Legislative News
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KVMA Experiences Legislative Victories
The 2010 rendition of the Kansas Legislature was in the midst of its veto session deliberations on state budget reductions and potential tax increases as this column was being prepared for the May edition of The Kansas Veterinarian.
In spite of “weeping and gnashing of teeth” in true Biblical proportions during this particular legislative gathering over the aforementioned subjects, the KVMA was particularly successful on a number of issues and subjects.
In January, the KVMA and the Kansas Assn. of Realtors led the effort to have an amendment added to H.B. 2442, establishing the Kansas streamlining state government commission. The amendment excluded all fully fee funded state agencies, including the Kansas Board of Veterinary Examiners, from the commission’s oversight.
The KVMA took the position in its oral testimony before the House Appropriations Committee that the Kansas Board of Veterinary Examiners receives no State General Fund (SGF) monies, returns 20 per cent of its veterinary fee funds to the SGF each year, was “swept” of additional veterinary fee funds last year, and operates at a high level of efficiency.
The Kansas House passed H.B. 2442 with the amendment intact. The bill was heard in the Senate Ways and Means Committee but was never worked. The bill remains in the Senate committee during the veto session and prospects for action are slim. This is a very desirable outcome.
Also early on, the KVMA became wary of H.B. 2255, an act providing for an I’m pet friendly license plate. Upon closer scrutiny, it was revealed that the license plate logo would have been distributed by and the royalties from the purchase of the plate would have gone to the Kansas Human Legislative Network, the political action arm of the Humane Society of the United States.
Dr. Ralph Richardson talked to the bill’s sponsor and the KVMA staff talked to chairman of the committee where the measure was scheduled for hearing and were successful in getting the bill tabled.
Later in the session, the bill’s concept was amended into S.B. 300, which also provided for license plates benefitting the Boy Scouts, Vietnam veterans, and Kansas arts.
S. B. 300 calls for the I’m pet friendly license plate logo to be distributed by the KSU College of Veterinary Medicine and royalties from the plate’s sales would go to the College for spaying and neutering education and veterinary student externships at Kansas animal shelters.
Thanks go to Dr. Richardson and Rep. Melanie Meier (D-Leavenworth) for their invaluable assistance on S.B. 300.
S.B. 300 passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday, May 11 and moved onto the Governor.
The KVMA also spent time working on S.B. 374, providing that expressions of apology, sympathy, commiseration, or condolence are not admissible as evidence of an admission of liability or evidence of an admission against interest.
The KVMA attempted to have veterinarian added to the bill, which currently applies to human health care professionals only.
The bill remains in the Senate Judiciary Committee and the KVMA has been invited to participate in interim studies on the “apology” concept. The Senate Judiciary Committee chair, Sen. Tim Owens (R-Overland Park), has indicated to the KVMA he is in favor of including veterinarians in an apology bill.
The KVMA also participated in a business and professional lobbying coalition during the Legislature’s recess prior to the veto session. The coalition became concerned with House Sub. for S.B. 572.
The bill called for an $11million “sweep” of a Kansas Dept. of Administration fund made up of fees charged to state agencies by the Department for supposedly providing the agencies with accounting and human resource services.
The coalition was worried that when the money was swept the Department would reassess the fees to the agencies. The KVMA was concerned about the impact this would have on the Kansas Board of Veterinary Examiners.
The coalition contacted legislative leadership during the recess and successfully had a proviso added to House Sub. for S.B. 572 that prevents the Dept. of Administration from increasing fees above those in effect on April 1, 2010.
The proviso states, “That the department of administration shall not increase fees above those fees in effect on April 1, 2010, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011.”
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