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Minutes for HB2636 - Committee on K-12 Education Budget
Short Title
Repealing the statutory limit on state board of education approval of school district bond issuances.
Minutes Content for Mon, Mar 12, 2018
Chairperson Patton greeted everyone and opened the meeting of the House K-12 Education Budget Committee.
Chairperson Patton opened the hearing on HB2636 and introduced Jason Long, Senior Assistant Revisor, Office of Revisor of Statutes. Revisor Long told the Committee that HB2636 strikes all of the provisions amended into K.S.A. 2017 Supp. 72-5461 by SB19. Under the bill, the State Board would not be subject to any limit in approving additional bonding authority for school districts. Questions were asked by Committee members and answered by Revisor Long and Researcher, Dr. John Hess, Legislative Research Department. (Attachment 1)
Mark Tallman, Kansas Association of School Boards, a proponent of HB2636, was recognized by Chairperson Patton. Mr. Tallman stated because there were no hearings on the provision of last year's bill, SB19, which this bill repeals, the Association did not have the opportunity to testify. He related that the passage of a limit on school bond issues took many school leaders by surprise. He urged the Committee to support HB2636. (Attachment 2)
Speaking in favor of HB2636 was Dr. Wayne Burke, Spring Hill Schools. Dr. Burke appreciated the effort that went into writing this bill to eliminate the hardships created by the bond cap. The Spring Hill district is growing quickly and the bond cap adversely affects providing a quality education for all students. (Attachment 3)
Another proponent for this bill was G. A. Buie, United School Administrators of Kansas. He presented a graph showing that it is difficult for school districts to predict when they are going to need bond projects. He stated his concern is that if this cap is not removed, local school districts are going to be unable to build and maintain the schools the state needs. (Attachment 4)
Proponent, Roger Edgar, with George K. Baum & Company, has worked for the last 35 years with Kansas school districts on the issuance of municipal bonds. Bond issues provide the funding to expand, upgrade and renovate schools. A volume cap will lead to deferred maintenance, lags in technology, and gaps in safety. Kansas should be a state known for valuing and supporting public education. HB2636 will be a benefit to our state, our schools, and ultimately to our children. (Attachment 5)
Also addressing the bond cap issue were proponents Troy Wade and John Pahl, Nabholz Construction. They shared with the Committee their viewpoints on the potentially detrimental effect of the Kansas bond cap on the state's economy. Their two most critical concerns with the bond cap measure are the negative domino effect this spending cap imposes on the Kansas subcontractor community and the compounding cost of delayed action. (Attachment 6)
Mike Gibson, Associated General Contractors of Kansas, Inc., indicated the firms and employees he represents support HB2636. He suggested the Committee start a new conversation on how Kansas administers school bonds. His testimony contains information about how input costs drive pricing and how to best measure them over time. (Attachment 7)
Written only proponents were:
Dustin Avey, Piper Jaffray & Co. (Attachment 8)
Chad Higgins, Maize, USD 266. (Attachment 9)
John Hutchison, Olathe Schools, USD 233. (Attachment 10)
Testifying in opposition to HB2636 was Dave Trabert, Kansas Polity Institute. He encouraged the Committee to reject the bill. The Institute's opposition is primarily that the dramatic growth in state matching funds associated with many bond issues diverts money that could be used for instruction. They are also concerned about the "taxation without representation" aspect of school bond issues; the unchecked ability of districts to effectively force non-district residents to pay a portion of the cost should be addressed by an independent panel examining the necessity and cost of each project to protect taxpayers. (Attachment 11)
There was no written only opponent testimony and there was no oral or written only neutral testimony.
Questions were asked by the Committee members and answered by the conferees.
Chairperson Patton closed the hearing on HB2636 and thanked the conferees for coming to testify.
The next meeting of the House K-12 Education Budget Committee will be Tuesday, March 13, 2018.
Chairperson Patton adjourned the meeting at 3:07 p.m.
