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Friends:
It was another busy week of committee hearings and bill introductions! In addition, Chief Justice Lawton Nuss addressed members of the Senate and House on Wednesday during the State of the Judiciary in the House chambers. He recommended that the 2012 Legislature adopt a bill allowing the judicial branch the option of reassigning district court judges as studies show that the court system has enough judges, but some of them are in the wrong counties.
Thank you to Lindsay Baltzell and her mom for stopping by the office! You made my day!
Barbara Bryans, office assistant, celebrated a birthday on Thursday! Thank you to all the well wishers and to Carolyn Long for the office being decorated! Happy Birthday Barbara!!
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Education and Personal Activities
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Did you know that faculty at KU's School of Pharmacy have produced a number of landmark drug discoveries? The Senate Commerce Committee heard an impressive presentation from KU Distinguished Professor Val Stella Thursday which described some of the life-saving pharmaceutical products he and others at KU have developed. Senators learned that of the 19 NCI cancer drugs that have come out of the exploratory stages, 8 were formulated at KU!
Dr. Stella explained how KU has become a leader in helping take these discoveries from the lab bench to the patient's bed sides. With more than $20 million in federal research grants fueling this work at the School of Pharmacy in the last two years, important economic and clinical advances are taking place. And while Dr. Stella certainly has an impressive record of scientific and entrepreneurial accomplishments, he humbly notes that he is most proud of the work he does mentoring the next generation of pharmaceutical scientists.
Sen Susan Wagle's efforts to invite Dr. Stella to make his presentation were well received by her colleagues and others who attended the meeting. I was privileged to be one of Dr. Stella's students when I attended pharmacy school at the University of Kansas. Thank you Dean Audus and Dr. Stella for the outstanding presentation! Please see the picture on the right.
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Floor Activities
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Floor Activities
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The Senate confirmed the following individuals:
Appointed by Governor Brownback
Agricultural Remediation Board (http://www.karb.org/)
- Brian Norton
- Kamyar Nikoo-Manesh
- Laura Pearl
Board of Indigent's Defense Services (http://www.sbids.org/)
Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Commission (http://www.cillrwcc.org/)
Kansas Board of Regents (http://www.kansasregents.org/)
- Fred Logan
- Kenny Wilk
- Robba Moran
Kansas Development Finance Authority (http://www.kdfa.org/)
Kansas Electric Transmission Authority (http://www.kansas.gov/keta/)
Kansas Human Rights Commission (http://www.khrc.net/)
Kansas Lottery Commission (http://www.kslottery.com/lotteryinfo/Commission.htm)
- Carl Gerlach
- Catherine Moyer
- Tom Roberts
Executive Director of the Kansas Lottery Commission (http://www.kslottery.com/lotteryinfo/Commission.htm)
Kansas Public Employees Retirement Board of Trustees (http://www.kpers.org/)
Kansas Water Authority (http://www.kwo.org/about_us/Kansas_Water_Authority.htm)
Public Employees Relations Board (http://www.dol.ks.gov/legal
/perb/perb_search.htm)
- Eric Carter
- Mark McGivern
- John Bowes
- Kenneth Gorman
State Banking Board (http://www.osbckansas.org/)
- Carolyn Dunn
- Jeff Whitham
- Thomas Pitner
State Civil Service Board (http://www.da.ks.gov/ps/subject/csb.htm)
University of Kansas Hospital Authorityhttp://www.kumed.com/)
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Appointed by Secretary of Revenue Nick Jordan
Director of Alcoholic Beverage Control (http://ksrevenue.org/abc.html)
Director of the Division of Property Valuation (http://www.ksrevenue.org/pvd.html)
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Appointed by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt
Crime Victims Compensation Board (http://ag.ks.gov/victim-services/victim-compensation)
Director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (http://www.accesskansas.org/kbi/)
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The Senate also passed Resolution 1802 which honored the members of the 2012 Kansas Teacher of the Year team:
- Tiffany Richard, the Kansas Teacher of the Year, Olathe USD 233
- Amelia Adams, Regional Finalist, Liberal USD 480
- Christopher Christian, Regional Finalist, Maize USD 266
- Emily Fleming, Regional Finalist, Kansas City USD 500
- Carl Goertzen, Regional Finalist, Buhler USD 313
- Sherry Helus, Regional Finalist, Wamgeo USD 320
- Michael Pickman, Regional Finalist, Prairie View USD 362
- Elizabeth Roberts, Regional Finalist, Wichita USD 259
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I voted YES on all of the confirmations and the resolution. All were passed by the Senate.
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Transportation:
This week we had briefings on the impact of the flooding for the BNSF Railway Company. We also heard the report on uninsured motorists by the 2011 Special Committee on Financial Institutions and Insurance. An additional discussion took place on highway advertising and truck size and weight limits.
Ethics and Elections:
The Committee received an overview of bills heard in the committee last session and then passed by the Senate, which are currently in the House committee.
Ways and Means: Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer discussed Medicaid reorganization and the committee heard a presentation of the Governor's Tax Proposal by Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan. Alan Conroy (Legislative Research Dept.) gave an update on the General Fund Profile and Chris Courtwright (Legislative Research Dept.) reported on the Fiscal and Liability Impact Report. The State General Fund profile for the Governor's tax proposal reflects a negative net impact of $89.9 million in tax receipts for the fiscal year 2013, reducing the projected ending balance to 6.2%. Tracy Streeter (Kansas Water Office) gave a report and the committee also received a report from the Joint Committee on Home and Community-Based Services Oversight Committee.
SB 254 had a hearing. This bill would establish information technology audits. Public Health and Welfare: The committee continued receiving information from interested parties and advocates about Managed Care. Thank you to all who testified, either in person or written. Your comments are very important to the process! Senate Tax Policy Study Group: The committee held their second meeting on Friday. Testimony was received from the following: - Sen. Anthony Hensley - Senate Democrat's School Finance Plan
- Matt Teagarden, Kansas Livestock Association
- Earl Long, FairTax KC
- Bernie Koch, Kansas Economic Progress Council
- Mark Tallman, Kansas Association of School Boards
- Luke Bell, Kansas Association of Realtors
- J. Kent Eckles, Kansas Chamber of Commerce
- Lenny Jurden, Cohen Esrey Real Estate Services
- Ross Freeman, Pioneer Group
- Sister Therese Bangert, Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth
- Angela Kreps, Kansas Bioscience Organization
- Hans Nettelblad, American Institute of Architects in Kansas
- Ashley McMillan, Kansans for No Income Tax
- Doug Wareham, Kansas Bankers Association
- Dan Murray, National Federation of Independent Business
- Mark Desetti, Kansas National Education Association
- Carol Smith, United Way of Greater Kansas City
- Dave Trabert, Kansas Policy Institute
- April Holman, Kansas Action for Children
- Jill Quigley, United Community Services of Johnson County
- Trudy Racine, Kansas Children's Service League
- Jason Watkins, Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce
That was quite a meeting! |
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- Met with Lindsay Baltzell and her mother, Tammy (see picture on right)
- Met with Scott Brown - MedImmune
- Met with John Federico, Jon Easter, Jack Graham and Larry Martinez - Glaxo Smith Kline
- Gave a presentation to the Kansas Hospital Association
- Attended the Senate Committee Chair Meeting
- Met with Jarrod Forbes and Blaine Bergeson - United Healthcare
- Attended the Town Hall Meeting at the Shawnee County Public Library
- Met with Kathy Damron and Fred Logan - Kansas Board of Regents (see picture on right)
- Met with Rick Kready - Pioneer Group
- Presented at the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians meeting
- Celebrated Barbara Bryan's Birthday!
- Attended the meeting of the Joint Committee on Information Technology
- Met with Terry Humphrey and Sky Westerlund - Kansas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers
- Met with Tanya Dorf-Brunner and Stuart Little - Oral Health Kansas
- Met with Scott Frank - Legislative Post Audit
- Attended a meeting of the Kansas Leadership Center
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Please do not
hesitate to contact me about issues of interest to you. I appreciate the
opportunity to represent you at the Capitol.
Sincerely,
Vicki
Schmidt
Assistant Majority Leader
20th District, Kansas Senate
vicki@vickischmidt.com
785-296-7374 (Senate Office)
Paid for by Schmidt for Senate, Brad Koehn, CPA,
Treasurer
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Lindsay Baltzell
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Lindsay and Sen. Vicki Schmidt |
Board of Regents
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Sen. Vicki Schmidt and Regent Fred Logan |
University of Kansas School of Pharmacy Distinguished Professor
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Dr. Val Stella, Sen. Vicki Schmidt and Dean Ken Audus |
The BIRTHDAY Assistant!
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Carolyn Long and the Birthday Girl Barbara Bryans |
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