2014 Newsletter Week 9
In this Issue:
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Appropriations Committee reviews KPERS and Judicial branch budgets
Appropriations Committee discusses state agencies and capital improvements
Committee on Insurance hears testimony on mandated health insurance coverage for Autism
Spectrum Disorder
Joint Education Committee hears from Superintendents on at-risk funding
Commerce and Labor holds hearing on incentive to hire Kansans with disabilities
Democrats act to support property tax relief for middle-class Kansans
Keep in touch
Appropriations Committee reviews KPERS and Judicial branch budgets
Tuesday Morning, the House Appropriations Committee met to review budgets for the Kansas Public
Employees Retirement System, and for the Judicial Branch. Rep. DeGraaf presented the reports, and
explained a few of the recommendations made by the General Government Budget Committee.
Rep. DeGraaf made special mention of the KPERS budget for FY 2015, pointing out that they have been
extremely efficient and have retained a healthy rate of return, and have no expected State General Fund
dollars requested. The KPERS budget passed for FY’s 14-15 as recommended by the Budget Committee.
Rep. DeGraaf reminded the committee that the Governor is statutorily required to submit the Judicial
Branch Budget as received, without making his own recommendations, thus it is up to the budget
committees to provide deeper review. One recommendation on the budget for FY 15 drew concern
amongst the representatives, which was to remove 15 percent of the branch’s court reporter positions. I
know that many court reporters are already very upset about this news. 15 percent equates to 18 FTE
positions, and an estimate of $180,000 to go toward updating the courtrooms.
Rep. Ballard moved to delete this recommendation, and Rep. Lane moved to amend the
recommendation to only 9 FTE positions, both motions were defeated. Rep. DeGraaf also pointed out to
the committee that the budgets are dependent upon a few house bills currently in committee, which
may cause a swing in policies that will affect how the appropriations will need to be made. Chairman
Marc Rhoades then moved to add an amendment to require an objective report on how these changes
affect operations next year, and the amendment passed.
Judiciary Budgets for Fiscal Years 14-15 were passed as amended by the committee. Chairman Rhoades
also introduced a bill regarding school finance.
Appropriations Committee discusses state agencies and capital improvements
The Appropriations Committee met again on Thursday to discuss the appropriations for various state
agencies and capital improvement projects.
The committee passed a motion that would add $125,000 in the supplemental budget to go towards the
Kansas Sexual Predator Treatment Program. The program is responsible for treating sexual predators
that are not sentenced to jail time.
The committee also passed a motion that would reallocate$500,000 worth of funds within the
Accelerating Opportunity program, to account for the growing number of adult’s ages 24-35
participating in the program. The 24-35 age group is growing rapidly within the program, and the funds
would go towards tuition grants for these Kansas interested in earning the credential and skills they
need to get and succeed in a solid, family-sustaining job.
Committee members also passed a motion that would restore 10 positions that were previously cut
within the Kansas Lottery agency. The committee passed an amendment that would give the Kansas
Lottery greater authority over their own budget, and allow them to minimize cuts within the personnel
department.
Discussion about cuts from the advertising budget of a variety of agencies and its potential
consequences was also held during the committee meeting. The Kansas Lottery was facing the heftiest
cut from their advertising budget, and proponents to the cuts cited studies that said that advertising was
not a big factor in an individual’s decision to participate in the lottery. They found that a steep increase
in the prize money in the lottery and a change in payout methods were more predictive factors for
lottery participation.
The committee heard discussion on possibly exempting certain agencies from the 10% cut from their
advertising budget, and concluded that all universities within the state of Kansas would be exempt, as
well as other agencies that would be left with less than $1,000 in their advertising budget after the cut.
Ultimately, the committee passed out a substitute bill that was amended with the agency exemptions
and technical corrections.
Committee on Insurance hears testimony on mandated health insurance coverage for Autism
Spectrum Disorder
The House Committee on Insurance met Monday and Wednesday this week to hear testimony on House
Bill 2744, regarding mandated health insurance coverage for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Coverage under
the current bill would be limited to 520 hours per calendar year, or 10 hours per week, and include
licensure requirements for practitioners. Most of this legislation, if enacted, would come into being at
the start of 2016.
The majority of testimony provided came from opponents to the bill such as Michael Wasmer of the
advocacy group Autism Speaks, state employed attorney and mother of an autistic child Mellissa
Rundus, and Mr. Denny Leak, a school psychologist with over two decades of experience, who would
lose his ability to practice due to the bill’s credential requirements. A small handful of proponents to the
bill called it a compromise.
“I think something is better than nothing,” said Representative John Rubin, who has been promoting the
mandate for years. "Anything we pass in this house that doesn't have support of the health insurance
industry is dead on arrival in the Senate.”
Opponents tended to disagree, as the bill was introduced by insurance companies in response to their
own bill that has yet to be given a hearing.
“This bill does not represent an agreement between the autism community and the insurance lobby,”
said Michael Wasmer. “There was no meaningful dialogue between the two groups.”
The opposition’s greatest concern grew from the coverage cap for ABA, or Applied Behavior Analysis,
that only requires insurers to cover 10 hours per week. When Representative John Doll asked how many
hours (on average) is enough to help a child, Mr. Leak answered that at least 15-25 hours a week is
minimal. Fellow opponent Mellissa Rundus stated that her son requires 40 hours a week, even though
only 20 hours are covered under her state insurance plan.
In its current form, HB 2744 not only caps the coverage of treatment to 10 hours per week, but it’s
credential requirements are a threat to the pool of treatment providers in Kansas, according to Mr. Leak
and Sky Westerlund, a licensed master social worker, who spoke on behalf of the Kansas Chapter of the
National Association of Social Workers (KNASW). As an example, Mr. Leak testified that to gain licensure
he would have to take three more years of education and spend about $20,000, and if it came to this he
would have to quit. Linda Heitzman-Powell, a professor from the University of Kansas that holds over a
decade of experience in autism research, testified that the requirements would affect nearly 90 percent
of the current treatment providers in Kansas. She also said that even though the state has been trying to
increase its number of providers, some have already moved to Missouri whose autism coverage
mandate has been held up as a model by advocacy groups.
Westerlund also voiced concern over the outdated language of the bill regarding diagnosis that
potentially left room for insurer’s to deny coverage. The hearing adjourned with multiple
representatives agreeing the bill needed some work, and possible amending before it left committee.
Joint Education Committee hears from Superintendents on at-risk funding
On Monday the House and Senate Education Committees met in a joint meeting to hear a roundtable
discussion on at-risk funding for Kansas schools. The state gives out at-risk funding to districts based on
the amount of students who receive free or reduced prices for school lunches
The roundtable discussion consisted of superintendents from school districts all across the state. Areas
of Kansas represented before the committees included Kansas City, Olathe, Topeka, Wichita, Shawnee
Mission, and Garden City.
According to the superintendents, poverty is the biggest problem faced in their schools. They need the
at-risk funds to aid struggling students in achieving their academic goals and behavioral challenges. The
at-risk funds they receive are helping them aid students who are facing poverty, learning English as a
second language, and homelessness. Dr. Rick Atha of Garden City stated, "If in the future this funding
were to be cut or eliminated, it would prove to be catastrophic.”
Commerce and Labor holds hearing on incentive to hire Kansans with disabilities
The Commerce, Labor and Economic Development met on Thursday, March 13th, to discuss HB 2675.
HB 2675 fine tunes a bill that was passed out of Senate Ways and Means last session that encourages
companies to hire Kansas citizens with disabilities. The bill outlines tax incentives that are available to
companies whose workforce is comprised of at least 10% of employees with a disability. This is a change
from the previous version in which 20% of a company's workforce had to be disabled in order to be
eligible. A company may also receive a cash reimbursement upon hiring an individual with a mental or
physical disability, and if they retain the employee for a year, they will receive another cash payment.
Testimony in favor of the bill was delivered by representatives from Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation,
who shared stories of their success with hiring individuals with mental or physical disabilities. He said
that these tax and cash incentives motivate companies within the private sector to give jobs to qualified
Kansans, and help disabled individuals reach their employment and independence goals.
The program would also save the state money as newly employed people stop taking state assistance.
But it’s unclear when that savings would be realized since as each person exits state assistance another
person from the waiting list would enter.
Overall, this seems to be a very pro-jobs bill that proposes a great program which gives some of our
most vulnerable citizens a fair chance.
Democrats act to support property tax relief for middle-class Kansans
On Wednesday Kansas Democratic House Caucus pushed through an amendment that provides $45
million in property tax relief for Kansas homeowners struggling under the weight of rising property
taxes. The Kansas House voted 102-17 in favor of an amendment to HB 2542 that would restore the
local ad valorem tax reduction fund starting in Fiscal Year 2015.
Restoration of these funds would mean real relief on the local level. In Johnson County this property tax
relief would mean an infusion of nearly $10 million for property owners. Likewise, Sedgwick County
would receive $7.3 million in relief. This means lower mill levies and more money in middle-class
Kansans' pockets. Some counties would see their levies drop by over 2 mills - Marion County alone could
lower their mill levy by over three mills!
However, on Final Action vote on Thursday, some far-right Republicans couldn’t bring themselves to
support middle-class families. You can find a list of the final four Kansas House of Representative
members who opposed property tax relief for middle-class Kansas families below. Click on their name if
you'd like to email them and ask them why they don't support property tax relief for hard working
Kansans.
Rep. Randy Garber, Sabetha randy.garber@house.ks.gov
Rep. Amanda Grosserode, Lenexa amanda.grosserode@house.ks.gov
Rep. Craig McPherson, Overland Park craig.mcpherson@house.ks.gov
Rep. Allan Rothlisberg, Grandview Plaza allan.rothlisberg@house.ks.gov
Keep in touch
It is a special honor to serve as your state representative. I value and need your input on the various
issues facing state government. Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions. My
office address is Room 174-W, 300 SW 10th, Topeka, KS 66612. You can reach me at (785) 296-7691 or
call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me. Additionally, you can e-mail me
at Julie.menghini@house.ks.gov. You can also follow the legislative session online at
www.kslegislature.org.