Kansas Legislative News #2
March 2007
Tom Thompson
5001 Rock Creek Lane, Mission, KS 66205
Phone: 913-236-9161; cell: 913-687-2405;
email: tomnthompson@sbcglobal.net

Turn Around Time
The approximate halfway point for the 2007 legislative session was reached the weekend of February 24-25. This marks what is referred to as turn-around. That is Senate bills that have passed the Senate are turned over to the House for consideration and House bills to the Senate. House bills that have not passed from the House or Senate bills that are still in the Senate and are not from an exempt committee are dead until next year. Of course some bills were defeated and are dead.

There are three committees in each house that are exempt committees. Bills that ever passed through an exempt committee are referred to as being "blessed". That means they can continue to be considered in the house of origin despite not yet having been passed. The exempt committees in the Senate are the Ways and Means, Assessment and Taxation and the Federal and State Committees. They are the same in the House except that the Ways and Means Committee is called the Appropriations Committee in the House. Sometimes bills are sent to these committees then reassigned to another non-exempt committee. By so doing, these bills stays "alive".

Current Bills
It would seem that this year's legislature is acting as if it supports a green agenda. As lobbyist I have testified in support of far more bills than against. However, seeing these bills pass is another story. It will be necessary to give the House and Senate encouragement to do the right thing. They must know that their constituents want environmentally laws to pass and that talking green without action is not good enough.

This week I will be testifying on four bills. Two of these, H.B. 2037 and 2038, I testified on previously. H.B. 2037, which was supported, provides tax incentives for landlords to install insulation and other energy saving devises in their properties. On the other hand, 2038 was opposed. This bill also gave tax incentives but they were for building additional nuclear generation near Wolf Creek. Both of these bills will be worked in the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee. They are in the Senate because they passed in the House.

The other two bills have been blessed and will be worked in the House Energy and Utilities Committee. They are H.B. 2526 and 2479. The Sierra Club supports both these. H.B. 2526 provides for a system to monitor mercury in the atmosphere. It was written by Rep. Vaughn Flora and Tom Hawk who were supporters of H.B. 2219 that called for a moratorium on coal fired power plants. Since this bill did was tabled, they worked to have 2526 written so that there would be a system in place to measure the mercury that coal contributes to the atmosphere.

As a side note, if one would like to find out their mercury levels they can go to: https://secureusa.greenpeace.org/mercury/?from=sierra_club and for $25 and a snip of hair they can become part of a national study on mercury. The study is being conducted at the Environmental Quality Institute at the University of North Carolina-Ashville and is sponsored by the Sierra Club and Greenpeace.

A Renewable Portfolio Standard or RPS is the subject of H.B. 2479. The Sierra Club supports the concept of the RPS so will support the bill. However, it will be stressed in testimony that this bill, as written, has an RPS that is inadequate. The bill says that beginning in 2009, 1.25% of the electric public utility's total retail electric sales to Kansas 's customers will be of renewable sources. This will be done until 2012. This would be far short of the goal expressed by Gov. Sebelius of 10% by 2010 and 20% by 2020. It is hoped that this bill will be improved.

Other Bills Still Alive
Senate Bill 123 (supported) concerning the establishment of a Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) in the Upper Arkansas River Basin is still in the Senate Natural Resources Committee. This bill was also submitted as HB 2184 and was allowed to die in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. Because of its history in the house, it may take a strong show of support before Sen. McGinn, Senate Natural Resources Chair, will allow a committee vote on this Senate version.

HB 2419(supported) gives income and property tax incentives for storing CO2 underground. This would primarily be done in oil and gas wells in Kansas and could be part of using CO2 to force oil out of wells. This bill passed the house and is now in the Senate Taxation Committee awaiting a hearing.

SB 140 (supported) was requested by State Senator Chris Steineger and provides tax incentives for individuals to buy hybrid vehicles or vehicles getting over 40 mpg. This is another bill where there was a house version, HB 2222, which was tabled in committee. However, I hope that 140 will be able to continue if adequate support is shown.
SB 128 (supported) requires the KCC to develop and administer a program to deliver energy education and conservation promotion programs. It also establishes the Energy Conservation Education Advisory Group to set standards for these programs. 128 passed the Senate and are now in the House Energy and Utilities Committee. It is scheduled to be heard Tuesday, March 6.

HB 2127 (supported) allowed for parallel generation in schools and by irrigators. Utilities would pay them 150% of avoided cost for excess energy that is produced by renewable generation methods like wind. This bill passed the House and is now in the Senate Utilities Committee.

HB 2033 (opposed) gave an incentive to power companies by allowing them to charge ratepayers for construction work in progress (CWIP) without first being allowed to do so by the Kansas Corporation Commission. It passed the House with an amendment and is now in the Senate Utilities Committee. Without a strong objection from voters being sent to the KCC and Kansas leaders, it appears that this bill will go to the governor's desk and will make it easier for utilities to build future coal fired power plants.

Bills that did not make the cut
Two bills that did not make the cut were similar. HB 2406 (supported conceptually) and 2492 (opposed) both dealt with the siting of wind farms and were heard in the House Energy and Utilities Committee. One (2406) included tax incentives if utilities built wind farms and used siting guidelines specified in the bill. The Sierra Club supported having guidelines and using tax incentives for those using them. Testimony questioned the efficacy of the siting guidelines and suggested that the bill be studied in an interim committee where more specifically written guidelines could be written in a more deliberative manner. The other (2492) established specific siting guidelines and allowed counties to determine whether or not they could be built. County decisions could be challenged by a petition signed by 10% of those living within 2000 feet of a wind farm. This petition would make county commissions vote again on the siting but with a 2/3rds majority. Most counties have only 3 commissioners so this would have meant a unanimous vote. The Sierra Club opposed this bill for the same reasons it suggested 2406 go to an interim committee and because the county commission challenged allowed just a handful of people to stop a wind farm. Amendments were proposed for both of these bills but they were both tabled by the committee.

Two more bills that the Sierra Club opposed had to do with Kansas Wildlife and Parks. These were HB 2311 and 2052. Rep. Otto had both bills written because of a situation where someone wanted to build a pond where an animal on the Kansas Endangered Species list existed. Mitigation was required before the pond could be built. 2311 had to do with Wildlife and Parks being removed from the permitting of such ponds and 2052 did away with the Kansas Endangered Species Act altogether. Though these bills could be amended by Rep Otto into other bills, they were not passed out of committee before turnaround.

SB 145 remains in Senate Natural Resources Committee. It establishes regulations concerning the siting of landfills near rivers and streams. It has been reported that this bill did not have support in committee but the Chair, Sen. McGinn, is interested in working this bill next year should adequate support be shown. Senate Bill 120 passed from the Senate Utilities Committee March 1 and needs the approval of the full Senate. 120 require that a disclosure of thermal efficiency be made available when a property is offered for sale, requested by a buyer and at closing.