When Gov. Sam Brownback and his conservative backers ousted most of the moderates from the Kansas Senate, so that conservatives had control of both chambers, this year’s legislative session was supposed to be a breeze. In fact, House and Senate leaders said it would take only 80 days, instead of the allotted 90. But 90 days ended Thursday, and today the House overwhelmingly rejected the Senate tax plan and then adjourned until Tuesday. They can’t blame this dysfunction on moderates.
Rep. Nile Dillmore, D-Wichita, was correct to raise concerns about a bill the Legislature passed this week that bans the use of state money to advocate for or against gun control. Though the prohibition likely would be difficult to enforce, Dillmore fears that it will be an impediment to the conversations that need to go on between entities. And if you can restrict discussions on this topic, what’s next? “This is a very undemocratic and very foolish piece of legislation,” Dillmore said. But that’s what we’ve come to expect from the Legislature.
The following satirical headlines come from borowitzreport.com and theonion.com:
• Obama Denies Role in Government
• Republicans Agree to Stop Using Word ‘Scandal’ in Every Sentence if Obama Resigns
• Obama Asks Staff to Start Cc’ing Him on Stuff
• Kim Jong Un Defends Right to Obtain Journalists’ Phone Records
• GOP Split Over Whether to Waste Time Investigating Benghazi or Repealing Obamacare
• Obama Supporter Has Perfectly Improbable Explanation Absolving President From Blame for Scandals
• Republicans Question Whether Obama Could Handle Actual Scandal
• ‘Our Thoughts Go Out to Oklahoma,’ Says GOP Congressman, Mentally Calculating When He Can Bring Up Benghazi Again
• Fox: New Evidence Hillary Killed Lincoln
• Republicans: Obama Must Take Action in Syria So We Can Criticize Action He Took in Syria
• Sanford’s Comeback Gives Hope to Liars
• NRA Leader Warns of Rising Cost of Senators
• Obama Orders Reinvasion of Iraq After Illuminating Trip Through Bush Presidential Library
• Yahoo Back on Top After Purchasing Millions of 13-Year-Old Girls’ Blogs
There is still a push in the Legislature to block the Common Core education standards. But leaders of the state’s associations of school boards and administrators and teachers union are trying to push back. They wrote lawmakers to try to dispel some of the myths about Common Core and urge them not to defund its implementation. Among their points:
• We support these standards because they establish rigorous academic standards in English language arts and mathematics, and define the knowledge and skills all students should master by the end of each grade to be college- or career-ready upon high school graduation.
• These standards are included in the Kansas College and Career Readiness Standards, and our schools, under the guidance of the state board, have already invested significant resources and time in preparing our members to implement the standards.
• The standards are not a mandate of the federal government. They were created through the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. States that adopted the standards were able to provide input into their development and to add state-specific content.
• The standards are not curriculum; rather they identify where students should be academically at any given time.
When the Wichita school district included storm shelter safe rooms as part of its 2008 bond issue, some opponents of the bond questioned the expense. But the tragedy in Moore, Okla., shows why the rooms are important – even as we hope they are never needed. As The Eagle reported Wednesday, Wichita was the first public school district in the country to build a Federal Emergency Management Agency-approved storm shelter in a school. That was in 2000, and since then the district has built 69 safe rooms. Eight others are under construction, and 14 are in the planning or design stages.
Full of windows and usually on the edge of town, an airport terminal makes a lousy storm shelter. At Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, that should make it a high priority to plan and practice for tornado warnings. So it was alarming to learn that at least some of the 500 to 600 people at the airport during Sunday’s warning were mistakenly informed that the terminal’s basement was full. One of the passengers who was turned away credited security with getting people to other safe places. But before and after the new terminal opens in early 2015, Mid-Continent officials need to ensure they have the basement shelter ready and procedures in place to use it fully.
Wichita got a great, well-timed boost with today’s news that McConnell Air Force Base will be the main active-duty operating base for the KC-46A tankers, emerging the winner in the 54-base field. McConnell also was in the running to become a formal training base for the new tankers, a job won by Altus, Okla. But McConnell got what it wanted most with the Air Force’s decision, meaning it can expect to receive 36 new tankers in 2016 and the jobs and economic benefits of hosting them. That’s the perfect role for McConnell, which is currently the world’s largest tanker base, with 62 KC-135s, and the home of the Air Force’s 22nd Air Refueling Wing and the Air Force Reserves’ 931st Air Refueling Group. So even though Boeing Wichita won’t help build the tankers after all, due to Boeing’s decision to leave town by the end of this year, many of those planes will end up calling Wichita home. As Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, said in a statement: “We’re thrilled that McConnell AFB has been recognized as an indispensable part of America’s defenses and excited about the opportunities this creates for the rest of Kansas.” Congratulations and thanks to all who fought for and won this exciting new role for McConnell and Wichita.
The federal budget deficit is expected to drop to $642 billion this year, congressional budget analysts said Tuesday. That’s still too high, but it’s the lowest level since the economic crisis hit in 2008, the Washington Post reported. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the deficit will fall below 3 percent of the overall economy by 2015 but will rise again by the end of the decade as more baby boomers retire.
Economically, Lawrence is the second-worst-performing small-metropolitan area in the nation, according to a new study. But other Kansas communities didn’t do that well, either. Of 179 small metro areas studied by the Milken Institute, Lawrence ranked 178th for creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth. Topeka came in 144th – better but not good. Among 200 large cities studied, Wichita was 146th while Kansas City was 104th. The ranking emphasized high-tech jobs, which is one reason why Kansas didn’t rank higher.
Kansas House Speaker Pro Tem Peggy Mast, R-Emporia, initially said she didn’t recall writing the letter on her office stationery that was sent along with an anti-climate-change book to the homes of Kansas House members. But she later confirmed that she wrote the letter endorsing the book, which she has not read. Parts of Mast’s endorsement were taken almost word for word from a Publishers Weekly review of the book, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. The book, “The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism,” was distributed by the Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based think tank funded in part by Charles and David Koch.
The images and accounts of the tornado Monday in Moore, Okla., are terrible. Those wishing to donate money to the relief and rescue efforts can do so online at www.salvationarmyusa.org or by calling 800-725-2769. Checks can be sent to Oklahoma Tornado Relief, Salvation Army, P.O. Box 12600, Oklahoma City, OK 73157.
A pledge by some state lawmakers to never raise taxes is a factor in finalizing the state budget, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. Fifteen House members (half of whom are from the Wichita area) signed a no-tax pledge administered by Americans for Prosperity, and AFP considers the proposed extension of the statewide sales tax to be a tax increase. However, eight state senators who signed the AFP pledge voted for the sales-tax extension, including Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita.
One environmental concern about piping Canada’s oil sands to U.S. refineries is all the petroleum coke that will be left over from the refining process. The Environmental Protection Agency no longer allows new licensing permits for burning the high-sulfur, high-carbon waste product, the New York Times reported. As a result, most petroleum coke is sold to Mexico and China, which don’t have as many pollution rules. Companies associated with Koch Industries and Bill Koch are leading exporters of the product. Another concern is where to store the petroleum coke before it is exported. The Times reported on a three-story pile of petroleum coke that covers an entire city block in Windsor, Ontario, across the river from Detroit.
Claims by some conservative state and federal lawmakers that the Common Core education standards are being imposed by the federal government “do not stand up to close scrutiny,” Sol Stern and Joel Klein wrote in a Wall Street Journal commentary. “The Common Core standards were not written by the federal government, but by a committee selected by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.” What’s more, they wrote, “all Americans, including conservatives, should applaud these standards, which celebrate the country’s foundational documents and enable students to share the heritage of Americans.” Attempts in the Kansas Legislature to block Common Core couldn’t make it out of the House and Senate education committees this session, but some GOP lawmakers are trying to tie it to end-of-session budget negotiations. “There is a general resistance to the federal government imposing a curriculum on our Kansas schools,” said Sen. Ty Masterson, R-Andover. That would be understandable if it were happening, but it’s not.
Good for Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., for helping break the long political stalemate over the four vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by announcing his support Wednesday for President Obama’s nomination of Sri Srinivasan (in photo), who grew up in Lawrence and currently is principal deputy solicitor general. “I have found Sri to be a highly qualified candidate with a distinguished career in the private sector and in the Departments of Justice of the Bush and Obama administrations,” Moran said in a statement. “Srinivasan is one of Kansas’ most accomplished legal minds and among the nation’s leading appellate lawyers.” Srinivasan won unanimous approval Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee; his nomination now goes to the full Senate.
“To pass a tax increase at a time like this would be far worse on the people and far worse on the economic recovery than taking the needed cuts.” – Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, in early 2010, about a proposal to avert damaging state budget cuts by raising the statewide sales tax to 6.3 percent for three years
“Let’s just leave Kansas. Let’s forget about buying food in Kansas.” – Wagle again in May 2010, as the Senate passed the sales-tax hike
“Sales tax has nothing to do with economic growth. It doesn’t really matter what your sales-tax rate is.” – Wagle, now Senate president and an advocate for keeping the sales-tax rate where it is after July 1 to pay for income-tax cuts, speaking last week to GOP Senate and House members
Casino gaming revenue grew faster in Kansas last year than in any other state in the nation, according to a report by the American Gaming Association. Kansas gambling revenue in 2012 was $341 million, a whopping 603.7 percent increase from $48 million in 2011. The big reason for the spike was the opening of the Kansas Star Casino near Mulvane. The casino is still pulling in money, earning $17.2 million in gambling revenue in April (though that’s down from the record $19 million it earned in March).
Remember the 850 dead fish. If that falls short as a rallying cry for upgrading Wichita’s sewer and water infrastructure, though, city leaders need only recall the sting of the $243,195 state fine for the 2012 sewage release that killed those fish in the Arkansas River. And the city got off easy this time, because KDHE let what would have been another $455,000 fine be spent instead on a citywide study of deferred sewer maintenance. The $11 million the city has banked for sewer repairs this year and next is great as far as it goes. But as Mayor Carl Brewer warned in his State of the City address this year, the city will need $2.1 billion over the next 30 years to maintain or replace the majority of its water, sewer and storm-drainage systems. Brewer and the rest of the City Council need to find the money and political will soon to tackle this long-term challenge, so more fish kills and fines can be avoided.
A promotional video for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce includes endorsements by top political leaders in the state. “I don’t know where we would be without the chamber,” Gov. Sam Brownback (in photo) says in the video. Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, notes that the chamber “was involved in the elections for both House and Senate members” and that it “helped change the environment in the Capitol.” The chamber’s political action committee spent more than $1 million during the 2012 legislative election, much of it directed at defeating moderate Republicans. One of those purged lawmakers, former Sen. Ruth Teichman of Stafford, wondered if the chamber is now trying to convince Kansas that “getting rid of us” was a good thing, the Hutchinson News reported. Also of note in the video is Neeli Bendapudi, the dean of the University of Kansas School of Business. She says that “the Kansas Chamber and the University of Kansas are united for business.” When contacted by the Hutchinson News, Bendapudi said she did not intend to speak for the entire university. “I honestly did not think it through,” she said.
“It has been only a few days since two administration scandals – the IRS harassment of conservative groups and the Justice Department’s seizure of Associated Press phone records – dropped into the Republicans’ lap,” Dana Milbank wrote in the Washington Post. “But instead of turning public outrage to their advantage, Republicans have already begun overreaching, turning legitimate areas of inquiry into just some more partisan food fights.” Among several examples of overreach Milbank cited was Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., saying it is “more than reasonable” to ask whether the Obama administration will deny health care to people “based upon a person’s political beliefs or their religiously held beliefs.”
Good for the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce and city and county leaders for writing University of Kansas chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little to express their concerns over possible cuts to the KU School of Medicine in Wichita. Gray-Little has said that if the state cuts more funding for university programs, the Wichita medical school likely would be reduced from a four-year program to a two-year program. As the local leaders noted, the Wichita community – particularly area doctors – donated money and helped lead the demanding accreditation process of expanding the medical school to a four-year program. KU shouldn’t abandon all that work. Also, the expanded program addresses a pressing state need for more physicians, particularly in rural Kansas. But it must also be noted that KU wouldn’t be faced with these possible cuts if Gov. Sam Brownback hadn’t signed last year’s massive tax cuts – reductions that the local chamber championed.
New bills aimed at changing (and punishing) the Kansas courts are another example of why the legislative and judicial branches should be kept separate. Apparently angered that the Kansas Bar Association doesn’t support a GOP plan to alter how Kansas Supreme Court justices are selected, Rep. Lance Kinzer, R-Olathe, hastily introduced a constitutional amendment to allow the governor to make lifetime appointments to the state Supreme Court, subject to Senate approval. But in a seemingly contradictory move, he also introduced bills that would reduce the mandatory retirement age for appellate judges to 65 and split the Court of Appeals into criminal and civil divisions, with the criminal division having final say on all criminal cases. These bills are petty attempts to weaken the Supreme Court and purge justices. Kinzer said he doubted that his bills would get a vote before the session ends. They certainly don’t deserve serious consideration.
One way to reduce “he said, she said” disagreements at the Statehouse – such as the dispute about whether House Speaker Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, referred to Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, as childish and egotistical – is to not have so many closed meetings. Merrick’s disputed comments were made during a closed meeting with House Republican freshmen. Of more concern was that until Wednesday, budget and tax negotiations had been occurring in closed meetings between Merrick, Wagle and Gov. Sam Brownback, rather than in open conference committee meetings. Such backroom dealings reduce the public’s faith in the legislative process – and suggest that state leaders also don’t have much faith in lawmakers or the process.
Some top U.S., Mexican and Canadian trade officials are in Wichita for the 37th-annual World Trade Week. Thursday’s conference, organized by the World Trade Council of Wichita, focuses on the North American Free Trade Agreement, the largest free-trade agreement in the world. Mexico and Canada are also the top two export markets for Kansas. Panel discussions include legal and trade regulations, tax policies, transportation and trade strategies. The conference is a good opportunity to network with trade officials and companies.
The state budget and tax policy are the two big issues that still must be resolved in Topeka. Our Wednesday editorial also lists some other issues that are best left undone:
• The House should resist a revised constitutional amendment still aimed at politicizing appointments to the state Supreme Court. Kansas’ appellate judges should be chosen because they know and will follow the law, not because of their political connections and beliefs.
• Legislators should not revive efforts to override the Kansas State Board of Education on the multistate Common Core standards for English and math, which the state has been working toward implementing for years. The costs of shelving them and starting over would be too high. And much of the growing paranoia about the Common Core standards is baseless.
• Lawmakers should not enable Secretary of State Kris Kobach to prosecute voter fraud or anything else. Kansas already has county attorneys and an attorney general to handle such prosecutions. And if there is one thing Kobach does not need, it’s more power.
