House Status:
Senate Status:
Senate Status:
Minutes for HB2594 - Committee on Appropriations
Short Title
Supplemental appropriations for FY 2020 and FY 2021 for various state agencies.
Minutes Content for Fri, Mar 13, 2020
Discussion continued on HB 2594.
Amy Deckard, Kansas Legislative Research Department, presented an overview of the following documents: Comparison of FY 2020 - FY 2021 recommended expenditures as approved by the Appropriations Committee on March 12, 2020 (Attachment 1); House 2020 Appropriations Bills HB 2594 and HB 2597 for FY 2021 that includes the Governor's recommendations, as approved by the Committee (Attachment 2); Items for Omnibus Consideration (Attachment 3); and additional Information, regarding the administration and requirements of the Child Care and Development Block Grant, as requested by the Committee (Attachment 4).
Representative Hoffman made a motion to remove the language regarding Legislature Budget Committee report increasing funding allocation for the House and Senate leadership offices from within existing resources by $141,186 SGF in FY 2021, for review at Omnibus. Representative Francis seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Representative Landwehr requested her vote in opposition of the motion be included in the minutes. She also requested that her comments,regarding the budget, be included in the minutes and are as follows: “I was here when we came in December and we had to cut the current fiscal year, that was schools and everything took a cut, not a reduction of an increase but a cut. We came back in during session, we also had to cut a little more on current fiscal and cut the next year’s budget again, not to cut the increases but to actually do cuts. I would really like to see the committee work on a necessity budget that we can pass and not the increases that a lot of us would really like to see. I think Representative Hoffman just took us down that path because when we come back, and we have to start making cuts to the budget just passed out there is no one that will enjoy that. It is not fun. It upsets the public. It upsets our agencies because they have already started looking at their budgets. And if you think about what is happening with families right now, they are readjusting their budgets. I was surprised last night as I spoke to several people back in Wichita and the number of orders for business’s that are being withdrawn; individuals not making purchases on large ticket items because they are concerned; especially retirees where their 401K’s are at and what their financial situation is going to be. And I really think the State of Kansas should operate the same way. So if I were to take and remove, and I am not making a motion, Mr. Chairman, on this, if we went through this line by line item by line item and we removed items to Omnibus, we get our census revenue numbers in, we see what out caseloads are, then we know how much money we have actually to spend. It is still going to be very tight if we spend everything that we already have, and we have sitting at Omnibus because most of these items are not one-time spending. They are repeated spending, keeping in mind the automatic adjustment of cost of living setting on our education finance formula that hits us. There are other items that hit our budget that we have no control over, such as bonding with our schools, KPERS, with our schools and other entities for the number of employees they hire, the wages they pay, etc. A that is not a negative that they do. Those all have an impact that we’re not seeing here today. So, I think, Mr. Chairman, I respect you, as well as our ranking Democrat, that it is a much more responsible way to reduce this budget. Because, otherwise, I think this legislature is going to regret it and we are going to have a lot of agencies in trouble. We are going to have our constituents very upset with us if we are not fiscally responsible with dealings with these core issues.”
Discussion followed by committee members. The question was asked if there was anything that the Governor requested that needs to be addressed, that would give the agencies flexibility during the time that the legislators are gone, as well as any technical changes that should be made in the bill . Representative Wolf Moore responded, the Governor's clear instruction was to keep any further add ons from the budget at this time.
Representative Williams reviewed an amendment that would add language regarding transcript requirements available to high school students who have completed technical education courses, but who do not have a Social Security number ((Attachment 5).
Discussion followed by committee members regarding. This amendment is related to students who has currently been blocked from receiving their transcript without having a social security number.
Representative Williams made a motion to add language that if a community or technical college agrees to provide the state provided Excel or CTE funds, they must be willing to provide a transcript to the student upon course completion, Representative Concannon seconded the motion.
Discussion followed by committee members. It was noted that if the community or technical college receiving CTE funds and are providing this service to students, they must be required to provide a transcript upon course completion using either a Social Security number or Student ID number. This language would address current law, based on a recent ruling with the Federal Supreme Court. David Weiss, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, reviewed the language in the amendment, and felt confident this language addresses the concern expressed by the maker of the motion.
Representative Williams renewed the motion. Motion passed.
Discussion continued by committee members regarding schools and municipalities and their concerns regarding their ability to bond. It was noted there is a bill in the Tax Committee that would address this issue.
Representative Carpenter reviewed a proviso to HB 2714 that would raise the cap from $1.9 million to $4.1 million with the Department of Health and Environment - Health, which would allow counties to receive more money.
Representative Carpenter made a motion to approve the proviso. Representative Ballard seconded the motion.
Emphasis was placed on the need for adequate resources to address health issues.
Representative Carpenter renewed the motion. Motion passed.
Representative Rahjes reviewed a proviso regarding postsecondary education institution expenditures for the purpose of deeming any person enrolled as a member of the Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas, the Prairie Band Potawatomie Nation, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas or the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska as a resident of this state for the purpose of tuition and fees for attendance (Attachment 6).
Representative Rahjes made a motion to approve the proviso. Representative Hoffman seconded the motion.
Discussion followed by Committee members. It was noted the motion is the exact language in the bill that was recently introduced, which will be included in the budget bill.
Representative Rahjes renewed the motion. Motion passed.
Representative Hoffman made a motion to move the contents of HB 2594 into HB 2597, creating HSub for HB 2597, and to include necessary technical amendments by staff. Representative Claeys seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Chairman Waymaster commended the committee members for their collaborative work on the budget.
Meeting adjourned at: 9:50 a.m.
