1) 911 Debate Heats Up

The House Committee on Energy and Utilities took up the issue of 911 this week. You will recall that the Senate has passed Sub for SB 50. This legislation represents a major change in the state 911 laws. LKM testified in support of this legislation. However, we offered amendments to the House Committee to address the following concerns:

• LCPA. A number of years ago, a compromise was struck between the telecommunications industry, the League, and the KAC regarding wireless 911 funds. The telecommunications industry wanted a central repository for the money. Cities and counties wanted the moneys returned directly to them so that it could not be swept or used for any other purpose. The compromise that was reached established the League and the KAC as the "Local Collection Point Administrator." Together, we have been collecting the wireless 911 local fees and distributing them to PSAPs since 2004. The compromise that was reached last year by all parties extended this process to wireline as well.

Currently, SB 50 removes the League and the KAC from the law and authorizes the 911 coordinating council to select an LCPA to collect these funds. Because we are dealing with tax dollars, we believe that it is critical that these funds be collected by a governmental entity, subject to open meetings laws, open records laws, governmental accounting standards, etc. Further, we believe that the current model has worked well since 2004 and there is no need to reinvent the wheel. The current system provides a natural check and balance between the two associations and promotes intergovernmental cooperation between cities and counties. And, most importantly, keeps the money from flowing through the state in any way. For these reasons, we are recommending that the compromise language, as established by the House last year, be reinstated with regard to the LCPA.


• Coordinating Council. SB 50 greatly expanded both the size and the authority of the 911 coordinating council. It includes 12 voting members, 9 non-voting members, and 4 legislators. In addition, the chair of the coordinating council has been designated to serve as the "statewide 911 coordinator" and serves with compensation as established by the Governor. The coordinating council's role has been expanded to include selection of the LCPA, setting standards, assessing civil penalties, distributing grants, raising or lowering the 911 fee, appointing subcommittees, hiring independent contractors, state agencies, and consultants, and other oversight duties.

While we understand and support the need for statewide coordination in some capacity, the 911 coordinating council as established in SB 50 goes far beyond what was agreed to and adopted in the House last year. We believe that this is unnecessary and unwarranted state bureaucracy and we would suggest that the coordinating council be returned to the version adopted by the House last year. The House version allowed for a committee of 12 members and 6 legislators. The purpose of this council is to provide general guidance at the state level, distribute grants, and adopt rules and regulations as necessary to enforce civil penalties. This is very much in line with the advisory committee that exists today.


• Grant Funds. SB 50 establishes two grant funds, both in the state treasury. The first fund is the "federal" grant fund. These provisions are simply unnecessary. The State of Kansas applied for a federal grant several years ago (no statutory authorization was required for this). LKM serves on the advisory board for this grant and its purpose is to establish pilot projects to consider the technical challenges that will be faced by PSAPs with regard to Next Generation services. This is not a grant fund that distributes monies to PSAPs for any other purpose. Also, this grant will expire in August of 2012.

The next section of the bill establishes a state "maintenance" fund in the state treasury. Because both of these funds would run through the state treasury, they would be subject to being swept. Therefore, we recommend that the grant fund be established in the same manner as it was last year in the House version of SB 48.


• Fee. When all of the interested parties came to agreement on 911 legislation, the amount of the fee was $.55. This is the level at which PSAPs are held harmless so that they can continue to maintain the current 911 system and begin to plan for the future. We support the return of the fee to $.55
  
  
• Clean-Up. The remaining amendments that we offered are clean-up in nature.

The hearing on this legislation will continue on Monday and the Committee is likely to work the bill later next week.

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2) Ominous Anti-Annexation Bill to be Heard by Senate Local Government Committee

On February 24th the Kansas House of Representatives, on a 88-33 vote, passed an ominous Anti-Annexation Bill, HB 2294. The legislation, and focus, now moves to the Senate Local Government Committee for a hearing on Tuesday, March 15th. If enacted, this bill would effectively end annexation in Kansas. The new HB 2294 essentially marries the key provisions of HB 2294 and HB 2065. In short, what this bill does is take most unilateral annexations, which are currently approved only by the city, and require them to be approved by the county commission. Furthermore, annexations that are currently required to be approved by the county commission would now require a vote of the residents in the area proposed for annexation.

HB 2294, taking language from HB 2065, would effectively eliminate K.S.A. 12-520 unilateral annexations in Kansas. It does this by requiring that the county commission approve any unilateral annexations under K.S.A. 12-520 (a)(1), (4), (5) and (6). In effect, HB 2294 takes this decision away from the elected officials of the city and delegates it to the county commission. Thus, we can expect that this bill would signal the end of virtually all unilateral annexations in Kansas. (The only exceptions would be land owned by the government, and petitioned for annexations for land adjoining the city.)

Next, HB 2294 would effectively eliminate petitioned for annexations under K.S.A. 12-521 where a county commission now has the ability to review and approve or reject proposed city annexations. It would replace the decision-making of the county commission under K.S.A. 12-521 with a vote of the people who live in the area, who would be largely motivated by self-interest, not what is best for the community-at-large. Ultimately, HB 2294 takes the decision-making authority away from the elected county officials under K.S.A. 12-521, who represent the individuals in the area to be annexed, and replaces it with a vote of the people who live in the area. The idea that a handful of landowners should be determining what is best for the community-at-large is bad public policy and should be rejected out of hand.

We believe that HB 2294 is unwarranted, unnecessary, and hazardous to the future well-being of cities in Kansas. To undertake this type of significant change to existing statutes which are working well is not appropriate, and we would strongly urge the Legislature to reject this legislation.

Action Requested
If your city is concerned about the loss of current city annexation authority, you should immediately begin discussing this legislation with your Senators, and urge them to vote "NO" on HB 2294 or any similar legislation which may appear on the Senate floor later in the session.

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3) KPERS Bill Passes Out of the House Pensions and Benefits Committee

On Monday, March 7, the House Pensions and Benefits Committee passed HB 2333. Effective July 1, 2013, this bill would: (1) Raise the cap on how much an employer's contribution could increase from 0.6% to 0.8% per year; (2) lower the multiplier from 1.75% to 1.4%; and (3) direct any proceeds from the sale of excess state real properties to KPERS. The bill would also change the retirement age for all employees not eligible for full retirement on July 1, 2016. As of that date, employees would not receive full KPERS benefits until they are eligible for full social security benefits. For example, employees born after 1960, who are not eligible for full retirement benefits on July 1, 2016, would not be able to retire and collect full benefits under KPERS until the age of 67. The bill would not change the requirements for early retirement.

Meanwhile, KPERS Select, a Senate Committee formed at Governor Brownback's request, and chaired by President Morris, will meet on Wednesday, March 16 to discuss SB 49. This bill would: (1) Raise the cap on how much an employer's contribution could increase from 0.6% to 1% per year; (2) increase Tier 1 employees' contribution rates from 4% to 6% over a four-year period; (3) raise Tier 2 employees' contribution rates from 6% to 8% over a four-year period; and (4) increase the multiplier from 1.75% to 1.85% for those years of increased employee contributions.

It is still too early to know how this issue will be resolved. We will keep you updated on any changes.

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4) Immigration Bill Receives Hearing

HB 2372, the Arizona type immigration bill, was heard yesterday in the House Judiciary Committee. The hearing began at 3:30 and went on for about four hours, with almost 40 individuals testifying. The committee plans to work the bill on Monday, March 14. If it passes out of committee, look for the bill to be on the floor of the House as early as next week.

LKM testified in opposition to the bill on the basis that HB 2372 will put local governments on the front line of enforcing immigration law in Kansas, is a huge unfunded mandate, and exposes cities to litigation and liability. LKM took no position on the issue of whether Kansas should have an immigration law, but if this were to pass, the State needs to provide funding to enable cities to carry out the enormous number of requirements in the bill.

Some of the features of this bill include verifying legal status through the E-Verify program of all applicants for employment and for all applicants for public benefits. Public benefit includes health services, commercial or professional licenses, contracts, food assistance, housing, etc. In addition, all contractors and subcontractors doing business with cities must use E-Verify and sign a sworn affidavit that they are doing so. Cities may terminate a contract, withhold damages from payment to the contractor and suspend the contractor from doing business in the jurisdiction if the contractor violates these requirements.

One of the most onerous provisions requires that during lawful stops, detentions and arrests, law enforcement officers who have reasonable suspicion that an individual is unlawfully present in the United States must make a "reasonable attempt" to determine both the citizenship and immigration status of the individual. Any alien who is arrested or taken into custody cannot be released until such person's immigration status is confirmed. In performing this task, the officer may not racially profile the individual, except to the extent constitutionally permitted.

Two provisions of this bill bear mentioning. First, if the Attorney General believes a city has adopted a policy of limited enforcement, the Attorney General may, without due process to the city, withhold grants, funds or appropriations from the city. In addition, HB 2372 gives any citizen in Kansas the right to file a lawsuit if that citizen believes the city is implementing a policy of enforcement that is not to the fullest extent possible.

There are many more provisions in HB 2372, but those are the primary requirements that affect cities. Besides the administrative costs to administer the programs, including the training of city officials to understand the types of documents that will suffice to prove legal status, HB 2372 exposes cities to great risk of litigation and liability. Some points of exposure include lawsuits for racial profiling, federal lawsuits alleging the violation of individuals' civil rights by law enforcement, federal lawsuits alleging the violation of someone's civil rights by denying a public benefit, employees or applicants for jobs filing lawsuits for discrimination either in state or federal court, contractors or subcontractors suing on the basis of bid awards or non-awards, and any citizen in Kansas filing a lawsuit because they just do not think the city is enforcing the provisions of the law to the fullest extent possible.

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5) State Preemption on Seat Belt Bill Receives Hearing in Senate

On Thursday the Senate Transportation Committee held a hearing on HB 2192. As originally drafted, HB 2192 would preempt a city's ability to adopt any provisions more stringent than state law or collect any court costs on seat belt violations and prohibit all those cities now imposing local court costs on seat belt violations from doing so. HB 2192 was amended by the House to include provisions contained in HB 2058. HB 2058 would permit a person operating a motorcycle or riding a bicycle to proceed through a steady red light, after a reasonable amount of time, in the event that the light failed to change because the motorcycle or bicycle did not trigger the signal.

The League appeared in opposition to HB 2192. The City of Lenexa also presented testimony in opposition to HB 2192. At this time, it is not known when the Senate Transportation Committee may work the bill. We will continue to monitor the bill and keep you advised.

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6) Preemptive Rescue Service Fees Bill Moves to Senate

On Wednesday, March 9, the Senate Committee on Financial Institutions and Insurance heard testimony regarding House Bill 2119, which the House passed in early February. If passed, the law would ban cities from implementing accident-response service fees. The original version of the bill did not include cities, but the House Committee on Local Government added cities before sending the bill to the floor.

During the committee hearings, the League partnered with the City of Salina and Fire Chief Larry Mullikin to explain the necessity of maintaining financial flexibility when approaching specialized emergency rescues like vehicle extrication and rapid-water rescues. The committee was receptive to Chief Mullikin's testimony and asked the League to draft an amendment that would allow cities to follow Salina's approach to specialized emergency rescue. The committee will work the bill in the upcoming weeks. If this is of interest to your city, please contact your senator to oppose HB 2119 or to adopt the League's amendment.

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7) Legislative Activities-March 14-18, 2011
Monday, March 14
Time	Committee	Location	Bill No.	Topic	Activity
9:00	H,EUt	DSOB 785	Sub SB 50	Concerning emergency communications service; relating to fees, charges, collection and distribution	Continued hearing
9:30	H,E	546-S	Sub SB 127	Elections: certain local units of governments; primaries	Hearing
	S,Ju	548-S	HB 2312	Regulated scrap metal; licensing scrap metal dealers; unlawful acts; criminal penalties	Hearing
	S,LG	159-S	HB 2195	Municipalities; organized solid waste and recycling collection service act	Hearing
3:30	H,GE	546-S	HB 2268	Relating to the collection of licenses, fees, charges, taxes and exactions	Hearing
Tuesday, March 15
Time	Committee	Location	Bill No.	Topic	Activity
8:30	S,Tr	152-S	HB 2192	Making seat belt regulations part of uniform act regulating traffic on highways	Hearing and possible action
9:00	H,EUt	DSOB 785	SB 72	Telecommunications and price deregulation	Hearing
9:30	S,FII	152-S	HB 2077	Increasing the amount of time worker's compensation pools have to file their end of year financial statements	Hearing
	S,FII	152-S	HB 2076	Increasing the amount of time in which filings made to the commissioner of municipal pools must be reviewed	Hearing
	S,Ju	548-S	SB 7	Driving under the influence	Action
	S,LG	159-S	HB 2294	Annexation procedures; deannexation; Board of County Commissioners duties; election required, when; homestead exemption; appeal process	Hearing
10:30	S,AT	152-S	Sub SB 95	Five-year phase out of income tax on corporations	Hearing
	S,FSA	144-S	SB 220	Abolishing the Office of the State Fire Marshal and transferring the duties and functions thereof to the Division of Facilities Management, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Division of Emergency Management	Hearing
	S,FSA	144-S	SB 223	Public facilities; accessibility standards, disabled persons	Hearing
3:30	H,Tax	DSOB 783	SB 10	An act concerning sales taxation	Hearing
Wednesday, March 16
Time	Committee	Location	Bill No.	Topic	Activity
8:30	S,Comm	548-S	HB 2054	An act abolishing the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC) transferring duties to the Department of Commerce and the Board of Regents	Hearing
	S,Tr	152-S	HB 2192	Making seat belt regulations part of uniform act regulating traffic on highways	Discussion and possible action
9:00	H,EUt	DSOB 785	SB 72	Telecommunications and price deregulation	Continued hearing
9:30	S,FII	152-S	HB 2139	Workers compensation insurance rates	Hearing
12:00	S,KPERS	546-S	SB 49	Increased employee and employer contribution rates and benefit formula multiplier	Committee discussion
1:30	H,HHS	DSOB 784	HB 2039	Smoking regulations; casino exemption deleted	Hearing
	H,HHS	DSOB 784	HB 2340	Smoking ban; allow smoking in the bars that sell lottery tickets	Hearing
	S,PHW	546-S	SB 216	Emergency medical services; licensure of attendants	Hearing
3:30	H,Ju	346-S	SB 93	Law enforcement; racial profiling and biased policing	Hearing
	H,Tax	DSOB 783	HCR 5013	Constitutional amendment to provide revenue, expenditure and taxation limitations on state government	Hearing
Thursday, March 17
Time	Committee	Location	Bill No.	Topic	Activity
10:30	S,FSA	144-S	HB 2107	Community defense act; sexually oriented businesses regulations	Hearing
3:30	H,LG	144-S	HB 2166	Cities; use of internet as official publication of required notices	Hearing

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8) Register Now for Governing Body Institute

The League of Kansas Municipalities and the Kansas Mayors Association invite you to attend the 2011 Governing Body Institute and Kansas Mayor's Conference in Topeka on May 13-14. This two-day event will provide elected and appointed city leaders an opportunity to gather and discuss the challenges facing our cities and will focus on how leadership at the local level can better address contemporary issues in local government. This conference also will include a selection of workshops and general sessions designed to provide insight into local government issues, as well as provide useful strategies to take back to your community.

For further information and registration, please click here.

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9) Kansas Enrichment Network to Offer Youth-Development Program

The Kansas Enrichment Network ("KEN") is joining with K-State University and Communities In Schools to host a training entitled, "Building Positive Youth Development." The event will be on April 26, 2011 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Sedgwick County Extension Education Center in Wichita. The session will include an introduction to the new Kansas Afterschool Program Quality Guidelines, while addressing core competencies for youth workers, instruction on diversity and inclusiveness, and direction on positive youth development outcomes — all key elements to an effective community program. The registration fee is $50.00, and you can contact Marcia Dvorak at mjdvorak@ku.edu for more information.

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10) Attend a Resourceful Kansas Energy Efficiency Seminar

Resourceful Kansas, funded through the U.S. Department of Energy, is a new program whose mission is to "to engage communities throughout the state of Kansas in making a fundamental shift toward a less energy intensive, more efficient economy." The application for Resourceful Kansas is on their website, www.ResourcefulKansas.org. Eligible organizations can attend a one-day seminar in Riley County to receive a hands-on tour of wind turbines, solar LED lighting, solar radiant floor heating systems, and more. The next seminar is scheduled for April 27, 2011, and is open to all eligible Kansas organizations, regardless of location. A portion of the organizations attending the seminar will be selected for a free energy assessment. Seminars also will be conducted on July 27, 2011; October 29, 2011; January 25, 2012; April 25, 2012; July 25, 2012; and October 24, 2012. Please click here for more information, or e-mail David Carter at dcarter@k-state.edu.

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11) Sign Up For Upcoming MLAs

The March MLA, Municipal Finance, will be in Ulysses tomorrow, Saturday, March 12th. This core course is designed to provide participants with an overview of municipal finance issues in Kansas. It will help city officials address the responsibility of fiscal operations at the local level to ensure effective service to your community. Click here for registration and more information.

April's MLA, Civility and Public Service, will be in Great Bend on April 15th and in Fort Scott on April 16th. This core course is designed for both elected and appointed city officials. We encourage you to attend whether you are new in your position or have considerable experience. You will learn how to help your city define roles and develop better working relationships between elected and appointed city officials. Our instructors will provide policies and procedures that have yielded more effective and efficient meetings across the state. In addition, you will gain realistic strategies to communicate your message with citizens and the media. More information and registration are available here.

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