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4 Greeley County Republican • Tribune, Kansas • Wednesday, January 22, 2020 We had our first session of the Think Like an Entrepreneur program last night. We have a class of nine and I enjoyed our first session together. For those of you in the class, thanks for your patience when I struggled with the course website! I also spent some time with the freshman and juniors in the classroom working on the financial aspects of their Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, which is scheduled for Friday, February 28, 2020 at the Greeley County 4H Building. The event will be open to the public from 11 am to 12 noon. The students have worked devotedly on their projects and it will be a great opportunity to see and visit with the students about their ideas. Watch for more news on the YEC as it approaches. Greeley County alums: if you or classmates have moved or changed addresses within the past five years, please log on to www. greeleycounty.org/alumni and click on the link to update your address. This is an all-school reunion year and mailings will begin going out with details in the near future. The dates for the Greeley County Fair (which is when the all- school reunion is held) are July 29 – August 1, 2020. ������������� ������������� ������������������ ������������������������� �������������� ��������������� � �������������� ������������������������������������ ����������������������������������� �������������������� �������������������������� ���� ����� �������������� ��������������������������������������� ������������������� ����������� ��������������������������������������� ������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������ �������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������� �������������������������������������� ����������� ������������������������� ������������������������� � ����������� ��������������������� ����������� ������������������ ��������������������������� � ���������������������������� ��������������������� ���������������������� � ���������� ������������������ ��������������� �������������������� �������������� �������������������������� �������� � ������������������� ��������������������������������������������������������������� ������������ ������������� �������������� �������������� Dear Friends, Hope this finds you with a great start to a new decade. The holiday season is now behind us and we are in the grind of winter. Hopefully we will get some much- needed moisture. Our legislative session began this past Monday. This session will be different than the sessions prior in that we will be dealing with several controversial issues January. In the past, much legislation was pushed to the end of the session. I commend leadership for this action. I will be introducing two bills in the first couple of weeks that will benefit the 39 th district. This past Fall I became aware of silage truck drivers that were given tickets for unsecure loads because of silage blowing off the truck. The best solution would be that the driver of the truck cover his load. Some trucks that haul silage aren’t equipped to cover the load but in a lot of instances because of the short drive from the field to, in most cases, the feedyard the driver doesn’t want to take the time to cover the load. The problem is the driver is issued with a misdemeanor versus a citation. Being a misdemeanor the driver must come back to the county where the ticket was written. Many of the silage cutters are custom cutters and have long since left the area. What this legislation will do is make the violation a citation with the fine remaining the same but the person who violated the law will pay the ticket and move on with their life. This is how the matter should be handled but there seems to be some confusion. This legislation will clear the confusion up. The second legislative bill will deal with Local Ad Volurum Tax Relief Fund (LAVTRF.) Prior to 2002 the State sent to the local taxing entities around $54 million dollars. This money could only be used by the local taxing entities only as property relief to its citizens. In 2002 the State Legislature decided not to fund LAVTRF for twenty years. This caused hardships through most of the counties and forced local entities to raise property taxes. The LAVTRF is supposed to be funded again starting in 2022. My fear is the Legislature will decide the money to the general fund. What my bill will do is (1) assure that the LAVTRF is funded and (2) the funding will start on July 1 st 2020. It is of my opinion that property tax is the most burdensome tax on a majority of our population. If we can help lower property tax our citizens would have a better quality of life. The LAVTRF has been talked about for many years but no one has addressed the situation. This proposed legislation should resolve what the future of LAVTRF. A proposed bill in which I’m a co-sponsor is Medicaid Expansion. This piece of legislation is critical for not only Western Kansas but rural Kansas throughout the State. The opponents of the Bill have gone on a full court press with misinformation concerning the Bill and quite frankly the proponents of the Bill have done a poor job of getting the message out. Bottom line, in the 39 th Senate District we have ten counties. Each county has a hospital. Of the ten hospitals, nine are supported by property tax. If we can Expand Medicaid it would help supplement the hospitals’ budgets. Another way that it will save money for the everyday person is people without insurance go to the emergency room when they need to see a provider. Without insurance or a way to pay, the hospital has to eat the cost of care for the person needing medical attention. This Bill will allow many of the “working poor” the opportunity to get insurance thus the hospital will be reimbursed. There is much more to this legislation but I believe you get my point. As always, we encourage you to contact our office if we can be of any service. Our office number is 785- 296-7694. Our email is mailto:john.doll@senate. ks.gov. Consider listening to our weekly radio show, it airs on Saturdays at 11:00 and on Sundays at 10:30. This Saturday we will have Senate President Susan Wagle who will discuss Governor Kelly’s State of the State address and her take of the current session. The show airs on KIUL which is 1240 AM on your radio dial. Finally, we have Legislative Forums in the middle of each month. Our next one is on February 15 th at 10:00 in Garden City, 1:00 in Ulysses and 3:00 in Hugoton. Respectfully, Senator John Doll Senate District 39 Marshall Receives MVP Award for Most Town Halls WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Roger Marshall, M.D., was recognized as the “2019 House MVP” by Town Hall Project for hosting more town halls than any other Member of the House in 2019. Congressman Marshall issued the following statement in response: “Meeting regularly with Kansans is part of my job, but it is an honor to be recognized for doing more town halls than any other member of the House. Kansans are my top priority and town halls allow me to speak directly with Kansans and take their concerns back to Washington. Their opinions and perspectives are very important to me.” Rep. Marshall has held a town hall in all 63 counties in every term he has served in Congress. “The average member of Congress held five town halls in 2019, and too many did not hold a single one. So we’re thrilled to see Congressman Marshall go above and beyond to make himself available to Kansans in every corner of his sizable district,” said Town Hall Project Executive Director Nathan Williams. “We applaud him and his staff for the extra effort to hold a House-leading 63 town halls last year and award him our House MVP Award for 2019.” Marshall Receives MVP Award for Most Town Halls Governor’s plan keeps promise to Kansas schools, expands affordable healthcare, pays over $600 million in debt, provides property, food sales tax relief Topeka, Kan. -- The second budget recommendation offered by Governor Laura Kelly delivers on her continued commitment to rebuilding Kansas after a decade of crisis. It maintains funding for Kansas public schools, includes funding to expand Medicaid, continues to phase out the “Bank of KDOT,” pays over $600 million in debt and provides over $117 million in commonsense tax relief. “Kansas has made tremendous strides in recovering from the last decade of fiscal chaos,” Kelly said. “This balanced budget builds on that progress and positions Kansas to begin a new decade of shared prosperity and growth. I look forward to input from lawmakers and working with them to enact it.” Kelly’s budget restores fundamental principles of Kansas fiscal responsibility: Achieves Structural Balance: The Governor’s Budget Recommendation maintains structural balance, ensuring that state expenditures do not exceed revenues. It also meaningfully reduces the state’s irresponsible reliance on one-time funds. Rebuilds State Savings: The Kelly Budget includes a statutorily required ending balance totaling $627.8 million. The 8.0 percent ending balance exceeds the amount required by law, a reflection of Gov. Kelly’s commitment to fiscal discipline. Reduces State Debt: The Kelly budget retires $602.5 million of debt in FY 2020. This includes fully repaying the $264.3 million balance of the loan issued in calendar year 2017 from the Pooled Money Investment Board. It also pays off the $69.8 million balance of IMPACT bonds at the Department of Commerce. Paying $268.4 million will eliminate KPERS layering payments that resulted from skipping normal contributions to the system in FY 2017 and FY 2019. Altogether, paying these debts early saves an estimated $212.6 million in interest, as well as freeing up the related debt payments in future years. Additionally, the Kelly budget accomplishes critical policy goals: Keeps Funding Promise to Kansas Schools: In June 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Kansas had enacted a plan that fulfills the state’s constitutional obligation to adequately and fairly fund public schools. The Court endorsed the 2019 proposal offered by Governor Kelly and approved by the Legislature, which increases investment in education by roughly $90 million a year, accounting for inflationary increases at the rate of 1.44 percent through FY 2023. The Governor fully funded this plan in the FY 2021 budget, putting Kansas on track to increase school funding by $431.1 million through FY 2023. Medicaid Expansion: The Governor’s recommendation includes $17.5 million to expand KanCare, the state’s Medicaid program. Expanding eligibility for the program will allow 150,000 low-income Kansans to access critical health-care coverage. This will not only improve the health and vitality of Kansas communities, information presented at the Governor’s Council on Medicaid Expansion showed that expanding Medicaid could also create new jobs across the state. Closing the “Bank of KDOT”: Since taking office, Kelly has restored investment in Kansas roads and bridges by $213 million. This budget reduces State Highway Fund transfers by an additional $73.1 million in FY 2021. Assuming state revenues remain stable, this will keep Kansas on track to fully close the “Bank of KDOT” by the end of the Governor’s first term. This will enable Kansas to fulfill the promises of T-WORKS and also enact a new transportation plan in FY 2021 without a tax increase. Targeted Food Sales Tax Relief: The Governor’s tax policy recommendations provide food sales tax and property tax relief, and level the playing field by modernizing antiquated sales tax laws. Replacing the current non-refundable food sales tax credit with a new refundable food sales tax credit will provide $53.2 million in food sales tax relief beginning in tax year 2020. Repealing the current non-refundable food sales tax credit after December 31, 2019, will save approximately $10 million in SGF receipts in FY 2021. Under the Governor’s proposal, the Department of Revenue estimates that more than 540,000 tax filers will claim $63.2 million in refundable food sales tax credits beginning in FY 2021. Property Tax Relief: The Governor has also prioritized property tax relief. For the first time since 2003, resuming the State General Fund transfers to the Local Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund is included in the Governor’s budget recommendation. This will provide $54.0 million in local property tax relief beginning in FY 2021. Public Safety: To address the growing overpopulation issue in our prisons, the Governor recommends expanding bed capacity and treatment capacity by renovating unoccupied buildings near the Winfield Correctional Facility and the Lansing Correctional Facility. These renovated facilities will add dedicated substance use treatment beds for offenders who need it, as well as adding capacity for geriatric care for aging and seriously ill inmates. “I appreciate the bipartisan collaboration between the Executive and Legislative branches throughout the last year to rebuild Kansas after a decade of crisis,” Kelly said. “This budget will help ensure our progress. It honors all the funding promises made by the 2019 Legislature, continues to sustainably and fairly re-invest in Kansas communities and provides much-needed tax relief in the form of a food sales tax rebate and property tax cuts. I am confident that if we work together to enact this commonsense agenda, Kansas will undoubtedly begin the new decade strongly positioned to prosper and grow.” The Kelly Budget: Continuing our progress
