KDOT will be hosting some very exciting events beginning next week!

- T-WORKS workshops will be held accross the state to help communities and individuals get organized for the local consult meeting which will be held in each KDOT district this fall. Please see the following schedule for an event near you! More information on these events will be posted on KTOC .

August 23	Wichita	Holiday Inn Rock Road                                    ( 549 Rock Road)	1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
August 24	Dodge City	Dodge House Hotel & Convention Center (2408 W. Wyatt Earp Blvd)	9:00 a.m. to 12 p.m.
September 1	Olathe	Holiday Inn (101-West 151 st St.)	1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
September 2	Pittsburg	Lamplighter Inn (4020 Parkview Drive)	1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
September 7	Webinar	-------------------------------	TBD

- We are also hosting an event to announce the results of the Kansas Aviation Economic Impact Study. In addition to the study, KDOT will also be announcing Kansas Airport Improvement Program (KAIP) grant recipients. Thanks to the passage of T-WORKS, the KAIP will be able to operate a pilot program to award grant funds. The event is being held at 10:00 a.m. Wedneday, August 25 at Philip Billard Airport, East of the Terminal, 3600 Northeast Sardou Avenue, in Topeka.

The primary election results are in!!! (Some are unofficial)

The Topeka Capital Journal has a great page of election results, CLICK HERE

The following match-ups are happening in November (in alphabetical order):

For Governor: Brownback /Colyer v. Holland /Kultala

For Attorney General: Schmidt v. Six

For Secretary of State: Biggs v. Kobach

Insurance Commissioner: Praeger

For US Senate: Johnston v. Moran

Congressional Seats:

1 st District – Huelskamp v. Jilka

2 nd District – Hudspeth v. Jenkins

3 rd District – Moore v. Yoder

4 th District -   Goyle v. Pompeo

Important Dates for the General Election:

GENERAL ELECTION
Oct. 13: Advance ballots mailed
Oct. 18: Last day to register
Oct. 19-29: Advance voting - 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Nov. 1: In-office advance voting ends at Noon
Nov. 2: Election Day - polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Election season is well underway…

August 3 rd is the day to vote in the primary election and whittle down the options for the November 2 nd general election.

If you are going to be out of town on the 3 rd , you still have the option to vote early. Please read the following article for all the details:

Advance voting deadline nears   By The Capital-Journal, July 28, 2010

If you are interested in finding out more about your candidates, I recommend checking their websites. Many of the interest groups and associations issue grades and endorsements to candidates as well.

The following website is a good resource to know who is running for statewide offices and federal offices: http://www.politics1.com/ks.htm

You can locate your State Representative and State Senator by typing in your address at the following website: http://www.ipsr.ku.edu/ksdata/vote/

I apologize for my short hiatus, but am pleased to be returning to the KTOC blogosphere!

T-WORKS bill signing tomorrow!

The Governor will be signing the T-WORKS bill tomorrow morning in Topeka, and holding ceremonial signings in other parts of the state tomorrow afternoon and on Wednesday.

For all the details, follow this link to the Governor’s public calendar: http://governor.ks.gov/media-room/governors-calendar

Make sure to check the link before you leave to attend an event! The weather may require changes to event locations.

Session Wrap-Up

The last two weeks have been a political rollercoaster, ending with a great day for transportation!

The legislature adjourned on May 11, after approving the following pieces of legislation that are positive for transportation.

·          T-WORKS – The legislature approved a new comprehensive transportation program that will provide $8.2 billion over the next 10 years for highways, transit, aviation, and rail.

·          Primary Seat Belt law – The new law will allow law enforcement to pull individuals over who are not wearing their seat belt.

·          Text Messaging Ban – Law enforcement has an additional tool to penalize distracted driving. Reading and sending of text messages and emails while driving is prohibited.

Please refer to the articles listed below for additional information on the session and reactions from state leaders.

Seat belt bill passes House   By Barbara Hollingworth
Topeka Capital-Journal  - Wed May 12, 2010

Parkinson hails budget moves    By Tim Carpenter
Topeka Capital-Journal  - Wed May 12, 2010

Legislature adjourns '10 session    By Tim Carpenter
Topeka Capital-Journal  - Wed May 12, 2010

House drives away with roads bill    By Tim Carpenter
Topeka Capital-Journal  - Wed May 12, 2010

10-year, $8.2 billion transportation plan heads to governor   BY JEANNINE KORANDA
Wichita Eagle  - Wed May 12, 2010

Kansas lawmakers approve tougher seat belt law    By JOHN MILBURN
LJ World  - Wed May 11, 2010

The full legislature was back from break this week. Several things have happened since Wednesday that effect Transportation.

·          On Wednesday, the House and Senate Transportation conference committees met and came to agreement on several drivers license provisions. One very important provision will close the loophole that currently allows CDL drivers to get diversions on DUI convictions.

·          Thursday morning began with the Senate Ways and Means capturing additional highway fund revenue for their FY 2011 budget. An additional $44.3 would be transferred from the SHF to the SGF. The $44.3 comes from the projects suspended in FY 2010, and will not require additional projects to be suspended. The committee recommended their full budget bill, HB 2631, to the full Senate.

·          The Senate Ways and Means committee continued their work on the budget with a revenue enhancement discussion on Friday morning. The committee passed a revenue package, HB 2360, that includes a $.01 sales tax increase beginning June 1, 2010, increased tobacco taxes, and some other provisions. There will be an annual positive impact to the highway fund of $21 million. In 2013, the sales tax increase will sunset, except for 0.3% which will be retained for the highway fund. The revenue generated will be used to fund the T-WORKS program.

The Senate Transportation committee met shortly after the Ways and Means committee passed their revenue package to make adjustments to the T-WORKS bill. T-WORKS, HB 2650, was amended to remove the sales tax provisions, and the 45% spending limitation per KDOT district. The bill was passed to the full Senate for debate next week.

The following article discussed the Senate committee tax package:

Tax package approved, By Barbara Hollingsworth, Topeka Capital Journal

House Appropriations Committee Action

The House Appropriations committee revisited their budget proposal over the last two days. The contents of their original proposal, SB 73, are now included in SB 572, with some changes.

The House budget floor debate could occur as early as next week. There were no additional reductions to KDOT’s budget, and no additional provisions added that will impact state employees.

The bill still achieves a balanced budget through additional reductions, and will not require revenue enhancements.

Both chambers return next week to begin working their budgets and final policy items.

Senate Ways and Means Action

The Senate Ways and Means committee passed a budget bill to the floor this afternoon on a close vote. The new bill, Senate Sub. for HB 2631, will add additional funds for several programs in FY 2011. They are mostly programs housed in SRS, KHPA, and Aging. The additions total $32.5 Million.

The committee plan was to pass a budget bill and then pass a ‘revenue enhancement’ bill that will generate enough money to fill the 2011 gap. A plan was introduced for discussion that would add $420.9 M (SGF) and $21.8 M (SHF) for a total of $442.68 M for FY 2011. The proposal included a 1% increase in Sales Tax, 4% increase to liquor enforcement tax, liquor drink tax at 15%, cigarette increase to $.55 per pack, and tobacco products increase from 10% to 40%.

The proposal would have left .03% of the increase to the highway fund beginning in FY 2014, sending approximately $133 M to the highway fund in FY 2014. The remaining sales tax increase would have sunset in 2015. The other tax increases would remain in effect.

After introducing the proposal, the committee took a break to track down the answer to exactly how much revenue the ‘revenue enhancement’ package needed to generate to balance the budget. There was no discussion on the individual provisions contained in the proposed package, and the committee adjourned until April 28.

The House Appropriations committee will begin work tomorrow on the budget.

Consensus Revenue Estimates Reported

The Legislature will have to make up a larger shortfall than expected when they come back at the end of April. The budget gap has grown to $510 million, based on the consensus revenue estimates released today.

The Senate and House budget committees will return next week to continue debating the budget. There is still discussion that the House is working on a proposal to balance the budget with additional reductions. The Senate proposal will include some reductions, but will also likely rely on revenue enhancements.

Spring Recess, March Revenues, and Consensus Revenue Estimates

Last week the legislature adjourned until April 28. There will be work done on the budget starting on the 19 th . The legislature is delaying action on any budget plan until consensus revenue estimates come out on April 16. Currently the House budget bill, SB 73 , will balance the FY 2011 budget by reducing state agencies and without any revenue enhancements. The Senate budget bill, HB 2631 , has some additional cuts, but would rely on around $300 million in revenue enhancements to be balanced.

Some good news…March revenues were up $12 million on Wednesday, which might have eased some concerns about the state budget for a little while.