Kansas Association of Community College Trustees
700 SW Jackson, Suite 1000 • Topeka, KS 66603-3757 • 785-357-5156 • FAX 785-357-5157
• 19cc@kacct.org
Sheila Frahm, Executive Director
Policy
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700 S. W. Jackson, Ste. 1000, Topeka, Kansas 66603 - (785)-357-5156 |
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Good Week to Visit the Statehouse….With the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Luncheon in Topeka
on Wednesday and the State Board of Regents’ meeting Wednesday afternoon,
2:30 p.m., and Thursday morning, 9:00 a.m., next week provides opportunities
for many community college presidents, trustees, students, faculty, staff
and friends to visit the Kansas Statehouse in between meetings.
There is free two-hour parking in the Statehouse garage (enter going
east on 8th street, just past Harrison).
The City of Topeka offers free parking at meters designated with a
“hot pink” sticker downtown between the hours of 11 and 2.
Many House members who were initially assigned offices in the Docking
State Office Building immediately to the west of the Statehouse, are in the
process of moving back into the Capitol building, so locating their offices
will be a challenge. The
Document Room near the old cage elevator has directories for both House and
Senate members. The House goes
into Session at 11 a.m., the Senate at 2:30.
Please see the list of committee meetings pertaining to community
colleges listed at the end of this newsletter for other places to visit.
Letting your legislators know that you support the community college
mission in Kansas is the very best kind of lobbying we can do Baseline
Budget Discussed in Appropriations….In an effort to hold down
spending, House Appropriations Chairman Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, has
proposed a baseline budget system that would bring the proposed FY 2007
budget in at about $61 million under the Governor’s recommended budget and
leave the state with an 8.6 percent ending balance, up from the Governor’s
7.5 percent. Presumably, that
$61 million would be redirected to fill the gap for K-12 funding.
While the community college appropriation would stay at the same
level as the Governor’s budget suggests using the baseline model,
universities and the Regents’ office would see a reduction of $26.5
million. The largest reduction,
$40 million, would be from proposed employee pay raises.
Most believe the baseline budget proposal will not be adopted, but
see it as a tool for discovering where the money is really going. Tuition
Continues to be Hot Topic….Two more bills were introduced
this week dealing with tuition at postsecondary institutions.
The first, HB 2860 by the Committee on Federal and State Affairs, would
establish the same tuition rate for domiciliary residents of the state and
persons who are not domiciliary residents – more easily understood as no
more out of state tuition. The
second, HB 2863 by Rep. Tom
Holland, D-Baldwin City, would provide certain tuition waivers for state
employees. It would let state
employees and their dependents enroll for up to six credit hours per person
per term on a space available basis. The
Board of Regents would then reimburse the amount of tuition and fees to each
postsecondary educational institution where the state employees/dependents
were attending. Next week the
House Higher Education Committee will hold hearings on HB
2775 which calls for three tuition levels at state educational
institutions. Machinery
and Equipment Tax Passes House….The House Taxation Committee
passed a heavily amended version of the Governor’s proposal to exempt all
new business machinery and equipment purchased after December 31, 2006, from
personal property taxation. As
passed, the tax exemption would become effective this July and calls for
rebates for counties which lose money due to this property tax exemption. The bill now moves to floor debate in the House. The
Week Ahead….Committee
meetings of interest next week include: Monday,
February 13: House Education Budget Committee Staff briefing and agency
presentation, Kansas Association of Community Colleges, University of
Kansas, Kansas Association of Independent Colleges
SB 436:
Community colleges and school districts, personnel evaluations Monday,
February 13: House Higher Education
Richard Bond, KS Regent,
provide update on SB 345
HB 2745:
Higher education statewide mill levy Tuesday,
February 14: Taxation HB
2685:
Income tax credit for taxpayer contributions to educational
institutions to be used in programs designed to train and educate licensed
medical professionals Tuesday,
February 14: Utilities
Kan-Ed by Hal Gardner, Ex. Director, Kan-Ed Tuesday,
February 14: House Education Budget Committee
Committee deliberations Wednesday,
February 15: House
Higher Education Presentation by Noah Brown, President of the American Association of Community College Trustees HB
2775:
Three tuition levels at state educational institutions Thursday,
February 16: Senate Education Noah Brown, President of the
National American Association of Community College Trustees Thursday,
February 16: Sen. Ways & Means Subcomm. on Higher Education Upon
adjournment, Rm. 235-N Staff briefing and agency
presentation, Kansas Association of Community Colleges, Kansas Board of
Regents, Pittsburg State University, Kansas State University
Important
Resources to gather legislative and budget information:
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