Voice For Liberty

Tag: Kansas legislature

Articles about the Kansas legislature, both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

  • Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Monday February 21, 2011

    Kansas legislature website. Over the weekend a new version of the website for the Kansas Legislature appeared. It has a new design over what’s been available for the last six weeks or so. It will take a while to shake out the new site, but here are a few observations: Finally, pdf documents are displayed in a standard — that is to say plain — method that should be usable on devices of all types. … Attempting a search produces a “page not found” error. … There is no mobile version that works on devices like an Iphone, which is a popular thing to have these days. … There is a link named “A/V Live” which is not active at this time, but points to the goal of having committee testimony broadcast on the website. Here’s a better idea: almost all conferees that testify before committees have written testimony that is provided to committee members. Make that testimony available to the people of Kansas. This could be done fairly easily — and inexpensively — and is more useful. … The Wichita Eagle has some reporting today about the troubles with the new site. But the biggest question is: why is this work being done during the legislative session? Why not do it from June through December when the legislature is not in session and demand for the site is less? Why wasn’t the old site left running while the new site was built?

    Legislators on Governor’s plan. At a meeting with Wichita-area legislators on Saturday, some spoke on Governor Brownback’s economic development plan. As with much of the news media, legislators seem mostly oriented on the reorganization of some agencies rather than the call for an end — or at least reduction — of targeted incentives and subsidies. Some legislators emphasized that we are competing with other states for jobs. It will be difficult for elected officials to give up the arms race of offering subsidy to companies to come to Kansas, or as we see in the Hawker Beechcraft deal, simply agree to remain in Kansas, even with a smaller number of jobs. … The governor’s plan still contains a slush fund for attracting jobs to Kansas, which should keep the big-government fans happy for a while.

    Could Wisconsin demonstrations come to Kansas? At the meeting with legislators, I asked if the demonstrations taking place in Wisconsin could be seen in Kansas. There, state employees are protesting the governor’s proposal to ask them to pay more for health insurance and pensions. Also proposed are measures that would reduce the power of the state workers union. Representative Jim Ward said: “I don’t think it would happen in Kansas.” While people in Kansas are passionate, we have a tradition of civility, he added. … The Kansas public employee retirement system is among the most underfunded and will probably require someone to pay more. The process of selecting who has to pay — employees or taxpayers — is likely to be contentious.

    Wichita trash. It seems likely that Wichitans will see another trash plan proposed, according to Wichita Eagle reporting. The urge by government bureaucrats like city manager Robert Layton to create a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist is compelling, it seems. While some Wichitans are paying much more than others for trash service, the publicity generated by the Eagle reporting has informed everyone as to how much trash service should cost. … Most candidates for city council seem to be against city involvement in trash service.

    Wichita mayoral forum didn’t go well. According to reporting from KWCH, a forum for candidates for Wichita mayor didn’t go well: “Wichita residents came to a political forum to listen to political issues, but left shaking their heads.” Continuing in the story: “Some say they weren’t impressed with incumbent Carl Brewer either. ‘The Mayor was just relying on his name and everyone else just had wild views,’ said one listener. ‘The Mayor basically knew he wasn’t going anywhere,’ said another listener. Onlookers say a meeting that was supposed to educate them on important issues, just left them with a bad feeling about the political future of Wichita. ‘They just proved why I shouldn’t vote for them in my opinion,’ said Graham.”

    Wichita City Council this week. The Wichita City Council will not meet this week, as it’s a Tuesday after a holiday. Most private sector workers might have trouble remembering there is a holiday today, but not so for the city council.

    Sedgwick County commission this week. At Wednesday’s meeting, the Sedgwick County Commission has several important items on its agenda. The commission will be asked to adopt Project Downtown: The Master Plan for Wichita, November 2010 as an amendment to the Wichita-Sedgwick County Comprehensive Plan. This is the plan for the revitalization of downtown Wichita prepared by planning firm Goody Clancy. This item is not a public hearing, and it is not known how much time commission chair Dave Unruh, who assumed that position in January, will allow for citizens to address the commission. Previous chairs Karl Peterjohn and Kelly Parks — as well as current Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer — always asked if citizens wanted to speak on an item and were generous with time allotted. … Also Jeremy Hill of Wichita State University Center for Economic Development and Business Research will make a presentation. CEDBR has been criticized for for a report it produced on the economic impact of the Affordable Airfares program. That report was produced before Hill started his tenure at CEDBR. … The appraiser will report on real estate valuation trends in Sedgwick County.

  • Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Friday February 18, 2011

    Wichita-area legislators to meet public. Tomorrow members of the South-Central Kansas Legislative Delegation will meet with the public. Tomorrow’s meeting is in the Sunflower Room of the Sedgwick County Extension Education Center, 21st and Tyler Rd, at 9:00 am. Generally these meetings last for two hours. The first of these meetings, two weeks ago, was focused more on hearing the concerns of citizens rather than allowing legislators to speak a lot. … Two other meetings have been scheduled. One is on March 19th — right before the legislature adjourns for its break — at Derby City Hall, 611 Mulberry Road. Then on April 23 — right before the “wrap-up session” — at the Wichita State University Hughes Metropolitan Complex, 5015 E. 29th Street (at Oliver).

    This Week in Kansas. On This Week in Kansas Joe Aistrup of Kansas State University and co-author of of the new book on Kansas politics Kansas Politics and Government: The Clash of Political Cultures, Richard Schrock of Emporia State University and Education Frontlines, and myself join host Tim Brown to discuss immigration and abortion bills in Kansas, concealed carry on college campus, and public schools medicating students. This Week in Kansas airs on KAKE-TV channel 10 at 9:00 am Sunday.

    Mandatory union political spending questioned. From Derrick Sontag of Americans for Prosperity, Kansas: “It was Thomas Jefferson who said, ‘To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.’ On that note the Kansas Legislature is considering House Bill 2130, commonly referred to as ‘paycheck protection.’ Money derived from public employee union membership dues, for example, is often spent on functions outside of bargaining and administrative activity. That’s certainly the prerogative of a union but the problem is in some instances members may not choose to support union political activity, yet their money is going towards just that. … This is not a bill designed to eliminate unions. Rather it provides workers the ability to protect themselves from financially supporting political candidates they otherwise wouldn’t support. The unions that effectively present their case as to why political activity should occur will more than likely earn the financial support of a number of its members. Members of public employee unions should have the right to fully safeguard against their money being spent on political causes and candidates they don’t support.”

    Tom Woods: Rollback. This week I traveled to Kansas State University to attend a lecture by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.. His topic, mostly, was his new book Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse. Of the book, Woods explains: “The book does two things. First, it lays bare the true fiscal position of the U.S. government, and shows why some kind of default is not merely possible but inevitable. … By far the more central part of the book is this: the critical first step for reversing this mess and checking the seemingly unstoppable federal advance is to stick a dagger through the heart of the myths by which government has secured the confidence and consent of the people. We know these myths by heart. Government acts on behalf of the public good. It keeps us safe. It protects us against monopolies. It provides indispensable services we could not provide for ourselves. Without it, America would be populated by illiterates, half of us would be dead from quack medicine or exploding consumer products, and the other half would lead a feudal existence under the iron fist of private firms that worked them to the bone for a dollar a week. Thus Americans tolerate much government predation because they have bought into the myth that state intervention may be an irritant, but the alternative of a free society would be far worse.”

    $100 million in cuts. It’s two years old, but this video places a proposal by President Barack Obama to cut $100 million from the federal budget in context. As the video explains, the scale of numbers so large — millions, billions, trillions — are often difficult to grasp. … Currently some Republicans in Congress are trying to cut $100 billion (1,000 times as much) from the federal budget, and it’s a difficult process. Even a cut of this size is not enough. As Tom Woods recently wrote in Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse: “America is staring default in the face, and the boldest proposal we hear is for trimming $100 billion. That’s like taking three dollars off a trip to the moon.”

    Brownback plan ignored in Wichita. At this week’s meeting of the Wichita City Council I explained to council members a few points of Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s economic development plan and how several actions the council was considering were directly in opposition to that plan. No council member asked a question. No Wichita news media reported on how the council ignored the governor’s plan. Especially troubling is how the Wichita Eagle had two reporters attending the meeting, yet there was no mention in that newspaper as to how the council voted several times against the principles of the Brownback plan. … Especially puzzling are the votes of Sue Schlapp, who held a leadership role in the Brownback campaign. Video and more is here.

    National League of Cities junket defended. Speaking of Schlapp and other city council members, the Wichita Eagle printed a letter from the Executive Director of the National League of Cities defending the value of the conference for city council members. Fair enough. But the problem is that Wichita is sending council members to the conference who will serve less than one month after the conference. These council members — Sue Schlapp, Paul Gray, and Roger Smith — ought to refrain from spending taxpayer money on this trip, which is a junket for lame ducks.

  • Kansas governor releases economic development plan

    Yesterday Kansas Governor Sam Brownback released his plan for economic growth and development in Kansas. Drawing on free market principles and relying less on government intervention, the plan calls for a departure from present practices, especially the heavy-handed methods cities like Wichita use.

    Brownback’s plan would transform Kansas’ approach to economic development. Currently the approach of the state and most of its cities and counties is to go after the “big deal.” This typically lures a large employer to Kansas through the use of various incentives. Or, as we have seen recently with the Hawker Beechcraft deal, incentives may be used to keep a company from leaving Kansas, even if that company is downsizing.

    This last deal is especially troubling for the state’s future. Wichita State University professor H. Edward Flentje recently sounded a note of caution on deals like Hawker Beechcraft: “The result diverts millions in limited taxpayer funds, primarily state income-tax revenues, from state coffers to a company’s benefit, simply to have an existing business stay put.” Flentje wrote that there are more than 500 Kansas businesses now eligible for state assistance just like Hawker.

    It is breaking this cycle of dependency on the “deal” that the governor’s plan calls for. Instead of the state targeting industries or specific companies, Kansas should seek to establish a strategy that is simple, fair, and of high capacity. I believe that for this strategy to work, Kansas cities and counties will need to follow the plan, too.

    Productivity and growth, not just jobs

    Right away the governor’s plan calls for prosperity through productivity: “A sound economic development process enhances prosperity through enhanced business-sector productivity.” This is in contrast to the economic development efforts of most governments, including that of the City of Wichita. There, the focus is on jobs, with capital investment a lesser factor.

    The plan identifies two fundamental roles for government to play. First, the state should create an environment that “motivates as much risk-taking and competition as possible in the context of a ‘level playing field.’” Second, it must do this effectively and efficiently, leaving as many resources in the private sector as possible.

    Key concepts in the plan are risk taking, economic competition, business experimentation, and trial and error. These activities are important, the plan says, because they will lead to increased economic productivity, which is what produces prosperity for Kansans. This is what the economic development policies of Kansas need to promote, says the plan: “The more that Kansas’ economic development environment motivates each entrepreneur and business to engage in the trial and error process, the more the Kansas economy will generate economic opportunity for Kansas families.”

    But the state’s policies don’t promote this environment: “Yet Kansas economic development policy tends to work as if only a small sub-set of entrepreneurs or businesses matter.” Current policies attempt to find the right technologies and companies for the state to invest economic development resources in. The criteria for determining winners are often job count and wage levels. Winners are rewarded at the expense of non-winners.

    Instead of this approach — which is common in most states and cities — the plan recommends a different policy: “Dedicate human and financial resources to promoting maximum experimentation through volume and diversity.” Also: “Establish stable policies that treat all investments and businesses equally, thereby liberating resources from the costly and economically dubious task of targeting.”

    The plan is critical of selective efforts and in favor of broad-based strategy, especially in taxation: “A more uniform business tax policy that treats all businesses equally rather than the current set of rules and laws that give great benefit to a few (through heavily bureaucratic programs) and zero benefit to many.”

    The plan emphasizes promoting as much diversity as possible. The current strategy of attracting large employers is not wise: “In fact, research indicates that economic development strategies based on the recruitment of large employers tends to have negative effects over the long run. One of the best predictors of future economic growth for metropolitan areas is the average employment size of business establishments: larger average sizes are typically associated with slower future growth.”

    Measures of success of economic development efforts include jobs, although the plan cautions that “job creation is a result that derives from profitable business births and expansions.” Other factors are income growth, population density and migration, productivity growth, capital investment, and gross business starts and expansions.

    The plan creates a council of economic advisers and coordinate the actions of seven different agencies that work in the field of economic development. It also calls for funding of certain university research programs.

    The plan is not totally free-market in its approach. It retains PEAK, which lets companies that meet criteria retain their employees’ withholding taxes. But are we certain we can identify which companies are worthy of this subsidy? There will also be a fund that can be used to “close a deal on a prime economic growth opportunity.” Brownback’s “rural opportunity zones” are also included, which offer income tax breaks and student loan paydowns for people moving into counties that have experienced large population decline.

    Cities like Wichita will need to change, adapt

    The governor’s plan calls for economic development strategies very different from what most cities and counties pursue. As an example, at the most recent meeting of the Wichita City Council, the council approved forgivable loan agreements for two companies that are adding jobs. These loans amount to grants of money, providing that the companies meet specified employment goals. The loans were not the only form of subsidy. One company is slated to receive forgiveness from paying property tax for up to ten years, and both received grants and tax credits from the state under existing economic development programs.

    At the meeting, Mayor Carl Brewer offered a defense of the city’s economic development policy (click here for video), saying that if Wichita doesn’t offer targeted incentives, other cities will. “If we don’t stay in the game and do whatever is necessary to be able to protect our jobs, protect our citizens, then we’re going to lose out on this entire thing. Times are changing. 20 years ago individuals weren’t even thinking about providing incentives to various different corporations. And now it appears that every place that we go, we seeing that everyone’s doing it. … That’s a reality of things. The dynamics and the field that we all have to play on is continuing to change.” He urged his critics to look at the larger picture, rather than just the action the council is taking today.

    Council member Janet Miller also defended the city’s policy, saying that companies either qualify for incentives or they don’t, based on established criteria. She cited Wichita State University figures that support the incentives as providing an economic return to the city.

    If cities continue to offer targeted incentives that are at odds with the governor’s plan, what will be the outcome? It doesn’t seem as though the two approaches are compatible. Many of the programs that cities use to offer targeted incentives — industrial revenue bonds (IRB), tax increment financing (TIF), community improvement districts (CID), and others — are creations of the legislature. It and the governor have the power to control their use — if there is political will to do so.

  • Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Thursday February 10, 2011

    Politicians’ Top 10 Promises Gone Wrong. This Monday (February 14) Americans for Prosperity will show the 2010 John Stossel documentary “Politicians’ Top 10 Promises Gone Wrong.” For a preview and interview with Stossel, click here. For my reporting and review of the show, click on Stossel on politicians’ promises. … This event, sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, will be held on Monday, February 14 from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at the Lionel D. Alford Library located at 3447 S. Meridian in Wichita. The library is just north of the I-235 exit on Meridian. For more information on this event contact John Todd at john@johntodd.net or 316-312-7335, or Susan Estes, AFP Field Director at sestes@afphq.org or 316-681-4415.

    Cabela’s to seek community improvement district tax. It should come as no surprise that when a major retailer comes to Wichita, they will take advantage of the state’s community improvement district law. If approved, formation of the CID would allow Cabela’s to charge an extra tax on its sales. In this case, according to Wichita Eagle reporting, the tax will be 1.2 cents per dollar. … Sources tell me that this is likely not the only special tax treatment Cabela’s will seek. Look for an application for tax abatements through IRBs or the EDX program. This would fit right in with Cabela’s notoriety for squeezing all it can from government. … As these CIDs spread across Wichita, we are, in effect, experiencing a sales tax increase, drip by drip.

    Kansas legislature website. The Kansas legislature’s website is improving. A huge irritation remains, however: when pdf documents are presented, they’re in a “fancy” non-standard window that reduces the usability of the site. On an Iphone, the documents can’t be read, as the fancy window wants to do its own scrolling. … Sometimes clicking on a link produces the wrong document, as just now on the house of Representatives page, I clicked on “Session 20 – Wed Feb 09 2011 PDF” and was presented with the Senate’s journal for January 31. … Judging by the log of completed features added each day and by the list of things promised, it’s clear that this site is still in development. Doing this during the session was a terrible lapse of judgment. … Listed are “Special reports for members” such as “House and Senate Subject Index with bill status.” Why, I wonder, should this be available only for members?

  • Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Thursday February 3, 2011

    Wichita-area legislators to meet with public. From Rep. Jim Ward, South-Central Delegation Chair: “Public comment about the proposed state budget, health care reform, voter eligibility and other major issues will be heard by local legislators at 9:00 am Saturday, Feb. 5, at the Wichita State University Metroplex, 29th and Oliver. The forum is the first of the 2011 legislative session and is hosted by the South-Central State Legislative Delegation. … Delegation members will take written and spoken questions from the public during the two-hour session. ‘Legislators need to hear from the people who are affected by these important issues,’ said Rep. Jim Ward, delegation chair. ‘Better decisions are made when the public participates in the process.’ … For further information, contact Rep. Ward, delegation chairman at 316-210-3609 or jim.ward@house.ks.gov.”

    Fairness issue. A letter in the Topeka Capital-Journal: “The Capital-Journal recently published a lengthy feature, headlined ‘Cuts to arts hit sour note,’ about the Kansas Arts Commission. Abolition of the commission may be a legitimate policy move for budgetary reason. However, there is a caveat. If it’s eliminated for budgetary considerations, all comparable departments, agencies, services, programs, etc., must too be abolished or separated from the state into a nonprofit or for-profit corporation — unfunded by Kansas taxpayers, either directly or indirectly.” After running through a number of agencies, the writer concludes: “Thus, artists pay for their own canvasses, hunters fund their own preserves, tourists find the Flint Hills on their own, students come to college to study, farmers show off their fancy ears of corn in their own barns and concert-goers go to New York for entertainment. Honor dictates that all be treated the same, be it sports or tourism or the arts.” … While the tone of the entire letter is sarcasm, the writer almost has everything correct, if taken literally. But it’s not honor that dictates all the treated the same, it’s morality that requires such treatment.

    Twenty regulations to eliminate. From the Heritage Foundation: “As the new Congress assembles, many legislators are considering how to lessen the regulatory burden on Americans. President Obama, too, now says that he wants to root out unnecessary government rules. With regulatory costs at record levels, relief is sorely needed. But it is not enough to talk about fewer regulations. Policymakers must critically review specific rules and identify those that should be abolished. This paper details 20 unnecessary and harmful regulations that should be eliminated now. … At every level, government intrudes into citizens’ lives with a torrent of do’s and don’ts that place an unsustainable burden on the economy and erode Americans’ most fundamental freedoms. In fiscal year (FY) 2010 alone, the Obama Administration unleashed regulations that will cost more than $26.5 billion annually, and many more are on the way.” The report is available at Rolling Back Red Tape: 20 Regulations to Eliminate.

    Kansas considers major change in state pension plans. “Kansas legislators looking for ways to close a nearly $8 billion gap in state pension plan funding heard how Utah plans to heal its pension wounds by switching to a plan similar to one that most private businesses offer. … Utah state Sens. Dan Liljenquist, of Bountiful, and Curt Bramble, of Provo, both Republicans, outlined to the Kansas House Pensions and Benefits Committee how Utah intends to close a somewhat smaller gap than Kansas’ by switching its traditional defined benefits pension plan to a modified version of a defined contribution 401(k) plan, the predominant retirement savings plan offered by U.S. businesses.” More from Kansas Reporter.

    Politics and city managers to be topic. This Friday (February 4) the Wichita Pachyderm Club features as its speaker H. Edward Flentje, Professor at the Hugo Wall School of Urban and Public Affairs, Wichita State University. His topic will be “The Political Roots of City Managers in Kansas.” The public is welcome and encouraged to attend Wichita Pachyderm meetings. For more information click on Wichita Pachyderm Club.

    Funny campaign websites. Steve Harris, a candidate for Wichita City Council district 2, has a post on his website extolling the virtues of government funding for the arts, invoking the words of George Washington, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson. What’s funny is where he quotes John Adams. The blog post states “John Adams said: ‘Diversity is a good man’s shining time.’ I would argue that we need to reflect on the thoughts of great leaders from the past who faced diversity we can’t even imagine today.” … When Harris quotes Adams, I think he meant to say adversity rather than diversity. Diversity is not something we have to “face” and struggle against. Adversity is. But even then, he gets the quote incorrect. The first word in the quotation from Adams is “Affliction.” … Plus, I don’t think he’s going to get a lot of agreement on LBJ being a great leader.

  • Kansas arts funding supporters are misinformed, or worse

    Supporters of Kansas government arts funding are either misinformed or lying about the facts they use to make their case for continuation of taxpayer support of the arts.

    Advocates of Kansas state government funding for arts make the case that if Governor Brownback succeeds in his plan to turn the Kansas Arts Commission into a non-profit organization, Kansas will be the only state without a government arts commission.

    A Wichita Eagle editorial referred to Kansas becoming the “only state in the country without at least a quasigovernmental arts agency,” although writer Rhonda Holman qualified her remarks with “according to arts advocates.”

    In another Wichita Eagle article, Joan Cole repeated this assertion when she wrote “I believe that it is crucial that the Kansas Arts Commission remain a state agency, as exists in every other state.” Cole is vice-chair of the Kansas arts commissioners.

    But Cole and government arts funding advocates are wrong. She and they are either misinformed, or they are lying to advance their cause.

    There is one state with a private arts commission or council, not a state agency. It’s listed on the Kansas Arts Commission page, if Commissioner Cole would care to read it: The Vermont Arts Council. On its website, we learn that “The Vermont Arts Council is the only designated state agency for the arts in the United States that is also a private, not-for-profit, 501(c)3, membership organization.”

    National Endowment for the Arts funding

    While I appreciate the KAC acknowledging what Cole and the Wichita Eagle will not, the KAC is still misinformed. In bold type, it states that if KAC becomes a nonprofit organization, “This entity will not be eligible for funds from The National Endowment of the Arts.”

    Bu the Vermont Arts council — not a state agency, but a nonprofit organization — states: “Our funding comes from the State of Vermont, the National Endowment for the Arts, memberships, and private contributions.”

    There’s another discrepancy.

    Suppose the State of Kansas provides no state funds to an arts agency, which is Brownback’s proposal. Will that rule out receiving NEA funding? Indications are that Kansas officials have asked NEA this question, and NEA hasn’t provided a reason as to why Kansas couldn’t continue to receive funding. Amanda Grosserode, a member of the Kansas House of Representatives, wrote in her newsletter that “enabling legislation for the NEA has also been thoroughly reviewed and no requirement for state funding to match federal funding has been found.”

    In the end, the issue of NEA funding may soon become moot. The National Endowment for the Arts is an example of a federal agency that may be eliminated, or very likely have its budget cut. So there may not be much federal arts funding to worry about.

    In the meantime, Kansans need to ask why government arts supporters are misinformed about simple facts, or they should ask why they are lying to Kansans. Government funding of the arts is bad for two reasons: economic and artistic. Misinformed or lying supporters aren’t helping their cause.

  • In Kansas, political signs are okay, despite covenants

    It’s common for neighborhoods to have restrictive covenants that prohibit homeowners from placing any signs in their yard, except for signs advertising homes for sale. But a 2008 Kansas law overrides these restrictive covenants to allow for the placement of small political yard signs starting 45 days before an election. Still, residents of covenant neighborhoods may want to observe their neighborhood’s restrictions, even though they are not valid.

    The bill was the product of then-Senator Phil Journey of Haysville. The bill passed unanimously in both the Kansas House and Senate.

    According to the First Amendment Center, some 50 million people live in neighborhoods with homeowners associations. And laws like the 2008 Kansas law are not without controversy, despite the unanimous vote in the Kansas Legislature.

    While the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that governmental entities like cities can’t stop homeowners from displaying political yard signs, a homeowners association is not government. Instead, it is a group that people voluntarily enter.

    Generally, when prospective homeowners purchase a home in a neighborhood with restrictive covenants, they are asked to sign a document pledging to comply with the provisions in the covenants. If those covenants prohibit political yard signs, but a Kansas law says these covenants do not apply, what should a homeowner do?

    Practically: Should you display signs in your yard?

    While Kansas law makes it legal for those living in communities with covenants that prohibit political yard signs, residents may want to observe these convents. Here’s why: If neighbors are not aware of this new Kansas law and therefore still believe that the yard signs are not allowed in your neighborhood, they may think residents with signs in their yards are violating the covenants. By extension, this could reflect poorly on the candidates that are being promoted.

    The people who believe the covenants against yard signs are valid are misinformed, but they may vote. Whether to display yard signs in a covenant neighborhood is a judgment that each person will have to make for themselves.

    The Kansas statute

    K.S.A. 58-3820. Restrictive covenants; political yard signs; limitations. (a) On and after the effective date of this act, any provision of a restrictive covenant which prohibits the display of political yard signs, which are less than six square feet, during a period commencing 45 days before an election and ending two days after the election is hereby declared to be against public policy and such provision shall be void and unenforceable.

    (b) The provisions of this section shall apply to any restrictive covenant in existence on the effective date of this act.

    Or, as described in the 2008 Summary of Legislation: “The bill invalidates any provision of a restrictive covenant prohibiting the display of political yard signs, which are less than six square feet, 45 days before an election or two days after the election.”

  • Kansas school teacher cuts

    As Kansas struggles with its budget and decides what to do with public schools, advocates of public school spending exaggerate claims of pending job cuts and fail to take advantage of an opportunity to improve our state’s base of teachers.

    Misinformation about school employment is plentiful. An article from the Hutchinson News (Budget cuts a way of life for Kansas school districts, December 26, 2010) is typical: “More than 1,000 teachers and 900 classified school employees have been cut out of the system.”

    The Kansas State Department of Education surveyed school districts asking how many positions were reduced or eliminated due to lack of funding for the 2009-2010 school year. The answer was 1,160 teachers.

    Actual employment figures from the KSDE indicate that for the 2008-2009 school year, Kansas schools employed 35,438 teachers. For 2009-2010 34,985 teachers were employed. That’s a drop of 453 teachers, or quite a bit less than half of the 1,160 teachers schools said they would have to cut.

    Looking at total employment, schools claimed they would have to cut 3,704 jobs. The actual number of jobs lost was 562.

    We see that the public schools, like many government agencies, exaggerate the effects of spending cuts — or even a slowdown in the rate of growth of spending. Whether this exaggeration is purposeful and dishonest is for others to decide. But this tendency is something to keep in mind as school districts across the state tell taxpayers and legislators what the effect of reduced school funding will be.

    Cuts could be beneficial

    While schools don’t like to see employment cuts, especially for teachers, cuts could be used to beneficial effect if not for the rules that most school districts have adopted. These union work rules require that teachers be laid off in order of seniority. Therefore, the teachers with the longest service will be the last to be let go.

    It might seem like retaining the most experienced teachers is a beneficial policy. But research tells us that longevity in the classroom is not related to teacher effectiveness. One study found results that are typical: “There appear to be important gains in teaching quality in the first year of experience and smaller gains over the next few career years. However, there is little evidence that improvements continue after the first three years.”

    Another result: “Thus we conclude that novice teachers in the sample are less effective than teachers in the sample with some experience, but beyond the first couple of years, more experienced teachers are no more effective than those with a couple of years of experience.”

    So when school districts retain their most experienced teachers, they are making a decision to keep their most highly-paid teachers, using reasoning that has found not to hold up in the real world. This causes stress on school budgets for something that doesn’t improve student learning.

    If Kansas schools would lay off their most ineffective teachers first, that would improve the overall quality of teachers in Kansas schools. But Kansas has weak policies in place to determine which teachers are effective.

    Instead, Kansas schools will inform parents that class sizes will get larger. That might be true. But we now know it’s much better for a child to be in a large class with an effective teacher than to be in a small class with an ineffective teacher. But the policies of Kansas schools will not let this improvement in teacher quality take place.

    Is it all about the kids?

    Kansans ought to ask who the public schools serve. The schools, of course, say it’s all about the kids. But when the schools have work rules that protect the most expensive teachers when these teachers are not the most effective based solely on longevity, we see that the public schools are like most government programs: they exist to protect themselves, not their customers (students) and funders (taxpayers).

  • AFP Kansas legislative agenda

    Americans for Prosperity Kansas has released its legislative agenda for the 2011 session of the Kansas Legislature. AFP advocates for limited government and free markets, and its recommendations are aimed at reducing the growth of Kansas state government spending and placing the state’s budget on a fiscally sound footing.

    Regarding the Kansas state budget, AFP Kansas recommends these items:

    • Rainy day fund. “Building reserves during times of revenue increases are crucial to weathering economic downturns.” The passage of last year’s sales tax increase, pitched by former Governor Parkinson as a temporary measure, would not have been necessary if Kansas had such a fund. The danger is that even though the sales tax is designed to be temporary, Kansas has had a temporary sales tax increase in the recent past, and it did not go away as planned. Last year there was a proposal for a rainy day fund, but it did not advance into law.
    • Limit the growth of revenue and spending to the sum of inflation and population growth. This idea makes tremendous sense, and is vigorously opposed by those who thrive on and benefit from state spending. But if we are satisfied with the current level of states services, there is no reason why spending should increase faster than inflation and the growth in the number of people in Kansas.
    • Require local governments (cities, counties and school districts) to participate in KanView, the state’s transparency Web site, with uniform budget reporting.
    • Encourage the state to reduce its debt. Kansas state government debt is now $1,140 per capita.
    • Zero-based budgeting for state agencies. This is a very important reform that could help Kansas identify unnecessary programs and related spending. An example of how this reform would help is this: It is not uncommon for the state to participate in programs where the federal government sends the state funds for a program, on the condition that the state match the federal funds. So the legislature makes an appropriation. Then, in a few years, the federal program may end. But with the current system of budgeting, in which last year’s budget is used as the basis for this year’s, the state appropriation is likely to continue, even through the program is over. Zero-based budget can spot situations like this. There is an increased cost, but the benefits could be large.
    • Allow statutory flexibility to utilize unencumbered cash funds for varying purposes.

    On tax policy, AFP Kansas recommends repealing last year’s sales tax increase, requirement of a legislative super-majority to raise taxes, and rejection of all attempts to increase taxes this year.

    AFP recommends reforms to taxpayer-funded lobbying: “Currently, more than 100 lobbyists with more than 60 government entities/associations have been hired by your tax dollars, lobbying for more and more of your money. Taxpayer funded lobbying propagates the cycle of more spending and more programs that call for more spending.”

    On judicial selection, AFP recommends a process of legislative confirmation of judges, Currently Kansas uses a secretive system that gives undue influence to the state’s lawyers.

    AFP also supports “a program, similar to what the federal government uses to decide which military bases to close, to scrutinize every program and agency and root out wasteful spending.” Governor Brownback has made some recommendations along this line.

    A press release is available, and the four-page legislative agenda is located at 2011 Kansas Legislative Agenda: Prosperity for our Future.