The Net #11
Kansas Legislative Network News
March 28, 2009
Tom Thompson
Legislative Coordinator
Sierra Club Kansas Chapter
5001 Rock Creek Lane, Mission, KS 66205
Phone: 913-236-9161; cell: 913-687-2405;
email: tomnthompson@sbcglobal.net

Vigilance!!

On Thursday, March 26 the Conference Committee Report on Senate Substitute for Substitute for House Bill 2014, the let’s build Holcomb and spew 11 million tons of carbon dioxide bill, was finally signed minus the signature of Rep. Annie Kuether. Despite being offered a pen several times, Rep. Kuether refused to sign.

Next week the bill will go to both the House and Senate as a conference committee report with a motion to concur. This vote will be the final action vote that will send 2014 to the Governor to act upon.

It is expected that the Governor will act by vetoing 2014. The legislature will end its regular session next Friday. The last day bills that are not exempt can be considered is called “Drop Dead Day” which is April 4.

The legislature will reconvene starting on April 29 for the Veto Session. Any veto override attempt should occur then. The Veto Session is scheduled to go until Saturday May 2nd but could go longer.

Your Vigilance is needed

It seems that the legislative session goes on forever yet Kansas has a relatively short session compared to many other states. This time last year there were 3 Holcomb bills being juggled. Only one bill is being considered this year.

Pro-Holcomb forces are and will be spending money to change the votes of a few legislators. Some of you may have already been the recipients of Pro-Holcomb phone banking. This type of activity will continue until the final vote. Pro-Holcomb groups are betting that legislators will fatigue and bend. They also think you will. They pay to maintain the pressure.

You can keep up anti-coal plant pressure by going to public meetings that legislators attend and asking questions. Also, call in to radio talk shows and write letters to the editor. Let it be known that you want Kansas to develop its clean renewable energy resources and not pass legislation that allows the building of additional coal generation.

Many talking points have been sent to you if you are on the Kansas Sierra Club Legislative Action Tree. Other good places for information are:
http://blog.climateandenergy.org/tag/cep-news/ and
http://www.gpace.org/.

The next, and hopefully last big push to defeat 2014 by sustaining a veto will come just before or during the veto session. The weather will be warmer and we will all want to be outside but we need to remain vigilant and keep the pressure on.

Other stuff

The legislature further considered two other items this past week. One was HR 6011 a House Resolution requesting KCC to convene a group of stakeholders to study energy storage including compressed air technology and HB 2295 that would prohibit certain labeling of dairy products that inform people they are rBST free. Reports on these bills can be found in previous KLN’s.

On Wednesday, HR 6011 was presented during General Orders and passed out favorably for passage by the House. General Orders is when bills are debated and amended. I expected there to be a Final Action vote on Wednesday but there wasn’t.

I fully expect HR 6011 to pass in Final Action on Monday. Because this is a House Resolution and not a Bill or Concurrent Resolution it will go directly to the Governor for signing without being considered by the Senate.

HB 2295 previously passed the House and was sent to the Senate for consideration. It was not expected to make further progress this year. However, it may be amended into another bill during a Conference Committee. It is thought that the probable bill will be HB 2121, which has a Conference Committee on Monday.

Those on this conference committee are Reps. Powell, Fund and Svaty and Sens. Taddiken, Ostmeyer and Francisco. Should 2295 be amended into 2121 it is hoped that Svaty and Francisco will refuse to sign the conference committee report perhaps holding it up long enough to keep it from progressing further this session.

Another bill that may be of interest to some in the Sierra Club but the Sierra Club did not provide testimony was HB 2272. 2272  would have given county commissions added control over IGUCA’s (Intensive Groundwater Use Control Areas) that have been under the control of the Chief Engineer of the Division of Water Resources. It was argued that this would politicize water management issues in Western Kansas where IGUCA’s are used.

The Bill was presented by Agriculture Committee Chair Powell but was opposed by former Chairs Faber and Johnson along with Rep. Josh Svaty. In an unusual turnaround, 2272 did not receive the needed number of votes to pass General Orders favorably for passage so was not considered for a Final Action vote.

Looking toward next week

Next week, the last until the Veto Session, will primarily consist of watching and waiting which was also the case this past week. Often times I don’t find out about meetings until they are announced while the House or Senate are in session. For the most part, legislators are inaccessible though secretaries take messages.

The Senate and House will be meeting at the same time but will break for conference committees. Most activity will focus on conference committee reports. It is a tiring and stressful time for all involved. Daily sessions will start earlier than usual and end late. The budget will be the primary concern, which also provides for vote bargaining opportunities.

None-the-less it is vital that we continue to be vigilant. Your efforts will make a big difference

Tom Thompson
Legislative Coordinator

Tom

Tom Thompson
Legislative Chair
Sierra Club Kansas Chapter