The close of the fourth week in Topeka finds the legislature in full swing. With members spending the bulk of their time churning through proposals in committee, the priorities and headlines for the 2010 session are coming into focus. The budget will continue to be the looming priority facing the legislature, but Wednesday’s deadline for individual legislators to introduce bills prompted a number of non-budget related proposals.
We’ll soon be looking at bills concerning a wide range of issues from healthcare, lobbying reform, tax policy and immigration to texting bans and the legalization of medical marijuana. Some of the more controversial issues will typically not survive the committee process to make it on the floor for debate—but in an election year we always see some of the “hot button” issues in the spotlight.
Functionally, it was a very productive week for the House. The highlight of our work was the passage of the 2010 rescission bill, which the Senate cleared last week. This is an important development as the rescission bill simply covers funding for our current fiscal year. It’s not expected for the House and Senate to take long in reconciling their respective versions of the bill, which means we’ll be able to get to work on the controversial 2011 budget right away.
We were also fortunate to have four days of debate on the House floor. There were a couple of highly publicized bills, such as the ban on synthetic marijuana, but for the most part the bills we’re covering right now are of a non-controversial nature and enable us to keep the legislative calendar clear.
Last November the Kansas Facilities Closure and Realignment Commission sought to combine as many functions as possible between the Kansas State School for the Blind and the Kansas State School for the Deaf. This week the Education Budget Committee met again to discuss what exactly this consolidation would look like and how much it might save. Combining the two educational facilities in terms of buildings has been determined to not be cost-efficient. Instead, we are looking in to the consolidating of administrative services. I know the importance these schools have not only to the Olathe area but the entire state. In working to create our budget picture I assure you I will do everything in my power to make the impact of these changes as painless as possible for the students, teachers and parents that will be affected.
As always, I’m glad you’re interested in our work. The process for bills making their way through the legislature can sometimes be difficult to follow, but I’m always happy to speak with constituents and would be happy to assist you in understanding how the process works.
In general, the next month or so will be spent mostly on the committee side of the process. While we’ll always be working a few bills on the floor each week, the bulk of the work done in the Legislature takes place in the committee rooms. If you would like more information on the bills we’re hearing in my committees, or the status of a certain bill you may have read about please contact me. I’m always able to provide you with as much information as you need.
