regulation law the paragraph that said that nothing in the law should be interpreted to prevent the employment of a person not licensed as a psychologist as long as the person worked under the direct supervision of a licensed psychologist.

SB453 Public Health & Welfare. Adds school district facilities operated by a USD to the list of facilities that are not required to get a license from KDHE for a child care facility for kids under 16. A USD operating a child care facility is pure mission creep. For such things we need a $1B increase in K-12 funding?

SB454 Brownlee. Provides for a distinctive license plate for firefighters’ private cars at regular license plate fees.

SB455 ***Utilities. Establishes a state permit requirement for any industrial wind turbine located in the Flint Hills, such permit to be issued by the KCC. (Industrial wind turbine defined as a device >90 feet tall at highest point.) Gives Dept of Commerce, KDHE, KDOT, KS Water Office, and Dept of Ag authority to issue rules/regs for wind turbine farms consistent with their missions in furtherance of the public health and welfare. Imposes mind-numbing data submissions for permit applications. Given that wind turbine farms are not profitable without taxpayer subsidies, the permit system requirements could effectively result in Death by Permitting.

SB456 Financial Institutions & Insurance. Prevents lenders from requiring that the insurance of a resident be in excess of replacement value.

SB457 FI&I. Changes Hospital Service Corporation Act to prohibit agreements that prevent any subscriber from assigning health insurance proceeds to any non-contracting hospital at which the subscriber received benefits.

SB458 ***Hensley. Sets forth the "Kansas Long Term Care Bill of Rights." Establishes criteria that creates a new set of missions for the state, creates a new set of rational for increased spending, taxing, and bureaucracy. We continue the march to complete dependency on the state.

SB459 ***Hensley. Requires each agency’s budget to specifically contain a list of all programs that provide services for seniors, defined as >60, and their families, and data to support such services. The bill also adds a long list of what is meant by services for seniors. Hup, two, three, four, Hup, two, three, four.

SB460 Judiciary. Deletes the TIN as an acceptable number to be provided on a drivers license application.

SB461 ***Judiciary. Restricts port authority’s use of eminent domain without legislative approval for recreation uses or for a private development. Specifically bars a port authority from using eminent domain in Cowley County for recreation or private development. The more restrictions on the use of eminent domain the better. The prohibition against use of ED for the benefit of a private developer should be imposed on all jurisdictions - it is pure theft. It is not without reason that the Institute for Justice, in "Public Power, Private Gain," wrote about Kansas: "Unfortunately for the citizens of Kansas, their state is one of the worst abusers of ED, especially in comparison to other states with similar population size."

SB462 Ag. Adds definition of "direct impairment" and "substantial adverse impact on the area" to Kansas water law dealing with stream flow and ground water.

SB463 Ag. Change to water rights law dealing with the perfection of rights when abandonment proceedings iaw KSA 82a-718 are pending.

SB464 ***Ag. Changes "may" to "shall" in law requiring the registration of pesticide and fertilizer application equipment, defined as any self propelled ground or aerial apparatus containing more than 200 gallons. Establishes a $10 application fee and administrative fines of $100 for violations.

SB465 ***Ways & Means. 25 pages of extensive changes to school funding law, the sum total impacts of which are going to take one heck of a lot of analysis. In fact, I wonder if the author can authoritatively state its impacts with a straight face. I did find in it a 15% income surcharge and an increase in state sales tax to 6.3% effective 7/1/04/

SB466 ***Judiciary. Gives physicians and optometrists the option of reporting to the drivers license division or the medical advisory board information about a person who has a condition that would prevent safe operation of a motor vehicle. The bill specifically states that it does not create a duty to report. Any such reporting is excluded from bans on divulging privileged communications, and the information reported is excluded from any subpoena, discovery, or other demand in criminal and civil law.

SB467 ***Judiciary. 6 pages making many changes to the law governing tax liens on personal property.

SB468 ***Assessment & Taxation. New law directing all the state’s professional licensing boards to establish procedures to deny renewal of licenses if they have information that the person is not current in the payment of taxes or the filing of returns. Establishes a system by which the Dept. of Revenue gets to review all licenses coming up for renewal and provide information back to the licensing boards about who is delinquent. Requires that all people obtaining a professional license must provide their social security number to the licensing board. I consider this another debtor prison law - delinquent in taxes, now you cannot work to pay your taxes. And so much for the SSN not being an identification system. Big Brother is watching.

SB469 Schmidt & Hensley. States that the KBI is the investigating authority on all deaths of inmates in state, county, and local jails.

SB470 ***Corbin & Donovan. States that after the U.S. Congress lets states collect sales tax from out-of-state companies who do not have a physical presence in the state, in state retailers will be given a credit of 0.5% of the amount of sales tax they remit, the credit NTE $1000 per retailer per month.  In effect, this favors in-state retailers over out-of-state retailers. Is this constitutional?

SB471 Public Health & Welfare. Gives the dentistry board authority to relax the laws governing how a dentists name can be used in a business name when it will facilitate the providing of services to underserved populations or groups.

SB472 Agriculture. Adds "trucks mounted with a fertilizer spreader used or manufactured principally to spread animal dung" to the list of vehicles excepted from requirement to obtain a certificate, license, or permit from the commissioner, or file rates, or provide proof of insurance.

SB473 Federal & State Affairs. 8 pages. Revises property tax law as relating to exemptions for hospitals and organizations providing humanitarian services.

SB474 *** Hensley. 7 pages. New law that requires a person driving a passenger van to have a "V" endorsement on his drivers license. A passenger van is defined as a motor vehicle designed to transport at least 12 passengers, including the driver, but not more than 15 passengers, including the driver. To get a "V" endorsement, would require a written and skill test, plus a $10 fee. No one under 18 could drive a passenger van. The "V" endorsement could be added to any class of license. I suspect this is anecdotal law, resulting from one or more accidents involving these vans.

SB475 *** Ways & Means. Requires recordings be kept of what goes on in executive sessions, such records to be kept for a year. If someone challenges the legality in court of an executive session, gives the judge the authority to review the recording and release what he deems appropriate to the plantiff. About Time! If this gets enacted, it will give the abusers of executive sessions a reason to think twice about doing it.

SB476 *** Ways & Means. Adds to KORA a provision that private records of a member of a governing body are not public records, but any correspondence, including e-mails, to another member of the governing body is a public record if relating to the functions of the governing body.

SB477 Assessment & Taxation. 12 pages. Makes extensive changes to law governing what can/cannot be released regarding various business taxes and license applications and license status. Probably contains more than one privacy issue.

SB478 Assessment & Taxation. Classifies for property tax purposes all wireless communication towers and antenna and relay sites as commercial and industrial machinery and equipment.

SB479 ***Elections & Local Governments. 23 pages. Makes extensive changes to election law regarding challenging ballots and when a ballot is to be treated as a provisional ballot. Requires first time voters to provide identification. Provides an arbitration system for voting violation complaints file under federal law.

SB480 Commerce. 7 pages. Creates the "Kansas Angel Investor Tax Credit Act." Provides an income tax credit for cash investments in the qualified securities of a qualified Kansas business. Allows up to $20M in tax credits by 2016.

SB481 Commerce. 20 pages (20 pages printed to delete 11 words.) Exempts private, prison-based industries from paying unemployment tax.

SB482 Commerce. Freezes automatic benefit increases in unemployment law.

SB483 Commerce. 12 pages. Revises unemployment law relating to disqualification from receipt of benefits.

SB484 *** Natural Resources. Adds to eminent domain law the statement that "No property shall be taken for the purposes of economic development." Double About Time!!! Enactment will prevent what amounts to pure theft using the power of government to take one person’s land to give it to another private party. This single sentence could go a long way from rehabilitating Kansas’ reputation as being a flagrant abuser of eminent domain law. It deserves everyone’s support.

SB485 Haley. Provides for export licenses for vehicles manufactured in the state for overseas sales, such vehicles would not have to be registered in the state.

SB486 Emler. Gives muncipal judges the authority to sentence juveniles to imprisonment at a juvenile detention facility.

SB487 Ways & Means. Creates the "Gas Valuation Depletion Trust Fund," specifies how it is to be funded from severance taxes, and sets up conditions whereby payments are made to counties that would otherwise get excise tax dollars from the production of gas.

SB488 Ways & Means. 10 pages. Creates t he Kansas Crime Victims Protection Act. Establishes procedures for protecting the identity of crime victims.

SB489 Ways & Means. 8 pages. Gives the Child Death Review Board new authority and responsibility to look into near-fatality situations arising from child abuse or neglect.

SB490 Legislative Educational Planning. 12 pages. Revises how interest generated on regent institutions’ special revenue funds are to be credited to the funds. Requires monthly transfers.

SB491 *** Pugh. One page, short and sweet. Revises voting law. Makes it a misdemeanor for illegal aliens to vote, and make it a misdemeanor for someone to help an illegal alien to register to vote. Mandates a $1,000 fine.

SB492 ***Pugh. Another one pager. In drivers license law, specifies that illegal aliens are not residents of the state.

SB493 Assessment & Taxation. Revises property tax exemption law as regards to certain low income, elderly, or handicapped housing funded by the feds.

SB494 Ditto. 7 pages. Revises TIF law to state that any tax delinquency on a property in a redevelopment district shall be apportioned among the redevelopment district and the other taxing units in the same manner as any taxes received would be apportioned.

SB495 *** Pugh. Another one pager. Makes it illegal for state employees to enroll an illegal alien as a state resident at a post secondary school for purposes of fees and tuition, and makes it illegal for an illegal alien to so enroll. Any state employee who violates the law shall be considered to show "personal conduct detrimental to state service and shall be basis for suspension, demotion, or dismissal." I can hear the screams now - you can’t hold people responsible for their actions.

SB496 Natural Resources. Provides for a tiered severity of suspension and revocation of hunting licenses upon multiple convictions under hunting law.

SB497 Brownlee. Requires sheriffs to notify those public and accredited private schools within 1000 feet of the residence of a registered sex offender, and says the sheriff can collect a $50 fee from the offender for making the notification. I consider that not notifying non-accredited private schools is wrong. I hope it was just an oversight in drafting the bill.

SB498 Hensley. 6 pages. Revises KPERS law to give retirees a 3% increase starting 7/1/04. It is so easy, with a stroke of the pen, to distribute $$$, whether they exist or not.

SB499 *** Fed & State Affairs. 39 pages. Expands gambling. Enough said.

SB500 Transportation. 10 pages. Extensive changes relating to the law concerning salvage vehicles. Specifies notices that have to be given, defines levels of damage that make a vehicle a salvage vehicle, defines fair market value, cost of repair, flood damaged, late model vehicle, and writes new law on salvage vehicle titles.

SB501 Jackson. 7 pages. New law. If your vehicle has a compression release braking system and you use it, your vehicle must have a muffler. Sets the fine for violation at $60.00.

SB502 O’Connor. 9 pages. Changes election law to allow legislators who are precinct committee people or party county chairs to vote by proxy in county conventions when the legislature is in session and legislative business prevents attendance at a party function.

SB503 *** 503. Tax Increase. Raises cigarette taxes.

SB504 Commerce. 24 pages. We are from the government, we are here to help you: "The purpose of this act is to create a simple, flexible, and progressive system of tax benefits to equitably promote the development of Kansas business." [Researching.]

SB505 24 Senators, bipartisan. Requires that when a person is involuntarily committed to a state psychiatric hospital, the clerk of the court must report the committment to the KBI within 5 days.

SB506 28 Senators, bipartisan. Repeals the section in state van pool law tht gives the Department of Administration the authority to terminate the program.

SB507 Fed & State Affairs. Eliminates the provison in license plate law which stated that for a state resident who is on active duty in the military to get a tax break on his license plate, the car had to be located outside the state.

SB508 Financial Institutions & Insurance. 6 pages. Enacts "The Standard Nonforfeiture Law For Individual Deferred Annuities." Did not read it.

SB509 *** Ditto. 14 pages. Enacts "The Kansas Credit Services Organization Act." Exempts attorneys acting within the scope and course of their practicing law. Applies to any organization that helps people consolidate debts and get out of debt. Organizations would have to register with the state and post a surety bond of up to $1M. Gives banking commissioner authority to set fees and write rules. Establishes the fees that a Credit Services Organization could charge. Another business is caught in the state’s web.

SB510 *** Haley. Creates a new crime: "Deprivation of rights under color of law." The first sentence is 8 lines long and to me, incomprehensible. I can find the subject and the verb, but it all goes to pot after that. It seems to say that the crime can only be committed against aliens or by reason of color or race. What it should do is say that when any citizen gets mugged by a government entity supposedly operating within the law, they have specific redress.

SB511 *** Joint Committee on Admin Rules & Regs. Revises the Newborn Infant Hearing Screening Program law. Requires people who do screening to provide KDHE such information as KDHE may require and gives KDHE authority to carry out the program, including setting standards for equipment and specifying the qualification requirements and training of screeners. The cost of health care is going up again as the state expands its empire.

SB512 *** Bunten. 8 pages. Creates the "School-based Budget Law." Requires USDs to prepare building-by-building budgets to help citizens understand where their tax dollars are really going. Requires the inclusion of all funds received. The requirements in this bill are necessary step in getting control over school spending.

SB513 *** Senator Betts. Judiciary. Pure PC. Outlaws racial profiling in police crime prevention work. We will prevent law enforcement from using reasonable indicators to prevent crime. Five arabs boarding a plane? Sorry, have to look the other way.

SB514 *** Steineger. New taxing authority. Authorizes Class A cities to levey an earnings tax up to 1% on people who live in the city, no matter where they work, and on people employed within the city, now matter where they live. All revenues are for the USDs within the city, but if it is ruled that the dollars cannot be used for schools, the city gets to keep the money for whatever. Before the tax can be imposed, the voters must approve it. For purposes of the act, a Class A city is defined as any consolidated city/county government.

SB515 *** Ways & Means. New law authorizing the state to issue up to $465M in bonds for the state highway program. Keep the concrete flowing.

SB516 Judiciary. New law creating "The Commercial Real Estate Broker Lien Act." Did not read it.

SB517 Commerce. 8 pages. Makes extensive revisions to the law concerning unlawful computer use and hacking. Contains many "Thou shalt nots."

SB518 Fed & State Affairs. 8 pages. Extensive revisions to public construction contract law. Did not read it.

SB519 Ways & Means. 8 pages. Repeals the ability of the state to lay a lien on a city’s ad valorem taxes to pay off a state granted loan.

SB520 Commerce. 4 pages. Enacts "The Kansas Downtown Redevelopment Act." Provides for tax benefits for improvements made to real property.

SB521 Assesment & Taxation. Technical amendment to law exempting business aircraft from property taxation.

SB522 Utilities. New law concerning natural gas public utilities as regards duties when providing service to a transportation customer. Also makes a natural gas public utility subject to the same billing standards as adopted by the KCC.

SB523 *** Fed & State Affairs. In a case where an error in the calculation of the assessed valuation has been discovered after a governing body has adopted its budget and prior to November 1, the governing body can amend the budget. If the amendment is solely to accommodate the corrected assessed valuation, the governing body does not have to advertise the amendment or conduct a public hearing. As I read it, if the assessed valuation came in lower than anticipated, the government body could raise the mill levy without public notice or hearing if they could get it done before November 1, and if it came in higher, the governing body could raise spending to match the new windfall if they could get it done before November 1. Would appreciate feedback on this one.  Received one feedback comment. A problem occurred in one county, the bill is an attempt to correct the problem.

SB524 *** Agriculture. 109 pages, yes 109. Starts with changes in the law governing county fair associations and ends with changes is state water law. What is in between, I did not look at.

SB525 Commerce. 13 pages. Makes revisions to telecommunication law dealing with the transmission of calling party numbers, individual customer pricing, promotion offers, and the universal service fund.

SB526 ****** Fed & State Affairs. Enacts the Emergency Contraception Education Act. Requires KDHE to promulgate information on how to use drugs or devices to prevent conception. This is not what we have state government for. It is supposed to be protecting life, not enabling the destruction of life.

SB527 Establishes the Water Supply Storage Assurance Fund and the Local Water Project Match Fund.

SB528 Requires majority vote Parole Board to effect certain actions.

SB529 Ways & Means. Adds Licensed PAs and Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners to the list of medical providers who can prescribe physical therapy.

SB530 *** Ways & Means. Forces public water supply systems with >10,000 service connections to fluoridate to levels TBD by KDHE.

SB531 Ways & Means. Establishes a Developmental Disabilities Institutions Closure Commission. By 12/1/04, the commission has to recommend the closure of one DDI and make closing and downsizing recommendations on other similar institutions. Guv submits the report to the legislature by 1/10/05, and unless the legislature acts by 2/15/05 to reject the report, the recommendations will be implemented. Elected officials shove the hard decisions off on a commission - shades of Military Base Closure Commissions.

SB532 *** Ways & Means. Changes sales tax reporting and depositing requirements. Gives the Department of Revenue authority to waive penalties and interest when a merchant has made "reasonable" errors in complying with destination sourcing.

SB533 Ways & Means. Increases the number of assistant attorneys general appointed to assist the racing and gambling commission from 2 to 3. As the state digs the gambling hole bigger, more and more resources will be required to cope with the impacts and the activation of the law of unintended consequences.

SB534 Fed & State Affairs. Puts more restrictions on real estate agents and gives agents a blessing to work with out-of-state agents on commercial properties as long as the out-of-state agent agrees to a laundry list of stipulations.

SB535 Ways & Means. Repeals the filing fee requirements for certain BOTA appeals.

 

 

SCR1603, Legislative Post Audit. Asks Congress to pass law allowing IRS to share tax information of corporations with the state. One of the "Whereas" says that multistate companies are not properly proportioning their income and thereby depriving the state of its take.

SCR1604, Agriculture. Urges Congress and the Pres to approve federal energy legislation that promotes and expands use of ethanol and biodiesel fuels.

SCR1605, Hensley (by request). Asks SRS to study efficacy of the proposal that homeless people be given help in reuniting with their families, and that private families be given state aid if they take in a homeless person.

SCR1606, Agriculture. Urges the Guv to promote ethanol and biodiesel fuels.

And to end the week on a low note...........

SCR1607, 16 Senators, mostly R’s and RINO’s. A proposed state constitutional amendment to take the nuts and bolts of redistricting out of the legislator’s hands and give it to a Redistricting Commission. The legislature would only be able to give the commission’s recommendation an up or down vote within a short period of time. If it rejected the recommendation, the commission would try again - and when it came back to the legislature, legislators could offer amendments. Agreed the process is messy, but removing it one step further away from the electorate is a lousy idea, as is inserting a complex procedure into the constitution.

SCR1608, Ways & Means. A proposal to amend the state constitution to limit each regular annual session of the legislature to 88 days, with only a 2-day extension permitted upon a majority vote of both houses.

SCR1609, Agriculture. Urges the US Department of Agriculture to enter into agreement with the state so that landowners who discover sericea lespedeza on CRP lands will not be penalized.

SCR1610, Agriculture. Urges the federal noxious weed cost $$$ be made available for the control of noxious weeds on CRP land in the state.

SCR1611, Education. Here we go again with another proposal to take election of the state board of education away from citizens. This consitutional amendment proposal would have the ten state board of education members "elected" by all the individual school board members in the state board of education member’s district.

+++SCR1612. Education. Another proposed constitutional amendment to dilute citizens ability to voice themselves by electing state school board members. This one leaves the 10 members elected as now, but adds three appointed by the governor.

 

SCR1615. Special Committee on Assessment and Taxation. A constitutional amendment to give the legislature the authority to create up to 10 classes of cities. The constitutional limit is now four.

SCR 1616 A resolution supporting KDOT’s review of its radio communication plans and operations.

 

SR1807, Judiciary. Urges U.S. Department of Labor to award Senior Community Service Employment Program grants to Experience Works in Kansas and throughout the country.

SR1827, Fed/State Affairs. Asks Congress to amend the Constitution to protect the pledge of allegiance and the national motto.

SR1842, Ways/Means. Calls for the establishment of a long-range revenue structure planning group to review tax and revenue structure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Executive Reorganization Order 31. Creates within the Department of Commerce a division of workforce development and abolishes the division of employment and training within the Department of Human Resources. The reorganization goes into effect 7/1/04 unless either house of the legislature disapproves of the reorganization.

Executive Reorganization Order 32. Transfers from KDHE to Department of Agriculture a bunch of food safety responsibilities. Ditto on the legislature’s veto right.