Ag issues in the mix as 2018 Kansas Legislative session opens
The high-profile challenge for this year’s Legislators will be responding to the Kansas Supreme Court ruling last fall requesting passage of a new or revised school finance law. In its ruling, the court found the school funding bill passed by the 2017 Legislature was inadequate in terms of funding and how the money was apportioned. Legislators were given until April 30, 2018, by the court to come up with a new school finance law. The 2017 bill was funded by a state income tax increase. Meeting the court’s mandate likely will require more revenue.
On the agriculture front, items expected to be discussed by the Legislature include proposed changes to the state’s noxious weed laws, increasing pet animal facility fees and allowing the transferability of deer permits. Many of these issues were held over after not being resolved during the 2017 Kansas Legislative session.
Increasing pet animal facility fees is an issue of significance to the livestock industry. If the fees are not increased, the pet animal program soon will consume most of the general fund money dedicated to the Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Animal Health. This drain on the agency’s general fund monies could cut short critical livestock health programs.
The Kansas Livestock Association legislative affairs staff will monitor and provide input on these and other issues at the Capitol on a daily basis. Weekly updates will appear in the KLA News & Market Report.
