There is an election coming up and I want to encourage you all to vote. For the first time voter this is a great opportunity to become engaged with our political process at the entry level.
A voter registration application is available online at www.kssos.org/elections, you can pick one up at the Butler County Court House Election Office, 205 West Central, 2d floor, 322-4299, or call me and I will send you a form. This year the primary election takes place on Tuesday, August 5th. The General Election is Tuesday November 4th.
The deadline to register is 15 days before any election and if you are a first time registrant remember to bring or send in a copy of a current photo ID, or send in some form of government document that shows your name and address.
A current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, or government check will work also. For those of you that have moved since you last voted, you must re-register with your current address. We would not want to turn you away at the poll for failure to complete this simple task.
During this primary election the El Dorado voters will have the opportunity to decide whether to extend the City’s 1% sales tax this tax was implemented in 1989 and to date $12,500,00 has been used to reduce property tax, $9,000,000 on street rehabilitation, and $180,000 has been spent on economic development/job creation. For more information call the City at 321-9100 or the El Dorado Chamber of Commerce 321-3150.
Here is something you did not know, separate ballots containing only the sales tax question will be available at the poll sites for registered voters that do not wish to declare a party affiliation.
During this interim period between legislative sessions, select, and joint committees continue to meet to discuss possible legislative action for next year. These hearings are open to the public, contain a variety of topics and often are very well attended by lobbyists, opponents, proponents, and the general public. Legislative services provide a list of all scheduled meetings at www.kslegislature.org.
Here is something I found interesting, SB 178 created “flame retardant” cigarettes under the Fire Safety Standard and Firefighters Protection Acct. The bill would require all cigarettes sold in the State of Kansas after July 1, 2009 to have been tested for ignition strength by ASTM prior to sale.
Under the bill, no more than 25 percent of cigarettes tested could exhibit full-length burn as laboratory tested, and they would be required to have lowered permeability bands in the cigarette paper to reduce the ignition strength of cigarettes. Of course the State Fire Marshal has the regular fines and penalties for manufactures and distributors that try to skirt the law.
The reality of this law is to try to get a cigarette that quits burning when you quit puffing and should you fall asleep during the process of smoking the cigarette is less like to cause your death by catching the recliner on fire. Who would ever thought we could have cigarettes that would be burn resistant?
Many area contractors received notice this past week form the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. We (yes, me too) are in violation of various sections of Kansas Administrative Regulation
K.A.R. 28-72-51 through 28-72-54. This regulation contains requirements for the Pre-Renovation Rule as it pertains to lead based paint.
Apparently this regulation requires any individuals, partnerships, corporations, trusts, government agencies, housing agencies, non-profits, lessor or contractors prior to doing any work on a residence has to provide an EPA pamphlet describing the hazards of lead based paint.
The regulation calls for certified training of at least two employees on the hazards of lead based paint and how to effectively protect the homeowner and workmen during renovation or remodel of any home constructed prior to 1978. My men were certified in 2003 and the training company sent the information t the State of Kansas, most others in the area were unaware there was a requirement for this certification.
Oh yes, and the homeowner or occupant must have sign a document that he has received the pamphlet and this certification must be kept on file for inspection purposes by KDHE for a period of 3 years. None of us knew about this notification requirement.
I called around to area contractors, supply houses, landlords and tenants. Less than 10% had ever heard of the ruling or knew where to get the EPA Pamphlet. Seeing how short of a time frame (July 03, 08) we had to come up with remedial action and apply for this training, I called KDHE in Topeka.
The training is available for $150.00 per employee and applicants can just send a nonrefundable check or money order to KDHE. The date and time for the next training class will be provided at a later date. I am waiting on clarification on several issues from KDHE such as how are contractors selected to get penalized for failure to comply and why are so many contractors totally unaware of this regulation.
The supervisor in charge of this program is away from the office until July 7th, so I am not encouraged to expect a quick resolution. I can only suspect this will require the cost of remodel work to increase as the cost of this regulation must be folded into the overhead cost of the contractor.
I take this issue seriously and I wonder how regulations such as this get into the books unchallenged? Just how much government intervention do we need? I am hesitant to ask about how many licensed contractors this will affect and how many unlicensed or unsupervised contractors will continue with business as usual. Is there a real danger with non-compliance? I will bring more information during my next writing.
I consider it an honor and privilege to represent you in Topeka and I want to know what you think. Contact me at 1115 Rim Rock Road, E Dorado 67042, 316-321-6230, or johng@carlisleinc.net, or grange@house.state.ks.us, www.johngrange.net. Thanks, John.
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