Voice For Liberty

Tag: Mark Parkinson

  • Kansas taxes and spending debated

    Should Kansas increase taxes or control spending in order to balance its budget? On the editorial page of the Wichita Eagle yesterday, three editorials discussed the Kansas budget, taxes, and spending.

    Rhonda Holman’s editorial featured Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson and his claims that the temporary one-cent sales tax used to fund the Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita wasn’t noticed, and therefore didn’t harm the economy. The governor’s reasoning is incorrect, as taxes do indeed harm the economy.

    When it was proposed in Wichita in 2002 to have a sales tax increase of one-half cent per dollar to build an arena, Wichita car dealers claimed that it would place them at a competitive disadvantage. So people and business do notice the effect of sales taxes.

    While the geography is different — the proposed Wichita sales tax was to be only for one city, while the governor’s sales tax is for the entire state — the principle is the same: Higher taxes in Kansas will place our state at a competitive disadvantage.

    This editorial also mentions “painful cuts to education” that have been made. More about that in a moment.

    A second editorial was written by Bernie Koch, who is Executive Director of the Kansas Economic Progress Council. He takes the position that we can’t make additional cuts, concluding that “To simply rely on cuts will damage the institutions and systems needed to survive the Great Recession and pursue economic recovery.”

    Referring to a SurveyUSA poll from last month, Koch wrote: “86 percent [of Kansans] said they were somewhat or very concerned about cuts to education.”

    The problem with this poll is that the people of Kansas are very uninformed about school spending and cuts. First, there are plenty of cuts to be made, cuts that don’t affect the classroom. Recently the Wichita school district was able to find $2.5 million annual savings by adjusting transportation schedules at a small number of schools. Now that district is looking at savings that can be had in administration.

    So when the Eagle editorial board and the governor claim that “painful cuts” have been made to schools, were those painful cuts made before transportation schedules were adjusted? Kansans should ask where these priorities are set.

    Second, Kansans are simply uninformed — perhaps deliberately misinformed — about the level of school spending, as a poll conducted by the Kansas Policy Institute found. This poll, released last week, found that “fewer than one Kansan in 10 has a clear idea how much money schools actually receive — or spend — to educate elementary, middle and high school students across the state.”

    Further, when informed about the true level of spending and the increase over the past five years, 81 percent of Kansans oppose tax increases for school spending. Only 11 percent were willing to pay increased taxes.

    The third editorial was written by Kent Beisner, who is interim president and CEO of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce.

    Beisner accurately diagnoses the cause of the problem: “The governor and his allies in the Legislature actually have the audacity to claim that recent tax cuts are to blame for the state’s budget deficit. But when the Legislature cut taxes earlier this decade, revenues to the state skyrocketed. The problem occurred when the state showed zero fiscal restraint and committed to spending more than it was taking in, erasing more than a $950 million budget surplus in just two years. Kansas most definitely does not have a tax-cutting or revenue problem.”

    The way to get out of this problem is to control spending so that taxes don’t have to be raised. A low-tax environment is the best tool Kansas can use to attract and keep business, Beisner added: “If the Legislature adopts what will amount to the largest tax increase in the state’s history, states more competitive than Kansas will no doubt take advantage of our resulting anti-growth climate and lure our employers and workers out of the state.”

  • Wichita schools, despite claims, find cost savings

    Despite claims that school spending has been “cut to the bone,” USD 259, the Wichita public school district, found a way to save $2.5 million per year by adjusting school starting times, thereby saving on transportation costs.

    School spending advocates have claimed that it is not possible to cut spending without affecting students. It starts at the top with Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson’s repeated claims that spending has been “cut to the bone.” He says it’s not possible to make more cuts.

    Other school spending advocates repeat this theme of having cut as much as possible, repeating the “bone” theme. An issue of the Kansas National Education Association newsletter Under the Dome for March 30, 2009 claims that spending has “already been cut to the bone.”

    Kansas Board of Education Chair Janet Waugh said “Districts have already cut to the bone,” according to a Kansas Reporter article.

    Last year Representative Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat, former Wichita school board member, and Assistant Minority Leader of the Kansas House of Representatives, stated in a KAKE Television news story “If you cut $10 million, you’re now cutting into the bone, the marrow, and you’re going to have a significant impact on the ability to deliver education.”

    The Wichita Eagle editorial board has said several times that cuts to Wichita school spending will hurt students. Referring to the possible need to cut $25 million from the Wichita school budget, Philip Brownlee in March wrote “Cutting that much money — or even a third as much — could cause great harm.”

    Despite these claims, by adjusting school starting times and transportation schedules, the Wichita school system was able to save a great deal of money without impacting the classroom. The $2.5 million savings just discovered by the Wichita school district is 30% of the “one-third of $25 million” that Brownlee says cutting would cause great harm. It represents 25% of the amount that Ward claimed would have a significant impact.

    We should now ask these questions:

    First, are there other cuts like this that can be made? It seems unlikely that this change is the only cost savings the Wichita school district — and other districts — can find.

    Second, the Wichita school district did not participate in a voluntary school audit program. What other costs savings might have been found if Wichita had participated?

    Third, why wasn’t this savings discovered and implemented in past years? Does it take a budget crisis to force public schools to seek ways in which to operate more efficiently?

    Finally, private sector businesses face the never-ending discipline of market competition and seek ways to operate more efficiently even in good times. Government institutions such as public schools, however, don’t face this discipline. Should Kansas find a way to introduce market discipline to our state’s schools?

  • Kansas governor speaks on spending, taxes

    In a press conference this afternoon, Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson said there are no more spending cuts possible, and that taxes must be raised.

    Parkinson said the Kansas economy has made progress, but there are still significant challenges. He said that in February the unemployment rate went down, and that has been noticed in the declining number unemployment benefits applications.

    He said that March revenues may exceed estimates.

    Concerning the first part of the legislative session, Parkinson said that the consensus is that state programs can’t be cut any farther. He said that after one billion dollars in cuts, there are no more possible cuts. “There just isn’t any other area that we can cut.” Some conservative legislators have confided to him that they agree, he said.

    He said the “Yoder budget,” which he said calls for cutting school spending while at the same time leading to potential property tax increases, has gone nowhere. He said he believes this budget doesn’t have enough votes to proceed.

    The solution is not painful, Parkinson said. He said we should raise the tobacco tax to the national average and pass the temporary one cent sales tax. He repeated the assertion, as he has in the past, that the people of Wichita didn’t notice the start or the end of the one cent sales tax used to build the Intrust Bank Arena.

    The tax would go away, he said, except for a small part used to fund a highway plan.

    Other reporting is at Parkinson, Senate leaders predict mix of tax increases to solve budget crisis and Gov renews call for tax increases. State of the State KS provides video at Governor Calls House Budget Reckless and Says Legislators See Need For Taxes.

  • Kansas makes unwise bet on passenger rail

    Last week Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson signed into law HB 2552, which enacts the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Compact. This act will promote improvements to passenger rail service and the development of plans for long-range high speed rail service in the Midwest, according to the governor’s press release.

    “Passenger rail service in Kansas would create economic opportunities for the future, but the planning must begin now,” said Parkinson in a press release. “A strong public infrastructure system helps attract businesses and jobs to our state, and a high speed rail service is another piece in furthering our economic recovery. I am pleased to sign these two bills that will set the gears in motion for increased avenues of transportation in Kansas and the entire Midwest.”

    The governor also signed SB 409, which authorizes the Kansas Secretary of Transportation to establish and implement a passenger rail service program in the state.

    In Kansas, the Northern Flyer Alliance has promoted this legislation as a way to return passenger rail service to Kansas, specifically from Kansas City through Wichita to Oklahoma City and Fort Worth. It’s a bad idea. Any expansion of Amtrak, which is how this service would be implemented, is bad public policy.

    Consider some of the recent history of Amtrak. In 2001, the Cato Institute Policy Analysis Help Passenger Rail by Privatizing Amtrak contained this in its summary:

    Amtrak has failed to secure an increasing portion of America’s growing transportation market. It carries only about three-tenths of 1 percent of all intercity passengers. Its on-time performance on most routes is terrible, and it covers up this fact by measuring punctuality at a limited number of stops and building in lots of extra time before those stops.

    Many of Amtrak’s trains run much more slowly today than did trains on the same routes earlier this century. Moreover, Amtrak uses creative accounting to disguise its financial problems. For example, Amtrak receives many subsidies from government agencies and has recently abandoned standard accounting practices to hide operating expenses as capital costs.

    In the recent Cato Institute briefing paper High-Speed Rail Is Not “Interstate 2.0”, author Randal O’Toole provided this summary:

    The administration has likened President Obama’s high-speed rail plan to President Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System. Yet there are crucial differences between interstate highways and high-speed rail.

    First, before Congress approved the Interstate Highway System, it had a good idea how much it would cost. In contrast, Congress approved $8 billion for high-speed rail without knowing the total cost, which is likely to be at least $90 billion.

    Second, highway users paid for interstate highways, whereas high-speed rail will be almost entirely subsidized by general taxpayers who will rarely use it.

    Third, interstate highways connect all 48 contiguous states and major metropolitan areas. The FRA’s high-speed rail plan consists of six unconnected networks that reach only 33 states and less than two-thirds of the nation’s 100 largest urban areas.

    Fourth, the average American traveled 4,000 miles on interstates in 2007. High-speed rail proponents optimistically estimate that the average American would ride the FRA’s high-speed rail system less than 60 miles per year.

    Finally, interstate highways improved social welfare by increasing highway safety. In contrast, far from saving energy and reducing pollution, high-speed rail would actually increase energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

    For all these reasons, the United States government should not fund high-speed rail. The $8 billion in high-speed rail stimulus funds should be invested in safety improvements, not in new trains and new routes that will add to future taxpayer obligations.

    Amtrak also has problems with transparency and accountability, and has troubles complying with provisions of the federal Inspector General Act. A recent investigation concluded: “… contrary to the requirements of the IG Act, the OIG’s independence at Amtrak has been diminished and threatened by recent policies and practices at Amtrak affecting OIG investigations and giving the appearance that OIG is subordinate to the Law Department. The involvement by the Law Department in OIG investigations both impermissibly and unnecessarily restricts the OIG’s access to document and information …”

    Amtrak is a federal agency that should be disbanded immediately, not expanded.

    In testimony before the Kansas House Transportation Committee on March 3, advocates for the Northern Flyer project gave several reasons for supporting it. One reason is that other states are getting federal money for similar projects, and Kansas residents are “donating to what other states will receive.” The point was made that fares will offset some of the operating expenses, but that this rail services will not be profitable. Rail should not be expected to operate without subsidy, proponents said. Many other forms of transportation are subsidized, too, and the amount of money spent on rail subsidy is small.

    But when compared to other forms of transportation, rail is subsidized at a much higher rate. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in 2002, highway use was subsidized at the rate of negative $1.00 per thousand passenger miles. “Negative numbers show user charge payments to the federal government in excess of cost responsibility,” explains the report, meaning that highway drivers are subsidizing other forms of transportation.

    Commercial aviation was subsidized at the rate of $6.18 per thousand passenger miles, with general aviation racking up subsidy at the rate of $91.42 (2001 figures.)

    Railroad received $210.31 per thousand passenger miles. It’s a very expensive way to travel.

  • Kansas news digest

    News from alternative media around Kansas for March 29, 2010.

    Passenger Trains Are One Step Closer To Rolling Into Kansas

    (State of the State KS) “Governor Parkinson (D) signed two bills Wednesday that pave the way for passenger rail in Kansas.”

    Governor Mark Parkinson on the Economy, the Budget and Kansas Health

    (State of the State KS) “Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson (D) addresses budget shortfalls, key Capitol legislative issues and the need for bipartisan work in Kansas and Washington.”

    Chamber vs. Chamber: The Battle of Economic Theories

    (State of the State KS) “The growing divide between the Chambers of Commerce reflect the battle of economic theories facing off at the Capital.”

    President Obama Signs Health Care Reform Prompting Some To Block The Law Locally

    (State of the State KS) “President Obama signed historic health care reform into law Tuesday prompting some Kansas Republicans to try to block pieces of the legislation.”

    Rep. Moore’s wife interested in Third District race

    (Kansas Liberty) “Moore afraid of threats but doesn’t fear for his wife.”

    Health care freedom amendment fails in House

    (Kansas Liberty) “The Kansas Health Care Freedom Amendment failed to pass out of the Kansas House today after the measure gained a vote of 75-47, which was nine votes short of what was needed for the legislation to be adopted.”

    Kansas GOP playing defense against ObamaCare

    (Kansas Liberty) “Kansas legislators from the local and the national level have already waged a full attack against the health-care reform bill President Barack Obama signed into law Tuesday. Kansas lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have started to promote bills that would repeal the health-care plan, and proposed initiatives to ensure that the health-care overhaul does not receive federal funding. Several congressional candidates have taken a different approach by asking Kansas Attorney General Steve Six to join the list of attorneys general who are legally questioning the constitutionality of the health-care bill.”

    Senate stands against EPA ruling

    (Kansas Liberty) “The Kansas Senate passed a resolution today 34-3 which sends a message to the federal government criticizing the Environmental Protection Agency’s ruling that greenhouse gasses are harmful to the public’s health.”

    Groups claiming to represent the interest of business ask for tax hike

    (Kansas Liberty) “Representative says residents who benefit from taxpayer dollars have ‘infiltrated’ local chambers of commerce, resulting in the pro-tax message.”

    Much undone as Legislature heads for first adjournment

    (Kansas Health Institute News Service) “TOPEKA – The Legislature will take first adjournment sometime this week with budget and tax work far from complete and a statewide smoking ban still one of the few far-reaching accomplishments of the session.”

    “I’ve been defamed,” Kansas Speaker O’Neal tells panel

    (Kansas Reporter) “TOPEKA, Kan. – Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal, a Hutchinson Republican, told an investigating panel Tuesday that he’s been defamed by House Democrats who earlier this month filed an ethics complaint against him.”

    Kansas teacher policies fall short

    (Kansas Reporter) “TOPEKA, Kan. – Kansas teacher policy standards did not make the grade in 2009 according to a new report by the National Council on Teacher Quality. The state policies received an overall grade of D-minus. The report examined areas in which state policy affects the delivery of well prepared teachers by schools in the state; expansion of the teacher pool; identifying effective teachers; retaining effective teachers; and exiting ineffective teachers.”

    My View: Kansas should pass shield law

    (Kansas Watchdog) “Trust, confidence, protection, faith — these are the words that describe the relationship between doctors and patients, lawyers and clients, and reporters and sources. However, only two of those three relationships are provided legal protection from sharing the secrets passed between parties. In several states, reporters have absolutely no protection when it comes to revealing their sources on a given story.”

    Obama’s second cousin, a doctor from Kansas, pushes for Kansas Health Care Freedom

    (Kansas Watchdog) “On his web site Barack Obama’s second cousin, Dr. Milton R. Wolf, Leawood, is pushing for passage of the Kansas Health Care Freedom Amendment.”

  • Kansans, including governor, rally for school spending, taxes

    Kansas long-term debt per person

    Today in Topeka supporters of more taxes for Kansas public school spending marched from the headquarters of Kansas National Education Association (or KNEA, the teachers union), to the Kansas Capitol, where they heard from speakers including Governor Parkinson. The crowd, braving the windy and cold weather, was estimated at 1,000 by the Topeka Capital-Journal.

    The theme of the rally — besides more taxes and more spending — was the chant “We want what’s right, not what’s left!” I don’t think the participants detected the irony.

    Kansas Senator Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat and a schoolteacher, said that keeping class sizes small, keeping quality teachers, and making sure that all children have an equal opportunity to succeed are the right things to do. Early childhood education and more technology are needed. He advocated for increasing state funding of Kansas schools instead of reliance on local property taxes.

    He said that investment in education is less expensive than paying to house prisoners.

    Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson acted as cheerleader for the crowd. He said that the outcome of the school funding battle will define the type of state we want to be: “Do we want to be a state that tears down our schools and refuses to fund education for our schoolchildren, or do we want to be a state that lifts up our schools, lifts up our teachers, and provides an education for every kid?”

    He asked whether we wanted to be a state where only the children of the wealthy can get a good education. He urged the group to go into action by emailing, writing, and calling legislators. He said the message to give them is not only to support education, as all legislators say they support education. Instead, Parkinson said to ask them: “Will you raise taxes to save schools?”

    He said we can do this — saving schools, presumably — with just a one cent increase in the sales tax. He said that the “so-called economists” on the right will say that a one cent sales tax will tear down our economy. He referred to the Sedgwick County sales tax used to build the Intrust Bank Arena, saying that people told him they didn’t know when the tax went on and off, claiming that no one noticed it. “Where are our priorities? If we can raise taxes one cent to build an arena, surely we can raise taxes on cent to help every schoolchild.”

    Several speakers stressed the importance of education for the future well-being of our economy and country.

    Analysis

    The Kansas teachers union’s role in this rally is ironic to the point of absurdity, as it has been one of the major impediments to improving public schools. A recent letter in the Wall Street Journal described how the teachers union and its rules has harmed Topeka schools.

    School spending supporters spend a lot of time talking about investing in education. But spending on public education is not really investing. It’s simply government spending on government schools. It results in jobs being transferred from the productive private sector to the unproductive public sector.

    We must also disagree with the governor when he minimizes the impact of a sales tax on the economy. Despite the governor’s contention — I’ll chalk it up to rhetorical excess — I certainly noticed when the Sedgwick County sales tax started and stopped. A sales tax increase does result in lost private sector jobs. It results in lost economic freedom, as explained in Tax increases will cost Kansas jobs, economic freedom.

    If a sales tax increase could be used to fund increased spending on schools without harming the economy, why stop at a one cent increase? Why not three or four cents? Or ten cents on the dollar? As we’ve seen, no amount of increased spending will satisfy the school spending lobby, at least not until all private sector wealth is transferred to the government.

    Finally, for those who are willing to cast the lot of Kansas schoolchildren with the current system, consider the Adequate Yearly Funding website created to support this rally. The creator of this site, apparently Noah Slay, a third grade teacher and one of the rally organizers and speakers, evidently doesn’t know how to correctly form the plural of a word like “logo.” Twice the site erroneously creates the plural form of this noun using the greengrocer’s apostrophe: “If you’re creative and enjoy creating interesting and catchy slogans and logo’s …”

    Related: Kansas school spending rally examined in video, story.

  • Kansas news digest

    News from alternative media around Kansas for March 16, 2010.

    School consolidation measures deliberated in House

    (Kansas Liberty) “The Kansas House tentatively approved a plan today that would allow three or more school districts to consolidate into two districts. House Bill 2704 originally included two consolidation-promoting components, but one of the components was stripped off on the House floor under the direction of Rep. Bill Light, R-Rolla.”

    Concealed-carry bill stalls in committee

    (Kansas Liberty) “Legislation promoting an alteration to the state’s concealed-carry law has been sitting in the House Federal and State Affairs committee since its February hearing. House Bill 2685 would require any state building that posts a sign prohibiting concealed-carry to have adequate security measures in place.”

    Debate — who decides supremacy of Health Care Freedom Amendment?

    (Kansas Liberty) “Conferees testifying on the Health Care Freedom Amendment butted heads today on whether the measure would provide the state with adequate protection from being forced to comply with any health-care mandates that could be passed by the federal government.”

    Sales tax exemption repeals a possibility for nonprofits, other organizations

    (Kansas Reporter) “TOPEKA, Kan. – Kansas business owners and non-profit service organizations urged lawmakers Monday to reject proposals that would require groups as diverse as utility customers, Girl Scouts and coin-operated laundry owners to pay more sales taxes.”

    Mega school districts would save millions, panel told

    (Kansas Reporter) “TOPEKA, Kan. – Consolidating Kansas’ nearly 300 school districts into a fraction of that number, with 10,000 students in each district, would cut potentially hundreds of million of dollars in duplicative administrative costs, backers of such a plan told a Kansas House panel this week.”

    KDOT looks at Amtrak expansion

    (Kansas Reporter) “TOPEKA, Kan. – The Kansas House voted 115 to five Thursday to give Kansas Secretary of Transportation Deb Miller the ability to prepare for expanded rail service in the state. That same day, Amtrak released a study concerning the feasibility of such passenger rail service, which was presented to the House Transportation committee.”

    Tobacco tax plan hurts mom-and-pop stores, opponents say

    (Kansas Reporter) “TOPEKA, Kan. – Tom Palace considered wearing a bulls-eye costume to testify before the Kansas Senate Assessment and Taxation committee hearing Wednesday. As executive director of the Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association of Kansas, Palace feels that the legislature’s proposed options for additional revenue target his industry at every turn. Cigarette, liquor, fuel and sales taxes are all options that the legislature is examining to cover an estimated $400 million budget shortfall.”

    Kansas panel changes proposed property tax lid

    (Kansas Reporter) “TOPEKA, Kan. – Kansas House Taxation committee members voted to send a proposed lid on new property tax increases to the House floor Tuesday after first changing a key condition in the plan.”

    Spokesmen for developmentally disabled ask Supreme Court to halt spending cuts

    (Kansas Health Institute News Service) “TOPEKA – A restraining order against the State of Kansas was requested Friday by advocates for the developmentally disabled, who said recent budget cuts are harmful and in violation of federal laws and the state constitution. ‘Thousands of people are hurting out there,’ said Tom Laing, executive director of Interhab, a group representing community programs for the developmentally disabled. ‘We should not want to live in a state where these things are allowed.’”

    Legislature wades into tax bills this week

    (Kansas Health Institute News Service) “TOPEKA – After weeks of talking about weak revenues and budget cuts, the Legislature this week takes up various tax proposals ranging from elimination of sales tax exemptions to a new levy on soda pop and other sugared drinks.”

    Governor says votes there for major tax increase

    (Kansas Health Institute News Service) “TOPEKA – There are enough votes to pass a $300 million to $400 million tax increase, the governor told KHI News Service. But still uncertain, he said, is the specific mix of taxes legislators will settle on. They currently have before them proposals to increase the general sales tax but also tobacco and alcohol. The Senate also is considering a measure that for the first time tax the sugar in soft drinks and other sugary beverages. The Senate and House this week also are looking at bills that would repeal sales tax exemptions.”

    Sunshine Week 2010: Sunshine is the Best Disinfectant

    (Kansas Watchdog) “Our nation’s founding documents state clearly that the people, endowed with fundamental, inalienable rights, are the masters of government, which derives its just power from the consent of the governed. But, can consent be given without knowledge of what is consented to? Citizens are in an uphill battle against the inertia of decades of apathy. Adding urgency to the battle is the dramatic growth of government influence, power and complexity both nationally and locally.”

    A Look Inside the Kansas State Board of Education

    (Kansas Watchdog) “The March meeting of the Kansas State Board of Education made no headlines in the major media but the future of Kansas’ youth, the financial future of the state and its citizens’ freedoms all depend, in part, on how the Board works and the decisions it makes. A few glimpses into the Board’s operation are telling.”

    My view: Campaign Finance should cover judicial retention elections

    (Kansas Watchdog) “Regardless of where one is on the political spectrum, open government, open records and transparency are issues that everyone can agree on. When Tom Witt from the Kansas Equality Coalition asked me to speak in favor of transparency in judicial retention elections, I knew that was an issue I had no choice but to embrace.”

    Governor Mark Parkinson on the Economy, the Budget and Kansas Health

    (State of the State KS) “Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson (D) addresses budget shortfalls, key Capitol legislative issues and the need for bipartisan work in Kansas and Washington.”

    Budget Director Duane Goossen On This Year’s $106 Million Problem

    (State of the State KS) “Budget Director Duane Goossen talks about new information the state is short $106 million for 2010 and what should be done to fix it.”

    School Consolidation Considered as Solution To Budget Crisis

    (State of the State KS) “The House Education Budget committee heard debate on a bill Thursday that would consolidate the current 293 school districts to about 45 across the state.”

  • Kansas governor to face smoking ban protesters in Salina

    A group of citizens who don’t agree with Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson’s decision to sign the statewide smoking ban bill is planning a protest in Salina.

    The governor will sign the smoking ban bill on Monday at 3:30 pm at the Salina Public Library. It’s a ceremonial signing, as the actual bill was signed earlier today.

  • Kansas texting, seat belt law passes

    Today the Kansas Senate debated and passed Senate Substitute for House Bill 2437.

    This bill creates a “primary” seat belt law, meaning that a law enforcement officer can stop a car when the officer believes someone in the car may not be wearing a seat belt. Currently, the car must have been stopped for other reasons before the officer could cite occupants for not wearing seat belts. The bill would send about $11 million federal dollars to Kansas; $1 million earmarked for transportation safety, but the rest could be shifted into the state general fund. Governor Mark Parkinson has identified this money as being used to close the state’s general fund budget gap.

    Senator Tim Huelskamp, a Republican from Fowler, objected to the bill because it’s a federal mandate that interferes with our local state control. The federal government has taken our tax money, he said, and is using it to coax our state into passing the primary seat belt law. Huelskamp’s actual language was stronger, using the term “outright bribery,” and noting with displeasure that the governor was acceding to this action.

    Senator Davie Haley, a Democrat from Kansas City, along with Senator Oletha Faust-Goudeau, Democrat from Wichita, expressed concerns that the seat belt law and the texting laws could be used as pretexts for stopping cars when the real aim of the officer is to perform a stop or search that couldn’t have been performed otherwise. “Driving while black” is the term both senators used, perhaps alluding to studies that have shown that minority drivers are stopped more often for minor traffic violations than non-minority drivers.

    The bill also bans text messaging or electronic mail while driving. During the debate Senator Chris Steineger, a Democrat from Kansas City, gave Kansans a defense if they’re ticketed for texting while driving: The bill doesn’t prohibit using a phone for making telephone calls while driving. In fact, the bill contains language providing an exception “if the person reads, selects or enters a telephone number or name in a handheld wireless communication device for the purpose of making or receiving a phone call.”

    Steineger wondered how a law enforcement officer could tell, just by looking, if a person is dialing a telephone number or entering a text message. He couldn’t get a specific answer from Senator Dwayne Umbarger, who was carrying the bill.