KANSAS SENATE BILLS for Year 2001:

Last Updated 03/21/2001             To check the status and history of a bill: click here

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SB1. Special Committee on Assessment and Taxation. - revises sales tax law relating to the accounting of taxable and non-taxable services provided by telecommunications companies.
SB2. Special Committee on Utilities. Amends the law concerning parallel electrical generation services by adding a section that sets the reimbursement by the utility to a small electric generator (as defined by KCC) at not less than 150% of the utility’s marginal cost to produce one more unit of power.
SB3. Special Committee on Utilities.  Requires that at least 80% of all motor-vehicle fuel purchased by the state motor pool contain at least 10% ethanol. This smells of directing tax dollars to a special interest.  No fiscal note, but it could add direct costs to state if blended fuel costs more, and indirect costs if increased ethanol production increases other state subsidies.  The bill would place a legal constraint on the ability to use better alternatives should some be placed on the market.  .
SB4. Special Committee on Utilities.  Requires that at least 80% of all diesel fuel purchased by the state motor pool contain at least 2% biodiesel, derived from vegetable oil or animal fat.  This smells of directing tax dollars to a special interest.  No fiscal note.  .
SB5. Legislative Educational Planning Committee. Adds Washburn to the definition of a “postsecondary educational institution.”  Nothing in the bill gives any indication of the full impact of the addition, but see SB10 below.
SB6. Legislative Educational Planning Committee. Clarifies that the boards of trustees for community colleges have control of such colleges.
SB7. Legislative Educational Planning Committee.  Changes existing law to state that the state board of education shall adopt and maintain standards for the accreditation of elementary and secondary schools. Appears to be a typo correction, changing “accredit” to “accreditation.” Also deletes similar board  responsibility for junior colleges.  .
SB8. Legislative Educational Planning Committee. Cleans up existing law concerning grant entitlements for Washburn by removing dates that have already come and gone.  .
SB9. Special Committee on Preschool and K-12 Matters.  Extends from 3 to 5 years the minium interval for review of curriculum standards and deletes a section of existing law that contained actions that have come and gone.  .
SB10. Legislative Educational Planning Committee.  Tells state board of regents that they have to identify/approve core indicators of quality performance for each community college separately, after considering recommendations of CC’s boards of trustees. Also says that the regents must consider the core indicators recommended by postsecondary education institutions.
SB11. Legislative Educational Planning Committee.  Shifts responsibility for supervision of the administration of vocational training by local educational agencies from the state board of education to the regents on 7/1/04.
SB12. Legislative Educational Planning Commission.  Revises state income tax law to allow the subtraction from federal adjusted gross income of amounts received by retired Washburn employees as pension and retirement benefits under the university’s plan.
SB13. Special Committee on Federal and State Affairs.  An increase in “sin taxes” to feed the maw.  Revises the state law governing cereal malt beverage and liquor licensees by large increases in fees and by creating a new “alcohol beverage control general fees fund.”  The fund is to be used for the operation of the division of alcoholic beverage control.  .
SB14. Special Committee on federal and State Affairs.  Revises mediation laws, giving judges the authority to order mediation in certain cases, gives the supreme court the authority to establish mediation standards and guidelines, and adds a section that makes deliberate avoidance of ordered mediation evidence of bad faith. .
SB15. Legislative Budget Committee. A 461 page (yes, 461) bill “relating to the remittance of moneys to the state treasurer.” The first two pages are a listing of the KSA’s amended.
SB16. Joint Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice Oversight.  Revises care-of-children law to require that court hearing be held within 48 hours (currently 72 hours) of a child being taken into protective custody.  .
SB17. Joint Committee on Pensions, Investments and Benefits.  Increases the KPERS lump sum death benefit from $4,000 to $5,000.  .
SB18. Joint Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice Oversight.  Authorizes the commissioner of juvenile justice to implement a program to make grants in support of the juvenile justice community initiative as authorized in KSA 75-7033 on a two-year funding cycle.  No rationale given; probably to cover projects longer than a year and to reduce paperwork.
SB19. Financial Institutions and Insurance.  Directs health insurance companies to provide insured women with one visit a year to an in-network obstetrician or gynecologist for routine care without requiring the woman to first visit a primary care provider. Another government one-size-fits-all mandate, contributing to increased health-care insurance premium costs.
SB20. Judiciary. Deletes bonding requirement for professional fund raisers for any charitable organization.  .
SB21. Transportation.  Forces public and nonpublic schools to use a defined bus when transporting more than 10 passengers. Districts purchasing a non-bus capable of hauling less than 15 people before 7/1/01 can use it until 7/1/04. Suspect it has something to do with safety. .
SB22. Federal and State Affairs.  Extends the lottery sunset date to 7/1/07.  .
SB23. Assessment and Taxation.  Provides for a retroactive refund of sales tax paid by the Kansas Academy of Science.  .
SB24. Education.  Revises the due process for teachers employed at the state school for the blind and the state school for the deaf who have been terminated. Current law sets up an arbitration committee; this revision specifies a hearing officer and establishes who pays for what.  .
SB25. Education.  Makes procedural changes to the due process for terminated teachers in public schools.  .
SB26. Judiciary.  Clarifies that the civil remedies of the Kansas standard asset seizure and forfeiture act are not precluded by rules and regs issued by the secretary of corrections.  (A better bill would be to seriously constrain the asset seizure/forfeiture law.)  .
SB27. Judiciary.  Revises current law relating to the transfer of offenders to reception and diagnostic units. Specifies situations in which offenders should be sent to the El Dorado correctional facility or the Topeka correctional facility, and what should be done if space is not available.  .
SB28.  Elections and Local Government.  Prohibits persons regulated by the insurance office from making contributions to a candidate for insurance commissioner. Stomps on political speech.
SB29.  Financial Institutions and Insurance. Deletes the stricture that a child in the state-sponsored health insurance plan loses coverage if the child was covered by health insurance during the previous 6 months.
SB30.  Judiciary.  Revises will and trust law regarding the situation when the writer of the document is a beneficiary.
SB31.  Ways and Means.  Changes the name of the SRS transition committee to the SRS oversight committee, and changes the sunset date to 7/1/03.  The onus should be to prove why this added unit of government should be perpetuated.  It is beginning to appear that sunset provisions are used as a sound bite, recognizing that it is easier to extend the drop dead date than let it take effect.
SB32.  Legislative Post Audit. 10-page bill that implements audit recommendations, including changing in the law designating members of the state conservation commission and the wording in many separate sections regarding implementation of the Kansas governmental operations accountability law.
SB33.  Legislative Post Audit. Implements audit recommendations regarding the accounting for and use of assets obtained under the state's seize and forfeiture laws. Tightens up the accountability for, and spreads the use of, such assets, but does not address the basic constitutional problem with such laws.
SB34.  Legislative Post Audit.  Implements audit recommendations. In this case, requires a security audit of the Kansas lottery every three years, done by an independent auditor and paid for by the lottery.
SB35. Ways and Means.  Amends tax law for “alternative-fueled” vehicles, specifying the conditions under which a person buying such a vehicle that can run on a blend of 85% ethanol/15% gasoline can apply for a tax credit. Requires that the person show proof that they have bought more than 500 gallons of such fuel.
SB36. Agriculture.  Establishes a monetary obligation of two times value on the part of anyone who destroys a crop. Probably aimed at the Luddite nuts who go around destroying experimental crops.
SB37. Senator Corbin.  Prohibits the sale of gasoline containing MTBE with phase-out dates.
Provides for an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 per day per violation upon a finding of knowingly and willfully violating the law.
SB38. Assessment and Taxation.  Taxpayers who are required to collect/submit sales and use taxes would be given a 2% credit of such remittance for their collection service up to a maximum of $1,000 per month. Interesting concept - paying people to be tax collectors. No fiscal note.
SB39. Senator Clark.  To the definition of “business firms” in the income tax law concerning the
Kansas community services program act is added “any individual subject to the state income tax imposed by the provision of the Kansas income tax act.”
SB40. Assessment and Taxation.  Gives the secretary of revenue new powers in sales tax investigations: to subpoena documents, to compel the appearance of people, to issue interrogatories, to administer oaths, to take depositions, to get a court to order compliance with its subpoenas.  Another expansion of administrative law, increasing the power of state government.
SB41. Assessment and Taxation. Amends Kansas estate tax law to recognize the expiration of inheritance tax liability. Apparently makes changes to recognize situations that could develop for estates being liquidated as the state switches from inheritance tax to estate tax.
SB42. Assessment and Taxation. Sets forth periods of limitation for the collection of liquor drink taxes and claims for liquor drink tax refunds.
SB43. Assessment and Taxation. Changes the procedure for food sales tax refund appeals.
SB44. Assessment and Taxation. Revises the administration of the homestead property tax refund process.
SB45. Assessment and Taxation. Sets forth periods of limitation for income tax credits or refunds.
SB46. Judiciary.  Removes dates already past in the law concerning the retirement of judges and removes a provision that allowed a judge to serve out his term, even if he was over the mandatory age 75 retirement point.
SB47. Judiciary. Makes English changes in the law governing the objection to candidate nominations for elections, removes the clerk of the district court from the board convened to consider nomination objections and appeals and replaces the court clerk with an elected official of the county in which the objection was filed.
SB48. Education.  Establishes a new government agency KAN-ED with its own bureaucracy and the power to contract for the creation, operation, and maintenance of a broadband technology-based network to which schools, libraries, and hospitals may connect for internet access and distance learning. A special KAN-ED fund is established but the funding method/amount is not specified.  It would nice to hear from some technology free-marketeers how the connections could come about without creating a bigger government. Afraid the lure of the latest whiz-bang technology will overshadow/overpower the actual need and create a resource blackhole. Technology is but a tool, not an educational end-all.  There must be a better way to establish the connections.
SB49. Judiciary. Eliminates Executive Branch review of Judicial Branch budgets, a move in keeping with the separation of powers doctrine.
SB50. Public Health and Welfare. Removes a sunset clause from the dental practices act, allowing dental prophylaxis by unlicensed but trained people under the direct supervision of a dentist.
SB51. Utilities.  Changes severance taxation law, redefining the terms “base production”
“Production enhancement project.”
SB52.Ways and Means.  Appropriates $150,000 for the Legislative Coordinating Council for the current fiscal year and allows carryover to the next fiscal year of any unencumbered funds.
SB53. Transportation.  Repeals the requirement for an interstate reciprocity permit for fleet vehicles.
SB54. Transportation.  Deletes bonding requirement for a liquid-fuel carrier’s license.
SB55. Transportation.  Makes changes to the law regarding due process for driving license revocation for medical conditions.
SB56. Transportation.  Extends the law regarding the suspension or revocation of drivers licenses to non-resident drivers and unlicensed drivers.
SB57.  Special Claims Against the State.   Enacts legislation to pay a hundred or so special claims against the state.
SB58. Financial Institutions and Insurance. Prohibits a supplier to submit for payment a check, draft or other negotiable instrument on a person’s bank accounts without the person’s specific permission. Automatic draws on an account setup in accordance with established procedures.
SB59. Agriculture. New law (15 pages) that creates a Milk, Cream, and Dairy Product bureaucracy in the Department of Agriculture to ensure that all such products sold are Grade A pasteurized.  Four and a half pages are definitions: Milk is the “lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows.” The definition goes on and says that the term milk includes goat milk. New fees are established on lots of things to fund the program, including a $50 license fee for any food service establishment that makes “homemade ice cream” on the premises. Have no idea what is driving this one. Parkinson would say more billets, more funding to control.
SB60. Agriculture.  Repeals KSA 74-504d which required county appraisers to make an annual report of agricultural data , as specified by the secretary of agriculture, to the secretary of agriculture.
SB61. Agriculture.  Adds the definitions of “wholesaler,” “distributor,” and “public warehousemen” to the meat and poultry food safety law, and works these people into the requirements of the bill.
SB62. ***  Elections and Local Government.  Adds a requirement that people seeking an office or appointment that requires taking an oath to uphold the Constitution must take a written examination designed to determine such person’s understanding of the document. The open-book test will be prepared by the regents, the results will be an open public record. The results shall not affect the qualification of the person to seek and hold office.  The state may not believe that it can make such a requirement a qualification for office, but the electorate sure can - and should.  I can hear all the wailings and gnashing of teeth about why such a requirement should not be enacted.
SB63. Elections and Local Government.  Adds a requirement to the voter registration law that voters have to provide the last four digits of their social security number.  This is being proposed as a way of helping county clerks purge voter lists and identifying people who should not be on the lists. Good to purge the lists; bad to use a part of the SSN?.  Coming down on getting people off the lists who shouldn’t be allowed to vote.  For those who do not want Social Security and who have gotten rid of their SSN, they may lose their vote.
SB64. Public Health and Welfare.  Adds hospital administrators/hospitals to the requirement that confirmed AIDS infections must be reported to the KDHE secretary.
SB65. Public Health and Welfare.  Creates a dental service loan program for prospective dentists who will agree to practice in a “dentally under-served area.” Government biasing the market place. The repayment of government medical education loans historically has a high default rate.
SB66. Public Health and Welfare.  Corrects a citation error in the KSA concerning children in need of care.
SB67. Judiciary.  Removes wording that gives judges some discretion in awarding drunk driving sentences. Removing judicial discretion is usually a bad idea.
SB68. Assessment and Taxation.  Extends for two years the $20K exemption of residential property from school levies. As a first step towards elimination of the school property tax,
SB69. Assessment and Taxation.  Extends the 20 mill school property tax thru school year 2002-2003. Tax should be zero,
SB70. Financial Institutions and Insurance.  Revises law regarding who may make a demand upon a mortgagee for satisfaction of a mortgage.
SB71. Senator Adkins.  New law authorizing the placement of a memorial to fire fighters on the state capitol grounds, establishes a fund for the memorial, and establishes an advisory committee.
SB72. Transportation.  Revises vehicle law, defining farm custom operations and revising when farm vehicles can be on public highways.
SB73. Transportation.  Corrects typos and specifies that farm trailers under 6,000 pounds do not have to be registered.
SB74. State-Tribal Relations.  Extends state law enforcement powers, duties, and immunities to tribal law enforcement agencies and officers when they have been requested to assist a state, county, or city law enforcement agency.
SB75. State-Tribal Relations.  Revises how the joint committee on state-tribal relations is organized and gives the Governor and AG the right to vote on all matters except those dealing with recommendations and actual votes on compacts under consideration.
SB76. State-Tribal Relations.  Expands the law that gives the Governor authority to negotiate gaming compacts with tribes. If enacted, the Governor would have the authority to negotiate any and all agreements with the tribes with which the state has gaming compacts.
SB77. Education.  Changes the means by which exceptional children are accounted for in the school finance weighting formula.
SB78. Education.  Increases the upper limit on the contingency reserve fund maintained by school boards to 7.5% of the sum of the general fund budget and the local option budget.
SB79. Education.  In education law, revises the definition of “at-risk” pupils, specifying the term to mean a child who exhibits one or more of the following characteristics: eligible for federal free lunch program, high rate of absenteeism, or unsatisfactory school performance.  Eligibility for free lunch may be an indicator of problems, but the automatic categorization of anyone so eligible as “at-risk” and subject to special scrutiny is insulting and potentially dangerous to the family by the intrusion of busy-body social workers. No wonder many families do not sign up for free lunch programs - and no wonder school districts attempt to sign up as many kids as possible.
SB80. Education.  Increases base aid per student to $4,000.00.  Schools already get a total of $7,500 per student per year from all sources. Throwing more money at the schools will not solve the problems facing government schools.
SB81. Education.  New law that gives authority to the state school board to provide school districts that have capital outlay taxes with state capital outlay aid and gives a formula for deciding which districts would get the money. The higher the assessed valuation per student, the less likely the district would be eligible for the aid.
SB82. Education.  Changes the at-risk pupil weighting factor from 0.09 to 0.1.
SB83. Transportation.  Allows proof of vehicle insurance at time of registration to be verified on-line, electronically.
SB84. Assessment and Taxation.  New law providing for an income tax credit for investment in an agricultural cooperative. The credit is limited to $2,500 or 25% of the amount invested, whichever is less.  Apparently using tax law to further a social goal.
SB85. Ways and Means.  Lowers docket fees for persons put on probation, but makes what used to be a single fee, now a monthly fee for as long as the person is on probation. Establishes a new docket fee of $101 for petitions of expungement. Increases docket fees for an entire litany of types of cases, and adds new categories of cases to the list, including the garnishment of wages. Obtaining access to the justice system becomes more expensive.
SB86. Natural Resources.  Increases a Wildlife and Parks permit late payment fee from $5.00 to $15.00.
SB87. Natural Resources.  Requires a furharvester to attest to or produce proof of possession of a valid furharvester certificate of competency. The law now requires the furharvester to show certificate to the person issuing the license.
SB88. Judiciary.  Establishes patient/patient representative’s right to view and obtain copies of medical and medical billing records.   Contains all sorts of do’s and don’t’s.
SB89. Elections and Local Government.  Prevents local governments from enacting rent control.
SB90. Elections and Local Government.  Adds in the old familiar “or reasonably should have known” phrase to the law governing ethics in government.
SB91. Assessment and Taxation.  Authorizes cities and counties to impose a development activity excise tax.  It even has a retroactive provision for imposing excise taxes to recover costs of public facilities.
SB92. Assessment and Taxation.  Changes the definition of fair market value to exclude the present value of special assessments.
SB93. Assessment and Taxation.  Perpetuates the sales tax exclusion for materials used to construct grain storage facilities.
SB94. Senator Adkins.  Extends to members of the legislature existing ethics law relating to the acceptance of gifts.
*** SB95.  Senators Adkins and Goodwin.  Enacts then Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision and establishes an Interstate Commission. With the creation of the Commission is created another layer of government. The Commission is given the authority to publish rules which have the force and effect of statutory law and to levy “dues” upon the signatory states.  We do not need more government, further removed from the people.
SB96. Ways and Means.  Specifies that any person appointed as a director of information technology or director of capital improvement in the department of corrections shall be in the unclassified service.
SB97. Judiciary.  Provides options for the signature of proclamations, warrants, and requisitions required by law to be signed by the governor, allowing such documents to be signed by a designated person, or when authorized by the governor, by electronic signature.
SB98. Judiciary.  Revises existing law to state that proclamations issued by the governor that are not required by law do not have to be published in the Kansas register.
SB99. Judiciary.  Extensive revisions to the sexual offender registration law, adding the definition sexually violent predator and expands the coverage.
SB100. Public Health and Welfare.  Doubles the allowable fee for food service licenses.
SB101. Financial Institutions and Insurance.  Mandates that health insurance policies include provisions that the policy will not lapse if a person is in the hospital, and that a renewed group policy cannot fail to enroll a person who is hospitalized at the time of renewal.
SB102. Senators Praeger, Jenkins, and Allen.  Makes it a Class A misdemeanor to mail, publish, communicate, etc., etc., by any means false information intended to prevent any person from casting a ballot or applying for/casting an advance voting ballot.
SB103. Public Health and Welfare.  Adds crimes to the list of crimes, conviction for which precludes employment at a home health agency, and makes changes to the procedures and fees for obtaining background checks.
SB104. Public Health and Welfare.  Similar to 103, but for adult care homes.
SB105. Assessment and Taxation.  Adds “precision farming equipment” to the sales tax exemption for farm machinery.
SB106. Assessment and Taxation.  Exempts the state (but not the city/county) sales tax on purchases of clothing and computers of less than $500 for the first weekend in August.  Apparently this is done in South Carolina as a “get kids ready for the next school year” tax break for parents.  The accounting must be fun.
SB107. Elections and Local Government. Revises the law governing the submission of authorized protest petitions. Deletes the requirement that county attorneys rule on the sufficiency of the petition form, placing the burden of proof of proper form on the petitioner. Adds a presumption of proper form if the petition contains specified information.
SB108. Elections and Local Government. New law trying again to establish a requirement that campaign contribution information must be submitted electronically to the Secretary of State.  States that the name and address of contributors of more than $50 shall be reported.  Gives the Secretary of State authority to dictate what computer hardware, software, or other equipment must be used and to publish whatever regulations are needed.  I am all for electronic, immediate reporting of contributions - but I dislike the legislature handing off law-making to un-elected agency bureaucrats.
SB109. Elections and Local Government.  Allows two or more counties to unite to form a surveyor district and employ a surveyor to serve the district.
SB110. Ways and Means.  Revises the fee structure for the examination and licensing of CPAs.
SB111. Utilities. Revises current law to make it mandatory that the Kansas corporation commission investigate all electric public utility rate schedules and related matters by changing the word “may” to “shall” throughout the law.
SB112. Utilities.  Gives the corporation commission new authority to review energy cost adjustments and to suspend the adjustments if they are excessive.   Excessive is not defined.
SB113. Senator Adkins.  Establishes a new SRS program and fund to assist low-income Kansans to pay home energy costs and ties it to the federal low income energy assistance program, but says that it applies to all whose gross income does not exceed 185% of the federal poverty limits.  Appropriates $5M into the new fund and specifies how the fund is to be maintained at $5M.  This is a tough one. The spike in gas prices has financially ruined some people, and arguably, government market meddling has been part of the problem. The effort to help would be much more palatable if it had self-limiting provision and a sunset clause, otherwise a new entitlement has been established. History says that such programs only grow in size.
SB114. Elections and Local Government.  Allows campaign coffers to be used to defray expenses associated with the Governor’s spouse appearing on behalf of, or in conjunction with, the governor to promote the governor’s legislative or political agenda.   I see Hilliary!
SB115. Transportation.  Revises the format of a law requiring the repainting of school buses sold, but does not change the requirements.
SB116. Federal and State Affairs.  New law preventing cities and counties from suing gun manufacturers except for breaches of contract or warranty. Affirms that the manufacturing and sale of firearms is not an unreasonably dangerous activity and does not constitute a nuisance per se. Go! Go! Go!
SB117. Federal and State Affairs.  Provides a safe harbor for shooting ranges that are operated in accordance with law such that people moving into the area cannot contest the operation on nuisance grounds.
SB118. All Senators except Gooch.  Establishes five fetal alcohol syndrome diagnostic and prevention pilot programs under KDHE, dependent upon legislative appropriations and matching dollars from communities. Requires a report on the program by the end of 2003.
SB119. Public Health and Welfare.  Revises law governing mental health screenings and commitments for defendants. Absolves mental health professionals and hospitals from action by any person because of the professional’s assessments or refusal to make an assessment. There may be privacy and personal rights issues buried in all the changes and cross-citations.
SB120. Public Health and Welfare.  Adds requirement that no one can be admitted to a nursing facility for mental health unless a written statement from a qualified mental health professional has been obtained, passed on specified screening and reviews.
SB121. Commerce.  Establishes government regulation of “professional employer organizations.” These are organizations that under contract, provide the employees for a business.
SB122. Health Care Reform Legislative Oversight Committee.  Establishes government regulation of alternative and complementary health care providers and creates the Office of Unlicensed Complementary and Alternative Health Care Practice.”
SB123. Financial Institutions and Insurance.  Establishes new government regulation of insurance producers, defined as anyone licensed to sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance.
SB124. Education.  Establishes a 17-member Kansas Council on School District Finance and Quality Performance, the purpose of which is to monitor, review, and evaluate education financing in the state and make recommendations. When in doubt or under pressure, form a committee.
SB125. Elections and Local Government.  Cleans up election law, eliminating past due dates and changing the language to make required actions not date sensitive.
SB126. Elections and Local Government.  Provides the mechanism by which a candidate for state or national office elected on a state-wide basis can request a recount.
SB127. Elections and Local Government.  Revises existing law to make it mandatory that nomination petitions be circulated by a resident of the state.
SB128. Elections and Local Government.  Another bill to make it illegal to provide false information that would keep voters from voting. Also adds words “clarifying” what constitutes electioneering within 250 feet of a polling place. It itself needs clarification because as worded, it would prevent a person with a political bumper sticker from parking within 250 of a polling place entrance. Guess the handicaps will have to walk.
SB129. 16 Senators, bipartisan. Eliminates soil classifications as an element in the determination of net income for the valuation of agricultural land.
SB130. Financial Institutions and Insurance.  Corrects a typographical error in the outline format of a section of law relating to trust companies, and specifies that a trust company may be formed for a limited purpose to exercise one or more of the enumerated powers.
SB131. Judiciary.  Makes editorial changes in DUI law, and adds section that says a person under 21 who tests between 0.02 and 0.08 on an alcohol test is guilty of a traffic violation.
SB132. Judiciary.  Expands the definition of aggravated battery to include causing bodily harm while committing following crimes: driving at a speed greater than reasonable and prudent, exceeding the speed limit, and operating a vessel under the influence. An attempt to criminalize civil law.
SB133. 24 Senators, bipartisan.   Changes the date for Arbor Day to the last Sunday in April.
SB134. Education.  Requires the state board of education to make a professional evaluation of school district finance to determine the per pupil cost of a suitable education for Kansas children.
SB135. Education.  For the fiscal year ending 6/30/02, appropriates $2 million for structured mentoring and reading recovery program grants.
SB136. Judiciary.  Revises garnishment law, repealing the section that prohibited assignment of accounts.
SB137. Judiciary. Six pages of new law that governs the apportionment of Kansas estate taxes.
SB138. Assessment and Taxation.  Adds a sentence to property tax law that extends the exemption for farm storage and drying equipment to equipment that is leased for that purpose.
SB139. Senators Jordan, Schmidt and Schodorf.  Adds bison to the list of animals covered in the law relating to liability for domestic animal activities
SB140. 18 senators, bipartisian.  Revises state employee compensation.  States that an employee who has reached the top pay step in grade and cannot thus get a pay increase by moving up a step shall be placed at the step of the next higher salary range, thereby providing an equivalent step increase.
SB141. Financial Institutions and Insurance.  Revises the fraudulent insurance act, stating that an insurer shall not be required to provide coverage or pay any first party claim involving a fraudulent insurance act.
SB142. Financial Institutions and Insurance.  In the law specifying the authority of the bank commissioners, changes the words “national bank” to “any insured depository institution.”
SB143. Financial Institutions and Insurance.  In 10 pages, makes many changes to the law governing title insurers and title agents, what they can do and not do.  Needs a very close look by people in the field; allows kickbacks and vertical integration (monopoly) of title insurance.
SB144. 10 Democratic senators.  Creates a new program within SRS (KANHELP) to help low income Kansans (180% of federal poverty level) to pay energy costs and home repair costs. The programs are to be funded by using the net earnings of the pooled money investment portfolio, and in certain circumstances, funds from the special county mineral production tax fund.  It has no sunset; another forever entitlement, thus
SB145. Senators Allen, Adkins, Vratil.  Strips out of the local option budget law sections that are no longer applicable, the effective dates having passed and are now history.
SB146. 15 senators, one Demo, 14 Republicans. Expands the eligibility for sales tax exemption under the job investment credit act by including retail businesses that locate to a location outside a city in a county that has a population under 10,000.
SB147. Ways and Means.  A significant increase in hunting and fishing license fees; repeals law that set certain fees for people over 65 as ½ the regular fee, and repeals temporary registration of boat registrations.
SB148. Ways and Means.  Specifies that a fishing license is not required for state residents who are under 16 or over 65, or for non-residents who are under 16.
SB149. Public Health and Welfare.  12 pages that establishes the addictions counselor licensure act. Establishes a new protected profession and expands government regulation. Wonder how many experienced counselors will be prevented from doing business; wonder how much this will drive up the cost of counseling.
SB150. Public Health and Welfare.  Creates a new state spinal cord injury research advisory committee and a spinal cord injury research fund funded by the net earnings of the pooled money investment portfolio.  It appears that the interest on the pooled money fund is attracting whomever has a scheme to fund. Granted, spinal cord injuries are devastating and often result in dependency situation, but there is no indication in the bill of why the state competing with the private sector is justified.
SB151. Financial Institutions and Insurance.  Requires the state to pay 100% of the cost for health insurance under the Kansas state employees health care commission for the dependent children of covered employees.
SB152. Federal and State Affairs.  Revises law relating to the regulation of cereal malt beverages. Among other changes, exempts a section why a parent furnishes a cereal malt beverage to own children.
SB153.  5 Democratic senators.  Gives labor unions with exclusive bargaining rights the ability to charge non-members a fair-share representation fee and the right to go to court to collect it.
SB154.   4 Democratic senators. A single-page bill that illustrates why we have so many lawyers. Trying to figure out what it really means is not obvious.  Deletes a section of public employee relations law that gave local governments the ability to make their employee subject to the public employer-employee relations act.  The net effect is to prevent local governments from not recognizing public employee unions.
SB155.   16 senators, bipartisan.  Designates US-75, from border to border, as the Combat Wounded Veterans Highway.
SB156. Federal and State Affairs. 21 pages that expand gambling in the state slots at tracks. Allocates the first $25M of “profits” to funding the
K-12 technology fund, to enhance funding for technology at all levels of government, and to fund KAN-ED.
SB157. Senator Vratil.  New law that would allow school districts to collect fees, tuition, or other charges by credit card or debit card, and to establish a secure internet connection so that payment could be received via the net.
SB158. Senator Vratil.  New law that would allow school boards to acquire credit or debit cards for use by officers and employees in the district’s name.
SB159. Judiciary.  90 pages of law revising the civil code regarding civil procedure for limited actions. 78 of the 90 pages are standard forms.
SB160. Public Health and Welfare.  Deletes the words that allowed retired dentists certain practice privileges only if over 65 and raises the dental examination fees.
SB161. Senator Gilstrap.  Similar to 158.
SB162. Agriculture.  Changes veterinarian law to cite the latest federal definition of veterinary prescription drugs and raises fees for veterinary license examinations.
SB163. 22 senators, bipartisan.  Requires instruction in schools relating to the U.S. flag, flag etiquette, use, and display.
SB164. Education.  New law establishing the Kansas School Board development program and requiring school board members to earn ten credit hours of accredited board development training each year.
SB165. Education.  Revises the law allowing the establishment of charter schools.
SB166. Education.  Adds provisions to the law governing local control by school boards stating (1) that school boards have authority to transact all business and adopt policies to perform its constitutional duties, that the authority of school boards shall not be construed to relieve any other unit of government from its duties, nor to give the school board any responsibility to assume the responsibilities of another unit of government.
SB167. Education.  Repeals the law passed last year that provides for the revocation of driving privileges for school safety violations.
SB168. Education.  Revises teacher due process law. Allows a termination hearing to be heard by the board, a board committee, or a hearing officer, with the board taking final action.  The decision of the board will be final, subject to appeal to district court.
SB169. 5 Democratic senators.  An attempt to enact a state version of the federal Davis-Bacon pay law. A union protection law that drives up the cost of projects.
SB170. Ways and Means.  Gives the Kansas Children’s Cabinet to contract with a non-profit to receive, administer, and invest moneys from any source outside the state treasury for the benefit of children cabinet programs.  This has a certain smell to it.
SB171.  Senator Adkins.  New law that allows the Governor to use any state plane for campaigning as long as he reimburses the state at a rate fixed by the secretary of administration.
***SB172. Judiciary. Another attempt to make seat belt use a primary offense, increases the fine to $25 plus court costs, and incorporates a definition of a child booster seat.
SB173. Judiciary.  Revises divorce law to make a divorce easier if no dependent children reside with either spouse and both agree to divorce. The rationale has only to be “.....the objects of matrimony have been destroyed and there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved.”
SB174. Judiciary.  Revises law pertaining to the responsibility for and payment of expenses for the detention of juveniles.
SB175. Judiciary.  Revises law pertaining to the court-ordered sequestration of property of suppliers who have violated the consumer protection act, and sets forth the supplier’s due process to contest the sequestration.
SB176. Judiciary.  Adds “licensed clinical professional counselor” to the definition of professional service in professional corporation law.
SB177. Utilities. Revises utility regulation law to give jurisdictional entities the option to exclude new coal or natural gas fired electrical power plants from the “public utility” definition as long as the facility is not in the rate base of a municipality, a coop electrical utility, or an electric utility regulated by the KCC. Almost reads as if it was written to cover a specific situation.
SB178. Utilities.  Revises the law that authorizes agencies to print reports and other documents, deleting the requirement to send the report to each legislator, substituting a requirement that the agency send a copy of each such document to the senate secretary and house clerk, plus a letter to each legislator notifying them of the report’s existence. Probably not a bad idea given the few times such documents get read.
SB179. Assessment and Taxation.  In agricultural land valuation law, gives local appraisers the authority to apply adverse influence factors to the value based on other parts of the law and to deviate from such value accordingly.
SB180. Commerce.  Repeals the Kansas performance review act, an act which required a continuing review of state government functions to determine whether they are being executed in the most efficient manner possible.  Repealing disbands the performance review board. The good news - it reduces government. The bad news - it removes a theoretical opportunity to shine a light on government waste or to suggest privatizing a function. It probably had no practical effect - or maybe was getting too close to someone.
SB181. Financial Institutions and Insurance.  Creates the public adjusters licensing act, requiring public adjusters to be licensed (and pay fees, be fingerprinted, and post a $10K bond) and conform to new regulations under the commissioner of insurance. More government, more regulation, more restraint of trade.
SB182. Financial Institutions and Insurance.  Requires health benefit plans that include drug coverage to issue to each insured a card containing uniform prescription drug information, including a bank ID number, a processor control number, the cardholders ID number, the cardholder’s name, and other similar information. All this Big Brotherism in the magnanimous attempt to lessen patient waiting times and eliminate paperwork.
SB183. Natural Resources.  Extends the above/underground storage tank fund sunset date from 7/1/01 to 7/1/14.  It would appear that cleaning up the tanks is taking longer than thought, or is it Parkinson’s law in operation.
SB184. Natural Resources.  Creates the natural resources damages trust fund using federal dollars, environmental settlement funds, and general fund appropriations. The fund would be used to pay for environmental remediation, the development of remediation plans, emergency remediation activities, etc.
The uses are wide open to the secretary of KDHE, with no bounds and limitations.
SB185. Financial Institutions and Insurance.  15-pages enacting the fair credit score disclosure act. Places legal restrictions on consumer credit reporting agencies and gives consumers rights to access their files and establishes due process for taking exception to file information.  Does not appear to set up any new bureaucracies.
***SB186.  Public Health and Welfare.  Gives the behavioral sciences regulatory board broad powers to access and copy any and all records of a person being investigated for practices which may be grounds for disciplinary action. Bars the claim of client/doctor privileged information.  Blows due process, doctor/patient communication privileges, and rights against self-incrimination out the window.
SB187. Public Health and Welfare.  Expands the definition of physical therapy and changes the word “registered” to “licensed” whenever appearing in front of “physical therapists.”  It does not appear to set up any new bureaucracy.
SB188. Education.  Creates the Kansas exemplary schools recognition program and authorizes the state board of education to award such schools amounts determined by the state board within limits of appropriations made for such awards. Uses QPA as basis for determining an exemplary school. The site councils in schools receiving the award shall determine how the money is to be spent. This sets up a carrot, but undercuts control of school board.  There must be other ways, within the system to reward excellence. How about vouchers?
SB189. Education.  New law that provides for state grants, subject to appropriations, to school districts for the maintenance of an alternative teacher compensation plan. Such a plan would have components of peer mentoring and peer evaluation, and that bases pay increases or differential pay rates on the demonstration of excellence or significant improvements in skills, knowledge, and performance. Sounds good in theory, the devil will be in implementation. The reporting requirements establish more state control of district operations. Why not just authorize such compensation schemes and leave it to the districts. As in any authorization made subject to appropriations, once enacted, it becomes the rationale for more dollars to be funneled into the program.
SB190. Utilities.  An extensive revision to the law governing how a natural gas public utilities file rate-making information. Establishes the performance-based ratemaking mechanism which replaces the reasonableness or prudence review, the PBRM shall be designed to encourage the utility to maximize its gas purchasing activities at minimum cost, with savings or costs shared by the customers and stockholders. Would need review by an expert in rate making to see if the PBRM hurts anyone group more than another.
SB191. Education.  Provides for state grants, subject to appropriations, to school districts to study teacher compensation plans for the purpose of developing alternative plans.  Education consultants would be the immediate beneficiary.  See 189.
SB192. Elections and Local Government.  In campaign finance law, adds recognition of parties’ congressional district committees as bone fide allowable committees.
SB193. Financial Institutions and Insurance.  In insurance law, deletes the errors and ommissions insurance requirements for a licensed insurance agent who only sells life insurance or annunities to fund a prearranged funeral program.
SB194. Public Health and Welfare.  Deletes requirement that pharmacies maintain a list of pharmacy technicians employed by the pharmacy and adds a new section that brings pharmacy technicians under regulation by the pharmacy board.
SB195. Public Health and Welfare.  Changes law regarding the confidentiality of child care records.
SB196. Senator Taddiken.  Authorizes the sale of a tract of land in Riley and Nemaha counties now owned by KSU.
SB197. 25 senators, bipartisan.  Provides a longer period in which to file a civil lien against property for which is other than residential.
SB198. Education.  Establishes an alternate teacher preparation program and specifies the qualifications of people applying for such a license.
SB199. Education.  Creates the Kansas opportunity scholarship research experiment act, the purpose of which is to conduct a research experiment to determine whether there is a positive, negative, or neutral correlation between vouchers which provide for choice of schools and successful pupil learning. The experiment would be in the 2002-2003 and 2005-2006 school years. Is this a foot-in-the-door approach, shoving it to the future in the hope it will all go away, or reinventing the wheel?
SB200. Education.  Revises the teacher service scholarship program. Adds two loan payback conditions:  service in an underserved area or filling a hard-to-fill teaching discipline position.
SB201. Education.  Changes the at-risk calculations in school finance law used as a factor in defining enrollment.
SB202. Education.  Another bill revising school finance enrollment calculations, increases base aid to $3,870, and extends the $20K property tax exemption.
SB203. Federal and State Affairs.  Prohibits the expenditure of public moneys for any drug intended to be used to induce an abortion or terminate a pregnancy.
***SB204.  Natural Resources.
SB205. Judiciary.  Changes criminal law making it a condition of appearance bonds that the person charged with a person offense cannot have any contact with the victim for a period of at least 72 hours after release.
SB206. Judiciary.  Expands DUI conviction law to include drug-related convictions, requiring on a second conviction the installation of an ignition interlock in exchange for restricted driving privileges.
SB207. Judiciary.  New law providing guidance to law enforcement officers stopping traffic offenders who have diplomatic immunities and privileges.
SB208. Judiciary.  In criminal DUI law, adds a definition of drugs, saying that drugs includes inhalants or other substances containing a chemical capable of releasing fumes for the purpose of inducing intoxication, such as glues and solvents containing one of a long list of chemicals.
***SB209.  Judiciary.  Another bill to enact another national compact, this time the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact. It too would have its own unelected bureaucracy that would have the power to establish rules/regs that would have the full force of law. Another step towards a national, centralized police force.
SB210. Elections and Local Government.  Imposes public notice and public hearings on any contract or lease-purchase agreements in excess of $100,000 by counties when the goods or services are customarily provided by county residents. So far so good, but the last section imposes a requirement for an independent professional cost-benefit analysis prior to the required public hearing. Wonder if there is a closed shop for such people.
SB211. Elections and Local Government.  Revises the law relating to the Blue Valley recreation system established by the Blue Valley (Overland Park) USD229.  Our education system has enough trouble educating - wonder what the rationale is for having a BOE involved in providing recreation - or is that how schools are now viewed, as recreation centers. Could it be a way of hiding taxes behind the education smokescreen?  At least this change forces public notice of capital expenditures for three consecutive weeks and forces mill levies to a vote.
SB212. Public Health and Welfare.  Revises dental law to say that the dental board has the authority to determine if the business name used by dentists misrepresent the dentist to the public.  No criteria is given. Caveat Emptor.
SB213. Public Health and Welfare.  Authorizes the board of regents to negotiate with the University of Nebraska and Creighton University for seats in such universities’ dental schools for Kansas dental students.  Why is it necessary for the state to be the go-between in a free-market economy?  Are people no longer to free to compete on their own?
SB214. Public Health and Welfare.  Extensive new law governing cremation and an increase in licensing fees for embalmers, funeral directors, et al. Suspect introduced to counter crematory malpractice. More regulation, more fees.
SB215. Judiciary.  Extensive revisions to the DUI law, increasing the fees for reinstatement examinations, makes refusal to submit to a breath, blood, or urine test a class B misdemeanor, increases the length of license suspensions for subsequent refusals, says that failure to make required notices by law enforcement does not invalidate law enforcement efforts taken under the law, and many other provisions tightening up on drunks.
SB216. Federal and State Affairs.  Adds a 0.10% sales tax rate to the allowable rates that can be imposed by cities.
SB217. Senator Allen.  Another tweaking of government ethics law. Knocks out the $40 limit for nonreportable goodies for the legislative branch. Makes $100 the limit. Excludes official, regular publications of trade and professional organizations.
SB218. Elections and Local Government.  Forces county canvassing boards to open provisional ballots and make decisions when all ballots are supposed to be canvassed, and to include all valid votes in the final canvas.
SB219. Education.  Establishes a Grow Your Own Teacher Program whereby USD classified employees are provided with financial support to become teachers. Sets up applicant requirements and provides for state grants to USDs, subject to appropriations.
SB220. 37 Senators, bipartisan.  Changes the at-risk pupil weighting number from 0.09 to 0.10.
SB221. Natural Resources.  Creates a Water Quality Standards Commission within KDHE. Hands off to a commission appointed by the Governor legislative oversight responsibilities.
SB222. Utilities. Interesting twist to air permit rules. Requires KDHE to issue a permit if KDHE does not act on a permit application within the specified time periods.
SB223. Agriculture. Another attempt by family farm coalition to enhance competition by outlawing monopolistic practices and prevent total vertical integration of packing industry.
SB224. Utilities.  New law stating that any new wholesale contract requiring at least 3 megawatts of electrical power be delivered by an electric utility will be subject to a competitive bid procedure established by the KCC.
SB225. Transportation. Makes changes to the due process for surrendering drivers licenses under the DUI law.
SB226. Commerce.  Establishes an enhanced wireless 911 fund, creates the enhanced wireless 911 advisory board and imposes a $.50 fee on all wireless subscribers to fund the fund, which will be used to create the wireless 911 system. More government, more fees, but government does have an emergency response coordination function.
SB227. Commerce.  Authorizes electronic, on-line bidding by the state for goods and services.
SB228. Senator Haley.  Provides a process for gaining title by heirs in Wyandotte County only when the real property is valued at less than $15,000.
SB229. Senator Haley.  Scruffy lives again. Another attempt to make animal cruelty a non-person felony with mandatory jail time. Anecdotal law.
***SB230.  Senator Haley.  Gives the judge the ability to make a hate crime determination and double the sentence in all felony cases. Gives victims the right to civil action against defendants independent of criminal prosecution. Sets up a new hate crime reporting system. Requires the AG to give training to all law enforcement officers to be able to identify, respond to, and report on hate crimes.
SB231. Senator Haley.  Establishes a family development account program so that low income people can save for specific purposes: purchase primary residence, higher education costs, etc.. “Community based organizations” could match individual deposits up to 3 to 1.  Deposits and interest would be exempt from Kansas income tax for person holding the account, and people who make contributions to the program for matching deposits could take income tax deductions.  Limits total tax deductions in the program to $4M/yr.  Interesting idea, but another government-regulated program.
SB232. 10 Democratic Senators.  Increases from 10% to 20% of the earned income credit the allowable credit against a person’s tax liability.
SB233. 19 senators, bipartisan.  Eliminates the sales tax on the sale of natural gas to residential premises for gas sold before 7/1/02.
***SB234.  Senator Vratil.  11 pages changing the law governing local option budgets. Removes portions of the law that were date sensitive, the dates having past.  Establishes yet another formula, this time to determine if a USD can increase its LOB beyond the current 25% of state base aid limit. If the legislature does not increase base aid at least equal to CPI, the state board would determine what % local boards could increase LOB. The right to protest petition would not apply to the CPI increase.
***SB235.  Judiciary.  Redefines domestic battery and ups the ante on subsequent convictions. Makes “intentionally causing physical contact with a family member in a rude, insulting or angry manner” a class B person misdemeanor with sentences up to 6 months/$500.
SB236.  Judiciary.  30 pages of new law regulating wage garnishment.
SB237. Senator Huelskamp.  Provides a system by which holders of groundwater rights can bank them for up to five years.
SB238. Senators O’Connor, Lyon, ....  Enacts the Kansas Parent Control of Education Act, the purpose of which is to empower parents to exercise school choice.
SB239. Public Health and Welfare.  Gives the Governor the authority to set the term of members of the advisory committee on trauma, not to exceed 3 years.
SB240. Senator Corbin.  Creates the municipal solid waste landfill perpetual care trust fund, funded by a new fee of $.50 to $2.00 per ton of solid waste deposited in privately-owned municipal waste landfills. Allows KDHE to extend post closure care periods beyond 30 years.
SB241. Ways and Means.  In the child-in-need-of-care law, adds grandparents to the definition of interested parties.  In the definition of permanent guardianship, states that a finding of unfitness is not necessary if the parents agree to permanent guardianship.
SB242. Ways and Means.  Typo correction in law pertaining to the sale of cigarettes.
SB243. Federal and State Affairs.  New law enacting the pedestrian safety act. Creates the pedestrian safety commission which will advise and consult on the design of pedestrian crossings and provide the public opportunity to point out problems. Prohibits public accommodations from barring public buses from entering parking lots.  This was tried last year/failed.
SB244. Senator Haley.  13 pages enacting the Harnessing Opportunity, Performance, and Excellence Act.  Syphons off sales tax, income tax, and state property tax attributable to blighted areas into a fund for neighborhood development, not to exceed $2M per year.
SB245. Utilities.  Extends the no-permit zone for new or expanded confined swine feeding lots from 1,000 feet from a publicly owned drinking water well to 10,000 feet.  Wonder what the scientific evidence for this distance is, or is it tied to the distance that one can smell the pigs. It would be interesting to see a map with all the 10,000 feet circles plotted to see where the pigs would be banished.
SB246. Education.  New law providing grants for maintenance of School District Cooperation Plans and Education Technology Plans, subject to appropriations. With all this effort/dollars expended on plans this session, when do we get around to teaching children?
SB247. Education. Inserts a one-year waiting period to the implementation of a decision to transfer territory between school districts.
SB248. Education.  Overturns court ruling. Bill would let USD employees, except professional employee or administrative employees, be members of board of education.
SB249. 11 senators, bipartisan.  Prevents KDOT, in future system enhancement programs, from using the removal of lane-miles from the state highway system as an evaluation factor, as a means of obtaining local cooperation.
SB250. Senator Tyson.  Specifies that land leased for hunting, fishing, bird watching, or recreational trails is “land devoted to agriculture use” when being valuated for tax purposes.
SB251. Natural Resources.  Directs the secretary of wildlife and parks to establish a season during which women are authorized to hunt and take big game with a cross-bow. Whoopee!
SB252. Assessment and Taxation.  Authorizes the department of revenue to become a signatory to a multi-state agreement for the purpose of providing a multi-state, voluntary, streamlined system for sales and use tax collection and administration, and authorizes the department to participate in a streamlined sales tax project.
SB253. Assessment and Taxation.  Says that local sales tax revenue collected that exceeds the amount for which special project the money was collected is to be put into the local government’s general fund.
SB254. Agriculture.  For retailers who have pesticide sales of less than $2,500, the annual assessment towards the remediation fund is reduced from $80 to $5.
SB255. Agriculture.  Modifies the law governing the fees to be paid by pesticide applicators licensed in another state by citing Chapter 2, Article 24.
SB256. Elections and Local Government.  New law requiring an automatic recount of votes in statewide elections for statewide offices, state reps and senators, president and vice-president of the US, congressman, and senators when the difference is ½ of 1% of the total votes cast unless the loser in writing requests that there be no recount. Says that recounts will be done by same method as original count; hand counts can be requested but a bond must be posted.  Also requires election results be provided to the secretary of state by electronic means.
SB257. Senator Vratil.  Specifies how school districts are to be named and gives boards of education the authority to delegate to superintendents the power to execute contracts if the value is less than $10,000.
SB258.  Ways and Means. Requires the state employees health care commission to study and report on the impacts of allowing county employees to opt into the state health care program.
***SB259.  Ways and Means.  Changes how kindergarten children are counted in the school finance formula, ramping up from ½ to full counting in the 2003-04 school year.  Removes limit on number of pre-school at-risk children. Deletes correlation weighting. Changes the low enrollment weighting number to 975 and significantly changes the formula. Sets base aid at $5,400 with built-in CPI increases. Gives USDs the authority to levy additional property tax if it falls within new “enrollment weighting impact” criteria, but says nothing about the right of taxpayers to try to stop the increased taxation by protest petition. More authority for government to raise taxes we don’t need. And more, and more.
SB260. Ways and Means.  Extends the state’s agricultural ethyl alcohol incentive program until 7/1/07.
SB261. Utilities.  Limits the franchise fees that a municipality may charge natural gas companies during 2001 and 2002. A nibbling at the edges to lessen natural gas price increases to the consumer by preventing municipalities from gaining windfalls on fees based on prices.
SB262. Senator Adkins.  Greatly expands the law that prevents convicts from profiting by the crime or by exploiting the conduct of the crime and gives victims the right to the profits and acquired property.  Also imposes large civil penalties on people who knowingly offer such contracts and don’t notify the state.
***SB263.  Senators Adkins and Goodwin.  Allows the state to collect DNA samples from any convicted person felon or juvenile convicted of what would be a person felony. The collection of DNA samples from an ever expanding universe of people is a national trend. It is another case of a noble goal that will ultimately be perverted to a reduction of privacy and natural rights.
SB264. Agriculture.  39 pages of new law establishing the Equus Beds groundwater management district. Gives anyone attacking the legality of the act only 90 days to act from the effective date of the act. Allows for fees from water users in the district to support the district. The bounds of the district can be expanded or shrunk upon petition.
SB265. Senator Schmidt.  Adds a requirement to tenancy law stating that a tenant cannot be held responsible for any terms in a termination agreement that do not appear in the rental agreement.
SB266. 5 senators, bipartisan. Establishes income tax credits for expenditures made on research and development tax activities.
SB267. Judiciary.  Reduces the contribution amount to 2% of salary that judges have to kick into the retirement fund once they reach the point of reaching maximum retirement benefit.
SB268. Judiciary.  Changes the formula for computation of judges’ retirement benefits.
SB269. 7 Democratic senators. States that when a judge orders confinement in a county jail that exceeds 30 days, the secretary of corrections will pay counties $45/day for days in excess of 30 days.
SB270. 12 senators, bipartisan.  Increases the amount of money transferred from the economic development initiatives fund to the Kansas arts commission.  All in all, not a proper function of government.
SB271. 10 Democratic senators.  Increases the amount of money transferred from the economic development initiatives fund to the state tourism fund.  All in all, not a proper function of government.
SB272. Senator Feleciano.  Increased collection of  DNA samples. Similar to SB263.
SB273. Senator Feleciano.  New law regulating and licensing acupuncture practitioners.
SB274. Financial Institutions.  Requires health insurance policies to cover mental health diseases.
SB275. Senator Salmans.  New law enacting the Addictions Counselor Licensure Act and sets up the regulatory scheme. More restraint of trade.  Does exempt counseling done as part of an organized ministry of any religious denomination or sect.
SB276. Ways and Means.  New law regulating and licensing naturopathic physicians.
SB277. 22 Republican senators.  Prevents governments at all levels from making payroll withholding deductions for political contributions unless the employee requests in writing that it be done.
SB278. Commerce.  Changes to telecommunications law relating to universal service. Broadens definition of enhanced universal service.
SB279. Senators Oleen and O’Conner.  Birth certificate fees
SB280. 9 senators, bipartisan.  US24 name
SB281. 6 Republican senators.  Local option budgets
SB282. 6 Republican senators.  Local option budgets.
SB283. Elections and Local Government.  Seizure of automobiles.
SB284. Elections and Local Government.  Precinctpeople reporting requirements.
SB285. Elections and Local Government. Exempts from government ethics law the reporting of gifts that have been given to all members of either house or to all members of a caucus.
SB286. Elections and Local Government.  Exempts from government ethics law the reporting of gifts which have an annual aggregate value of $25 or less.
SB287. 4 Democratic senators.  In campaign finance law, would require PACs and party committees to report any expenditure in the form of an in-kind contribution to a candidate that exceeds a value in excess of $50.
***SB288.  6 Democratic senators. Raises state minimum wage to the amount established by Section 6 of the fed fair labor standards act, an amount that apparently can fluctuate since the state will have to continuously monitor changes and tell employers of the changes.
SB289. Senator Hensley.  Creates the children’s protective services commission, a new state agency with its own authorities and powers.
SB290.  6 Democratic senators. Adds new material to campaign finance laws that stomp on the 1st Amendment.
SB291. Senator Allen.  Makes leaving a child under 7 unattended in a motor vehicle a misdemeanor.

SB292. Ways and Means. Allows employees of Area Agency on Aging to be covered by the state’s health care plan.
SB293. Ways and Means.  Creates the state tourism advertizing fund.
SB294. Judiciary.  Expands the use of the chemical control act.
SB295. Judiciary.  Adds to the definition of “aggravated escape from custody” the escape of juveniles from a juvenile facility that has a secure perimeter.
SB296. Judiciary.  Requires telemarketers to consult the national do-not-call list and cites the consumer protection act for appropriate penalties if calls are made to phone numbers on the list.
SB297. Judiciary.  36 pages enacting the Kansas Uniform Trust Code. ?????
SB298. Commerce.  Establishes administration for enhanced wireless 911 service and imposes a $.50 monthly fee on all wireless subscribers.
SB299. Utilities.  Recognizes electrical customers who have their own generating capability of less than 100 KW powered by renewable energy that operate in parallel with the grid, provides tax credits for energy efficient expenditures, and sets up procedures covering payment by the grid when the customer provides power to the grid.
SB300. Judiciary.  Places employment eligibility criteria on juvenile safety and security officers hired after 7/1/01.
SB301. Judiciary.  Limits the length of time for trial home visits for juvenile offenders to less than six months.
SB302. Judiciary.  Provides another alternative from which a judge can select for sentencing of a juvenile offender.
SB303. Judiciary.  Provides a 10-year statute of limitations for certain sex-related crimes, reduced to one year when the identify of the suspect has been conclusively established by DNA testing. Another step in the test-everyone-for-DNA effort.
SB304. Ways and Means.  Provides for pay raises from the Governor (about 9%) on down.
SB305. Judiciary.  Adds a test for hepatitis B infection to those that a court can order for offenders.
SB306. Commerce.  11-pages of new and revised law to encourage competition in the provision of telecommunications service. Prohibits any political subdivision from enacting franchise fees or any regulation of such services. Allows cities to require companies to collect for them an access line fee of up to a $1.83 per month per access line (subject to protest petition.) In exchange for the fee, cities are barred from collecting any other fee or costs from telecommunications companies.  In effect, the state, in the name of competition, will limit what say cities have in determining/controlling where/what telecommunications companies install.
***SB307.  Commerce.  Establishes the employment security TARGET initiative plan, the purpose of which is to provide retraining for workers whose skills do not match the job market. The plan will use a new tax on employers who pay “contributions” into the unemployment compensation pot.  More evidence that the belief that government has to solve all problems is alive and well.
SB308. Ways and Means.  Enacts the Kansas producer protection act, setting forth requirements for legal production contracts between agriculture producers and processors/contractors.
SB309. Ways and Means.  Authorizes the state historical society to accept, in the name of the state, the William Allen White House in Emporia.
SB310. Federal and State Affairs.  Repeals the law passed last session against partial birth abortions. With PBAs going up, rather than down, the law was worthless, probably should clear it from the books and start over again.
***SB311.  Federal and State Affairs.  Allows various classes of cities to impose sales taxes for different specific purposes, including allowing Class D cities to levy a sales tax up to 1.25% for the purpose of providing financial assistance for the operation of a school district.  The taxes would be subject to an election. If there was a commensurate reduction in property taxes, it might start to make sense, but as it is, it is just a piling on.
SB312. Federal and State Affairs.  Imposes large increases in alcohol and beer taxes to pump money into education. Again, no reduction in property taxes, just a piling on.
***SB313.  Ways and Means.  Increases the number of school days and school hours, and allows USDs to schedule/conduct special sessions on weekends and in the summer for students in need of remedial work or for disciplinary reasons.  More time to teach them more of the same.  More money to teachers, therefore, more money to the unions.
SB314. Ways and Means.  Deletes the prohibition against participation in politics or any political contest by any member of the highway patrol.
***SB315.  Federal and State Affairs.  Decreases by 2% the portion of gaming money sent to the economic development fund and uses the 2% for a newly created Kansas community reinvestment special revenue fund. The fund will be used for grants for funding projects or services provided by political subdivisions or non-profit organizations. Grant applications have to be forwarded via elected representatives of the districts in which the money will be used. This creates another constituency for continuation of the lottery and gets legislators involved in patronage disbursement.
***SB316.  Federal and State Affairs.  Increases the allowable amount in the state gaming revenues fund by $4M to cover the transfer of $4M to the airport services improvement fund without impacting current disbursements.
SB317. Federal and State Affairs.  Defines lottery machines, prevents use of credit cards for lottery play, prevents sale of lottery tickets by telecommunications methods, restricts the time between keno games to no less than four minutes, prevents advertizing by telecomm means.
SB318. Federal and State Affairs.  Increases the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 41% and imposes a new tax on distributors. Also specifies specific disbursements, starting at $23M, from the general fund to several special funds: regents supplemental revenue fund, student tuition stabilization fund, corrects salary enhancement fund, highway patrol salary enhancement fund, and developmental disabilities waiver fund.
SB319. Federal and State Affairs.  Enacts the Kansas Freedom of Choice in long-term care, service and support.
SB320. Ways and Means.  Provides for a sales-tax rebate for 501©(3) corporations establishing and maintaining a public educational attraction which is not defined.
SB321. Ways and Means.  Changes applicable dates in the law relating to the abandoned oil and gas fund.
SB322. Ways and Means.  Allows the hiring of an investment analyst by KPERS.
SB323. Federal and State Affairs.  Specifies the effective edition of various international building codes that must be adopted by local units of government if the local unit adopts a building code.
SB324. Federal and State Affairs.  Sends $100K of gaming revenues to Wichita for its airport and creates an airport services improvement fund which will get $2.5M each year from gaming revenues.
SB325. Federal and State Affairs.  Gives health care professionals a right of conscience not to provide or participate in procedures based on religious or moral convictions.
SB326. Ways and Means.  Revises payment schedules for providers of adult care home services.
SB327. Ways and Means.  Creates a nursing facility direct care salary increase fund with an established funding level of $40.3M using federal dollars to provide a $2/hr pay increase for people who provide direct care services at nursing facilities. Any facility that accepts the dollars has to provide at least three hours of direct care per day per resident.  Another biasing of the market place by government.
SB328. Federal and State Affairs.  Registration of beer kegs.
SB329. Ways and Means.  Revises the centralized child support collection/disbursement law. Appears to bring the supreme court into the act, how I do not exactly understand. Could not be any more messed up than it is.
SB330. Ways and Means.  Exempts KPERS from having to negotiate professional or consultant services IAW the law that requires a negotiating committee and advertisements in the Kansas Register.
SB331. Ways and Means.  States that a USD can enter into lease/lease-purchase agreements as lessee for a term not to exceed 10 years, but as lessor, the term is limited only as the board determines to be in the best interest of the USD.
SB332. Ways and Means.  Creates the individual development account program and associated fund. The purpose is to assist eligible people (400 % of federal poverty level) to establish special savings account for money that will be used for assistive technology (any equipment/technology that helps people with disabilities.) Monies deposited in the account are exempt from state income tax, as is interest. Provides for matching deposits by community organizations.
SB333. Ways and Means.  Sets up a state dentist scholarship program covering any accredited dental school anywhere with obligated service requirements.
SB334. Ways and Means.  Imposes a $1,000 civil penalty on anyone who violates the KSA provisions governing commercial feeding stuffs that are hazardous to public health or animal health.
SB335. Ways and Means.  Reduces the parole board from four to three members and provides procedures for temporary appointments when a member is absent or has a conflict of interest
SB336. Ways and Means. 19 pages changing the composition of a grunch of state committees.
SB337. Ways and Means.  Eliminates compensation (leaves travel expenses alone) for members of the racing and gaming commission.
SB338. Ways and Means.  Another bill playing with the definition of pupil in the school finance formula.
SB339. Federal and State Affairs.  New law providing for early release of convicted persons for medical reasons when meeting special conditions.
SB340. Ways and Means.  Revises the law regulating the amortization of local police and fire pension funds.
SB341. Ways and Means.  Adds to sentencing law the authority for a judge to order the defendant to pay a domestic violence special program fee.
???SB342.  Ways and Means.  A supplemental appropriations bill for many state departments and agencies. No fiscal note yet as to how much MORE spending is being authorized for the current fiscal year. A stealth increase in current year’s budget that results in a smaller year to year percentage increase.
SB343. Ways and Means.  Establishes the vital statistics maintenance fee fund to maintain the integrated information system, funded by a $1 increase in fees.
SB344. Ways and Means.  Another large appropriations bill for many state departments and agencies - includes current year supplementals.
SB345. W&M.  Increases the tax on cigarettes $0.01 per pack and sends the money to the new community health programs grant fund to be administered by KDHE to provide grants IAW other sections of the KSA.
SB346. W&M.  Removes salary restrictions on certain officials in the department of insurance
SB347. W&M.  Removes salary restrictions on certain officials in the AG’s office.
SB348. W&M.  A 176-page appropriations bill to fund certain state agencies.
SB349. W&M.  Adds to benefits and compensation law covering state employees more positions which are included within the definition of “state officer.” Added are employees of the division of post audit, legislative research, revisor of statutes, and legislative administrative services.
SB350. W&M.  Creates the electronic transactions registration fee fund to be administrated by the Secretary of State.
SB351. W&M.  Revises retirement and pension law dealing with personnel of the department of corrections.
SB352. Federal & State Affairs.  Changes the law governing in which manner of newspaper official notices must be published by local governments.  Changes include that the paper must have been in existence for five years, in counties with population   100,000 the paper must have a paid circulation of  500, and owners must be residents/companies domiciled in Kansas.  Introduced to use power of government to eliminate competition.
SB354. W&M.  Requires the department of corrections to consult, cooperate, and coordinate with local government when a corrections-related facility is to be sited in a community. Feel-good bill as it does not give local government any hammer.
SB355.  W&Ms.  Enacts the Kansas Poultry Producer Protection Act, a bill to eliminate vertical integration.
SB356.  W&Ms.  Gives USD512, Johnson County, the right to levy a special tax to support continued operation of a building that it wants to close, but which the electorate, by vote, said it had to stay open.
SB357.  W&Ms.  Deals with how/when moneys due to the state treasurer IAW other KSAs is paid.
SB358.  Federal and State Affairs.  Provides for county voter approval of Sunday sales of alcoholic liquor and cereal malt beverages.
 

Senate Resolutions:
1803.  Adopts rules of the Senate for 2001-2004.
1804. Agriculture.  A resolution supporting advanced crop biotechnology and recognizing the federal role regarding safety.
1808.  Utilities.  Urges the KCC to order that all moneys from FERC-ordered ad valorem tax refunds which are held by gas distribution companies be used to help customers in their districts who have income less than 300% of the poverty level but not eligible for LIEAP program. Appears to be a one-time effort. Pending resolution of question whether such an order would be
legal.

Senate Concurrent Resolutions:
SCR1603.  Senators Kerr, Oleen, and Hensley.  Adopts joint rules for the House and Senate.
SCR1604. Judiciary.  A proposed Kansas constitutional amendment that would eliminate the election of judges and create a judicial performance commission.
SCR1605. Agriculture.  Calls upon President Bush to permanently withdraw several EPA regulations dealing with water quality and feedlots that impose significant burdens on Kansans, and states that Kansas can protect its own water quality.
SCR1606. Utilities. Requests all state agencies to lower thermostats to 66 degrees during those periods the cold weather rule of the KCC is in effect.
SCR1607. Utilities. Urges the federal government to establish a national energy policy that considers all possible future sources of energy.
SCR1608. Public Health and Welfare.  Urges KDHE to investigate obesity and make recommendations for additions and improvements to state programs.  Obesity Police are roaming the land.  Should we be paying taxes to support those who would remove one of the staff’s of life, Twinkies?
 
 

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