Area lawmakers have spent the first week of the new legislative session adjusting to a new governor and welcoming a large crop of freshmen.
Among the newcomers was Rep. Kenneth Collins, a Mulberry Republican who represents the 2nd District, which covers the eastern part of the county including Mildred, Moran, Elsmore and Savonburg. Collins bested incumbent Democrat Adam Lusker in November.
I survived my first week, Collins told a group of about 15 local residents who turned out for a legislative update Monday evening sponsored by Allen County Farm Bureau.
It was a busy week, Sen. Caryn Tyson added, though its too early to see any real progress.
Much of the discussion, both at the local forum and in statewide media, revolved around a budget proposal from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. All three local legislators, all Republicans Collins, Tyson and 9th District Rep. Kent Thompson of LaHarpe criticized Kellys plan to refinance the teacher portion of the Kansas Public Education Retirement System. Kelly wants to save about $160 million by refinancing KPERS for 30 years.
Tyson co-sponsored a bill to require the state to make its quarterly payments to shore up KPERS.
Its basically taking out a second mortgage or refinancing your mortgage when youve almost paid it off, Tyson said. Its just disappointing when people put politics above policy. Im just tired of the gamesmanship.
Thompson, who also spoke against Kellys KPERS proposal, was more diplomatic in his response: Governors tend to get what they want, but with a strong Republican Legislature, that might not be quite as true.
Deferring payments to KPERS is the wrong direction for the state, Thompson said. The state has made strides to get the fund back on track and Kellys plan would set it back.
KPERS is kind of an interesting beast, he said. Its the magic of compounded money, so every time you dont make that investment, youve got more to catch up on the other end.
A 2012 law committed the state to aggressive increases in annual payments to close the gap by 2034, allowing payments to drop steeply after that, according to The Associated Press. But Kellys Republican predecessors and legislators have struggled to keep up with the promises and have regularly shorted payments to plug budget holes.
Kelly proposes to refinance the remaining debt over 30 years, closing the gap in 2049 15 years later than planned.
Other parts of Kellys budget seemed more realistic to Thompson, but he cautioned that Kelly cant be all things to all people and that the funding necessary to bring programs and salaries up to snuff will be a challenge, including K-12 education, Medicaid expansion, salary increases for state employees, revamping the child welfare system and transportation projects.
Every governor has kept borrowing money from (transportation) so I applaud her for saying shes only going to take $200 million instead of $300 million, he said. And were looking at potentially spending another $90 million on K-12. All that sounds good, but what are you not going to fund? (Transportation) has carried the burden for the last several years.
Thompson said hes looking forward to a report, due this spring, from a statewide task force studying transportation needs. The task force primarily focused on the 10-year T-Works project, some of which was delayed or canceled because of funding raids. But much of the task forces meetings consisted of local entities lobbying for their specific projects.
We dont have enough money to fund T-Works, let alone these other projects, Thompson said.
