THE PHILLIPS FILES: 2015 Session

Last Monday, I was sworn in to my 2nd term in the Kansas House of Representatives. I am truly honored to be your voice in Topeka. The pomp and circumstance of the ceremony, the governor’s inauguration earlier in the day, and the State of the State address made for a grand week.

IN THE HOUSE

Legislative Pages

If your student (12 and over) is interested in helping out at the Capitol, taking a tour, running errands for legislators, and meeting the governor, please reply to this email. I can host pages on February 10 and March 11. You will need to be in Topeka by 8 am and will be done about 3:30 pm. 

State of the State (SOTS)

Each legislative session begins with the Governor’s Budget Proposal and an overview of his intentions in the document, provided at the Kansas State of the State Address. The speech was controversial, to be sure, but did not stray far from the governor’s 1st term priorities. He recommended the following:

• Eliminate the current school funding formula in favor of block grants to schools until a new formula can be drafted and passed;
• Change the constitution to allow Supreme Court Justices to be appointed directly by the governor;
• Move local elections from the spring to the fall; and finally,
• Continue the “March to Zero” income tax, although in a slower fashion than in current law.

Governor’s Budget Proposal

The governor is required to submit a budget which includes a 7.5% ending balance. Each year, these budgets provide recommendations, but are very different from what ends up coming through the legislative process. However, the governor’s budget gives a good idea of his priorities and what he’s willing to support – or what he might oppose – from the legislature. The budget proposal delivered Friday includes:

Tax increases:

• Cigarette tax increase of $1.50 per pack;
• Liquor enforcement tax increase of 4%;
  
• Freeze income tax rates at 2015 levels (4.6% for
  upper bracket and 2.66% for the lower);

Program cuts:

• Cutting $100 million per year from the Highway Patrol;
• Delay state contributions to help bring KPERS into solvency;
• Reduce the state subsidy provided to the Wichita airport to help them attract airlines from $5 million to $3 million over two years.

We are just now beginning to learn the details about the impact of the Governor’s Budget. I am doing my own analysis, and also waiting to hear from the staff of the State Departments and Agencies, to see how programs and services are dealing with budget cuts or sweeping of funds to fill the projected $430 shortfall in revenue. I have said before this is going to be a tough year to approve a budget.

Unquestionably, the options I contemplate during the budget adoption process are going to upset some of you. Cutting budgets is never easy or gratifying. I always appreciate hearing from you the constituents who send me to Topeka, so I encourage you to contact me if you have an opinion, suggestion or want me to know how your life will be impacted.

COMMITTEE WORK

Taxation

This is a new committee for me and a better fit for my skills and interests than Judiciary Committee. Staff from the Kansas Legislative Research Department and Department of Revenue will provide an update on the state’s revenue outlook and the governor’s budget proposal. 

We will hear a status update on how things are going after last year’s overhaul turned the Court of Tax Appeals into the Board of Tax Appeals.

Shawn Sullivan, Kansas Director of Budget will provide a budget update and the Legislative Audit will overview the effectiveness of economic development tools.  

On Tuesday, we learned about the Governor’s proposal to create a “Budget Stabilization Fund” requiring the legislature to capture any growth in revenues greater than 102 percent and less than 103 percent. If the state has a better economic year and revenues come in 3 percent above budgeted expenditures, then by state law we would be required to put 1% of the additional revenue into the Budget Stabilization Fund, commonly referred to as a rainy day fund. The goal is to create a funding stream to maintain a 5% rainy day fund for the state. I support this idea and look forward to learning the details of the proposal, as it becomes a bill to worked by the Taxation Committee.

Local Government

We are off and running in this committee with our first bill hearing this week. HB 2003 deals with island annexation of land. These kinds of issues open up a can of worms and are frequently amended. The issue at hand involves a city purchasing a piece of land to build a landfill. Current state law permits a city to annex land unilaterally if it is owned by the city. As you may imagine, nearby property owners are upset because they have no voice in the annexation or use of the property. According to the testimony provided at the hearing, the city made no effort to inform the public of their intentions or plans. We will also receive updates on abandoned property issues covered by a 2014 Interim Committee 

Finally, the Legislative Research Department will provide an overview of the 2014 bills relating to local government

Children & Seniors

This committee will be relatively slow until bills are introduced and referred through the process. I am counting on our initial meetings to be short and sweet, since I’m serving on four committees. On Thursday, we will hear testimony on the Federal ABLE Act by fellow Representative Erin Davis.

• ABLE = Achieving a Better Life Experience: Similar to 529 college savings accounts, ABLE allows parents of disabled children to save for housing, transportation, medical, and other disability-related expenses. 

Energy & Environment

The beginning of each session is an opportunity for updates from the industries covered by this committee. This week we will hear from the Energy Associations:

• Ed Cross, Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association Kimberly Svaty, The Wind Coalition
• Randy Stookey, Association of Ethanol Processors, Inc.
• Mick Urban, Kansas Gas Service
• Michael Gillaspie, ONEOK
• Steve Cowen, Black Hills Energy
• Mike Loeffler, Northern Natural Gas
• Ron Gaches, Southern Star and TransCanada Pipelines, Williams Companies and Atmos Energy
• Michael White, ITC Great Plains 

Feedback Request

To better serve you, I need your input on the issues impacting your family, your business, and our state. If you have ideas to improve our state government, a law that needs repealed, or you’ve thought “there oughtta be a law” to fix that, I would be grateful for your input. Feel free to reply to any of my email newsletters and we can work together to find solutions. 

Sincerely,

Tom Phillips
State Representative, District 67
Kansas House of Representatives