03/10/2008
The Kansas Legislature is busier than ever. Committee chairs have until Wednesday, April 2, to work bills that have passed the opposite chamber. Both chambers will conduct extensive floor sessions beginning April 2 and concluding sometime on Saturday, April 5.
Here's what's happening with the issues we're most involved in.
Regulatory fairness
Great news on the regulatory fairness front! The House and Senate chambers passed our regulatory fairness bill without objection. The final vote count was 125-0 in the House and 40-0 in the Senate. The two committee chairs will conduct a conference hearing in which they will identify either the House or Senate bill as the one to be sent to the governor for consideration.
The bill allows the legislative rules and regulations committee to request an economic impact analysis statement specific to employers with 50 or fewer employees. This would require state agencies to consider the impact that a proposed rule or regulation would have on small businesses before enacting it.
Healthcare reform
The House Health and Human Services committee has established a subcommittee on healthcare reform. The subcommittee has been directed to consider the various bills dealing with this issue and to craft one piece of legislation for consideration by the full committee. The subcommittee will conduct two hearings a day next week with the hope of having a bill ready for consideration by the House on Tuesday, March 18.
The chairman of the subcommittee, Dr. Jeff Colyer (Overland Park), informed me yesterday that he would like to implement elements of our bill dealing with the business health care tax credits, mandate-light plans, and section 125 changes. We will continue to work closely with Dr. Colyer and House leadership in crafting legislation that addresses our needs and wants.
The members of the subcommittee are as follows: Chairman Colyer, Peggy Mast (Emporia), David Crum (Augusta), Joe Patton (Topeka), Geraldine Flaharty (Wichita), Cindy Neighbor (Shawnee) and Anne Tietze (Topeka)
Illegal immigration
The House and Senate Federal and State Affairs committees will begin deliberating all of the illegal immigration bills, beginning Monday and concluding as late as Wednesday. Much of my time has been spent educating legislators as to the ramifications of the proposed bills. Great strides have been made in convincing House and Senate leadership that establishing a state-level court system is not the answer.
The No. 1 objective of NFIB is to protect our members from prosecution if they were to make simple, honest mistakes. Penalizing employers who intentionally hire illegal immigrants is something that can only be supported if we have certain assurances. Many of the bills in question due not provide assurances that well-intentioned businesses would not be harmed due to what may very well be a clerical mistake.
Thank you for your continued support!
Derrick Sontag
State Director, NFIB/Kansas
112 SW 6th Ave., Suite 408
Topeka, KS 66603
785-354-9374 (office)
785-213-9769 (cell)
Derrick.Sontag@NFIB.org
