THE PHILLIPS FILES: Half-way mark

Last week, dental hygiene students visited the Capitol in support of Registered Dental Practitioner (RDP) legislation. RDPs are viewed as a way to satisfy the need for mid-level professionals in rural underserved areas which need more than a hygienist but where dentists are not providing service.

• The Kansas Health Institute’s article on this topic is helpful. Thanks to Gretchen Martinson, Shayla Shartz, and Connie Hubbell for visiting me in Topeka.

FLOOR ACTIVITIES

During this part of the session, we are rushing to hear and work on bills in committee and push them to the House floor for consideration. The deadline for bills to be passed out of the House and over to the Senate is Friday, February 28.

HB 2557 is a fairly innocuous income tax bill which allows those who file their return on time and pay the tax due are not assessed a penalty, should they later owe more money on that return. However, because the bill deals with income tax, anything relating to taxes can be amended onto the bill, including reductions, increases, shifts, etc. The only amendment added refunds the sales tax on college textbooks purchased in Kansas by students enrolled in Kansas. The bill passed without opposition.

We spent a great deal of time on House Substitute for SB 245, the FY14 & FY15 budgets for the Department of Corrections. As you recall, the governor vetoed this portion of last year’s biennial (two-year) budget due to public safety concerns after the House and Senate approved deep budget cuts. The House Appropriations Committee recommended 20 percent reductions in the educational services program at Larned Juvenile Correctional Facility and the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex from the Governor’s budget. I voted NO but the bill passed 79-41 and is headed to the Senate. 

HB 2436 is one small way we are trying to make government make more sense and reduce hassles for small businesses. The Board of Barbering and the Board of Cosmetology are separate organizations and provide inspections to those businesses with active licenses. Currently, inspections must be done on a regular basis for all facilities, even though some salons hold both barbering and cosmetology licenses. This bill would allow one inspector for those facilities with dual licensure as a salon and barber shop. 

Currently, attorneys are not allowed to represent plaintiffs in small claims court. Sometimes claims are filed against governmental entities in small claims court, but those cases fall under Tort Claims and cannot be handled by a small claims court. HB 2491 allows an attorney to be present to file or argue a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. 

HB 2501 creates the Human Trafficking Victim Assistance Fund in the Office of the Attorney General. Offenders convicted of “buying sexual relations” and have entered into diversion agreements would have to pay a fine to this Fund, and possibly required treatment. The bill also limits the number of diversions for this crime to one.

COMMITTEE WORK

Judiciary
To assist in reviewing and drafting state law on child support and child custody and domestic relations statues, the Family Law Advisory Committee of the Kansas Judicial Council spent several years completing a review of the Kansas Paternity Act, laws impacting the act, and related case law. HB 2568 is the result of their work and provides improved clarification, removes duplicative and non-uniform provisions, and brings the law into compliance with Kansas Supreme Court rulings.

HB 2584 was drafted by the Institute for Kansas Forensic Examiners to change how determinations are made for competency to stand trial. In brief, this group of mental health professionals wanted to alter rules and regulations controlling competency to stand trial.  During the bill hearing, the Chief Legal Council for the Dept. of Aging and Disability Services spoke against the bill.  The Disability Rights Center of Kansas, Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas, National Alliance on Mental Illness, and Kansas County & District Attorneys Association all spoke in opposition. The bill did not advance out of committee.

HB 2449
Amends state law dealing with the state historic preservation statute by changing the standard of harm to historic property and limiting who could raise concerns about proposed uses, construction or demolition of a property listed on the National or State Register of Historic Places.  This bill created a great deal of interest from the Kansas Chapter of American Institute of Architects, Kansas Preservation Alliance, Kansas Association of Realtors, and League of Kansas Municipalities.  The committee voted to table the bill, which essentially stops the bill from moving forward this session.

HB 2613
This bill allows the issuance of a birth certificate when a family experiences a stillbirth.  Known as “ Meridan’s Law” this was written on a similar bill adopted by Arizona in 2001 allowing for parents of a stillborn baby the opportunity to obtain a Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth.

Local Government
I’m surprised legislation is needed for this one, but HB 2597 allows cities with their own trash service to add recycling services. This bill was specifically written for the City of Atchison to streamline the process to allow curbside recycling.  I am quickly learning the legislature often has to amend previous laws written that were written reflecting the political climate of the time. Specifically, when curbside recycling was in its infancy the state created a lengthy review and approval process to ensure private trash haulers could adapt to a changing business model and the public could voice their opposition.  Today, consumers want convenient recycling, and trash haulers are readily meeting the market demand.

Elections
This committee tends to see a lot of legislation introduced for personal reasons. Currently, if a candidate loses the primary election, they can change their party to Unaffiliated and run as an Independent in the general election. HB 2592 would prohibit candidates who lost primary elections from running in the general election.  

Campaign finance rules prohibit legislators from soliciting or accepting campaign contributions from lobbyists during the legislative session. Individual contributions are allowed, so long as the donor is not a registered lobbyist. HB 2535 would allow legislators to solicit but not accept contributions. Though it sounds self-serving, I do not believe the intent of the bill is conniving. Current law states legislators cannot “knowingly solicit” from lobbyists.  Social media was not even around when current law was written and legislators are inadvertently making contact with lobbyist through Facebook posts or email delivery and are being found by the Ethics Commission of knowingly soliciting. If a lobbyist receives your email newsletter, which includes a solicitation for donations, that breaks campaign finance law. The committee decided to continue to work on the bill and see if a reasonable solution can be found. 

I have concerns about legislators soliciting campaign funds during the session.  I believe it would be bad public policy to even impart the perception elected officials are seeking campaign funds for votes.  At the same time, my hope is we can devise language in this bill to allow for some flexibility with the advent of social media changing how communication alters the interaction between legislators and lobbyist.  I suspect we will be debating this again, and in the meantime will look to see how other states are beginning to address social media. 

Children & Seniors
The committee hosted two hearings this week:

HB 2577
would protect parents’ anonymity under the “Newborn Infant Protection Act”. Fire stations, city or county health departments, or medical facilities are Safe Havens should a parent choose to abandon their child to be cared for by others. The bill would also protect the person or facility receiving the child from liability. 

HB 2558 sets up an alternate process for disputes of child custody which would not require the legal guidance of an attorney. In these hearings, you often learn a lot more about the impetus of these seemingly well-intentioned bills. I am curious about the genesis of this bill, because it sure appears this bill was motivated by a parent of an unsatisfied child custody case and wanted to change to law to their advantage.  What makes this bill even more untenable was the carrier and author of the bill didn’t even show up for the hearing. Meanwhile a number of attorneys came from across Kansas to oppose the bill. It is frustrating when we spend time and energy (and taxpayer money) hearing legislation by proponents who do not show.  I personally apologized to many of the opponents and expressed my disappointed to the Committee Chair that we even granted this kind of legislation a hearing.  In my mind, this was another example of special interest politics ruling the process inside the Capitol.