By SUSAN CONCANNON
State Representative
R-107th District
We have officially reached the second half of the session. The House wrapped up work on more than 60 bills and sent them to the Senate for consideration.
We returned to committees last week so we could focus on the legislation sent to us by the Senate. Here is a link to an article where they discuss several bills debated last week.One in particular I shared my thoughts on regarding rural hospitals.
Also, Kansas Corporation Commission staff has filed their report and recommendations regarding the water issues at the Sundowner West Mobile Home park in Saline County. Hopefully, the Commission will issue an order soon.
As a reminder, you can follow the action at any time by visiting the Legislature's website or watching the action live on the Legislature's YouTube page.
I plan to give an update on many of them at the Ottawa County Farm Bureau Legislative Coffee on March 9. It is from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. at Westside Ventures in Bennington.
If you have questions about any of the bills being debated in the Legislature or if there is ever anything I can do to be helpful, please don't hesitate to reach out to me, [email protected] or 785-296-7644.
Below is a brief recap of the many issues being discussed and debated in Topeka.
Tax Bill Override
The House of Representatives fell three votes short of the 84 votes needed to override the Governor's veto of HB 2284, the tax bill passed earlier this session. I supported the override. While this was not a perfect tax bill, it included many pieces that would make significant tax reductions for people in our community. It is now back to the drawing board.
KanCoaches
KanCoaches Natasha Santiago-Mason and Alanea Hanna testified in Child Welfare Committee earlier this week. KanCoach is a workforce development program that trains child welfare supervisors to become strong, effective leaders. To date 331 supervisors from DCF and the case management contractors have completed the program learning ways to better support their staff. The coaches also educate staff on ways to cope with secondary stress and burnout.
Medicaid Reimbursements
This week, the House Appropriations Committee unveiled a plan to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates. The $80 million included in the House budget will go to increase the dollars that are received by doctors and hospitals who treat patients with Medicaid coverage. It has been years since these rates were adjusted. While I support this legislation, I don't think it addresses the issue that Medicaid Expansion seeks to solve and I look forward to that hearing.
Aviation Day at the Capitol
The Kansas House celebrated our state's rich history with the aviation industry and looked at ways to grow. The industry brought us these "aviator" sunglasses to mark the occasion.
Petition signatures for the ballot
HB 2516 would change the number of signatures required for nomination petitions for independent candidates for statewide office. Currently, they are required to have 5,000 signatures and the change would increase that to at least two percent of the total votes cast for all candidates for the office of Governor in the last preceding general election.
Based on the last election, the number of signatures required would be slightly over 20,000. This bill would also prohibit an independent candidate from paying a filing fee to run for office rather than utilizing the nomination petition process. I supported the measure.
Vulnerable Adults
The Kansas Department of Insurance proposed, and the House passed HB 2562, with my support, enacting the Protect Vulnerable Adults from Financial Exploitation Act.
This is to encourage reporting by financial advisors in instances where an older and/or dependent adult may have been taken advantage of. This bill aims to stop this activity before it happens, as it is extremely unlikely that dollars will be returned if they are taken from a scam.