It was my honor to introduce the Washburn Rural High School Girls Basketball Team, who are the 6A State Champions for 2019 on the floor of the House on April 3rd.With this championship, Washburn Rural captured its 4th Girls state title in school history and its first in 10 years.  This team was recognized as the Centennial League Co-Champions, the Sub-State Champions and the 6A State Champions with a final record of 23 wins and just 2 losses. I also recognized their Coach, Kevin Bordewick.

This is the 11^th State Championship that Kevin Bordewick has been a part of at Washburn Rural. He has had 7 Championships in Volleyball as head coach; 3 in Basketball as an assistant coach and 1 in Basketball as head coach. What a tremendously talented team and a dedicated coach.!
 

School Funding Bill – CCR for SB 16

One of the most critical issues of this session, the addition of an inflation factor in the school funding plan being argued before the Supreme Court, was finally passed by both the House and the Senate after some tense negotiations in Conference Committee. The House voted affirmatively, 76-47 and the Senate passed the CCR, 31-8. I voted YES.

Governor Kelly signed SB 16 into law and it is now in the hands of the Attorney General’s Office.  Briefs are due before the Supreme Court April 15 and oral arguments are scheduled for May 9^th.

This plan was also supported by the KS Board of Education and the Governor.  Financially, it will add approximately $90 million a year for the next 4 years, and then increase the Base State Aid Per Pupil by the average CPI after 2022-23.  It is believed by most to satisfy the remaining Court requirements for adequate funding for K-12 public schools.

Some of the key policy elements of the bill advocated by the House are listed below:

• A requirement for the Department of Education to create one-page performance accountability reports for the state, each school district, and each school building.
• A requirement for the Education Department to prepare annual longitudinal reports on student achievement on the state assessment for English language arts, math and science.
• Legislative Post Audit will do a new study on school district cash balances.
• The low income student scholarship program for private schools which offers tax credits to entice businesses to donate money for scholarships that send the least affluent students to private schools has changed. It now would make the scholarships available to the 100 lowest performing elementary schools, not just the lowest performing schools in general.
• The State Board of Education will continue to fund ACT college entrance exams, the three ACT WorkKeys assessments to each student enrolled in grades 11 and 12 and a pre-ACT exam for 9^th graders.
• The Dyslexia Task Force will meet once per year for 3 more years..
• School districts will publish budget documents and a funding report on the homepage of their website under a prominently displayed link titled “Accountability Reports.”

Budget Negotiations Update

Usually, the Legislature passes a “mega budget bill” by now to provide the framework for spending during the next fiscal year.  However, the Conference Committee could not come to agreement on two major issues.  One was the repayment of the $288 million borrowed from the Pooled Money Investment Board and the other was some language regarding any future funding of Medicaid Expansion.
 
SB 25 is the bill in which all budget positions are being discussed.  House and Senate negotiators left all decided positions frozen and will take up conferencing when the Legislature returns for Veto Session on May 1.

House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means Committee will meet just before the start of Veto Session to put together Omnibus budget bills.  The meeting is set for April 30.  The Committees will meet jointly to receive the Consensus Revenue Estimates (CRE), caseloads adjustments, and potentially Governor’s Budget Amendments (GBA), prior to holding separate meetings.  The CRE is determined by the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group, which has representatives of the Division of the Budget, Kansas Legislative Research Department, Kansas Department of Revenue, and economists from the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, and Wichita State University. The spring CRE will be released on April 18 and may be used by the Legislature to adjust expenditures
 

HB 2209 – Health Care CCR

This bill was a Conference Committee Report that allows associations to form health care plans (AHPs) for their members which are exempt from some requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It also included the Farm Bureau benefit plan, which will allow Kansas Farm Bureau the ability to offer health coverage to its members but is not defined as insurance and therefore, would not have to abide by state or federal regulation related to health insurance. This is not traditional insurance. I heard from many Farm Bureau members in the 52^nd District and across the state that were desperate for an option like this.  It is not mandatory, but simply an option, and for some Kansas farmers, it will allow them to have an affordable option. Another component of this bill would prevent life insurance companies from refusing to insure individuals who are living organ donors.  Organ donors would be subject to the same standards as individuals who are not organ donors.  This is a commonsense measure to protect those who have chosen to donate their organ(s).  This CCR passed the House 84-39, and the Senate 28-12.  I voted YES.
 

If you have any questions about the activities in my committees or want to share your views on any of the issues before the legislature, please feel free to email me or call my office.  It is an honor to serve you.