I just completed a very nice 4-day weekend at home and I am preparing to return to Topeka and the second half of the session. On Monday I was given the opportunity to spend the afternoon with the Government class at El Dorado High School. This has turned into an annual event that I very much look forward to.
A week before the class meeting I solicit questions from the class as a basis from which to start the question and answer period. You would be quite proud, albeit not surprised by the thoughtful questions. Once we begin our discussion it becomes a rather free exchange of ideas, ideals, and concepts.
We discussed, underage drinking, raising the age of driver license issuance, universal health care, health insurance, immigration, illegal aliens employment, and had an exchange on the many other challenges facing today’s youth. I only hope they learned as much from me as I learned from them. My attempt to get into a grade school class was once again rescheduled for another date. 2d graders are hard to schedule.
Heard today that there may be some gift cards that could be worthless because the company has filed for bankruptcy. Sharper Image has filed and will not honor those cards until litigation proceedings are complete. Lesson here is if you get a card; spend it quickly.
The appraisal notices are coming out soon and many of you may see a sharp increase in your property valuation. The mill levy will determine how much tax you pay and you will have to prove that your home valuation is not accurate. The county uses houses with a comparable value to determine the value of your home. Be courteous, the appraisers are doing their job, they just need to be held accountable.
The immigration bill; Senate Bill 458 is scheduled to be debated on next week. This is the legislation proposed by Senator’s Palmer, Barnett, Huelskamp, Journey and Ostmeyer. Several of you have sent me letters encouraging the passage of this measure. The bill highlight sets a punishment for those employers that “knowingly” hire an illegal alien. Employers must use the Federal approved e-verify to identify those prospective employees.
This is a very emotional topic for many people. I am still studying the proposal and during debate we should be able to disclose any possible difficulties. The e-verify helps match up the social security number with a name of the person assigned that number. This does nothing for identify theft and therein lies a potential problem.
Believe me we do not want to provide benefits to those that do not have legal residence, we also do not want to have unintended consequences for those legal residents. I appreciate the input from everyone and the encouragement to do the right thing. This bill prevents those not having legal residence from receiving a driver’s license. For details on this bill or any others go to www.kslegislature.org.
I have received letters from a coalition of business associations that include the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, Builders Association, Kansas Livestock Association, NFIB, Kansas Association of Realtors, Restaurant and Hospitality Association, and Kansas Farm Bureau just to name a few. This coalition does not support the proposed immigration legislation as it is presented and encourages me to oppose it. What would you do?
I am sure many of you are confused and disappointed in the recent decision for the Air Force to choose a French aircraft manufacturer to produce the next generation tanker for the United States. Although there are some parts and pieces made here in the US, the plane is still based on a foreign design. I wonder if we are going to build bigger hangars to accommodate these larger aircraft? We all will need to wait and see what is the final outcome; I just hate the possibility of losing a lot of work to a country that does not support us in our efforts at world peace.
The schedule is set for the rest of the session and the last day for the committees to meet is March 26th. We are to be on the floor of the house for debate all day on the 27th and 28th of March. Starting on March 31st, the 78th day of the session, is when the conference committees meet to iron out the differences between the Senate and House on specific bills. The conference committees are made up of the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Ranking Minority of each specific committee. They are scheduled to meet through April 5th and if conflicts cannot be resolved, the bill fails.
Veto session is scheduled for April 30th through May 3d, day 86 of the session. This is when we all come back just to vote on items that may have been vetoed by the governor. We did this on the veto over-ride on the concealed carry issue last year.
I will keep you posted on the many issues that will be coming up for debate. If you have a particular interest just let me know and I will make sure you are kept up to date. I consider it an honor and privilege to represent you in Topeka and I want to know what you think.
Contact, grange@house.state.ks.us, johng@carlisleinc.net, 1115 Rim Rock Road, El Dorado Kansas, 67042, room 411-S State Capitol, 785-296-7655.
Thanks again, John
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