As I look at the legislative calendar, this is already week nine for the session. Obviously, things are moving along as the days are getting longer and spring is in the air.
Our calendar says it is only two weeks until the scheduled end of regular session, known as first adjournment. The budget is coming along and, if everything goes as planned, we may be able to meet that time schedule. Rarely do things go as planned.
Late last week the so-called block grant bill for schools was passed out of the Appropriations Commit?tee. A few amendments were made to the bill, but other than adding a sunset the bill remains basically unchanged.
While the block grant proposal may not be really terrible, there is good and bad. We debated in the full House and it narrowly advanced on Thursday.
The school block grant is supposed to provide a specific amount of money to schools using the current amount of money distributed to each school as the baseline.
While the amount of money is claimed to be higher, most of the additional money is required to be turned over to the KPERS system, so is counted as a legitimate school expense but is not available to the classroom directly.
The block grants certainly give local boards of education more local control, but the law is written such that reserve funds will be spent, funding is capped at predetermined levels, and there is no assurance that funding will not be reduced further.
Most weightings are ended with the block grants and concern has been expressed that weighting for low enrollment, which generally are rural areas, will not ever return and possibly force consolidation. Legisla?tive District 74 is considered to be rural.
In final action Friday, we sat in our chairs for two hours waiting for an absent member to arrive. There were 62 votes in favor and a constitutional majority requires 63. When that member finally arrived, the final vote in favor was cast and the show was over.
Now we will see what the Senate does, but expect quick action.
Action in committees is still a little slow, but most bills in committee are Senate bills, and they are limited in number. This week is the last week regular committees can meet, so anything not in a blessed bill will be finished until next year.
Much of the attention is still on the budget and recently on the block grant proposal. When half of the state general fund (SGF) is wrapped up in K-12 funding, that deserves attention.
The energy committee finished hearings on repeal of the renewable portfolio standards for energy, but I do not know as I write this if the bill will be advanced to the House.
The Kansas renewable standard is 20 percent by the year 2020 and all the energy companies have met, or will soon meet, those standards. While the argument for repeal of the standards is that free markets should prevail, does an actual repeal accomplish anything?
Federal and state affairs committee held hearings on SB 45, which allows for concealed carry without a permit. Again, as I write this I do not know if the bill will be passed out. Proponents say the bill is constitutional carry while opponents think some safety and general knowledge of firearms operation is appropriate.
The ag committee heard a bill that would outlaw the use of carbon monoxide chambers to euthanize animals. While we are not aware of any facilities that actually use that method, the law would simply make sure. These days, euthanizing is done by injecting a drug that causes them to drift off peacefully.
I had the opportunity to tour the Department of Ag and Department of Health and Environment labs at Forbes Field. Much, but not all, of what KDA does is weights and measures and testing of plants and soil for pesticides. KDHE does testing mainly related to human issues, such as screening of newborns for genetic traits as well as water and food testing.
Something I did not know is that the KDHE lab is a regional lab for use if a radiation incident occurs.
Even with some slowness, it has been an interesting week.
Rep. Don Schroeder represents District 74, which includes much of the southern half of Marion County.