Topeka ? Some senators are working again to eliminate the week that jobless workers must wait to get their first unemployment checks, their efforts buoyed by a show of support from the House.

A proposal to eliminate the waiting week for two years, starting July 1, is now included in a bill cutting the taxes employers pay to finance benefits for unemployed workers.

Legislators and business leaders think those taxes can be cut for at least two years because the state has a surplus of funds for paying benefits. Under the bill, businesses would save nearly $155 million over two years.

When the Senate debated the tax cut, it rejected an amendment to eliminate the waiting week. The House then added its language, sending the measure back to the Senate for further review.

Senators could negotiate with the House, but Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, said Tuesday that he’s hoping his chamber will vote to accept the House’s version, sending the measure to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. She proposed eliminating the waiting week.

He’s working with Sen. Phil Journey, R-Haysville.

But the Kansas Chamber of Commerce opposes the idea because it would take nearly $13 million a year out of the trust fund.

Workers are eligible for 26 weeks of benefits, but some of them find new jobs before those benefits run out. Thus, eliminating the waiting week gives those Kansans an extra check.

Bioscience tour

Fifty-six legislators and staff members spent Tuesday on a tour of bioscience sites in three cities sponsored by the industry, the Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce.

The trip took them from Manhattan to Lawrence and then De Soto. They toured companies and the Higuchi Biosciences Center at Kansas University.

In 2004, lawmakers enacted a law setting aside income tax revenues and setting up a new agency to nurture the biosciences industry.

“Too frequently, we fail to follow up to see whether legislation we passed is being implemented as intended,” said Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood, one of the tour’s participants.

Vacation days

The House and Senate’s Republican leaders can’t agree on when the Legislature should take its annual spring break.

Legislative sessions are scheduled to last 90 days each year, though they can run longer if lawmakers have trouble resolving knotty issues. Since 1969, legislators have worked until early April, taken a spring break and returned for a shorter wrap-up session.

In recent years, GOP leaders have trimmed a week off the first part of the session, so they’d have more time – and money – available for the wrap-up.

House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, wants to continue that practice and work through March 30, the session’s 78th calendar day.

But Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, argues the Legislature isn’t facing a long wrap-up – last year’s lasted 15 days – and so could use an extra week before its spring break. His proposal is to work through April 6, the 85th day.

Either way, legislators would return from their spring break April 25.

Money a primary concern

A crucial test of legislators’ determination to have a presidential primary will come Thursday when a House committee debates spending $2 million on the special election.

The Senate unanimously approved a bill last week to make an election in early February 2008 possible; the date most often mentioned by lawmakers is Feb. 5.

But there’s a big obstacle to Kansas having a primary instead of party caucuses: the opposition of House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, who thinks the money could be better spent on social services or other items in the budget.

Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Sharon Schwartz, R-Washington, agrees with him, saying Tuesday, “We’re struggling to still be able to do the things we need to do in Kansas.”

Still, Schwartz added: “I’ll let the committee make the decision.”

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius included the money for the primary in her proposed budget for the secretary of state’s office for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The committee will review that proposal.

A subcommittee recommended spending the money – but only if the election is on or before Feb. 5, 2008.

Under the dome

Tuesday was the 51st day of the 2007 session, out of 90 scheduled. It counted as a work day even though lawmakers were taking a two-day break because they still were paid.