Week 6 Kansas Statehouse Recap: so cold, marijuana, utility surge, renta...

KANSAS REFLECTOR: "Read and Reflect" Morning eNewsletter, Feb. 20, 2021

 

Morning newsletter of the Kansas Reflector

Sherman Smith | Editor in chief Good morning. "If that's the way the taxpayers want us to keep spending our money, then they need to keep voting for the people who made these terrible mistakes. If they want to spend their money on something much more productive, or even tax cuts, then they need to ask themselves, 'Why do we keep sending people like Derek Schmidt back to the attorney general's office to joust at windmills at taxpayer expense?' " — Rep. John Carmichael, a Democrat from Wichita, on decisions to pass unconstitutional legislation and defend laws after they have failed in district court

Kansas officials rack up $4M bill in defense of baseless voter fraud claim TOPEKA — The American Civil Liberties Union and other attorneys want to be repaid more than $4 million for their five-year legal battle with Kansas officials who fought to restrict voter registrations under the false pretense of widespread voter fraud. The proposed price tag adds a punctuation mark to the prolonged fight over former Secretary of State Kris Kobach's signature law, which required new voters to prove their citizenship before registering to vote. Kobach suffered defeat during an embarrassing 2018 trial in federal court, and stiffed taxpayers with the bills when he was twice held in contempt and ordered to go back to law school. Nadine Johnson, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas, said Kobach and others who were determined to defend an unconstitutional law were to blame for the cost of the lawsuit. "That's a choice they made," Johnson said. "They can't then come back and say that it's our fault. They made that choice. You can't throw up all these roadblocks, and then complain that we're pushing through the roadblocks." The lesson for Kansas voters, she said, is "elections do matter, and the people who are in these positions wield an enormous amount of power that can have a considerable effect on taxpayer spending." Read more.

Why it's not painful for me to keep talking to Kansans about my daughter’s murder Opinion from LaTonya Boyd, a Topeka-based volunteer with the Kansas chapter of Moms Demand Action and a member of the Everytown Survivor Network: I think about my daughter's murder every day. To heal and create change, Kansans must remember those taken by gun violence. Read more.

Small town Kansas takes on big problem of deafening railroad engine horns Robin Macy and Mike Mackay have worked for years to organize and finance a "quiet zone" for rail traffic at Belle Plaine in south-central Kansas. New safety infrastructure will allow BNSF Railways to stop blowing of horns at traffic crossings in the town. Read more. Amid ‘wild west’ of college recruiting, bill could allow college athlete pay for name, image and likeness Representatives of several Kansas universities support a bill allowing collegiate student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness as soon as 2022. Read more.

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State Board of Education News from Ann Mah, Feb. 17, 2021

 

State Board News from Ann Mah Dear Michael Caddell, Hope everyone is staying warm! Here are some notes about State Board of Education action and other news. Visit Our Website Rent relief From her press release: Governor Kelly announced that Kansans experiencing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic are eligible to receive up to $5,000 in rental assistance. Kansas Housing Resources Corporation (KHRC) will administer the program. Landlords and tenants apply through a joint online process. Approved applicants are eligible for a maximum of nine months of assistance, not to exceed $5,000 per household.  Program funds are limited, and applications will be processed in the order received until all funds are expended. Kansans are strongly encouraged to get their applications in as soon as possible. To apply, Kansans should visit:  kshousingcorp.org. CARES/ESSER funds to schools A part of the last CARES bill included funding for schools to help cover the extraordinary costs of COVID-19, help schools reopen, and address learning loss. The portion for schools was called the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER). Kansas public schools will receive about $333 million. It will be distributed based on the number of low-income students in a district. Districts will identify COVID-related expenses to draw down the funds. A state-level committee will review expenditures to make sure we follow federal guidelines. Districts have until September 2023 to spend ESSER funds. This is important because many students will have long-term issues to deal with - both academic and emotional. Private schools will receive about $27 million in services. Some of the things districts can spend the money on are sanitation supplies, summer school, ventilation updates, technology to help students, leasing space to help with distancing, student instruction to help address learning loss, support services for students. It is a long, but specific list. These funds are not to replace general education funds, but to address the issues created by COVID-19. I would be glad to answer any questions you have about this funding. Kansas improves in student success Since the state board implemented its Kansans Can vision in 2015, trends are improving in some important areas. Here are some of those results: High school graduation rate has increased by 2.6 percent, from 85.7 percent to 88.3 percent. The board goal is 95%. Not only did the overall rate improve, it also improved for student subgroups. The rate for at-risk students increased by 3.7%. Students with disabilities rose by 3.1%. English language learners increased by 6.5 percent. The number of students going on to post-secondary training is an important number. It tell us whether students are getting the training they need to be successful and whether we will have a trained workforce for Kansas businesses. The number of students going on to post-secondary training has increased by 4 percent. Legislative action The Kansas Senate passed SB 61 to expand the use of tax credits to fund private school vouchers. Currently, low-income students in the 100 lowest performing elementary schools can use these vouchers to attend private schools. This bill allows low-income students in any public school to use these tax credits to move to private schools. These private schools do have to be accredited, but not by the state of Kansas. A similar bill is being considered in the House. In our area, Senators Kloos, O'Shea, and Pyle voted for the expansion. Senators Dietrich, Francisco, Longbine, and Holland voted against the expansion. Please contact your House rep and ask them to vote against SB 61 and HB 2068. Senate Bill 32  allows school districts to pay the tuition for a student's dual or concurrent enrollment in a postsecondary educational institution and includes a tuition waiver for foster children who are dually or concurrently enrolled. I would prefer the state fund this for all eligible students statewide, but this is a start in helping students get a jump-start on college at no cost to them. It passed the Senate 39-0 and is being considered in the House. Senate Bill 22 is a retreat to the disastrous Brownback experiment, with big tax cuts for multi-national corporations at the expense of the Kansas economy. Most of those companies benefiting from the cuts actually report no income in Kansas. SB 22 passed the Senate 24 to 15. SB 22 would cut our state budget by $1 billion over the next three years, which would most likely impact our public school funding. They included some things that benefit Kansans who itemize on their personal returns and increased the standard deduction, but the fact is we can't afford all that this year. It is irresponsible to do massive tax cuts when we are facing a pandemic and were barely crawling out of our deficit when the pandemic hit. In our area, Senators Kloos, O'Shea, and Pyle voted for the bill. Senators Francisco, Dietrich, Longbine, and Holland voted against it. CCommunity Events If you have community events coming up, let me know. This email goes to nearly 3000 homes in Shawnee, Osage, Jefferson, Wabaunsee, Pottawatomie, and Douglas counties. I'd love to help you get the word out!  Just remember to send your activities well ahead of time.   For things to do in Topeka and surrounding area, check out the Visit Topeka calendar, Topeka 365 at: Topeka 365 (topekapartnership.com) Sincerely, Ann Mah www.annmah.org Paid for by Ann Mah for Kansas, Nancy Griffin, Treasurer

Board of Education Meeting 02/08/2021

House K-12 Education Budget Committee 02/08/2021

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