| Dear Manhattan & Riley County constituents:
The legislature is officially adjourned. It’s nice to have Topeka in my rear view and a sense of accomplishment and relief on my shoulders. While there were dozens of bills discussed during the veto session (May 1 – June 10), I will cover the four most prominent here: taxes, budget, school finance, guns.
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On May 31, we debated a commendable tax bill, which we all had high hopes would pass, but failed by ten votes. Due to about one-third of the House refusing to vote for any taxes and about one-third demanding more taxes than were in the bill, it failed. A week later, the same bill was reconstructed to include tax deductions and several credits eliminated since 2012, and it passed both the House (69-52) and Senate (26-14). Hours later, Governor Brownback vetoed it. Immediately the next day, the House (88-31) and Senate (27-13) voted to override the governor’s veto, erasing five years of the Brownback tax experiment. I voted YES. The key points are as follows: Repeals key components of the 2012 tax plan: - LLC tax break for non-wage business income
- “March to Zero” scheduled automatic deductions in individual tax rates
Restores deductibility of medical expenses, mortgage interest, property taxes paid, and the child and dependent care tax credit.
Reinstates three tax brackets:
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Throughout the entire session I was working hard as Vice Chair of House Taxation to find a reasonable solution to stabilize the state’s structural revenue imbalance. Days upon days (which turned into weeks) of meetings with individuals or small groups were convened to determine what tax package could be supported by members of the Republican Party.
The entire process was complicated because the Governor, in my opinion, was never going to sign a tax increase. There was also a vocal group of Republican conservative ideologues self-described as the “Truth Caucus” that were never going to be part of any sustainable tax solution. The Speaker of the House Ron Ryckman realized after weeks of negotiations he was going to have to break the logjam and vote for the veto override of the final tax package. His vote was one of true leadership.
This was a very difficult vote. However, I do take a measure of pride in making the political unpopular and tough decisions to restore basic state services, and helping right the ship of state. For historical reference, the legislature, Governor Brownback, and his administration knew the impact such a tax plan would have, and those estimates came true, as evidenced by the following:
Another way to look at this is how much your family will pay next year compared to 2016. In every case, every Kansan will be paying less than in 2012:
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Reaction has been nationwide. My colleagues have been quoted in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times to the Garden City Telegram, Wichita Eagle, and Shawnee Mission Post:
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The House and Senate budget negotiators worked for days to develop a compromise between the budgets passed by their respective chambers. The final compromise (S Sub HB 2002) was debated last weekend and like everything I’ve discussed above, isn’t perfect, but it starts us down a path toward solvency:
- Begins to restore funding to K-State and KU, which bore the brunt of recent cuts.
- Adds funds for the state’s mental hospitals and senior care.
- Begins to fund the State Water Plan.
- Added $26.7 million for a 2.5 percent adjustment for all State employees with less than five years of service excluding highway patrol, legislators, teachers, licensed personnel/employees at schools for the deaf and blind, statewide elected officials and certain KBI employees. A 5.0 percent adjustment for state employees who have not had a pay adjustment for five years and a 2.5 percent adjustment for judges and non-judicial staff in FY 2018;
- Allows the KS Department of Transportation (KDOT) to borrow $400 million to restart T-Works projects delayed due to previous legislative sweeps from the roads plan.
- Added $146.6 million to restore KPERS contributions in FY 2018.
- Added $4.7 million to open at least 20 beds at Osawatomie State Hospital and concurred with the Governor’s budget amendment to added $6.6 million, including $2.3 million from the SGF for additional operational expenditures at Osawatomie State Hospital;
- Added $1.0 million, SGF, for domestic violence prevention grants;
- Added $1.0 million, SGF, for safety net clinics in FY 2018
The budget passed the House 88-27 and the Senate 27-11, I voted YES. It is awaiting the governor’s signature.
Once the budget was passed, we adjourned until Sine Die (last official day of session) on June 26. After passing the new school finance formula, restructuring the tax code, and passing a budget that puts the state on a firmer footing, Moody’s credit rating service moved Kansas’ credit out look from “negative” to “stable,” a significant win.
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| After several hours of debate, HB 2410, the school finance bill, passed in the House, 84-39, I voted YES. To speed up the process, the bill was added to Senate Bill 19 in conference committee. The Conference Committee Report passed the House (67-55) and Senate (23-17), I voted YES. Governor Brownback signed the bill into law today, Thursday, June 15th. The deadline for a plan to be implemented is June 30. The bill is a major overhaul to how the state funds schools: - Restores a per-pupil funding formula which is more flexible to meet the changing needs of Kansas students,
- Adds $180 million this year, and that amount again, plus $100 million next year,
- Funds all-day Kindergarten,
- Provides $2 million per year for early childhood at-risk programs,
- Enhances teacher mentoring and professional development opportunities,
- Provides an accountability mechanism for regular audits to ensure targeted funds are working as designed,
- Incentivizes school district consolidation, but does not require it.
Dozens of amendments were proposed during the floor debate. Some of those amendments included: - Add $600 million over three years, which would collapse ongoing work on the tax bill and budget,
- A “bathroom bill” amendment to mandate transgender students use restrooms, locker rooms and other facilities according to the gender on their birth certificates.
- The funding amendment failed, and the bathroom amendment was ruled out of order due to its lack of topical connection to the underlying bill.
In many aspects, the new formula returned to the basic format of the previous formula by re-establishing special weighting for at-risk students, bilingual education, low enrollment, high enrollment, high-density at-risk, transportation, career technical education, new school facilities, and special education. In the end, the formula is a good definition of compromise – I’m not happy with some of the additions, but am thrilled with others. If everyone is a little uncomfortable, it’s probably a good middle ground.
I am pleased to have been a part of restructuring Kansas education for the future of Kansas kids. Now we wait on the governor’s signature and ultimately a ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court.
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As you may know, the legislature passed a bill a few years ago allowing guns in public buildings, including hospitals and college campuses. These facilities could apply for a waiver to keep guns out of their facilities until June 30, 2017, to provide time to prepare for adequate security measures to be put into place.
After the 2017 elections and the defeat of numerous incumbents across the state, there was anticipation the legislature could make an effort to extend the exemption or make it permanent. The political reality is the Senate could not secure enough votes to change the law covering concealed carry at state universities. Further, if a bill could pass both chambers it was highly unlikely a veto by the Governor could have been sustained.
The only bill that could pass both the House (91-33) and Senate (24-16) did not keep concealed weapons off campuses, but did provide an exemption for mental hospitals, public hospitals, long-term care facilities, community mental health centers, and KU Hospital. If these exemptions had not passed, the legislature would have been required to allocate over $20 million to provide security at the Osawatomie State Hospital. Plus, about 15 public hospitals across Kansas would have been required to incur the cost to provide security. I voted YES. The bill (HB 2278) was presented to the governor on June 5th. He could have signed or vetoed the bill, but allowed it to become law without his signature as of 5 pm today.
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I imagine most you have read about the sudden passing of Rep. Patsy Terrell from Hutchinson. I served with Patsy on the Commerce, Labor and Economic Development Committee. She was a passionate and compassionate person who enjoyed serving in the Legislature. Word of her passing shook everyone in the statehouse and drove home how precious the joy of life is for us cherish.
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I want to thank each of you for affording me this opportunity to represent you and serve you. This session was tough on all legislators because of the difficult nature of creating a tax policy to bring stability to our state and losing one of our colleagues unexpectedly on the day after a difficult tax vote. I feel good about the work we accomplished and look forward to seeing you over the summer months. As always, please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns you may have.
Sincerely,
Tom Phillips
State Representative, District 67
Kansas House of Representatives
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Paid for by Tom Phillips for State Representative, Richard Hayter, Treasurer
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