March 2, 2007 Newsletter

Back to Business
House members resume their regular legislative schedules this week, attending committee hearings, meeting with constituents and meeting on the floor of the House at 11 am daily. For the next several weeks, we will consider bills that have already passed through the Senate. Likewise, the Senate is working the House bills that we passed out over the course of the last seven weeks. By the end of March, the Legislature will have heard a variety of issues and those agreed upon by the full House and Senate will be enacted into law.

BIOSCIENCE TOUR
On Tuesday, the Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce hosted a tour for fifty-six members and staff of bioscience sites in three cities. In Manhattan, the group toured NanoScale Corporation, a subsidiary of K-State’s research department. The group lunched with the Kansas Farm Bureau, hearing presentations from the Kansas State University BioSecurity Facility, ICM, Inc and Bayer CropScience. The next stop on the tour was CritiTech and Higuchi Bioscience Center in Lawrence. Finally, the group visited InterVet in DeSoto.

Kansas is currently pushing for the opportunity to host the National Bio and AgriDefense Facility (NBAF). The rapid growth of the bioscience industry in Kansas and the state’s recognition as a leader in the field has made a strong case for winning the facility. The bioscience tour gave legislators an excellent opportunity to view the businesses that have been directly affected by incentives the Legislature has passed on their behalf and to get a real feel for how the bioscience industry is giving back to the Kansas economy.

DISPARITY DOLLARS FOR DEFERRED MAINTENANCE
House Majority Leader Ray Merrick released preliminary numbers addressing the deferred maintenance backlog today. The budgetary information from the Kansas Board of Regents shows disparity between Kansas’ flagship universities’ tuition in relation to their peer institutions.

“Kansans are paying a premium for education at state universities and should not pay another penny toward increasing tuition rates,” said Merrick. “There is a real problem with the way the Kansas Board of Regents has built their budgets and paid for expenses. Crumbling classrooms need attention but Kansas families have paid enough”.

Research shows a vast disparity in tuition rates between resident and non-resident students and between Kansas universities and peer institutions. Information provided by the Kansas Board of Regents and the Chronicle of Higher Education indicates that non-residents pay an average of $3000 less per year to attend Kansas Regent schools than they would at peer institutions across the country.

KU and K-State students are paying between 11-15% more in tuition than students at peer institutions. In addition, non-resident students are paying an average of 20% less to come to Kansas schools than Kansan students pay when they go elsewhere. The policy essentially charges Kansas students more than other states charge their residents for higher education, while providing a $3000 discount for students from outside of Kansas.

Raising non-resident tuition rates to the national average would produce a $33.5 million dollar a year revenue stream. This adjustment would provide annual revenue for deferred maintenance expenses and protect Kansas students from tuition increases proposed under that pretext.

The Kansas Board of Regents estimates the current backlog of deferred maintenance expenses between $500 - $700 million dollars. Merrick began to study tuition rates over a year ago and saw the connection between disparity and deferred maintenance needs. Majority Leader Merrick believes that the numbers show that the Kansas Regents need to be better stewards of Kansas’ education dollars. Our students should not be expected to subsidize out of state students’ tuition, or the backlog of deferred maintenance.

The House Appropriations Committee and the House Leadership team are working to ensure that the disparity dollars are addressed in our comprehensive package for deferred maintenance. Addressing crumbling classrooms was a top priority on the House Republican Caucus Agenda.

Next Week at the Statehouse
The newly established health task force is expected to complete its hearings and make proposals for a comprehensive health care plan early next week. The House Appropriations Committee is working on the details of the Governor’s proposed budget to determine the top funding priorities for Kansans. The Governor’s budget is expected out of committee early next week. HB 2264, which exempt federal social security from state income tax is set for debate on the floor of the House early next week as well.

For more information on the daily happenings of the Kansas House of Representatives, please visit www.kansashouse.org