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Senator Vicki Schmidt's NewsletterFebruary 4, 2012

Friends:

 

Congratulations to Jay Shideler Elementary School!  They recently earned the Governor's Achievement Award!  The award is presented to the schools in the state which scored in the top 5% in both math and reading in state assessments!  Quite an accomplishment!  Congratulations to the students, Mr. Jeff Freeman (Principal) and the entire staff!  

 

The month of February will be busy and I am thrilled to have Tiffany Belland join me as an intern!  She is in her last year of pharmacy school at the University of Kansas.  A Topeka High School graduate that I am honored to have learning about state government first hand!  Her picture is on the right. 

 

Speaking of pharmacists, the Kansas Pharmacists Association held their "Advocacy Day" at the Capitol this week.  Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedules to come to the Capitol.  See their picture in the Senate chamber on the right. 

      

 



Education and Personal Activities

Thank you to the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy for inviting me to offer remarks at the Pharmacy Professionalism and Advocacy Conference:  A Campus Convention!  Ashley Shogren and Laura Randall did a wonderful job planning, organizing and executing a full day of activities!  Attendees included pharmacy and pre-pharmacy students from around the state.  Please see the picture at right.

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The Transportation Committee received a presentation from Acting Secretary Barb Rankin.  Here are some facts about the Kansas Highway System:
  • 10,000 miles of state highways
  • 29.8 BILLION Vehicle Miles Traveled
  • 2 million+ registered vehicles
  • Almost 2 million licensed drivers
  • $160 BILLION+ of goods shipped to, from and within Kansas each year
  • 4th largest highway system in the nation
  • 140,000 miles of local roads
  • 25,000 bridges
  • 5,000 bridges on the STATE highway system
  • 10,000 bridges are OVER 50 years old
  • 550 bridges are OVER 100 years old  

Would you like to view a "traffic count" map?  Try the following link:

 

http://www.ksdot.org:9080/burtransplan/maps/MapsTrafficDist.asp 


Floor Activities
Floor Activities
The Senate passed 26 bills and resolutions on Thursday.  Floor debate occurred Wednesday.  Here are some of the highlights:

SB 274 This bill authorizes the Department of Revenue to issue one temporary permit for a special event for no longer than thirty consecutive days. It also allows the vendor to sell back to the supplier unopened alcoholic liquor, with the written permission from the director of ABC, within three days of the end of the event. The temporary permit allows the consumption of alcoholic liquor on any roadway that has been closed to motor vehicle traffic. It passed 39-0.  I VOTED YES. 

SB 279 This bill amends current statute to amend the definition of unlawful sexual relations for people 16 and older to include agents or contractors of SRS as well as those in the custody of SRS. It passed 39-0.  I VOTED YES.

SB 264

This bill allows a life insurance company to designate a trust company as a trustee of an insurance company's securities. This would resolve this law with a similar law that was amended during the 2011 Legislative Session. It passed 39-0.  I VOTED YES. 

 

SB 300 This bill extends the 30-day temporary vehicle registration permits to 60 days. It passed 39-0.  I VOTED YES.

  

SB 207 

This bill allows a county to accept a credit or debit card for any payment. The county is able to add a fee to each transaction equal to what the county is charged for the payment made using the card, but the county must provide notice of the fee. It passed 39-0.  I VOTED YES.



Committee Activities
Transportation:   

SB 298  This bill will change weight limitations on trucks designed and equipped for garbage, refuse, or solid waste disposal.  This bill passed out of committee, passed the Senate 39-0 and I VOTED YES. 

  

We also had the presentation from Acting Secretary Barb Rankin as mentioned above.    

 
Ethics and Elections:
SB 309 This amends the Campaign Finance Act to require broadcast political advertisements to include a disclosure statement that identifies who is speaking in the ad, the candidate being referred to in the ad, the committee or person sponsoring the ad, and whether the ad supports or opposes the specific candidate.  This is the same bill I introduced last year.  It has received the support of Dr. Bob Beatty, Washburn University; Dr. Joe Aistrup, Kansas State University; and Dr. Mark Peterson, Washburn University.  Groups and individuals will still be able to run advertisements and hide their identities, but with this reform at least voters will know when a candidate is behind the information.  It has passed out of the committee and is now available for floor debate. 

Ways and Means:
SB 294 contains the Joint Committee on Special Claims Against the State recommended payments.  The bill passed out of committee and passed the Senate 39-0.  I VOTED YES.

The committee received an overview on the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System Act of 2014 that is SB 338.  Senator King gave the report of the KPERS Study Commission and Rebecca Proctor presented the Minority Report on the KPERS Study Commission. 

The committee started working on SB 311.  This is the "Supplemental Bill" for fiscal year 2012 and fiscal year 2013 for various state agencies. 

Public Health and Welfare:

SB 324 received a hearing.  This bill would change the expiration date of licenses to a date established by rules and regulations adopted by the Board. This bill also removes a provision that allows a single registration for a business entity to manufacture drugs that operates more than one facility within the state, or for a parent entity with divisions, subsidiaries, or affiliate companies, when operations are conducted at more than one location and there exists joint ownership and control among all of the entities. This bill also states that a pharmacist intern needs to be registered with the Board and provide the name and address of each new employer within 30 days of obtaining new employment. This bill passed out of committee.    

SB 325  This bill adds the drug, carisoprodol to Schedule IV and the drug, ezogabine to Schedule V of the controlled substances lists. This bill passed out of committee.  

SB 328  This bill updates electronic prescription laws by adding definitions.  

SB 326 This bill changes language on which students can receive dental services in schools. 
GPSchmidt
  • Met with Michael Hammond (Association of Community Mental Health Centers)
  • Met with Heidi Pickerell (Meals on Wheels)
  • Met with Craig Knutson and Kathy Lobb (Disability Advocates)
  • Met with Tim Wood (Disability Rights)
  • Met with Tom Burgess (Midland Care PACE)
  • Met with Gretchen Heasty (University of Kansas)
  • Met with Department of Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan and Chad Bettes (Chief of Staff)
  • Met with Tanya Dorf-Brunner (Oral Health Kansas) and Kevin Robertson (Kansas Dental Association)
  • Attended the Committee Chairs Luncheon
  • Met with Mary Ellen Conlee (Craig Homecare)
  • Met with Kirk Thompson - Kansas Bureau of Investigation
  • Met with Karily Taylor (Executive Director - Marian Clinic) and Alice Weingartner (Director - Shawnee County Health Agency)
  • Met with the Kansas Pharmacists Association
  • Met with Dr. Carl Heilman - President, Barton Community College and Linda Fund (Kansas Association of Community College Trustees)
  • Met with Chad Austin (Kansas Hospital Association), Marlee Carpenter (Kansas Association of Health Plans) and Nathan Bainbridge (Kansas Department of Health and Environment)
  • Attended the Appreciation Breakfast of the Shawnee County Conservation District
  • Met with Dr. Robert St. Peter (Kansas Health Institute)
  • Served up some chili at the 2012 Designers' Showhouse Bare Bones Preview!   
  • Spoke at the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy Professionalism and Advocacy Conference 
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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TIFFANY BELLAND

Pharmacy Intern for February 2012! 
PHARMACY DAY

Kansas Pharmacy Association's Advocacy Day 
CAMPUS CONVENTION

Laura Randall, Sen. Vicki Schmidt and Ashley Shogren