Editor’s Note: The following is a report by state Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, on recent action in the Kansas Legislature. Davis was 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. Davis’ column will be published online throughout the 2003 session of the Legislature.

Things are starting to heat up at the Capitol. This week culminated with the House of Representatives debating and voting on the supplemental appropriations to the FY 2003 budget (we are in the middle of the FY 2003 budget year right now — it will end on June 30, 2003).

Governor Sebelius’ proposal was pretty much left intact by the House Appropriations Committee. Her proposal provides enough money to keep all state correctional facilities open, provides the necessary funding to fully cover local option budgets and base aid requirements for Kansas schools and makes key restorations in SRS services for the frail elderly and the developmentally disabled. This all sounds pretty good but the budget also included the deletion of $48 million in demand transfers to cities and counties along with non-payment of a $94 million loan from the transportation budget.

I don’t think the State is being responsible by shortchanging our cities and counties. They have depended on these demand transfers for many years and are suddenly left with a significant loss in revenue for their own budgets. Some legislators voted against the bill because of this. However, I (along with 85 other legislators) voted for the bill. I voted “yes” primarily because of the social services funding restorations and the additional monies for education. I hope that we can find dollars in the future so that we can meet our obligations to municipalities and fund the transportation projects that are important to future of the Kansas economy.

While we’re on the topic of transportation, I was able to hear from Deb Miller, the new Secretary of Transportation, several times this week as she testified before the House Transportation Committee. I am very impressed with the depth of knowledge about transportation issues that she possesses and how she is handling a difficult situation at her agency given the loss of funding for the state’s Comprehensive Transportation Program (CTP). She reported to the committee that even though the CTP funds have been severely cut, many projects (including the Highway 59 enhancements) are still moving forward. Incidentally, she informed me that no funding is available at this time for completion of the South Lawrence Trafficway and that KDOT is not going to move forward with the SLT project until all litigation has been completed.

The House Taxation Committee had some interesting discussions this week. We heard from several academics on Tuesday (including David Burress from KU) about how Kansas’ tax and economic development climate stacked up with other states. This was followed by a discussion of two bills on Wednesday relating the corporate franchise tax, which was doubled last year by the Legislature. Some people believe that the doubling of the franchise tax has hit small businesses harder than larger businesses and want to see a change in how the tax is allocated. However, the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry is opposed to making this change. My observation of the discussion is that the franchise tax in general is a poor way of making tax policy because it is difficult to enforce and assess equitably.

The Judiciary Committee held hearings on several bills this week including a somewhat controversial change in the protection from abuse and protection from stalking laws. These laws seek to protect victims of domestic violence, but some members of the legal community believe the laws are not well crafted and have resulted in poor utilization. The committee members may have to spend some time sorting out the various issues in this debate and trying to craft a useable law that allows those in fear of domestic violence the protections that they desperately need.

As the deadline to have bills drafted approaches, I am working to get several bills written. I have three bills related to improving the judicial system, specifically how judges are selected and evaluated and how jurors are compensated. I am also working on a proposal to change the way the Legislature conducts the reapportionment and redistricting process. I believe the current process is much too partisan and arbitrary.

As I look forward to next week, much of my time will be spent in the Taxation Committee listening to testimony on the repeal of Kansas’ 65 sales tax exemptions. This is highly controversial because there are a significant number of groups like the girl scouts and mental health centers that currently possess a sales tax exemption. We could easily obtain needed revenue by removing these exemptions, but there are many other considerations that legislators will need to take into account. It should be an exciting debate. Stay tuned!