As we reflect on the past month, it gives us great cause to be grateful to live in the United States and to be Kansans. On Memorial Day, we remembered those who died preserving our freedoms; at the same time we observed the outpouring of love shown by fellow Kansans toward the people and community of Greensburg. This spirit of love and helpfulness is what makes America great and makes us proud to Kansans.

Over the past 30 days, besides my work in Topeka, I have been privileged to speak before a group of Tennessee Legislators, in Nashville, about what can be done to help those suffering from the disease of addiction. I have been in Kansas City working with a company on a joint venture with the Bio-Science Authority. During this time I observed my colleagues in Greensburg reach out to help those who suffered a terrible blow. I went to Colorado and watched with pride as my niece graduated from Air Academy High School. Her parents attended the ceremony, as did her older brother, a cadet at the Academy, who watched and realized his little sister is a young woman with a bright future. I traveled to Jetmore to see a friend, who graduated from Jetmore High in 1975, return from California to speak at the All Faiths Worship Service held during Memorial Day Weekend. I mention these travels as a reminder to you and me that in America, the good ‘ol USA, we are free to celebrate, to console, to worship, and to attain our goals. We sometimes take these freedoms for granted. My message is to be grateful for the many blessings the Good Lord has bestowed upon us.

The first of several highlights of this year’s legislative session is the phase-out of the franchise tax. Eliminating this tax allows business owners to invest more dollars in their businesses and add more jobs, as will the reduction in unemployment tax that we passed this year. The legislature also eliminated the tax on Social Security benefits for seniors making less that $50K a year.

We were successful, with much help from the Autism community, in creating the Autism Task Force. This Task Force will study and conduct hearings on issues relating to the needs and services available for people with Autism. They will present a report in November. Another bill of local interest is SB8; a section of this bill allows the use of Worksite Utility Vehicles on county roads. This is especially important in our part of the state as many of these vehicles are used on job sites, farms and feed yards. People will be able go from job site to job site or farm to farm, as well as run to town and pick up parts, tools & supplies with WSUV’s.

Even though there is still disparity in the funding of our Community Colleges, we were able to make some progress this year. HB2237 (the deferred Maintenance bill) was originally designed to fund deferred maintenance at the Regent Schools, but we were successful in adding Community Colleges. Another measure that will help Dodge City Community College is HB2556. This bill establishes the Kansas Tech School/College Commission. The Commission will study and conduct hearings on the governance, funding, and mission of Kansas Tech Schools/Colleges. HB2556 also establishes the Postsecondary Technical Education Authority designed to coordinate statewide planning for existing technical education and funding for these programs. It is hoped that the establishment of this Authority will eliminate funding disparities among Technical Schools/Colleges.

This is a review of just a few of the bills that we enacted this year. If you have questions about these or other bills please contact me. You can also access a plethora of information at www.kansas.gov. I appreciate representing you, the people of the 119th District, as well as all of Kansas. The best way to reach me is through email: george@house.state.ks.us. Or visit my website at www.patgeorge.org. DeleteReplyForwardSpamMove... Previous | Next | Search Results Save Message Text | Full Headers

Sincerely yours,

Pat George
Representative for the 119th District
State of Kansas
House of Representatives