GUEST COLUMN, Shannon Francis, 125th District Representative
Carol and I attended the Liberal Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet on Saturday night. It is always a great event and a great way to visit with friends. Thank you to Rozelle Webb and all the members of the Liberal Chamber for what you do for our community. As always, one of the highlights is the announcement of the Chamber Merit Award winner. This year’s recipient was Jo Ann Sharp. I can’t think of anyone more deserving than Jo Ann. She served our community for years as Chair of the Seward County Community College Board of Trustees among many other positions in the community. Congratulations Jo Ann!
The Legislature is on recess until the veto session begins on April 9. At that time we will take action on bills vetoed by the Governor that we might have the numbers to override. Below are bills the Governor has signed or allowed to become law since we adjourned last week along with a short description of the bill.
House Substitute for Senate Bill 366: Prohibits the hand-held use of a mobile telephone in a school zone when a reduced speed limit is enforced or in a road construction zone while workers are present and signs are posted at the beginning of the road construction zone alerting drivers to such workers. The bill also authorizes vehicles engaged in highway construction and maintenance operations to display amber, green and/or white lights in a road construction zone. The bill also authorizes stationary trailers to display white and blue lights between sunset and sunrise in a road construction zone when workers are present.
Senate Substitute for House Bill 2212: Authorizing the Governor to make a declaration of need for enhanced public safety and security for an extraordinary event. This is a temporary law needed for the large influx of visitors from around the world for the World Cup events in the Kansas City Metro area.
House Bill 2393: Authorizing the Kansas Supreme Court to impose a charge to fund the costs of non-judicial personnel through June 30, 2030.
House Bill 2511: Permitting money received from agricultural production on a state-owned property to be used for the management of all state-owned properties.
House Bill 2519: Continuing in existence certain exceptions to the disclosure of public records under the Kansas Open Records Act.
House Bill 2622: Modifying the municipal lease-purchase protest petition requirements.
House Bill 2702: Providing that applicants for a physician assistant license submit to a criminal record check, providing for the collaboration between physicians and physician assistants, and requiring the revocation of a physician assistant license under certain circumstances.
House Bill 2761: Enacting the speech-language pathology assistant act to provide for the licensure of speech-language pathology assistants.
Senate Bill 55: Providing additional protections from exploitative contractors by prohibiting the assignment of benefits under certain property and casualty insurance contracts.
Senate Bill 425: Increasing the maximum annual registration fee limit for seed retailers and wholesalers and authorizing a late fee for registrations renewed after the registration deadline.
Governor Laura Kelly allowed Senate Bill 334 to become law without her signature. This bill will help address the workforce shortage in skilled nursing and the increased need for educators to prepare future nurses. The bill creates reasonable flexibility in nurse faculty hiring standards without lowering educational or quality expectations, which will then grow the nursing workforce of Kansas.
