Kansas views on school funding, anti-gay bills, renewable energy, Kensinger, strange session
School funding – If the block-grant bill takes effect, the Winfield school district would lose an estimated $700,000 in state aid by July 1, 2017. No one wants a constitutional crisis. But the hastily passed bill threatens school districts whose student population changes. It particularly threatens districts in which more at-risk kids come to school. The lost state aid could mean poorer-quality education, or property tax increases, or both. If the three-judge panel in Topeka decides to rule that the block-grant bill is unconstitutional, we will applaud – holding our breath.
The reckless state tax policy set up an excuse to cut public school funding for a governor and fellow far-right Republicans determined to shift support to private school operations. Cuts are just part of their anti-public schools agenda. They’ve also zeroed in on K-12 educators with mean-spirited initiatives ranging from removing teachers’ right to due process, to wanting them arrested for using classroom materials some would deem offensive. Such strategies to undermine K-12 schools come straight from the American Legislative Exchange Council, an ultraconservative bill mill, and are pushed by the Kansas Chamber, Americans for Prosperity and Kansas Policy Institute.
Anti-gay bills – Why doesn’t Kansas just hang out a sign that says, “We don’t want your kind around here”? It certainly would be more to the point than the games the Legislature is playing these days. For instance, a bill would allow faith-based student organizations at public colleges to keep people out of their clubs based on club members’ “sincerely held religious beliefs.” That’s code for “No gays allowed.”
Renewable energy – Critics of the renewable energy standards claim they interfere with the free market and significantly add to the price that Kansas consumers pay for electrical power. However, that added cost is minimal. According to a Kansas Corporation Commission report, the state’s retail electrical cost is 9.95 cents per kilowatt-hour. The renewable portfolio standards account for just 0.22 of a cent of that cost. This is a growing industry that has the potential to produce an economic boon for Kansas. Any legislation that squelches that progress would be a move in the wrong direction.
Lobbyist insider – Lobbyist David Kensinger was invited to Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget planning sessions in January. Part of the plan for making up the shortfall in the state’s budget is an increase on taxes on alcohol and tobacco. And while only a handful of people know Kensinger’s initial views on the matter, we now know that the onetime right hand of the governor landed a job in February as lobbyist for the giant tobacco company Reynolds American. This sort of insider activity undermines the democratic process and the principle that state government should work for the well-being of its citizens.
Strange session – The Kansas Senate passed a budget that doesn’t balance. Radical bills on guns and abortion cleared the Legislature. Gov. Sam Brownback signed a monumental school finance law in a private ceremony with nary an educator or student in sight. Strange is the norm in Topeka these days.
This story was originally published April 5, 2015 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Kansas views on school funding, anti-gay bills, renewable energy, Kensinger, strange session."