RYCKMAN RECAP, Ron Ryckman, 38th District Senator
The cold winter weather kind of took over during Week 5 of the Legislature, such that we only had seven votes — all of them on Tuesday — and held all our committee hearings remotely by WEBEX on Wednesday.
I had a little fun with the situation, however, by jokingly asking my Local Government Committee Chair, Sen. Elaine Bowers, Concordia, whether the (next day) Feb. 12 emergency declared by the Governor was for the snow or her birthday. Sometimes a little humor is all we have to break the “ice” around here, particularly during weeks like the one to come when both bodies will be in stress overload at the halfway or “Turnaround” point of the session and action has to be completed on most measures in the house of origin. That usually means all day on the floor voting on as many as 40-50 bills overall to meet the deadline. Oxygen, anyone?
The just-mentioned seven items cleared by the Senate were – with one exception – pretty non-controversial, as evidenced by six of them being approved unanimously. These had to do with rather mundane things like insurance tax rates (SB 32); claims against the state (SB 125); child protection orders (SB 135); township bonding authority (SB 7); money disbursed to conservation districts (SB 36); and criminal misuse of gift cards (SB 84). Go to www.kslegislature.org and bring up “Bills and Laws” then “Senate” and the bill number for the details on each.
Surprise, surprise, the lone proposal drawing Democrat opposition, SB 5, was about election integrity, prohibiting the use of U.S. government funds for the conduct of elections. This was a reaction to the so-called “Bidenbucks” Executive Order in 2021 authorizing use of taxpayer funds for targeted voter registration.
To be sure, the big news of the week was the governor’s first veto of the year on the “Help Not Harm Act,” SB 63, banning sex-change procedures on children under the age of 18. Vetoes are nothing new for this chief executive, since she has issued more than any other governor in the last 30 years, but this one was especially significant in that the margins of passage in both houses pretty much assure an override (31-9 Senate, with 27 needed, and 83-35 House, with three probable “yeas” among absentees to provide the necessary 84). Lots of constituent interest in this action, along with the property tax relief passed by the Senate last week, SCR 1603. While I have previously indicated that will not likely get House approval, they are working on a promising “soft cap” alternative there that would limit appraisal increases to a rolling six-year average of values across the state. Stay tuned.
I usually try to highlight something of particular interest from one of my recent committee hearings, but instead find myself captivated by an office meeting with representatives from the Clean Fuels Alliance. The reason? They were in championing the cause of Kansas biofuels and most notably the use of soybeans in diesel production. I found it rather remarkable that BBD or “Biomass-Based Diesel” consumption has grown from 3.2 to 5 billion gallons in just the past two years, creating a huge demand for soybean oil with attendant massive increases in jobs and economic activity. At the same time, legislation (HB 2012) is moving forward to provide market incentives for E15+ vehicle fuels, which are 11-22 cents/gallon cheaper than regular gasoline. Did you know that fully 1/3 of the corn grown in Kansas is used to produce ethanol? Pretty important to us Southwesterners.
Also important are our roads, so the study from a personal finance company, WalletHub, got my attention when it released the results of a nationwide study naming Kansas as the No. 1 best state in which to drive. Based on a 100-point scale, we scored 65.92 overall for infrastructure, traffic safety, and highway quality. We also enjoy one of the cheapest auto maintenance costs and lowest average commutes at around 20 minutes, although my five-and-a-half hour drive home from Topeka detracts a little from an appreciation of that statistic. Sadly, my doctor advised against making it this weekend due to some flu-like symptoms, causing me to miss my Liberal Town Hall Saturday, but thanks to all the folks who braved the cold to get there anyway. I am truly indebted to them and to you for the honor and privilege of being your representative at our State Capitol.
