Our first “Town Hall” Meeting of 2008 for District 24 will be at the Lucky Brewgrille , 5401 Johnson Drive in Mission on Saturday, February 2, from 8:30 to 9:30 AM. Please help me get the word out to our neighbors so that they can hear what is going on in Topeka . Complimentary coffee and pastries will be provided.

My speaking engagement at the Johnson County Public Policy Legislative Breakfast went very well. The event is sometimes unofficially called Eggs and Issues. About 250 of our Johnson County friends enjoyed bacon, eggs, hash browns, coffee and juice. Let me know if you would like to come to the next one in the series.

Action in the Legislature this week:

Reciprocity sought from Missouri in treatment of home property taxes
Also known by some as the 'Border war' tax bill, the House Taxation Committee approved a bill this week to be sent to the full House that would require reciprocity in treatment of home property taxes. This bill is in response to the action taken last year by the Missouri legislature denying Kansas residents who file Missouri income taxes deductions for their property taxes paid in Kansas . Of course, the hope of Kansas lawmakers is that Missouri legislature will rescind their action from last year.

If the law enacted last year is not rescinded, Kansas residents who work in Missouri will pay about $6 million more in taxes than before the 2007 law was passed in Missouri . Since many homeowners who live in District 24 work in Missouri , we will keep you posted on this one.

Commerce and Labor Committee
Secretary of Labor Jim Garner addressed us this week. The number of jobs in Kansas increased by 15,900 in 2007, due mostly to the robust aviation industry in the Wichita area. Some parts of Western Kansas have a very low 3% unemployment rate.

The 2007 action on Senate Bill 83 reduced payments by employers into the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund because the fund was larger than needed. The action allowed employers to utilize the capital for business growth. Secretary Garner said the plan is working. Businesses in the state were able to reduce their UI payments by a total of $100 Million. He forecasts that figure to be $94 Million in 2008. In addition, the fund has maintained a very healthy balance. Good news for businesses, good news for workers.

Transportation Committee
We held two days of hearings on the proposed Graduated Driver’s License (SB 294). The evidence is very compelling that we need to do something to address the propensity of youthful drivers to be involved in accidents. We have not concluded our work on the bill, but I foresee a bill that will come out with provisions to allow for more experience driving with an adult and gradually reducing restrictions on young drivers.

Some of the key elements being discussed are to raise the age for getting a restricted license from 15 to 16 and; would limit the number of non-sibling passengers, would ban that use of cell phones and other wireless devices, would restrict driving to daytime hours (5 AM -9 PM), would not restrict driving directly to work, school sponsored activities and religious functions. There is not space to write it all, so for the full text of SB 294, click on this link:
http://www.kslegislature.org/bills/2008/294.pdf

You can find the helpful supplemental notes on SB 294 at: http://www.kslegislature.org/supplemental/2008/SN0294.pdf

Our committee chair appointed a subcommittee which will seek to generate a draft with provisions that the committee can revisit the topic and continue the conversation. If you have a strong opinion on this issue, please let me know.

Pages:

One of my great joys is being able to get to know the students in our District. I love listening to their dreams and aspirations. A specific way that this can be accomplished is through the hosting of students who come to Topeka to serve as a House Page for a Day. There are four days during this session where I have the privilege of hosting four students from my district who desire to serve as a Page. They must be 12-18 years of age. The student gets a tour of the capitol, a photo of them in the Governors office, and I provide Lunch at Pizza Hut. If you know of students who reside in District 24 that would like to be a page, contact me.

Reminder:

Don’t forget to come to our first District 24 “Town Hall” Meeting of 2008 at the Lucky Brewgrille , 5401 Johnson Drive in Mission on Saturday, February 2, from 8:30 to 9:30 AM. Open to the public – free coffee and pastries. See you there!

,b>I have lived in District 24 for over 50 years, and I truly believe it is not what I think, but what you think that matters. I believe this is the essence of representation. I am looking forward to seeing and hearing from you. Please feel free to forward this e-mail to others you know in our District.