While Gov. Sam Brownback is a fellow Republican, GOP lawmakers attending a legislative update did not feel compelled to embrace sweeping changes the governor has suggested in school finance.

Rep. Tom Moxley, R-Council Grove, said the governor deserves credit for making legislators review programs and wanting to streamline state operations to make them more efficient. He agreed with his fellow lawmakers who were attending an Abilene Area Chamber of Commerce legislative update Saturday at the Eisenhower Presidential Library auditorium. Others attending were Reps. Vern Swanson, R-Clay Center, Steven Johnson, R-Assaria, and Sens. Pete Brungardt, R-Salina, and Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg. Rep. Elaine Bowers, R-Concordia, had another commitment and could not attend.

Moxley said there are more trial balloons being put in the air than at any other time in the five years he has served in the Legislature

“Change is not all bad,” Moxley said. “The fact that the governor and his administration is looking at all agencies... is a good thing.

“Our goal is to get changes to be proper changes that streamline and make better services for all constituencies.”

The lawmakers said changes are so sweeping they are hard to digest in a 90-day session.

The governor’s school finance plan and how the state cares for those in need were among the topics dealt by the legislators in the update that was moderated by Steven Gieber.

Legislators have a duty to look after all Kansans, rich and poor and for all schools rich and poor, Moxley said. Under the proposals by the governor, Abilene would receive $509 per student in base aid less than Blue Valley schools in Kansas City, Kan., the Council Grove lawmaker said.

“The richest (districts) get richer and the poorest get poorer and all the others fall in somewhere,” Moxley said.

As a lawmaker he’ll fight for funding for the schools in his district because the results speak for themselves.

Johnson said he had reservations about lowering income taxes and leaving a mechanism for a substantial increase in property taxes to offset it to finance education.

“It could be a volatile mix,” he said.

Lawmakers have to be concerned about how it will play out in the long term, Johnson said. The governor’s plan should be studied extensively to glean out things that make sense. As a freshman legislator he said it is difficult to write any proposal of any impact without having to face intense scrutiny.

“It is much harder to come up with a plan than it is to criticize one,” Johnson said.

Brungard56 said some of the aspects of the proposal are just now being made available to lawmakers, which makes a short time to digest and ask questions.

The governor’s finance plan received a cool reception from those in the audience. One questioner said the governor wants to set base aid below what is acceptable, then leave it to local school boards to raise unpopular property taxes through a local option budget.

Brungardt said four years ago the Legislature, because of the recession, were forced to cut state aid to schools and almost every budget line item. There is a general consensus among lawmakers and he believed most Kansans that youth should have an equal opportunity to obtain an education regardless of where they reside. At the same time lawmakers recognize that property taxes vary greatly from community to community, he said.

Swanson said he worries about the unintended consequences of much higher property taxes five to six years out.

Moxley said a sweeping proposal by Brownback’s administration has not gained much traction in this session of the House. He did say enhancement of state aid technical education “got a lot of traction.” The posting of teacher evaluations on the internet “was not a very well thought of idea.”

“If anything gets through it will the shrapnel of the plan (that was) blown up,” Moxley said.

Swanson said Brownback said in his state of the state address that the fourth-grade level for reading needs to be brought up, but most educators say the greater emphasis on reading needs to be at the third grade level or even earlier. The Clay Center lawmaker said it was an example of what he considered “misinformation” the administration tends to send out to lawmakers.

Abilene principal Tom Schwartz said Brungardt and Moxley have both been to local schools to see what is going on in the classroom and see the challenges families, as well as schools, face. Schwartz said when he speaks about his opposition to the governor’s plans it is because he believes those policies hurt children – particularly from low- to middle-income families ­– those households were hit the hardest during the recession.

While tax policy is important to company officials when they look at relocating or expanding, also as important is quality of schools and programs and activities in a community geared for youth, Schwartz said.

He was critical of the governor for his choice of advisors who reflect Kansas Policy Institute, Americans For Prosperity and linked to more conservative views that promote policies that, in his opinion, favor wealthy Kansans at the expense of children.

Because of the recession, Abilene schools have $1.3 million less to work with in the current budget than it did four years ago.

“When the governor says we will be held harmless that is a joke,” Schwartz said.

Swanson said if those entities, such as the Americans for Prosperity and Kansas Policy Institute, could hear the passion that Schwartz shared with others, it would help provide more constructive dialogue.

Moxley believes lawmakers cannot be pro-business or pro-education advocate only. His approach as a legislator is that policies have to be intertwined.

He noted that in the period of 1995 to 2005, Kansas City, Kan. had seven times the growth as Kansas City, Mo., and the key was the commitment to education.

Managed care issue

A proposal by the Brownback administration to address managed care in a more efficient manner by outsourcing managed care to companies also did not find a friendly audience. Under one proposal companies would select their providers and funds paticularly as it addresses Medicaid and matching funds. The administration has proposed a tracking system and believes an overhaul would make it more efficient with expanded care.

“Medicaid restructuring is not a done deal,” Emler said.

Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer and secretary of aging Shawn Sullivan are expected to attend a Republican caucus breakfast this week where they will get 15 minutes to explain the program and then have 45 minutes to answer what Emler expects will be many questions from lawmakers. Emler said many senators have concerns about an approach that turns over, in some cases, essential care services to for-profit companies.

Moxley said legislators have been getting a lot of feedback from Kansans who are rightfully concerned.

Brungardt said Kansas has looked at privatization before and the results have been mixed.

“The administration is dug in. They want to implement it Jan. 1 (2013),” Brungardt said.

Income tax reform

House lawmakers also said the income tax reform proposed by the administration will not go anywhere in this session.

Emler expects extensive hearings on the governor’s income tax proposal will be heard in committee. He said like the House the Senate will press the administration on why it seeks to eliminate earned income tax credits, deductions regarding mortgage payments and on charitable gifts.

“I would not despair, your concerns are our concerns,” he said about the administration’s push.

Redistricting

For Johnson this past Saturday’s update is likely the last one he will attend as he and Bowers appear unlikely to have their new district boundaries include Dickinson County as a result of redistricting, which is done once every 10 years following the U.S Census.

Reps. Swanson and Moxley will continue to have Dickinson County and they will be joined by District 70, which is served by Rep. Bob Brookens of Marion, Johnson said before the update.

Swanson credited Speaker of the House Mike O’Neal for guiding legislators through a thoughtful process for representatives as they crafted a plan. Clay County will have two House members and Dickinson County will go from four to three.

“There is pluses and minuses with redistricting,” he said.

“I thought the process went as well as it could,” Johnson said. “It is challenging.”

The Senate is beginning its redistricting discussions, Emler and Brungardt said.

Legislators also touched on several other subjects brought about by constituents:

• Lawmakers were not certain about whether legislation could be in place this session that could help open up state race tracks again for greyhound and horse racing. Brungardt said there appears to be some momentum in the Senate that could ultimately help developers reopen Wichita Greyhound Park and The Woodlands in Kansas City, Kan. Moxley said he wishes he could be more optimistic, but the House is more conservative as a result of the 2010 election

• Brungardt said lawmakers have discussed legislation that could allow liquor stores to allow people to taste an ounce of wine and that all safety rules would follow. He also said lawmakers for the second straight year are looking at legislation that could allow grocery stores and convenience stores to sell more than just 3.2 beer. Other states do allow grocery stores and big box retailers to sell stronger beer and wine. The state senator said in some cities it can increase competition and provides consumers with more choices.

• Brungardt was asked about his views on abortion. Life issues are tough. He agreed with concerns expressed from the constituents about respecting life, whether young or old, but he said the definition of abortion was spelled out by Roe v. Wade in the early 1970s and that it is legally defined in Kansas and if an abortion is to occur he believed it should be done in a safe and efficient environment. The questioner only directed it toward Brungardt.

• None of the lawmakers expected any legislation to be approved that would curb gun rights. Moxley said there has been discussion about allowing, for example, guns via conceal-carry policy in college dorms and hospitals. In the case of colleges, putting guns in an environment where emotions can run higher, could lead to unintended consequences. College administrations are opposed to that legislation as are hospital administrators, he said.

• Swanson said lawmakers do get calls about when Westar Energy proposes rate increases. He believes the Kansas Corporation Commission and state does not give utility companies a blank check. Much of the current rate hike increase was to build transmission lines, which serve customers. Moxley said rate increases also gives utilities such as Westar the capability to address federal regulations that a company has to bear the cost for. In recent years increases in rates have not dealt with fuel price hikes but are necessary because of federal requirements for generating electricity.

•Moxley said the administration has also indicated it plans in certain areas to depend more on user fees than tax monies to fund certain aspects of services. Moxley gave several examples of how that practically applies. Those decisions in effect put more of the onus on the executive branch and less on the legislative branch for oversight. He had reservations about that approach.