House Substitute for SB 387 was a big one this week. The final vote of 65 to 58 was enough to get the bill passed. However, many said the KPI-backed, bundled bill would get over 75 votes. With just two votes over the number needed to pass the bill, it sends a strong message to the House, Senate, and Governor’s office. Representative Dave Younger (former Superintendent of Ulysses) said it very well when he spoke to the full House on Tuesday  (26th) as they were considering the bill calling it “voodoo math”, which it is. As you know, the bill counts LOB funds towards the state’s obligation for funding in special education. The LOB funds generated by SPED state aid being used in the calculation would be used to reduce the state’s appropriation required for 92% of excess costs which means the state could say they are meeting the 92% funding level by using locally controlled funds (most of which are gathered via local property taxes). This bill removes the authority of local school boards to identify how best to use local dollars from their Local Option Budget.  
 

The following Representatives voted no on House Sub for SB 387. If you have the opportunity, please take time to send them an email, text, or phone call to thank them for standing for proper funding of special education and not using “voodoo math” like KPI is using.

Alcala,Amyx, Ballard, Bloom, Borjon, Butler, Carlin, Carmichael, Carr, Clifford, Collins, Concannon, Curtis, Ellis, Eplee, Featherston, Goddard, Haskins, Haswood, Helgerson, Highberger, Hougland, Howe, Hoye, Jacobs, Martinez, McDonald, Melton, Meyer, D. Miller, S. Miller, V. Miller, Minnix, Moser, Neighbor, Ohaebosim, Oropeza, Osman, Ousley, Poskin, Probst, Rahjes, L. Ruiz, S. Ruiz, Sawyer, Sawyer Clayton, Schlingensiepen, Schreiber, Seiwert, A. Smith, C. Smith, Stogsdill, Weigel, L. Williams, Winn, Woodard, Xu, Younger,
 

Another request sent last weekend was to contact Senators on SB 427. SB 427 is yet another KPI bill that was designed to micromanage school board meetings and school districts with the possibility of turning board meetings into a circus. The bill also required all school board member email addresses be published on district websites as opposed to a central email contact portal like is done for school employees. 

The Senators heard your concerns! The Senate voted to defeat the bill with a vote of 13 to 24. Again, as requested above, please take the time to contact your Senator and thank him/her for voting no on legislation that disrupts the operation of a school district and a board meeting. Those voting no were:

Alley, Bowers, Corson, Dietrich, Doll, Faust-Goudeau, Francisco, Haley, Holland, Holscher, Longbine, McGinn, O'Shea, Olson, Peck, Pettey, Pittman, Reddi, Ryckman, Shallenburger, Sykes, Tyson, Ware, Wilborn
 

The Senate also this week voted on a compromise that allows school districts to calculate their enrollment based on the current year, the preceding year, or an average of the previous two years. The change would last for one year. The move to the current year or the previous year’s enrollment is inevitable after that. The vote was 33 to 6.

One thing the Senate did not take up this week was SB 509. This is good news! SB 509 would provide income tax credits for taxpayers sending their children to non-public schools. This is yet another KPI-backed piece of legislation.

Probably the biggest issue at the Capitol this week has to do with tax relief for Kansans. On Tuesday night, the House spent a good deal of time discussing a dual rate tax plan. On Wednesday, the House voted 123 to 0 to accept the plan. Main points of the plan include a dual-rate income tax plan, a cut to property taxes, eliminating taxes on social security, and eliminating sales tax on food. Later on Wednesday, Senate President Materson declared the bill materially altered and sent the bill to committee. We could have an interesting week next week with the two bodies trying to agree on a tax plan.
 

Next week will be spent with conference committees working on differences in legislation between the House and Senate. Drop Dead Day is next Friday, April 5th which is also first adjournment. This will be followed by a 3 week break. Following the break will be the veto session starting on April 29th. 

We want to wish all of you a happy holiday weekend. We will let you know what is taking place next week as we near the end of this legislative session. There is much to be decided. If there are questions, please reach out.