Week of February 14 to February 18, 2022
Week of February 14 to February 18, 2022
Jim Karleskint
Week number 6 of the Kansas Legislature is in the books. It has been a busy week in Topeka, many education related bills have been heard in committees and some bills have been passed out of committees for consideration in either the House or Senate. Many more could be coming. Many of the bills under consideration could have significant impact on how schools in Kansas do business. There were numerous bills introduced and given hearings some are discussed below. The bills I mention have received hearings. Please keep in mind many bills are introduced that go nowhere. The ones I list have a potential to being given consideration by the full House or Senate in the near future.
Read MoreFor Week of February 7 to February 11, 2022
For Week of February 7 to February 11, 2022
Jim Karleskint
The week started out with the House Commerce Committee continuing their work on the mega bill that would provide incentives to an unnamed company. The package that was finally agreed upon could cost taxpayers $1.3 billion and would spend down the state’s reserves by hundreds of millions of dollars over the next 4 years. This amount is larger than the amount the Senate agreed upon last week. The bill was sent to the floor of the House on Tuesday afternoon. There it was debated and attempts at amendments were made. The bill passed the House by a vote of 80-41. There was a very different group of legislators from both parties voting in opposition. The bill was then sent back to the Senate for approval as the bill was different than what was sent to the House last week.
Read MoreFor Week of January 31 – February 4, 2022
For Week of January 31 – February 4, 2022
Jim Karleskint
The week started with the House Commerce Committee taking up consideration of what is considered to be one of the largest tax incentive bills ever considered. It is for an unnamed manufacturing plant. An additional concern is a provision in the bill that would reduce and eventually cut corporate taxes. Discussion continued on Tuesday and Thursday. The Legislature is under a timeline that leaves little time as the unnamed company is deciding between Kansas and another state.
Read MoreWeek of January 24 to 28, 2022
For Week of January 24 to 28, 2022
Jim Karleskint
Redistricting continued to be a hot topic as the week began. The House Committee met to review maps on Monday. The Committee recommended the map that the Senate passed last Friday. The recommendation went to the full House on Tuesday. The House started hearing the bill at 11:00 on Tuesday morning. After 4 hours of debate and the rejection of 5 alternative maps that were proposed the House passed the bill. On Wednesday the bill received final approval. The voting went nearly by party line vote.
Read MoreJanuary 17 to January 21, 2022
For week of January 17 to January 21, 2022
Jim Karleskint
The second week of the Legislative session was a shortened week with Martin Luther King day on Monday. Tuesday we saw some preliminary maps of what might be under consideration for redrawing the Congressional Districts in Kansas.
Read MoreLegislative Report-January 14, 2022
Legislative Report-January 14, 2022
Jim Karleskint
The Kansas Legislature opened for business for the 2022 year on Monday, January 10 at 2:00 PM. This session will be a very important one for education. There are numerous topics that will be considered. These include: School funding, Critical Race Theory, Student Achievement, and impact of Covid just to name a few. Below are bills that were pre-filed, many more will be coming. I will attempt to keep you up to date on where they stand and what actions are necessary from the membership.
Tuesday evening Governor gave her fourth State of the State address to the Legislature. Some of the points pertaining to education include:
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