| Dear Friends and Family,
We are now two-thirds of the way through the 2009 legislative session, with only four weeks to go before the regular session ends. Unfortunately, this past week was again frustratingly stagnant on the House floor. We did deliberate a handful of bills early in the week, but took no action as a legislative body on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. At this point in the session we should be debating several bills on the floor, every day. I am very concerned that a number of proposals which have passed through committee are not being allowed to go to the full House for consideration so they can be used for political collateral on other, more controversial issues. As your representative I will continue to do all I can to get things moving in the final four weeks of the 2009 session.
Sincerely,
Mike Slattery
State Representative
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Understanding the Legislative Calendar
You may notice that I frequently make reference to the legislative calendar. This is because the Kansas Legislature works under a rather stringent time frame each year. Once the Legislature convenes each January, it has 90 taxpayer-paid days to complete its work for the year. Majority leadership controls the calendar and decides what bills are debated (or not debated). Each day the Legislature meets over 90 adds to the taxpayer bill.
The halfway point of the session, known as "Turnaround" is the day for non-exempt bills to be passed out of their house of origin. We reached this deadline two weeks ago, so now House committees consider Senate bills and vice versa. "Drop Dead Day" is the legislative deadline by which all bills from either chamber must be passed out of their house of origin (Most bills not passed out of committee by this date is essentially "dead" for the year, although some bills are considered "nonexempt" and are alive until the end of the session).
The Legislature will conclude its regular session after all conference committee reports are approved or rejected. This is referred to as "First Adjournment." From there, the Legislature recesses for approximately three weeks while all bills approved by both the House and Senate go to the governor for signature or veto. At the end of April, the Legislature reconvenes for what is referred to as "Veto Session." This is an opportunity to finish work on the budget or other bills that had not been finalized prior to First Adjournment. The length of Veto Session varies each year and can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. After Veto Session, the Legislature will reconvene once more for a ceremonial adjournment of the session, called "Sine Die." Sine Die usually occurs near the end of the May, and marks the final meeting of the Legislature until 2010.
As always, if you have any questions about anything going on at the Capitol, please feel free to contact me.
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House Taxation Committee hears Tax Exemption Holiday for School Supplies Bill
The House Taxation Committee began hearings Tuesday on House Bill 2328. If passed, this bill would expand the state's sales tax exemptions to include a sales tax holiday for the purchasing of school supplies. The sales tax holiday would occur on the first Thursday in August at 12:01 A.M. and end at midnight on the following Sunday.
Proponents argue that Kansas businesses are losing revenue to Missouri and Oklahoma, who currently already have such a law. Instead of shopping in Kansas, consumers who live on the border of neighboring states cross state lines during these grace periods in order to purchase the tax-free goods. Furthermore, consumers spend on items while there that are not school related, and therefore are sending unnecessary Kansas dollars to other states.
Opponents suggest a number of problems with the bill. The Kansas National Education Association pointed out that although the bill appears to lend itself towards the enablement of low income families, it actually may not help them as anticipated. Presumably low income families are the least able to save up for a tax holiday and are the least able to make these often expensive purchases, while upper income families who can already afford these items would have the greatest ability to take advantage of such a proposition.
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Minimum Wage Proposal Receives House Committee Hearing
After years of working to raise the Kansas minimum wage, we are finally making progress. On February 19, the Kansas Senate voted overwhelmingly- 33-7 - to raise the state minimum wage to $7.25 beginning January 1, 2010. On Thursday, the House Commerce and Labor Committee held a hearing on this proposal, Senate Bill 160.
Currently, the Kansas minimum wage is $2.65 per hour- the lowest in the nation. The last minimum wage increase was approved more than 20 years ago, in 1988. Approximately 20,000 Kansans work for this rate, which even at 40 hours a week keeps the worker well below the poverty line.
Senate Bill 160 is the result of bipartisan compromise in the Senate. The raise wage would not apply to workers receiving tips and gratuities (such as servers and bartenders). Instead the increase would apply to employees of businesses that are not a part of interstate commerce. This includes workers in about 20 job classifications, including workers on small farms, in small industries, child care facilities, and in companion care.
Proponents have long argued that a minimum wage increase will lead to several benefits, including a more self-sufficient citizenry, consumers with greater purchasing power, a more motivated and productive workforce, more cash flow in the local economy, new jobs and new businesses through a multiplier effect, and a healthier tax base. It would also generate $3.6 million in revenue for the state in FY 2010. The minimum wage as it currently exists would perpetuate a state economy with 12.4% of the population living in poverty, which leads to family instability, a strain on social service agencies, a higher cost of doing business from turnover and absenteeism, and a low tax base.
Year after year this bill has been blocked by opponents who contend that no one in Kansas actually earns $2.65 per hour, making a wage increase - or perhaps even a minimum wage at all- unnecessary. The Kansas Department of Labor, however, estimates that most of the 20,000 Kansans earning less than the federal minimum wage are not teenagers, but heads of households and providers, and are disproportionately women. These statistics are calculated using the same dataset trusted by economists and government officials to calculate every other trusted labor statistic (such as unemployment).
This bill is long overdue. In these uncertain economic times, we are working hard to keep our state economy headed in the right direction. The Kansas Legislature has supported over $1.2 billion in targeted tax relief over the past four years to encourage business investment. It's now time for us all to shift that focus to the folks who need it most: the 20,000 Kansas working for $2.65 an hour.
This is not a political issue. Kansans working for the shameful Kansas minimum wage rate struggle to provide food and shelter for their families. More than anything else, this is a moral issue. Kansans has always been a place that honors hard work. If workers are willing to show up and do their job as best they can- even in the direst of circumstances- they deserve a wage that dignifies their effort and commitment to their families. Though there were other minimum wage proposals introduced in the House Commerce and Labor Committee, none of those bills received a committee hearing. It is time for the House to follow the lead of the Senate and see this issue through by passing it.
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Energy and Utilities Committee urges study of storage opportunities
On Thursday, the House Energy and Utilities Committee began discussions on House Resolution 6011. It requests the Kansas Corporation Commission to convene a group of stakeholders to study energy storage as a cost-effective was to stabilize renewable energy generation, address transmission congestion costs, increase system reliability, increase the potential for distributive generation, and other energy storage issues the Commission identifies.
The main form of storage discussed was compressed-air energy storage, which is the most cost-effective form of electricity storage. CAES is basically a way to store energy made by wind turbines by compressing it and storing it underground, and then using it as needed. There are some startup costs to running CAES, but because it is extremely efficient, it absorbs those costs quickly. Kansas has many underground resources for CAES, which can be a valuable resource for Kansas, but CAES must be positioned to serve and get paid by more than one client, a problem which House Resolution 6011 helps to address.
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