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Legislative and Regulatory

AGC Legislative Update

February 21, 2021


Legislative Overview

Volume 6 | February 22, 2021

 

AGC of Kansas – www.agcks.org
Under the Dome: Week 6 Legislative Update

 

Legislative Week in Review

February 21, 2021

Prepared by Scott J. Schneider, Hinkle Law Firm

 

The pace this week was swift as committees held the second tier hearings and they began to consider the turn-around deadline. Turn-around is the deadline where bills are required to be out of their house of origin unless they are “blessed” or “exempt”. Like most lobbyists, I took note of where my priority issues are in the process. I began to worry about a bill I had already passed twice in the last 7 months and began wondering if the issue was already a confereable subject. I’m not sure, but the good news is no one could explain why it wasn’t, having passed multiple times already, so I take that as affirmative.

 

The new House and Senate members are spending considerable time trying to get their priority issues through the new processes where Administrative officials mostly show up via video conference through media that often creates more reverb than meaningful dialogue. It is painstaking work to move fast and I expect at some point, the legislature will realize the administrations four corners play of not sending any official into a committee hearing (except for Commerce), is actually an offensive tactic and not just an attempt to accommodate the moment.

 

Hope Scholarship Hearing

 

The House Commerce Committee heard the Hope Scholarship bill that would allow Kansas students to attend a technical education institution on a scholarship if they also agree to work for two years in Kansas. Alternatively, the students could choose to attend a four year institution. The bill would have a $10 million fiscal note but would be a last dollar scholarship after the other financial tools such as the Pell grants were utilized. Governor Kelly vetoed the bill last year and cited the fiscal note, but eh House believes there is an opportunity to move the issue forward given the more positive fiscal returns.

 

Speedy Trial Agreement

 

Should government be able to both cause a delay by closing courtrooms and then also deny to a defendant their statutory right to a speedy trial? Many legislators, Republican, Democratic, conservative, and liberal are struggling with the question of fairness. In an attempt to suspend the speedy trial requirement, the District Attorney’s Association and the criminal defense bar has reached an agreement on the how to proceed after the Court restricted access to the Courts during the COVID shutdown. The agreement would suspend the statutory speedy trial until May 1, 2024.

 

Keep in mind, the statutory speedy trial requirement is narrower than the U.S. 6th amendment. Kansas law requires a defendant be tried within 150 days after an arrest if in custody or 180 days after arrest if not in custody. The Kansas Supreme Court suspended the speedy trial order until March 31st. Sedgwick County alone has 50 pending murder cases and 150 shootings and 10 judges. Many insiders at the Courthouse remain skeptical the current network of prosecutors and defense council cannot adequately catch up the backlog regardless what agreement is reached.

 

Linked Deposit Loan Program

 

Senate Bill 15 was passed by the second house this week and sent to the governor for signature. The bill would set aside $60 million dollars of the Pooled Money Investment for use in small business loans at a below cost loan amount. Governor Kelly vetoed the bill last year but is expected to sign the bill now that Lynn Rogers is the State Treasurer rather than the Republican Jake La Turner who is now the 2nd District Congressman.

 

Scott’s view of the Weather Emergency

 

It was cold and I found myself speaking with shorter “o”s and contemplating why I couldn’t open my jaw and was suddenly speaking with a Minnesotan accent; it was bitter as I loaded my car. Then came the call about why members/clients were being told they couldn’t open and I had to catch my breath and contemplate my reality; was I about to get in the car for an early morning drive north or was I having a PTSD moment from the damn never ending Rona virus, I was knocked off my morning stride.

 

I was shocked to find out we needed more natural gas. Kansas Gas Services had sent commercial customers stand down curtailment notices. The communication was not descriptive and required a broad understanding of energy law to interpret. I called my guy at KGS, I thought surely he could help. From my call at 6:43 AM I later received a flier at 4:58 PM with the same words, but organized differently as If I needed pictures and a better technical understanding of pagination.

 

Needless to say, KGS and every interconnected gas system had a real emergency and almost lost their ability to deliver natural gas. In an odd political twist, Governor Laura Kelly later released a demand for FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Committee) to do the following: 1) Examine the circumstances that reduced the supply of natural gas and compromised pressures on interstate pipelines; 2) Exercise its authority under Sections 4A and 23 of the Natural Gas Act and take all actions within its power to protect consumers and ensure the integrity of natural gas price indices; 3) Work with NERC to investigate whether additional reliability mechanisms are needed to respond to similar events like this in the future.

 

A Wichita legislator friend forgot something and knew I would be making the trip so her husband brought it over before I left for Topeka. He said, “I knew it! Biden cancels that pipeline and now we are out of gas!” His comment was not entirely wrong, but also wasn’t complete. This moment is just one more example of the fragility of our infrastructure and to date, no state agency is looking into the issue. From my view, it’s time for golf, patios, birds chirping and spring.

 

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