Legislative briefs

Weather postpones legislative meeting

Topeka — An early morning meeting featuring U.S. Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts was canceled Monday because of the snow.

Brownback and Roberts, both Republicans from Kansas, were scheduled to talk about rural economic development and federal research funding for life sciences at a meeting of several legislative committees.

The meeting has yet to be rescheduled.

Despite the weather, most other state legislative activities went on as scheduled Monday.

House honors Carver with resolution

Topeka — House members adopted a resolution Monday honoring agriculture pioneer George Washington Carver, who lived in Kansas as a teenager and young adult before becoming an internationally known researcher.

Minority Leader Dennis McKinney and Speaker Doug Mays sponsored the measure.

“We should be proud to consider him a Kansan, especially considering his contributions to agriculture,” said McKinney, D-Greensburg.

Mays, R-Topeka, said, “I’ve admired George Washington Carver since I was a kid.”

Carver spent much of his life researching plants and is credited with finding more than 300 uses for peanuts and sweet potatoes.

Born in 1864 in Diamond Grove, Mo., Carver lived briefly in several eastern Kansas towns before moving to Minneapolis in Ottawa County at age 16. He later farmed in Ness County, but left the state in 1888 after a Kansas college refused to admit him because he was black.

After attending college in Iowa, Carver became a researcher at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and worked there for 47 years until his death in 1943.

Highlights from the Kansas Legislature

Highlights of Monday’s activities at the Kansas Legislature:

  • Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and legislative leaders approved $500 million in bonds to bolster the state pension fund.
  • A Senate panel heard testimony about the strengths and financial problems of Kansas’ rural schools districts.
  • The mother of a Kansas college student murdered in Costa Rica testified for a bill making victims of crimes overseas eligible for compensation from the state.
  • Supporters said a bill providing additional aid to low-income Kansans with custody of their grandchildren would keep children out of foster care.

Also:

  • The governor’s plan for reorganizing food-safety programs gained the backing of a House committee.
  • The House adopted a resolution honoring agriculture pioneer George Washington Carver.

Clock is ticking:

Monday was the 22nd calendar day of the session, out of 90 scheduled.