The Net #6
Kansas Legislative Network News

March 8, 2008
Tom Thompson
Legislative Coordinator
Sierra Club Kansas Chapter
5001 Rock Creek Lane, Mission, KS 66205
Phone: 913-236-9161; cell: 913-687-2405;
email: tomnthompson@sbcglobal.net

Holcomb Bill Goes to Governor

On Wednesday, the conference committee for House Substitute for Senate Bill 327 met at 8:00 a.m. Wednesday to put itself back together so that the bill could progress. Rep. Olson decided to agree to the report leaving Rep. Kuether to bear the load of opposition alone. By Thursday afternoon, both the House and Senate concurred sending the bill to Governor Sebelius who is expect to veto it. The bill is expected to receive the bill early next week. She will have 10 calendar days to veto it.

This cat and mouse game is long from over. Should the Governor veto 327, there will be an attempt to override it. This will take a 2/3rds majority in both houses. That would be 84 votes in the House and 27 in the House. If either house fails to reach their threshold, the veto stands.

At this point, with concurrence votes of 75 to 47 with 3 absences in the House and 32 to 7 with one neutral in the Senate one can see the Senate has reached the threshold but the House hasn't.

The task of anyone wanting to sustain the Governor's veto is to maintain the current vote in the House. Those wanting Holcomb built adding 11 million tons of carbon dioxide to our atmosphere will be offering all kinds of deals to change their votes. We need to support these legislators and tell them to hold the line.

It should be noted that some of those who voted no before have changed their votes to yes. These people are Rep. Sloan from Lawrence and Rep. Craft from Junction City . There were also some who changed from yes to no. These are Rep. Landwehr from Wichita , Rep. Morrison from Merriam and Rep. Peck from Tyro. It is not known why these legislators changed their votes. None-the-less, they need to be contacted, thanked and encouraged to sustain a veto. See past KLN's for previous votes.

Other Activity

The hearing on HB 2632 was completed on Wednesday. This bill allowes utilities to get a return on investments in efficiency and conservation initiatives for ratepayers. This bill was put into 327 the same day probably in an attempt to attract voters. It joins a number of other bills and concepts put into 327 to make it look like an environmental bill instead of a pollution bill.

It has been reported that the bill concerning rGBH and other food labeling, SB 595 will be submitted for an interim study this summer so won't be worked any further.

Next week, SB 580 that passed the Senate will be heard in the House Energy and Utilities Committee on Tuesday. This bill will establish a weatherization assistance program within the state housing trust fund.

HCR 5033 was submitted by Rep. Judy Morrison. This is a resolution urging the United States to withdraw from the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America and the North American Free Trade Agreement. It has been assigned to the Federal and State Affairs Committee.

Another bill I mentioned last week that will continue is HB 2949 (I accidentally listed it as 2924). This bill is being heard on Tuesday and Wednesday and is expected to be worked on Thursday. I encourage you to go to the legislative web site to download and read this bill. This will be heard in the Select Committee on Energy and Environment for the Future. What is unusual, besides the bill, is that this will be the only bill this committee will ever work. The Chair of the Committee, Rep. Don Myers of Derby , sent a memo, telling committee members that March 11, 12 and 13 will be the final meetings for the committee. Hopefully this will also prove to be the end of this bill. It is hard to say what the real intention of this bill is.

The short week last week marked the beginning of the second half of the session. Bills that passed the House have gone to the Senate and bills passing the Senate have gone to the House. There are four weeks left in the session. Along with the bills that turned over, many of the bills from exempt committees will be dealt with. These include appropriations, tax and many of the controversial bills that come out of Fed and State Committee including those concerning immigration. There won't be much time for other bills.

Tom Thompson
Legislative Chair
Sierra Club Kansas Chapter