Wichitopekington

Here’s a sampling of what will be going on under the dome next week.

The House and Senate each publish daily calendars listing the hearings scheduled for the week and what bills might be debated in the chambers. The calendars are posted daily on the Kansas Legislature website.

For March 2-6

Monday

House Education Sub-Committee, 9 a.m., Docking Room 711: hearing on HB 2199, concerning school districts and students with dyslexia.

Tuesday

Senate Commerce, 8:30 a.m., Room 545-N: hearing on SB 258, which would increase the cap set for worker compensation settlements and have the amount increase annually based on the Midwest cost of living index.

House Energy and Utilities, 9 a.m., Docking Room 783: hearing on HB 2328 which would make the first Thursday through Sunday in August a sales tax holidays for most clothing, equipment, school supplies and personal computers.

Senate Federal and State Affairs, 10:30 a.m., Room 136-N: continued hearing on SB 179 which redefines racial profiling and require law enforcement agencies to submit an annual report to the state Attorney General’s office on the number of complaints received.

Wednesday

House Education, 9 a.m., Docking Room 711: hearing on SB 84, which would incorporate personal financial literacy into state tests.

Thursday

Senate Transportation, 8:30 a.m., Room 136-N: a hearing and possible vote on multiple specialty license plates including support for Kansas arts, disabled veterans and a bill exempting “In God We Trust” plates from a startup fee.

House Commerce and Labor, 9 a.m., Docking Room 784: hearing on SB 160, which would increase the state minimum wage to the federal level.

Senate Federal and State Affairs, 10:30 a.m., Room 136-N: possible vote on SB 212, which would allow people to shipments from wineries at their homes and SB 213 which would allow liquor to be served at special events.

A Senate committee is scheduled to resume hearing testimony on a bill that would abolish Kansas’ death penalty.

The measure, Senate Bill 208, is an effort by Sen. Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick, to do away with the sentence. She and other supporters of the bill say the death penalty is expensive to defend and prosecute, and point out no one has been executed since the law was reinstated in 1994.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will likely hear from opponents to the measure today. Those include Kansas Attorney General Stephen Six and Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston.

The committee could vote Friday on whether or not to send the bill to the full Senate.

Here are some of the hearing scheduled in House and Senate committee meetings for next week. The list is preliminary and can change.

The House and Senate each publish daily calendars listing the hearings scheduled for the week and what bills might be debated in the chambers. The calendars are posted daily on the http://www.kslegislature.org/ Kansas Legislature website.

Feb. 2-6

Monday

House Vision 2020, 1:30 p.m., room Docking 711: view a demonstration on telemedicine and telehealth monitoring.

Tuesday

Senate Transportation, 8:30 a.m., room 136-N: hear an overview of the 10 year comprehensive transportation plan bill structure.

Senate Financial Institutions and Insurance, 9:30 a.m., room 136-N: hold a hearing on Senate Bill 49 which would require health insurance polices offer the same benefits for substance abuse treatment as it does mental illness.

Senate Public Health and Welfare, 1:30 p.m., room 136-N: possible vote on Senate Bill 25, which would ban smoking in indoor public areas.

Wednesday

Senate Federal and State Affairs, 10:30 a.m., room not available: hearing from supporters of Senate Bill 76, which would expand where full-strength beer can be sold.

House Federal and State Affairs, 1:30 p.m., room 143-N: hearing on House Bill 2062, which would expand where full-strength beer can be sold.

Thursday

Senate Federal and State Affairs, 10:30 a.m., room not available: hearing from opponents of Senate Bill 76, which would expand where full-strength beer can be sold.

House Federal and State Affairs, 1:30 p.m., room 143-N: hearing on Senate Bill 19, which would allow U.S. attorneys and county and district attorneys and assistants to carry concealed weapons at work.

Many lawmakers thought today’s budget clash was going to get contentious as Senators jousted over filling a $300 million budget hole.

It’s been a more of a jostle with the chamber working in fits and starts. Many proposed changes, including the Democrats’ alternative budget amendment, aren’t ready.

That means there haven’t been major changes to the budget so far.

After lunch, Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, said the Revisor of Statutes Office had said it would take about four hours until the Democrats’ alternative plan was ready. That was at about 2 p.m.

While they wait, Senators have been listening to a handful of amendments – restoring money to the Kansas Water Authority and the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation – and then breaking until more topics are ready for discussion.

At this rate it will be several hours before any substantive changes are made.

TOPEKA – The full Senate has started debating how reduce this year’s budget by about $300 million.

The GOP proposal, substitute for Senate Bill 23, includes 3.4 percent across-the-board cuts to state agencies or $265.1 million in spending reductions. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, said Tuesday she would veto the current proposal if it came across her desk.

“This is not a common occurrence this is not a pleasant occurrence, but the state does not find itself in a pleasant situation at this time,” said Sen. Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg who chairs the Senate Ways and Means Committee as he introduced the bill this morning.

The bill also orders state agencies to make cuts to administrative and operating costs before cutting services and forbids agencies from closing any programs.

That could be easier said than done for some departments. Almost 90 percent of the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services’ budget is direct services, the agency has said. The state Department of Corrections said Tuesday that the proposed cuts would mean supervision of Kansas’ 5,800 parolees would halt April 1.

The reductions are lawmakers’ answer to a projected $200 million short fall in this year’s budget, which is about half over. The deficit could grow to $1 billion in fiscal year 2010, which starts July 1, if nothing is done.

The Senate started early today to accommodate what is expected to be a long and spirited debate.

Whatever the Senate puts out likely will be quite different from the current proposal.

The 61 page budget bill is available here.

We will be posting updates on the blog as the debate progresses, so check back often.