Editor’s Note: The following is a report by state Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, on the action in the Kansas Legislature’s first two weeks. Davis was recently appointed to the Kansas House District 46 seat when former state Rep. Troy Findley left the position to serve as legislative liaison for Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

It is both an honor and privilege to be able to serve the people of east/central Lawrence in the Kansas Legislature.

The last 12 days have been very intense as I have tried to get my legislative office set up, get up-to-speed on a number of issues like school finance, and meet with many organizations who want to provide input on issues that the Legislature will discuss this session.

I am fortunate in that I am not a stranger to the legislative process. My work with the Kansas Bar Assn. and the Insurance Commissioner’s office has prepared me well for the challenges facing a new member of the Legislature.

Already knowing most of the other 164 legislators, having a working knowledge of the legislative process, and being familiar with a number of the issues that we will be discussing has really given me a leg up. But at the same time, being elected by the Democratic precinct committee persons of the 46th District only two days before the session got underway has presented its challenges as well.

I was fortunate to have been sworn in with the other members of the Legislature on January 13 (this was somewhat uncertain because my election was so late). Interestingly enough, my appointment to the Legislature was the last official act of the Graves Administration as the former governor signed the documentation about two hours before he left office.

After I was sworn in by Chief Justice Kay McFarland, I was surprised by a standing ovation given by the members of the House of Representatives (I will forever be able to brag that I was the only legislator to get a standing ovation after being sworn in).

After enjoying the inauguration of Governor Sebelius on Monday evening, it was time to get to work. I am fortunate to have received very good committee assignments for a new legislator. I am a member of the Taxation, Transportation and Judiciary committees.

The Taxation Committee got off to quick start when the chairman of the committee introduced a bill to repeal each sales tax exemption (there are 65 sales tax exemptions). This has resulted in quite of few phone calls and letters from organizations who possess sales tax exemptions and obviously want to keep them.

Activity in many of the other legislative committees has been fairly sparse, but will likely pick up next week. We voted on our first bill yesterday in the House of Representatives. The bill was requested by the Attorney General and tries to protect Kansas’ interest in the sale of the Health Midwest hospital network. It is estimated that our interest may be as much as $90 million (this is not money that the State of Kansas will capture, but instead will be set aside in a charitable foundation).

I also introduced my first piece of legislation this week. It is a bill that requires insurance companies and health plans to provide coverage for all FDA approved contraceptives in their policies. I timed the introduction of this bill to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision and therefore was able to make the announcement at a rally hosted by the Kansas Choice Alliance.

I am also going to introduce legislation regarding the selection and evaluation of judges and the reapportionment of legislative and congressional districts.

After the governor’s State of the State message, most discussion in the Statehouse has centered around her proposed budget. I commend Gov. Sebelius for presenting a viable proposal to the Legislature.

However, she has asked the Legislature to make some very difficult decisions that will impact our cities and counties, road systems and educational institutions. It is easy for politicians to want to duck the hard decisions, but I look forward to having a frank discussion about our budget problems and the possible solutions.

We must also look at ways to make state government run more efficiently. For example, I applaud Governor Sebelius’ suggestion that we establish multi-state prescription drug purchasing pools to combat the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs that the state medicaid program is absorbing.

We have a new administration and a significant number of new legislators this year. This will make the process function a little differently and probably lead to some changes in priorities. Hopefully, these changes will be positive given the challenges that our state faces in 2003 and beyond.

Although the budget picture is bleak, I still believe there has been no more exciting time to serve in the Legislature then right now. Now, more than ever, we will be making decisions that will affect our citizens for years to come. Lets hope the Legislature has the wisdom and courage to make the right decisions.