Topeka ? Kansans will find state and local governments a little more open, and a new agency overseeing health care policy will come to life today.

That’s when changes in the state’s Open Meetings and Open Records act take effect, as well as a law creating an independent Kansas Health Policy Authority. It marks the beginning of the state’s new budget year and often the start of many new statutes.

The open meetings and records changes include a “Lew Perkins Provision,” named for the Kansas University athletic director, declaring that employment contracts or agreements must be disclosed, along with salaries.

But even more important in the long run is a provision that requires county prosecutors to document open meetings and records complaints and how they were handled, said Doug Anstaett, executive director of the Kansas Press Assn.

“We have never been able to get a good handle on this problem,” Anstaett said. “This is critical because it will identify the areas of the law that might be causing the most confusion.”

Other changes include requiring university professors to disclose consulting contracts with outside groups or companies.

Open government legislation received attention this year because of a high-profile court case involving Perkins, his compensation agreements and KU’s initial refusal to release all the documents.

In 2003, the Lawrence Journal-World asked the university to fully disclose Perkins’ compensation package. The university refused and The World Company, which publishes the newspaper and operates cable television station 6News, filed a lawsuit last year to force disclosure. The Associated Press and the Kansas Press Assn. later joined the litigation.

A district judge ruled last year against the university, which then released the records. The documents included details of all of Perkins’s compensation.

“Taxpayers have a right to know all the sources of income, public and private, that might affect a public official’s decision-making,” Anstaett said.

But Sen. John Vratil, an attorney, said he didn’t view the changes as a big shift in policy. “They just closed some loopholes that needed to be closed,” said Vratil, R-Leawood.

Meanwhile, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and legislators saw creation of the new health authority as a step toward ensuring access to health care and making such care affordable for Kansans.

The authority will have nine voting members, who must be appointed by the governor and legislative leaders by Aug. 1.

As of today, seven programs – including the “regular medical” program under the state-federal Medicaid program for the needy – are transferred to an existing office of Health Policy and Finance in the Department of Administration. Those programs will be transferred to the authority on July 1, 2006.

The changes are an attempt to streamline state programs providing health care coverage for state workers and needy Kansans. Officials also expect the state to use greater purchasing clout in the marketplace to force reductions in paperwork, concessions on cost and other improvements in the health care system.

More state law changes:

¢ Law enforcement agencies are required to adopt written policies against racial profiling and inform the public of the right to file complaints with the state Human Rights Commission.

¢ Prosecutors have five years from the date most crimes were committed to file charges against someone. The statute of limitations for most crimes had been two years.

¢ The State Board of Education must adopt nutritional guidelines for all food provided to public school students. The measure is designed to combat childhood obesity.

¢ Doctors who perform abortions on girls under 14 will be required to preserve fetal tissue and send it to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation for testing, for possible prosecution of child rapists.

¢ Former prisoners of war and the dependents of soldiers who have died on active duty after Sept. 11, 2001, can attend state universities, community colleges and vocational colleges without paying tuition.

¢ Law enforcement agencies can sell weapons they seize to firearms dealers licensed by the federal government.

¢ Judges can exclude evidence from a rape victim’s sexual history from pretrial hearings as well as a trial.