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Dear Friends,
I will sending out a voter survey through the mail and I hope many of you will take the time to respond. This survey is at my expense and no cost will be passed on to you the tax payers. I do want to hear your thoughts on several of these hot topics for this session. I am sorry in advance if you do not receive one by mail for I limited the surveys to just over 6000 active voters. If you do not receive one and you would like to participate I can post one on my website www.repanthonybrown.com . Or I can send one to you directly by email.
In the following newsletter I am gravely concerned with the energy bill. This is a very important issue for us here in the state and nationally. This would put into statute CO2 emissions for the first time in history. Remember you and I expel CO2 with every breath...................I am concerned while this bill has noble and good intentions we may be creating a vehicle to restrict CO2 emissions from everything from cars, our home heating units, to new construction projects. This would also pave the way for carbon credits or a new carbon tax if a person drives a older car or large passenger vehicle or has an older heating unit in their home. The energy bill is very large and complicated and I have not came to my position on it yet. The bill is in committee right now and may change drastically before I would have the opportunity to vote on the issue. You can access the bill at this webpage http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-legisportal/index.do on the right side under the heading "Quick Search" fill in the box titled "FULL TEXT OF BILLS" this number 2711. Enjoy reading the bill is almost 30 pages.
Let me know your thoughts.
Take Care,
Anthony R. Brown
Summary of Legislative Events - Week 2
January 21-25, 2008
Week Two January 28th -- Feburary 1
This week got off to a fast start on Monday with the House undertaking Final Action for the first time this session with the votes tallied on the new voting boards. It set the tone for the week that saw a new Attorney General sworn in, a bill introduced to facilitate a compromise on the Holcomb power plant, and a expanded gaming decision by the Shawnee County District Court. With the start of the session behind us, the House Republicans are buckling down in anticipation of the work ahead.
Energy Plan
Four members of the House and Senate utility committees have proposed a bipartisan bill that was introduced in both chambers. The bill, which will be debated simultaneously, works to set limits on carbon dioxide production and paves the way for a new coal powered plant to be built in SW Kansas. Here is very brief overview of the measure:
- Requires increased energy efficiency in new state and public school buildings as well as in state vehicles.
- Prohibits construction or expansion of merchant, fossil-fuel burning electricity generating plants.
- A merchant power plant is defined as an electricity generating plant with a nameplate rating of at least 300 megawatts and which sells less than 50% of its output to retail customers or to “load serving entities.”
- Creates the Kansas Electric Generation, Transmission and Efficiency Study Commission to look at issues related to electric service in Kansas.
- Establishes CO2 emissions limitations for new electricity generation facilities using fossil fuels.
- Creates a mechanism for offsetting CO2 emissions that exceed the statutory limitation.
- Enacts the net metering and easy connection act.
- This deals with solar powered units that are interconnected with a retail electricity supplier.
- Customers will be billed for any electricity provided by the retail supplier in excess of the amount generated by the customer’s solar generation.
- Enacts regulatory requirements
- This would authorize the Secretary of Health and Environment to implement the federal Clean Air Act and would prohibit the Secretary, absent from statutory authority, from adopting rules and regulations under the Kansas Act that are more stringent than required by the federal act or rules and regulations authorized in that act.
- Legislators are hopeful that the fine details of this bill will be worked out and that it will make it to the House floor for a vote in the next week or two.
Gaming
On Friday, February 1st at 10 a.m., Shawnee County District Judge Charles Andrews, Jr. will file his decision on expanded gaming in Kansas. This is a very big issue here at the Capitol. The Governor used assumed gambling revenues to fund part of her budget. While this issue is likely to be appealed regardless of the decision, reaching a conclusion in the very near future is vitally important. House Republicans are refusing to leverage the financial well being of the state on funding streams that don’t exist yet.
Budget
As always, it is important for the budget to stay at the forefront of our minds. Even if the gambling revenue becomes a reality we will still have to keep a close eye on the bottom line.
There has been some confusion as to how the Governor was able to end with a 7.5% balance in her proposed budget. The short answer is that, up until the last four pages, the Governor’s budget ends at 5%. She was able to meet the statutory requirements by removing 147 million from K-12 funding. Republicans plan to meet their funding obligations to the educational system while keeping their promise to hold the line on spending.
I will try to keep a running total and share it with you each week. It is important that everyone understands the fiscal pressure we are under this year. Currently, there hasn’t been a bill with a significant fiscal note debated on the House floor.
Bills
HB 2711 An act concerning the environment; relating to conservation and electric generation, transmission and efficiency and air emissions.
HB 2712 An act concerning rural housing; relating to creating the housing development grant program; exempting certain cities from certain requirements for rural housing incentive district financing.
HB 2641 An act concerning income taxation; relating to property taxes paid by certain taxpayers.
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