Icy streets and 15-degree temperatures didn’t dissuade area residents from fillling the seats at the first Eggs and Issues meeting of the season Saturday morning at the Sauder Alumni Center.
The Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitors and Convention Bureau sponsor the annual meetings, assisted by the League of Women Voters, to give local representatives and the senator an opportunity to talk about state issues and answer questions from constituents.
Rep. Peggy Mast, who spoke first, said that she was concerned that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ budget appeared to contain $324.7 million more in expenses than in anticipated revenues and that the governor’s health care recommendations constituted socialized medicine.
Rep. Don Hill told the audience that he’d found broad agreement on the issues set out in the governor’s State of the Union speech.
“I’m hard-pressed to find one thing in the governor’s (speech) that I would take exception to,” Hill said. “We need to take a look at the details in the budget, which we have now.”
Economic development initiatives may include tax cuts in unemployment tax and corporate income tax; accountability and transparency in government budgets and operations continue to be issues.
“We’re going to have a smorgasbord of opportunities and I think the good news is ... we’re seeing some,” he said.
Health care continues to be a focus of Sen. Jim Barnett. Kansans have access to health care, he said.
“Unfortunately, it’s through the Emergency Room,” Barnett said. “It’s very limited and very expensive.”
He said that 44,000 Kansas children now qualify for existing programs, such as Medicare and Health Wave, but 71 percent of them are not enrolled in the programs.
“Some families just don’t want to take government assistance,” he said. “... We’ll look at what other states are doing.”
Portability of insurance also is a concern. Barnett said that one in 10 Kansans are uninsured and many of them are people who have changed jobs and are not yet eligible for insurance.
Barnett said the state needs to emphasize prevention and wellness to bring down health costs, and mentioned that smoking is the number one preventable health problem for Kansans.
Barnett touched on deferred maintenance of state-owned property and said that forward-looking planning would be essential in avoiding a maintenance crisis such as the state now is encountering.
On-going difficulties with the Social and Rehabilitation Services was a topic opened by the audience.
“SRS is a very big agency,” Mast said. “I’ve never been able to find that it is very efficient.”
When she has requested help for constituents on such issues as child custody or grandparental visitation, she encountered difficulties.
“It’s been very disappointing for me,” she said.
Mast said that she also did not believe that privatization efforts have been adequately addressed.
Hill said that SRS is “an 800-pound gorilla, in many respects.”
Stakeholders meetings will be held around the state, and he said he plans to attend.
“I wish I could say there’s more promising results,” he said.
Stan Fowler broached the topic of Kansas’ minimum wage, which he said was $2.65 an hour. The state does not fare well when compared against other states.
“It makes us look like we’re backward,” Fowler said.
City commissioner Bob Agler and county commissioner Marshall Miller talked with legislators about restoration of the state's former policy of returning money to local governments. Elimination of that return has caused local units to compensate for the loss by increasing property taxes.
Barnett agreed the property taxes have been increased and said that the change has hurt areas of the state that are struggling economically. It also has created an issue among the elderly. Some, he said, are having to sell their homes because they cannot afford to pay the property taxes. The situation is not likely to change this year.
"I'm afraid it's not a priority in the current budget," Barnett said.
Mast said the Houses has a proposal to freeze property tax of individuals when they reach 65, which would necessitate that other taxpayers compensate for the difference in tax revenue.
"It's got an up side for the elderly and a down side for the businesses," Mast said.
Audience member Bill Barnes told legislators he believed that school budgets need to be presented in a uniform format that is easier for citizens to read and comprehend.
“It’s too complex,” Barnes said, adding that Emporia school district budgets are pieced together from several sources and range from 130 to 150 pages. “I think you need something for those of us who are taxpayers.”
Hill said that the 2010 Commission, which last year was charged has been looking into that aspect of education. The commission which was formed last year and will sunset in 2010, is to evaluate the system of financial support, reform and restructuring of Kansas public education and to ensure the state’s system is efficient and effective, among other responsibilities.
“They just lack, at this point, a consensus,” Hill said.
Doug Wilson said he believed that the state needs to make sure it is not enabling or encouraging some people to receive taxpayer-finance health care while insured taxpayers picked up the bill. He said that as a business owner, he cannot afford to pay for all of the health insurance costs of his employees. Prospective employees therefore have told him that they are better off financially staying on Medicaid, for example, than accepting a job at one of his businesses, where they would be paying monthly premiums for insurance.
The meeting Saturday was not all questions and constructive criticism.
Chuck Hanna complemented the legislators on the state’s system of roads. As he travels highways in other states, he said, “You especially appreciate Kansas.”