Topeka, KS, Thursday, January 14, 1999, 11:00 a.m.
The House met pursuant to adjournment with Speaker pro tem Mays in the chair.
The roll was called with 121 members present.
Reps. Helgerson, Morrison, Osborne and Rep.-elect Kuether were excused on excused
absence by the Speaker.
Prayer by Chaplain Svoboda:
God of All
We come to you this morning
with some excitement about our new session
with some anxiety about what lies ahead.
We are prepared to work,
but sometimes we forget to listen.
We think we know the solution,
but sometimes we forget the problem.
We think we've got our act together,
but sometimes it seems like we're on the wrong page.
Strengthen us when we stand.
Comfort us when discouraged or sorrowful.
Raise us up when we fall.
And always, always, keep us mindful
of the others that will be affected by our decisions today.
We ask these things in Your name-
Amen.
PERSONAL PRIVILEGE
There being no objection, the remarks of Rep. Farmer and Rep. Haley are spread upon
the Journal.
Thank you Mr. Speaker.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929. In September 1935, he began
school at all black Yonge Street Elementary School in Atlanta. He entered Morehouse
College in Atlanta in June of 1944. In February 1948, Martin was ordained a Baptist minister
and entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was June 18, 1953
when Corretta Scott became Mrs. Corretta Scott King.
In October of the following year, Martin Luther King became pastor of Dexter Avenue
Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
Martin Luther King became Dr. Martin Luther King in June of 1955, receiving his Ph.D.
in Theology from Boston University. On November 17, 1955 the Kings were blessed with
the first of their 4 children, Yolanda Denise King.
On December 1, 1955, Mrs. Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man
in Montgomery, Alabama. Four days later Dr. King was elected president of the
Montgomery Improvement Association and led a year-long boycott of the Montgomery
busses. This was one of many events that led Dr. King to a life of pro-active, non-violent
direct action; so much so that in December, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. received the
Nobel Peace Prize.
On April 4, 1968, an assassin's bullet took the young life of this heroic man.
Dr. King is, and should be, an inspiration to all of us who are actively involved in seeking
the common good for our fellow man.
In April of 1963, Dr. King wrote the following from the Birmingham Jail:
``I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable
network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly
affects all indirectly.''
In August of the same year, Dr. King said at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.:
``When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution
and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every
American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the
inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.''
A message that I believe we as legislators all hold dear.
I now yield to Representative David Haley.
Thank you, Rep. Farmer. And thank you Speaker Jennison, Speaker pro tem Mays, and
our colleagues of the Kansas House.
This morning marks the fifth occasion that you have generously allowed us to briefly
reflect on the life and on the enduring philosophy of this extraordinary American. We
implore this Body's indulgence, not for the sake of repetition or tedium . . . no, more so
for the sake of urgency. That at least for a day, maybe even over a long holiday weekend,
we might all lay aside our diverse views and focus less on our political, economic, social, or
geographical differences. The best admonitions of Dr. King, you and I know, sought our
common ground in order to achieve our greater societal good. And these concepts of equality
do not belong to your political party or mine, to your race or to mine, to your religion or
creed or to mine . . . but to us all. And these five minutes we share today, (surrounded
by these recently uncovered names of other Kansans, here remembered too for their
outspoken dedication to the proposition that all men and women are created
equal) . . . these minutes in this Chamber can resound throughout our State with your
``representation'' over these next few days. Today, if we see our State and our Country, not
as we are comfortably accustomed to seeing it, but as, perhaps, . . . Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. would see it . . . if he could . . . if we can . . . the burning cross on a Kansas
City front lawn; . . . that truck driven by sheer hatred intentionally dragging a man to his
death in Texas; . . . that Wyoming student beaten and staked out; left to die at the hands
of those who hated not his ``humanness'' but a ``different lifestyle'' . . . school children and
U.S. Capitol guards senselessly gunned down. . . . I know he would see our world for how
far it has come, yes, but I believe that Dr. King would recognize too that we still have a
long way to go. And if we, as servants of our people and protectors of our Constitutions,
don't feel some vicarious horror and some reciprocal responsibility to providing amore sane
and more practical answer to dispute resolution then, we are too comfortable. My father
George, (once a Kansas Senator and now U.S. Ambassador to the Gambia W. Africa) has
diplomatically drilled in my and my sister Anne's heads all of my life, saying: ``How can you
claim to love God, whom you have not seen, and hate your brother and sister whom you
have seen . . . ?'' In closing today, I implore you, my brothers and sisters, to focus this
weekend on our similarities and not on our differences. There is more shared by Bill Graves,
Tom Sawyer, David Miller and Fred Phelps than there is not. And whether we recognize
these ``days off'' at tomorrow's march or rally or Governor's Award Luncheon, at a
commemorative service over the weekend, or in the quiet of our respective homes, . . . I
pray each of us, in our own representative/redemptive way, will find a way to bring light to
that vision; the dream we acknowledge; that each of us help out . . . and be King for a
day.
INTRODUCTION OF BILLS AND CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS
The following bills and concurrent resolution were introduced and read by title:
HB 2032, An act concerning mental health service providers; relating to the fees
established by the behavioral sciences regulatory board; amending K.S.A. 65-5805, 65-6313,
65-6602, 65-6603, 74-5310a, 74-5316, 74-5319, 74-5339 and 74-5349 and K.S.A. 1998 Supp.
65-5804, 65-5806, 65-5811, 65-6404, 65-6405, 65-6406, 65-6407, 74-5310, 74-5311, 74-
5363, 74-5365, 74-5366 and 74-5367 and repealing the existing sections; also repealing
K.S.A. 74-5312 and 74-5313 and K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 65-5808, 65-6314 and 65-6411, by
Committee on Health and Human Services.
HB 2033, An act concerning mental health service providers; relating to temporary
licensure thereof; amending K.S.A. 74-5316 and K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 65-5804, 65-5811, 65-
5812, 65-6405, 74-5344 and 74-5367 and repealing the existing sections, by Committee on
Health and Human Services.
HB 2034, An act concerning state officers and employees; relating to compensation for
overtime work; prescribing certain rates and procedures; amending K.S.A. 75-5537 and
repealing the existing section, by Representatives Sloan and Findley.
HB 2035, An act concerning persons with disabilities; relating to accessible parking;
amending K.S.A. 8-1,126 and K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 8-1,124, 8-1,125, 8-1,127, 8-1,128, 8-1,129
and 8-1,130a and repealing the existing sections, by Committee on Transportation.
HB 2036, An act reducing the tax imposed upon certain vehicles; amending K.S.A. 79-
5105 and repealing the existing section, by Committee on Taxation.
HB 2037, An act relating to sales taxation; exempting certain sales of materials and
services relating to rehabilitation of railroad track and facilities and to grain storage facilities;
amending K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 79-3606 and repealing the existing section, by Committee on
Taxation.
HB 2038, An act relating to severance taxation; exempting the production and severance
of oil therefrom; amending K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 79-4217 and repealing the existing section,
by Representatives McKinney, Minor, Alldritt, Edmonds, Feuerborn, Grant, Johnson,
Larkin, Phelps, Reinhardt, Showalter and Shriver.
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 5008--
By Representative Sloan
A PROPOSITION to amend sections 2, 4 and 7 of article 6 of the constitution
of the state of Kansas, relating to education.
Be it resolved by the Legislature of the State of Kansas, two-thirds of the members elected (or appointed) and qualified to the House of Representatives and two-thirds of the members elected (or appointed) and qualified to the Senate concurring therein:
Section 1. The following proposition to amend the constitution of the state of Kansas
shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the state for their approval or rejection:
Sections 2, 4 and 7 of article 6 of the constitution of the state of Kansas are hereby amended
to read as follows:
``§ 2. State board of education and state board of regents. (a) The legislature shall
provide for a state board of education which shall haveand for its general supervision
of public schools, educational institutions and all the educational interests of the state,
except educational functions delegated by law to the state board of regents. The state
board of education shall perform such other duties as may be providedprescribed by
law.
(b) The legislature shall provide for a state board of regents and for its control and
supervision of public institutions of higher education. Public institutions of higher
education shall include universities and colleges granting baccalaureate or
postbaccalaureate degrees and such other institutions and educational interests as may
be provided by law. The state board of regents shall perform such other duties as may
be prescribed by law.
(c) Any municipal university shall be operated, supervised and controlled as
provided by law.
``§ 4. Commissioner of education. The state board of educationgovernor shall
appoint a commissioner of education, subject to confirmation by the senate, who shall
serve at the pleasure of the board as its executive officergovernor. The state board of education shall submit to the governor a list containing the names of nominees for appointment to the office of commissioner of education and appointment of the commissioner shall be made by the governor after consideration of the list of nominees. The commissioner of education shall be a member of the governor's cabinet, shall serve the state board of education as its executive officer, and shall act as a liaison between the governor and the state board of education. The commissioner of education shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law.
``§ 7. Savings clause.(a) All laws in force at the time of the adoption of this
amendment and consistent therewith shall remain in full force and effect until amended
or repealed by the legislature. All laws inconsistent with this amendment, unless sooner
repealed or amended to conform with this amendment, shall remain in full force and
effect until July 1, 19692001.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of the constitution to the contrary, no state superintendent of public instruction or county superintendent of public instruction shall be elected after January 1, 1967.
(c) The state perpetual school fund or any part thereof may be managed and invested as provided by law or all or any part thereof may be appropriated, both as to principal and income, to the support of the public schools supervised by the state board of education.''
Sec. 2. The following statement shall be printed on the ballot with the amendment as
a whole:
``Explanatory statement. This amendment would eliminate the constitutional power
of the state board of education to generally supervise the public schools without being
subject to statutory guidelines prescribed by the legislature. This amendment also would
provide for appointment by the governor of the commissioner of education who would
be a member of the governor's cabinet and whose appointment would be approved by
the state senate.
``A vote for this proposition would give greater accountability of the state board of
education to the executive and legislative branches of government. The state board of
education would be responsible for implementation of public school policy under
statutory directives adopted by the legislature. The commissioner of education would
serve as chief administrative officer of the state board of education and would provide
liaison between the office of the governor and the state board of education.
``A vote against this proposition would continue in effect the authority of the state
board of education to exercise legislative power in establishing policy regarding the
public schools independent of direct input by the governor and legislature. A vote against
this proposition also would continue in effect the current exclusion from the governor's
cabinet of a representative of the state board of education.''
Sec. 3. This resolution, if approved by two-thirds of the members elected (or appointed)
and qualified to the House of Representatives and two-thirds of the members elected (or
appointed) and qualified to the Senate, shall be entered on the journals, together with the
yeas and nays. The secretary of state shall cause this resolution to be published as provided
by law and shall cause the proposed amendment to be submitted to the electors of the state
at the general election to be held in the year 2000 unless a special election is called at a
sooner date by concurrent resolution of the legislature, in which case it shall be submitted
to the electors of the state at the special election.
REFERENCE OF BILLS AND CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS
The following bills and resolutions were referred to committees as indicated:
Environment: HB 2028.
Federal and State Affairs: HB 2031.
Taxation: HB 2030.
Utilities: HB 2029.
COMMUNICATIONS FROM STATE OFFICERS
January 12, 1999
The Honorable Bill Graves
and
Honorable Members of the
Kansas State Legislature
As has been the custom of the State Treasurer's Office in the past, an annual report which
covers the operations of the Office of State Treasurer for the period of July 1, 1997 through
June 30, 1998, was provided for you. However, because there was no transition budget
provided for the State Treasurer and having only been in the office for three days, I do not
feel it would be prudent of me to provide you information that I can neither confirm or
deny.
After speaking with Norm Furse, Director of the Revisor of Statutes, and discovering that
he can not readily find a statute that formally requires us to provide a report during the first
10 working of the legislative session, it is my decision to provide your office and the Members
of the State Legislature with a more thorough report on the state of the Treasurer's Office
before the end of the 1999 legislative session. This would allow enough time to thoroughly
review the recent audit, familiarize myself with the agency, and determine whether another
audit is necessary.
You will be apprized of the results of my findings as soon as they are available.
I appreciate your understanding and patience. My staff and I look forward to a close
working relationship with you during the 1999 legislative session.
Respectfully Yours,
Tim Shallenburger
Kansas State Treasurer
REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES
The Committee on Appropriations recommends HB 2027 be amended on page 1,
following line 24 by inserting the following material to read as follows:
``Provided, That the adjutant general may make expenditures from the disaster relief account
to provide the full amount of nonfederal matching moneys required for disaster relief claims
by local governments under the applicable federal emergency disaster relief program
requirements in appropriate cases of hardship which shall be determined by the adjutant
general in accordance with guidelines for hardship determinations, including appropriate
guidelines for evaluating available local government resources and prioritizing local govern-
ment claims, which are hereby authorized to be adopted and administered by the adjutant
general.''; and the bill be passed as amended.
The Committee on Rules and Journal recommends HCR 5007 be adopted.
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENT CHANGE
Speaker pro tem Mays announced Rep. Findley would replace Rep. Helgerson on Com-
mittee on Federal and State Affairs.
On motion of Rep. Glasscock, the House adjourned pro forma until 11:00 a.m., Friday,
January 15, 1999.