We have reached the midway point this session. Turnaround day, which is the last day to consider non-exempt bills in the house of origin, was February 27th. Some other important dates that are coming up are March 25th which is the last day to consider non-exempt bills not in originating chamber, and Friday, April 3 which is Drop Dead Day/First Adjournment which means there will be no bills considered after this day except bills vetoed by the Governor or Omnibus Appropriation bills.
Value them Both Amendment to the Constitution
As many of you have heard, the
Value them Both Constitutional Amendment fell 4 votes shy in the House of putting the Amendment on the ballot for voters to decide. I supported this amendment, and we are still working to get this Amendment passed and on the ballot for the voters to decide, as it should be. Passing this Amendment does not change anything regarding our abortion laws. All it does is put us back where we were in regards to the laws that were previously passed such as parental notification, and a partial birth/dismemberment abortion ban, along with other common-sense laws.
Medicaid Expansion - a bill loaded with problems for Kansas taxpayers
I continue to remain opposed to Medicaid expansion for a number of reasons which I will outline below.We should not consider passing Medicaid expansion until the Value Them Both Constitutional Amendment is passed because without the amendment, Medicaid expansion would create a loophole for taxpayer-funded abortions in Kansas.
Here's how this could happen:
expanding Medicaid in Kansas would move approximately 55,000 Kansans from private insurance to taxpayer-funded Medicaid. Under the Kansas Supreme Court decision, Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt, any state restrictions on abortion must pass the highest hurdle of constitutional scrutiny, known as strict scrutiny. Almost no regulations will survive this standard andfunding restrictions have already been struck down in other states applying this standard. In fact, our court already cited those decisions favorably in its Hodes decision. With 55,000 Kansans moving from private insurance to tax-payer funded Medicaid, and our existing restrictions on using those state Medicaid dollars for abortion in jeopardy,
there is a very real risk that expanding Medicaid without first addressing the Hodes decision would result in taxpayer-funded abortions in Kansas. In addition to opposing taxpayer-funded abortions, there are other reasons that expanding Medicaid is not in the best interest of Kansans including, but not limited to:
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Medicaid expansion will not solve the problem of rural hospitals. This has been shown to be the case in a number of instances. One example is California where 1 in 3 Californians are covered by Medicaid yet they still have a 10% hospital closure rate.
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Medicaid does not increase access to care. There is still a small percentage of physicians who enroll to accept Medicaid. By expanding Medicaid, we crowd out those who have disabilities and need access to care.
Currently there are 37,000 children eligible in Kansas for Medicaid who are not enrolled.
We should not expand a broken system, but work on making the current system better.
How I voted on recent legislation
Below are highlights of the bills that have passed this session, and how I voted on them:
HB2515 Creating the Kansas Promise Scholarship Program.
- Creates the Kansas Promise Scholarship Program. This is one of the proposals in the House Republican "Make Kansas Work Plan." This provides scholarships for students to attend an “eligible postsecondary educational institution.” This includes public community or technical colleges, any two-year associate degree program or technical certificate program offered by a private postsecondary educational institution with its primary location in Kansas, and the Washburn Institute of Technology. To eligible for the scholarship, a student must be a Kansas resident, have graduated from a Kansas public or private secondary school, and have or have obtained a high school equivalency certificate within the preceding 12 months. An amendment was introduced to include students who graduate outside of Kansas while one or both parents are residents and members of the Kansas National Guard.
Passed 116 to 6 I voted for it
HB2487 Including emotional disability rather than emotional disturbance in the definitions of "children with disabilities" and "individuals with disabilities."
Passed 120 to 5 and I voted for it
HB 2509 Vacating certain blocks in the original town plat set aside for a college and a park of the city of Americus and vesting fee simple title in the city
Passed 122 to 3 and I voted for it
HB 2708 Creating a drug abuse treatment program for people on diversion and allowing county attorneys to enter into agreements with court services and community corrections for supervision
Passed 125 to 0 and I voted for it
HB 2506 Substitute for HB 2506 by Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development - Expanding the military spouse and service member's expedited licensure law to all applicants who have established or intend to establish residency in Kansas
Passed 123 to 2 and I voted for it
HB 2585 Exempting the retail sale of electricity for electric vehicle charging stations from the jurisdiction of the state corporation commission and requiring a siting permit from the commission for the construction of certain electric transmission lines.
Passed 123 to 2 and I voted for it
HB 2510 Special districts may be dissolved and responsibilities assumed by a city.
Passed 123 to 2 and I voted for it
HB 2713 Enacting the revised uniform law on notarial acts.
Passed 122 to 3 and I voted for it
HB 2575 Amending the Kansas dry cleaner environmental response act to change the required deductible rate, environmental surcharge rate and penalty fine amount.
Passed 95 to 28 and I voted for it
HB 2702 Decoupling the KIT and KIR workforce training programs from the high-performance incentive fund program and enhancing the workforce training tax credit.
Passed 125 to 0 and I voted for it
HB 2618 Establishing a state broadband grant program under the department of commerce to encourage the deployment of broadband in the state.
Passed 120-5 and I voted for it
HB 2695 Allowing special agents from the department of corrections to attend the Kansas law enforcement training center.
Passed 125-0 I voted for it
HB 2583 Clarify the vacation of territory from city boundaries or release of easements.
Passed 124 to 1 and I voted for it
HB 2540 Requiring moneys attributable to at-risk student weighting be expended for approved at-risk educational programs.
Passed 111 to 14 and I voted for it
HB 2528 Providing for all vehicles more than 35 years old to qualify as an antique vehicle.
Passed 124 to 1 and I voted for it
HB 2518 Counting any crime with a domestic violence designation as a prior conviction under domestic battery.
Passed 125 to 0 and I voted for it
HB 2438 Allowing certain exceptions to the confidentiality of state child death review board documents.
Passed 125 to 0 and I voted for it
HB 2507 Liability protection for businesses that participate in high school work-based learning programs
Passed 97 to 27 and I voted it
HB 2495 – Authorizing the crime victims compensation board to waive application time restrictions for a victim of a sexually violent crime to receive compensation for mental health counseling.
Passed 125 to 0 and I voted for it
HB2463 – Amending the Kansas pesticide law's licensure requirements and the Kansas chemigation safety law's permittee requirements.
Passed 125 to 0 and I voted for it
HB2619 Adjusting the frequency of the KPERS actuarial experience study.
Passed 118 to 7 and I voted for it
HB2456 Clarifying the definition of the term "possession" in the Kansas criminal code.
Passed 124 to 1 I voted for it
HB2699 Requiring court services officers to assist with child in need of care cases when directed by a judge.
Passed 105 to 20 I voted for it
HB 2506 Substitute for HB 2506 by Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development- Expanding the military spouse and service member's expedited licensure law to all applicants who have established or intend to establish residency in Kansas.
Passed 123 to 2 and I voted for it.
HB 2585Exempting the retail sale of electricity for electric vehicle charging stationsfrom the jurisdiction of the state corporation commission and requiring a siting permit from the commission for the construction of certain electric transmission lines.
Passed 123 to 2 and I voted for it.
HB 2618 Establishing a state broadband grant programunder the department of commerce to encourage the deployment of broadband in the state.
Passed 120-5 and I voted for it.
HP 2540 Requiring moneys attributable to at-risk student weightingbe expended for approved at-risk educational programs.
Passed 111 to 14 and I voted for it.
HB 2507 Liability protection for businesses that participate in high school work-based learning programs.
Passed 97 to 27 and I voted for it.
HB2699 Requiring court services officers to assist with child in need of care cases when directed by a judge.
Passed 105 to 20 and I voted for it.
These are just a few of my votes in support of legislation that benefits students (from at-risk students to those pursuing vocational/technical careers), military families, businesses, victims of crime and children in need. We are still working hard to evaluate many more bills and reduce the burdens on family, individual and senior taxpayers. The full list of my votes on recent legislation is available here.
As always, please feel free to email or call with any questions or concerns. As the session progresses, I will continue to update you. Thank you for your continued support and I look forward to continuing to work for you in the Kansas House of Representatives this session.
Sincerely,
Rep. Owen Donohoe
District 39 Kansas State Representative
