Turnaround Week
A flurry of legislation worked its way through both the House and Senate during the final week of February prior to the legislature breaking for a four-day (unpaid) weekend. The House started off the month of March with a short week and will now turn its attention to bills previously passed by the Senate, while the Senate considers House bills.
Here are just a few of the measures passed by the House in late February. Remember that these proposals have only passed the House and must be passed by the Senate and signed by the Governor before actually becoming law.
- Voter ID, HB 2067
- Proposal to move all general elections to the fall, HB 2080
- Increase maximum speed on divided 4-lane highways to 75 mph, HB 2034
- Reinstitute inspections of hotels and motels, HB 2282
- Allow school districts to offer employment contracts to teachers that would in effect extend the probationary period for two additional years before the teacher achieves due process rights, sub HB 2191
- Amplified reporting requirements and placed additional restrictions on late-term abortions, HB 2218 and HB 2035
- Changes in worker’s compensation benefits, HB 2139
- Changing selection of court of appeals judges, HB 2101
- Creation of two new commissions or councils to “streamline” state government, HB 2120 and HB 2194
The second half of the session promises to bring forth plenty of additional controversial issues for the legislature’s consideration, including
- Repeal of the statewide smoking ban, HB 2340
- Allowing concealed carry in all public buildings (court houses, schools, college dorms, hospitals, etc.) unless every entrance is secured with a metal detector, HB 2353
- Arizona-style immigration proposals to force state and local units of government to verify that all companies with whom they do business are not hiring undocumented workers. It also is said to require police officers who come in contact with possible undocumented workers to verify citizenship or place them in local jails. The proposals have not yet shown up in bill form, but the House Committee on Federal and State Affairs agreed to introduce them at the request of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
- Repeal of the temporary 1-cent sales tax increase, HB 2091
- Abolishing the State Board of Education and the Kansas Board of Regents, HCR 5018
While these measures haven't yet had hearings in the House, they are likely to be debated soon. As such, we can expect them to take up a great deal of time and attention during the rest of the session. Some would say that this list of issues gives new meaning to the term “March Madness”. In addition to these issues, there is still that pesky problem of a $500 million hole in the budget to deal with…
Student Tuition Bill
For many decades it has been the law in Kansas that any graduate of a Kansas high school shall have the right to attend Kansas colleges. In 2004 the law was clarified so that the children of undocumented immigrants who have graduated from a Kansas high school and who sign an affidavit that they are on a path to attaining U.S. citizenship shall qualify for in-state tuition at Kansas regent’s institutions. During the current school year there are 413 such individuals in our colleges and universities. Over three quarters of them attend a community college. Twenty eight attend a technical school, and sixty two attend a four-year University.
Last week the House passed a bill to end this program and force these students to pay out-of-state tuition. Supporters of the bill focus on the notion that these individuals are in the country illegally, and we should not reward illegal behavior. They further claim that the state and its colleges are harmed by this program, since the colleges would take in more than $1 million in additional tuition if the 413 students were paying out-of-state tuition. That is bogus. These students can hardly pay in-state tuition. If they are forced to pay out-of-state tuition, they will simply drop out of school. It is important to note that members of the regent’s system are universally in favor of retaining the present program.
I certainly understand the frustration of those legislators who say “what part of ‘illegal’ don’t you understand?” And yet if we are honest with ourselves we must admit that it is not realistic to expect that these individuals are going to be “sent back to where they came from”. They are present in Kansas, and it is likely they will remain here with or without a college degree. So is it in the best interests of the state to deny them an opportunity to further their education? Every projection indicates that the Kansas economy will demand even more college educated workers in the future, and these young men and women are intent on becoming educated, productive members of society. Is it really a good thing for the state to extinguish that dream and sentence them to a life of menial labor? These individuals are motivated by that deep-seated human instinct to strive for a better life… the same instinct that motivated our ancestors to leave their homelands and begin a new life in America decades or centuries ago.
Governor Brownback states he does not want the present law changed. I side with the governor, and I voted no on this House bill.
Cowboy Logic: Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
Quote of the Week: It is a healthy thing, now and then, to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted. – Bertrand Russell
Sermon in a Sentence: Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.
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