By PRAKASH NAGARKATTI and MITZI&nbsp;NAGARKATTI <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-new-covid-19-variant-ba-2-and-will-it-cause-another-wave-of-infections-in-the-us-179619">The Conversation</a>

A new omicron subvariant of the virus that causes COVID-19, BA.2, is
 quickly becoming the predominant source of infections amid rising cases
 around the world. Immunologists Prakash Nagarkatti and Mitzi Nagarkatti
 of the University of South Carolina explain what makes it different 
from previous variants, whether there will be another surge in the U.S. 
and how best to protect yourself.

What is BA.2, and how is it related to omicron?

BA.2 is the latest <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04411-y" target="_blank">subvariant of omicron</a>,
 the dominant strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. While
 the origin of BA.2 is still unclear, it has quickly become the dominant
 strain in many countries, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ada1615" target="_blank">India, Denmark and South Africa</a>. It is <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/08-03-2022-interim-statement-on-covid-19-vaccines-in-the-context-of-the-circulation-of-the-omicron-sars-cov-2-variant-from-the-who-technical-advisory-group-on-covid-19-vaccine-composition-(tag-co-vac)-08-march-2022" target="_blank">continuing to spread</a> in Europe, Asia and many parts of the world.

The omicron variant, officially known as B.1.1.529, of SARS-CoV-2 has <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/weekly-epidemiological-update-on-covid-19---1-february-2022" target="_blank">three main subvariants</a> in its <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/variant-classifications.html" target="_blank">lineage</a>: BA.1, BA.2 and BA.3. The earliest omicron subvariant to be detected, BA.1, was first reported in <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/scientific-brief-omicron-variant.html" target="_blank">November 2021 in South Africa</a>. While scientists believe that all the subvariants may have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00215-2" target="_blank">emerged around the same time</a>, BA.1 was <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/weekly-epidemiological-update-on-covid-19---1-february-2022" target="_blank">predominantly responsible</a> for the winter surge of infections in the Northern Hemisphere in 2021.

The first omicron subvariant, BA.1, is unique in the number of 
alterations it has compared to the original version of the virus – it 
has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04411-y" target="_blank">over 30 mutations</a> in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41401-020-0485-4" target="_blank">spike protein</a>
 that helps it enter cells. Spike protein mutations are of high concern 
to scientists and public health officials because they affect how 
infectious a particular variant is and whether it is able to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04385-3" target="_blank">escape the protective antibodies</a> that the body produces after vaccination or a prior COVID-19 infection.

BA.2 has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2201849" target="_blank">eight unique mutations</a> not found in BA.1, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04594-4" target="_blank">lacks 13 mutations</a> that BA.1 does have. BA.2 does, however, share <a href="https://covariants.org/shared-mutations" target="_blank">around 30 mutations</a> with BA.1. Because of its relative genetic similarity, it is considered a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/variant-classifications.html" target="_blank">subvariant</a> of omicron as opposed to a completely new variant.

Why is it called a ‘stealth’ variant?

Some scientists have called BA.2 a <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/what-ba2-or-stealth-omicron-subvariant" target="_blank">“stealth” variant</a> because, unlike the BA.1 variant, it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n3133" target="_blank">lacks a particular genetic signature</a> that distinguishes it from the delta variant.

While standard <a href="https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Understanding-COVID-19-PCR-Testing" target="_blank">PCR tests</a> are still able to detect the BA.2 variant, they might not be able to tell it apart from the delta variant.

Is it more infectious and lethal than other variants?

BA.2 is considered to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00471-2" target="_blank">more transmissible</a> but not more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ada1615" target="_blank">virulant</a> than BA.1. This means that while BA.2 can spread faster than BA.1, it might not make people sicker.

It is worth noting that while BA.1 has <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/22-02-2022-statement-on-omicron-sublineage-ba.2" target="_blank">dominated case numbers around the world</a>, it causes <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/22-02-2022-statement-on-omicron-sublineage-ba.2" target="_blank">less severe disease</a> compared to the delta variant. Recent studies from the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1060337/Technical-Briefing-38-11March2022.pdf" target="_blank">U.K.</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.10.2200181" target="_blank">Denmark</a> suggest that BA.2 may pose a similar risk of hospitalization as BA.1.

Does previous infection with BA.1 provide protection against BA.2?

Yes! A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00558-w" target="_blank">recent study</a> suggested that people previously infected with the original BA.1 subvariant have robust protection against BA.2.

Because BA.1 caused widespread infections across the world, it is 
likely that a significant percentage of the population has protective 
immunity against BA.2. This is why some scientists predict that BA.2 
will be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00471-2" target="_blank">less likely to cause another major wave</a>

However, while the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2200133" target="_blank">natural immunity</a>
 gained after COVID-19 infection may provide strong protection against 
reinfection from earlier variants, it weakens against omicron.

A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00775-3" target="_blank">recent preliminary study</a>
 that has not yet been peer reviewed of over 1 million individuals in 
Qatar suggests that two doses of either the Pfizer–BioNTech or Moderna 
COVID-19 vaccines protect against symptomatic infection from BA.1 and 
BA.2 for several months before waning to around 10%. A booster shot, 
however, was able to elevate protection again close to original levels.

Importantly, both vaccines were 70% to 80% effective at preventing 
hospitalization or death, and this effectiveness increased to over 90% 
after a booster dose.

How worried does the U.S. need to be about BA.2?

The rise in BA.2 in certain parts of the world is most likely due to a <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/03/19/1087682826/omicron-variant-ba2-surge" target="_blank">combination</a> of its higher transmissibility, people’s waning immunity and relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions.

CDC data suggests that BA.2 cases are rising steadily, making up <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions" target="_blank">23% of all cases</a> in the U.S. as of early March. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/03/19/1087682826/omicron-variant-ba2-surge" target="_blank">Scientists are still debating</a> whether BA.2 will cause another surge in the U.S.

[Climate change, AI, vaccines, black holes and much more.<a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=science&amp;source=inline-science-various" target="_blank">Get The Conversation’s best science and health coverage</a>.]

Though there may be an uptick of BA.2 infections in the coming months, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-long-does-protective-immunity-against-covid-19-last-after-infection-or-vaccination-two-immunologists-explain-177309" target="_blank">protective immunity</a>
 from vaccination or previous infection provides defense against severe 
disease. This may make it less likely that BA.2 will cause a significant
 increase in hospitalization and deaths. The U.S., however, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/02/01/science/covid-deaths-united-states.html" target="_blank">lags behind other countries</a> when it comes to vaccination, and falls even further behind on boosters.

Whether there will be another devastating surge depends on how many 
people are vaccinated or have been previously infected with BA.1. It’s <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/vaccine-benefits.html" target="_blank">safer to generate immunity</a> from a vaccine, however, than from getting an infection. Getting vaccinated and boosted and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html" target="_blank">taking precautions</a> like wearing an N95 mask and social distancing are the best ways to protect yourself from BA.2 and other variants.

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/prakash-nagarkatti-1032253" target="_blank">Prakash Nagarkatti</a> is a Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mitzi-nagarkatti-1044072" target="_blank">Mitzi Nagarkatti</a> is a Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology — both at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-carolina-1755" target="_blank">University of South Carolina</a>.

By PRAKASH NAGARKATTI and MITZI&nbsp;NAGARKATTI <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-new-covid-19-variant-ba-2-and-will-it-cause-another-wave-of-infections-in-the-us-179619">The Conversation</a>A new omicron subvariant of the virus that causes COVID-19, BA.2, is
 quickly becoming the predominant source of infections amid rising cases
 around the world. Immunologists Prakash Nagarkatti and Mitzi Nagarkatti
 of the University of South Carolina explain what makes it different 
from previous variants, whether there will be another surge in the U.S. 
and how best to protect yourself.What is BA.2, and how is it related to omicron?BA.2 is the latest <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04411-y" target="_blank">subvariant of omicron</a>,
 the dominant strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. While
 the origin of BA.2 is still unclear, it has quickly become the dominant
 strain in many countries, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ada1615" target="_blank">India, Denmark and South Africa</a>. It is <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/08-03-2022-interim-statement-on-covid-19-vaccines-in-the-context-of-the-circulation-of-the-omicron-sars-cov-2-variant-from-the-who-technical-advisory-group-on-covid-19-vaccine-composition-(tag-co-vac)-08-march-2022" target="_blank">continuing to spread</a> in Europe, Asia and many parts of the world.The omicron variant, officially known as B.1.1.529, of SARS-CoV-2 has <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/weekly-epidemiological-update-on-covid-19---1-february-2022" target="_blank">three main subvariants</a> in its <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/variant-classifications.html" target="_blank">lineage</a>: BA.1, BA.2 and BA.3. The earliest omicron subvariant to be detected, BA.1, was first reported in <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/scientific-brief-omicron-variant.html" target="_blank">November 2021 in South Africa</a>. While scientists believe that all the subvariants may have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00215-2" target="_blank">emerged around the same time</a>, BA.1 was <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/weekly-epidemiological-update-on-covid-19---1-february-2022" target="_blank">predominantly responsible</a> for the winter surge of infections in the Northern Hemisphere in 2021.The first omicron subvariant, BA.1, is unique in the number of 
alterations it has compared to the original version of the virus – it 
has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04411-y" target="_blank">over 30 mutations</a> in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41401-020-0485-4" target="_blank">spike protein</a>
 that helps it enter cells. Spike protein mutations are of high concern 
to scientists and public health officials because they affect how 
infectious a particular variant is and whether it is able to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04385-3" target="_blank">escape the protective antibodies</a> that the body produces after vaccination or a prior COVID-19 infection.BA.2 has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2201849" target="_blank">eight unique mutations</a> not found in BA.1, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04594-4" target="_blank">lacks 13 mutations</a> that BA.1 does have. BA.2 does, however, share <a href="https://covariants.org/shared-mutations" target="_blank">around 30 mutations</a> with BA.1. Because of its relative genetic similarity, it is considered a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/variant-classifications.html" target="_blank">subvariant</a> of omicron as opposed to a completely new variant.Why is it called a ‘stealth’ variant?Some scientists have called BA.2 a <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/what-ba2-or-stealth-omicron-subvariant" target="_blank">“stealth” variant</a> because, unlike the BA.1 variant, it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n3133" target="_blank">lacks a particular genetic signature</a> that distinguishes it from the delta variant.While standard <a href="https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Understanding-COVID-19-PCR-Testing" target="_blank">PCR tests</a> are still able to detect the BA.2 variant, they might not be able to tell it apart from the delta variant.Is it more infectious and lethal than other variants?BA.2 is considered to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00471-2" target="_blank">more transmissible</a> but not more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ada1615" target="_blank">virulant</a> than BA.1. This means that while BA.2 can spread faster than BA.1, it might not make people sicker.It is worth noting that while BA.1 has <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/22-02-2022-statement-on-omicron-sublineage-ba.2" target="_blank">dominated case numbers around the world</a>, it causes <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/22-02-2022-statement-on-omicron-sublineage-ba.2" target="_blank">less severe disease</a> compared to the delta variant. Recent studies from the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1060337/Technical-Briefing-38-11March2022.pdf" target="_blank">U.K.</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.10.2200181" target="_blank">Denmark</a> suggest that BA.2 may pose a similar risk of hospitalization as BA.1.Does previous infection with BA.1 provide protection against BA.2?Yes! A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00558-w" target="_blank">recent study</a> suggested that people previously infected with the original BA.1 subvariant have robust protection against BA.2.Because BA.1 caused widespread infections across the world, it is 
likely that a significant percentage of the population has protective 
immunity against BA.2. This is why some scientists predict that BA.2 
will be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00471-2" target="_blank">less likely to cause another major wave</a>However, while the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2200133" target="_blank">natural immunity</a>
 gained after COVID-19 infection may provide strong protection against 
reinfection from earlier variants, it weakens against omicron.How effective are vaccines against BA.2?A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00775-3" target="_blank">recent preliminary study</a>
 that has not yet been peer reviewed of over 1 million individuals in 
Qatar suggests that two doses of either the Pfizer–BioNTech or Moderna 
COVID-19 vaccines protect against symptomatic infection from BA.1 and 
BA.2 for several months before waning to around 10%. A booster shot, 
however, was able to elevate protection again close to original levels.Importantly, both vaccines were 70% to 80% effective at preventing 
hospitalization or death, and this effectiveness increased to over 90% 
after a booster dose.How worried does the U.S. need to be about BA.2?The rise in BA.2 in certain parts of the world is most likely due to a <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/03/19/1087682826/omicron-variant-ba2-surge" target="_blank">combination</a> of its higher transmissibility, people’s waning immunity and relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions.CDC data suggests that BA.2 cases are rising steadily, making up <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions" target="_blank">23% of all cases</a> in the U.S. as of early March. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/03/19/1087682826/omicron-variant-ba2-surge" target="_blank">Scientists are still debating</a> whether BA.2 will cause another surge in the U.S.
[Climate change, AI, vaccines, black holes and much more.<a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=science&amp;source=inline-science-various" target="_blank">Get The Conversation’s best science and health coverage</a>.]
Though there may be an uptick of BA.2 infections in the coming months, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-long-does-protective-immunity-against-covid-19-last-after-infection-or-vaccination-two-immunologists-explain-177309" target="_blank">protective immunity</a>
 from vaccination or previous infection provides defense against severe 
disease. This may make it less likely that BA.2 will cause a significant
 increase in hospitalization and deaths. The U.S., however, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/02/01/science/covid-deaths-united-states.html" target="_blank">lags behind other countries</a> when it comes to vaccination, and falls even further behind on boosters.Whether there will be another devastating surge depends on how many 
people are vaccinated or have been previously infected with BA.1. It’s <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/vaccine-benefits.html" target="_blank">safer to generate immunity</a> from a vaccine, however, than from getting an infection. Getting vaccinated and boosted and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html" target="_blank">taking precautions</a> like wearing an N95 mask and social distancing are the best ways to protect yourself from BA.2 and other variants.<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/prakash-nagarkatti-1032253" target="_blank">Prakash Nagarkatti</a> is a Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mitzi-nagarkatti-1044072" target="_blank">Mitzi Nagarkatti</a> is a Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology — both at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-carolina-1755" target="_blank">University of South Carolina</a>.

COMMENTARY: A closer look at new COVID subvariant BA.2

By KIM BALDWIN McPherson&nbsp;County farmer My family and I recently enjoyed a few days off the farm having some fun in the snow in northern New Mexico.&nbsp; While homeward bound from our spring break ski trip, there were signs of a new season quickly approaching during our drive. Over our nearly eight hours on the road, our window views changed from mountainous snowy landscapes highlighting herds of grazing elk to wintery grasslands dotted with antelope.&nbsp; As we traveled from New Mexico into Oklahoma and then through western Kansas, the rangeland views slowly changed to farm ground. Remnants of the 2021 cotton, corn and sorghum crops were ever present as we took in the landscape. Mama cows and their young calves now occupied the fields that had grain harvested from them last fall.&nbsp; We could also see that this year’s wheat crop was slowly coming out of dormancy. As we continued eastbound back to our home, the wheat fields that displayed small patches of greens among fields of mostly drab browns slowly transformed into larger and more colorful sections of green. The color variations continued to change as we continued towards our central Kansas home. While appreciating the extra hour of daylight during our drive, I was able to take in the view of the fields as we got closer to our farm. The evening sunlight allowed me a glimpse of a sure sign of a quickly-approaching spring as we returned to our neighborhood. Carpets of vividly green wheat fields occupied my view. The bright green blanketed entire fields and provided an unexpected “pop” of color. The color was so intense and obviously noticeable that I immediately pointed it out to everyone in the car. We had only been gone a few days, but within that time spring had clearly sprung!&nbsp; The bright green views not only offered my family a warm welcome home but provided me with a simple reminder that we are getting closer to the end of a long, dreary and cold winter.&nbsp; Those beautiful windshield views of bright green fields provided me a gentle assurance that warmer temperatures, longer days and our busy season on the farm are just around the corner.&nbsp; As the days continue to get longer and warmer, the wheat near our home continues to showcase its magnificent beauty with its dazzling pop of emerald. While some might believe that the view of a waving golden wheat field in the summer is one of the best views in the world, I’d argue the magnificent green fields of wheat in the spring are near the top of my list. To me, it’s a color that represents an awakening that ushers in the promise of new life, growth and warmer days to come.

"Insight" is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573617414005.jpeg" alt="Kim Baldwin" />
 <figcaption>Kim Baldwin</figcaption>
 </figure>By KIM BALDWIN McPherson&nbsp;County farmer My family and I recently enjoyed a few days off the farm having some fun in the snow in northern New Mexico.&nbsp; While homeward bound from our spring break ski trip, there were signs of a new season quickly approaching during our drive. Over our nearly eight hours on the road, our window views changed from mountainous snowy landscapes highlighting herds of grazing elk to wintery grasslands dotted with antelope.&nbsp; As we traveled from New Mexico into Oklahoma and then through western Kansas, the rangeland views slowly changed to farm ground. Remnants of the 2021 cotton, corn and sorghum crops were ever present as we took in the landscape. Mama cows and their young calves now occupied the fields that had grain harvested from them last fall.&nbsp; We could also see that this year’s wheat crop was slowly coming out of dormancy. As we continued eastbound back to our home, the wheat fields that displayed small patches of greens among fields of mostly drab browns slowly transformed into larger and more colorful sections of green. The color variations continued to change as we continued towards our central Kansas home. While appreciating the extra hour of daylight during our drive, I was able to take in the view of the fields as we got closer to our farm. The evening sunlight allowed me a glimpse of a sure sign of a quickly-approaching spring as we returned to our neighborhood. Carpets of vividly green wheat fields occupied my view. The bright green blanketed entire fields and provided an unexpected “pop” of color. The color was so intense and obviously noticeable that I immediately pointed it out to everyone in the car. We had only been gone a few days, but within that time spring had clearly sprung!&nbsp; The bright green views not only offered my family a warm welcome home but provided me with a simple reminder that we are getting closer to the end of a long, dreary and cold winter.&nbsp; Those beautiful windshield views of bright green fields provided me a gentle assurance that warmer temperatures, longer days and our busy season on the farm are just around the corner.&nbsp; As the days continue to get longer and warmer, the wheat near our home continues to showcase its magnificent beauty with its dazzling pop of emerald. While some might believe that the view of a waving golden wheat field in the summer is one of the best views in the world, I’d argue the magnificent green fields of wheat in the spring are near the top of my list. To me, it’s a color that represents an awakening that ushers in the promise of new life, growth and warmer days to come."Insight" is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.&nbsp;

Kansas Farm Bureau Insight: Color of awakening

On Tuesday, March 15, the House debated one resolution and four bills. The House Concurrent Resolution 5032 is in response to the invasion by Russia in Ukraine. The resolution honors the Ukrainians fighting against the Russian invasion.

House Bill 2674 states that if a defendant fails to appear as directed by the court and guaranteed by an appearance bond, the court in which the bond is deposited can issue an arrest warrant for the defendant.

House Bill 2541 shifts the deposits of certain fees with the Judicial Branch to the State General Fund. Then an allocation from the State General Fund will be transferred to the Judicial Branch for funding.

House Bill 2676 allows counties to create a code inspection and enforcement fund and expands the exisiting equipment fund to include technology.

House Bill 2582 amends current law governing access, exhange, and disclosure of information in the Revised Kansas Code for Care of Children.

On Wednesday, we discussed four bills. House Bill 2528 removes inflatable devices that are owned and operated by a nonprofit from the Kansas Amusement Ride Act.

Senate Bill 348 exempts the practice of threading from cosmetology.

Senate Bill 392 terminates the transfer of unencumbered moneys in the securities fee fund exceeding $50,000 to the State General Fund. I voted “yes” to all of these bills.

Last week the House Appropriations Committee conducted numerous bill hearings, presentations, and completed our committee work regarding the state budget. On Tuesday, we had a bill hearing on House Bill 2492 which is submitting claims against the state. Thursday, we conducted a bill hearing on House Bill 2626 which makes for increased contributions for the Teacher Service Scholarship Program.

We also had a presentation regarding the needs for rural housing across the state of Kansas. We had industry, banking, and economic development leaders discuss the need for additional housing in rural areas of the State. On Wednesday and Thursday, we had deliberations for the budget for fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025. We are planning to debate the budget next week.

Wednesday and Thursday last week, the House Appropriations Committee began reconstructing the state budget for Kansas. There were many adjustments that needed to be made in order to balance the budget due to legislation that has passed since Governor Kelly submitted her budget in January.

Some of the adjustments that needed to be made were regarding the passage of the APEX bill to generate economic development to entice extremely large corporations to Kansas. The incentives drastically affect the ending balance for the budget.

We also need to make changes to the proposals for the renovation of the Docking Building and the new Kansas Department of Health and Environment lab. We are awaiting the final numbers and how much of Federal funds can by utilized for the projects.

We decided to place $500 million in the Budget Stabilization Fund, commonly referred to as the “Rainy Day Fund.” This will be placed in the fund as savings and used if the state of Kansas experiences a recession or shortfall in future years.

We also discussed across the board pay increase of five percent for all state employees, as mentioned in the Governor’s budget. There was also discussion on the increase to the Intellectually Developmentally Disability waiver, which would be an increase of $27.4 million.

The overall budget position for the House budget when passed out of committee has us with an ending balance of more than $1.7 billion, more than that of the submission by the Governor.

Anytime that one would like to participate and listen to the developments of committee hearings or discussion on the House floor, one can tune in by listening to the audio footage at <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/">www.kslegislature.org</a>.

As always, if you have any concerns, feel free to contact me (785) 296-7672, follow on twitter at @waymaster4house, or email me at troy.waymaster@house.ks.gov. Please contact me regarding any issues and legislation that we are discussing during session.

It is a distinct honor to serve as your representative for the 109th Kansas House District and the state of Kansas. Please contact me with your thoughts, concerns, and questions. I always appreciate hearing from the residents of the 109th House District and others from the state of Kansas, as well.

Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill, is the Kansas House&nbsp;Appropriations Chairman and 109th District state representative which includes:

* Osborne, Russell, and Smith Counties * Barton County: Cities: Albert, Claflin, Galatia, Odin, Olmitz and Susank; Townships: Beaver, Cheyenne, Clarence, Cleveland, Fairview, Grant, Independent, Logan, Union, Walnut and Wheatland * Jewell County: Cities:Burr Oak, Esbon and Mankato; Townships: Athens,Browns Creek, Burr Oak, Calvin, Center,Erving, Esbon, Harrison, Highland, Holmwood, Ionia, Limestone, Odessa,Walnut and White Mound * Lincoln County: Cities: Lincoln Center(part) and Sylvan Grove; Townships: Battle Creek, Beaver(part), Cedron, Elkhorn(part), Golden Belt, Grant, Hanover, Highland, Indiana, Marion, Orange, Pleasant, Valley and Vesper * Rush County: Cities: Bison, Otis, Rush Center and Timken; Townships: Banner,Center,Garfield, Illinois, Lone Star, Pioneer and Pleasantdale

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1633970422056.jpeg" alt="Troy L. Waymaster, State Representative, 109th Kansas House, R-Bunker Hill" />
 <figcaption>Troy L. Waymaster, State Representative, 109th Kansas House, R-Bunker Hill</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA March 21, 2022Bills Debated in the HouseOn Tuesday, March 15, the House debated one resolution and four bills. The House Concurrent Resolution 5032 is in response to the invasion by Russia in Ukraine. The resolution honors the Ukrainians fighting against the Russian invasion.House Bill 2674 states that if a defendant fails to appear as directed by the court and guaranteed by an appearance bond, the court in which the bond is deposited can issue an arrest warrant for the defendant.House Bill 2541 shifts the deposits of certain fees with the Judicial Branch to the State General Fund. Then an allocation from the State General Fund will be transferred to the Judicial Branch for funding.House Bill 2676 allows counties to create a code inspection and enforcement fund and expands the exisiting equipment fund to include technology.House Bill 2582 amends current law governing access, exhange, and disclosure of information in the Revised Kansas Code for Care of Children.On Wednesday, we discussed four bills. House Bill 2528 removes inflatable devices that are owned and operated by a nonprofit from the Kansas Amusement Ride Act.Senate Bill 348 exempts the practice of threading from cosmetology.Senate Bill 392 terminates the transfer of unencumbered moneys in the securities fee fund exceeding $50,000 to the State General Fund. I voted “yes” to all of these bills.Appropriations CommitteeLast week the House Appropriations Committee conducted numerous bill hearings, presentations, and completed our committee work regarding the state budget. On Tuesday, we had a bill hearing on House Bill 2492 which is submitting claims against the state. Thursday, we conducted a bill hearing on House Bill 2626 which makes for increased contributions for the Teacher Service Scholarship Program.We also had a presentation regarding the needs for rural housing across the state of Kansas. We had industry, banking, and economic development leaders discuss the need for additional housing in rural areas of the State. On Wednesday and Thursday, we had deliberations for the budget for fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025. We are planning to debate the budget next week.State Budget Takes ShapeWednesday and Thursday last week, the House Appropriations Committee began reconstructing the state budget for Kansas. There were many adjustments that needed to be made in order to balance the budget due to legislation that has passed since Governor Kelly submitted her budget in January.Some of the adjustments that needed to be made were regarding the passage of the APEX bill to generate economic development to entice extremely large corporations to Kansas. The incentives drastically affect the ending balance for the budget.We also need to make changes to the proposals for the renovation of the Docking Building and the new Kansas Department of Health and Environment lab. We are awaiting the final numbers and how much of Federal funds can by utilized for the projects.We decided to place $500 million in the Budget Stabilization Fund, commonly referred to as the “Rainy Day Fund.” This will be placed in the fund as savings and used if the state of Kansas experiences a recession or shortfall in future years.We also discussed across the board pay increase of five percent for all state employees, as mentioned in the Governor’s budget. There was also discussion on the increase to the Intellectually Developmentally Disability waiver, which would be an increase of $27.4 million.The overall budget position for the House budget when passed out of committee has us with an ending balance of more than $1.7 billion, more than that of the submission by the Governor.Contact InformationAnytime that one would like to participate and listen to the developments of committee hearings or discussion on the House floor, one can tune in by listening to the audio footage at <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/">www.kslegislature.org</a>.As always, if you have any concerns, feel free to contact me (785) 296-7672, follow on twitter at @waymaster4house, or email me at troy.waymaster@house.ks.gov. Please contact me regarding any issues and legislation that we are discussing during session.It is a distinct honor to serve as your representative for the 109th Kansas House District and the state of Kansas. Please contact me with your thoughts, concerns, and questions. I always appreciate hearing from the residents of the 109th House District and others from the state of Kansas, as well.Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill, is the Kansas House&nbsp;Appropriations Chairman and 109th District state representative which includes:* Osborne, Russell, and Smith Counties * Barton County: Cities: Albert, Claflin, Galatia, Odin, Olmitz and Susank; Townships: Beaver, Cheyenne, Clarence, Cleveland, Fairview, Grant, Independent, Logan, Union, Walnut and Wheatland * Jewell County: Cities:Burr Oak, Esbon and Mankato; Townships: Athens,Browns Creek, Burr Oak, Calvin, Center,Erving, Esbon, Harrison, Highland, Holmwood, Ionia, Limestone, Odessa,Walnut and White Mound * Lincoln County: Cities: Lincoln Center(part) and Sylvan Grove; Townships: Battle Creek, Beaver(part), Cedron, Elkhorn(part), Golden Belt, Grant, Hanover, Highland, Indiana, Marion, Orange, Pleasant, Valley and Vesper * Rush County: Cities: Bison, Otis, Rush Center and Timken; Townships: Banner,Center,Garfield, Illinois, Lone Star, Pioneer and Pleasantdale

WAYMASTER: From the Dome to Home, March 21, 2022

It may seem hard to believe, but the legislature is now fully ten weeks into its session and has just two weeks remaining prior to “first adjournment.” 

Last week the Kansas Senate accomplished its two primary constitutional responsibilities – adopting a budget and passing a new map for the Kansas Senate to cover the next decade. In addition, the Senate passed several other bills, including two bills addressing election security. 

This week the legislature will meet for three days and debate several important bills that have been making their way through the committee process and now will be up for a vote. 

Then, the legislature will adjourn briefly before returning to wrap up the regular part of the session.

SB 444 - the Senate adopted a budget that includes $22.8 billion in total spending for FY 2023, with a little over $9.0 billion coming from the state general fund. It retires substantial amounts of debt including paying off the $253.9 million for the KPERS layering payments, provides state employees a 5% pay increase, puts away $600.0 million into the rainy-day fund, and leaves the state general fund with a healthy ending balance of nearly $360.0 million at the end of FY 2023. The budget, contained within&nbsp;<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/sb444/">SB 444</a>, passed by a vote of 23-14.

SB 563 - Liberty contains the Kansas Senate map for the next decade. All 40 districts fell well within 5% deviation, and only two of the districts went beyond 3% deviation. There was a growth of 120,000 people within cities, requiring the collapsing of two districts. Following the Redistricting Guidelines. This was accomplished by preserving communities of interests and using easy-to-understand boundaries, such as highways and rivers and traditional political boundaries. 92 counties are whole and almost all small cities are kept whole. In addition, the core of districts was preserved wherever possible. Using the 2020 Kansas Senate results, the map would preserve the current partisan split within the Kansas Senate of 29 Republicans and 11 Democrats. Marshall County remains divided with 4 townships moving to Senate District 1 represented by Senator Dennis Pyle who will continue to share Marshall County with me in Senate District #36.&nbsp;<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/sb563/">Sub for SB
563</a>&nbsp;passed the Senate by a bi-partisan vote of 28-8.

<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/sb389/">SB 389</a>&nbsp;would require all voting systems in Kansas to use a paper ballot with a distinctive watermark as established by the Secretary of State for elections on and after January 1, 2024. The bill would require a sample hand-counted audit of the paper ballots conducted for each precinct if the paper ballots are read by vote-tabulating equipment and would require the voting system to provide the voter an opportunity to correct any error on the paper ballot before it is secured and preserved. Finally, it would prohibit the use of poll books not requiring a hand-written signature. SB 389 passed 27-11.

<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/sb390/">SB 390</a>&nbsp;would require the Secretary of State, in consultation with county election officers, to develop an affidavit system to be utilized for the handling of ballots. The bill would require each person who handles ballots to sign an affidavit listing, if applicable, the number of blank ballots, spoiled ballots, provisional ballots, counted ballots, the name of the person from whom such ballots were received, and the Location of where the ballots were received. SB 390 passed 27-10.

<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/hb2540/">HB 2540</a>&nbsp;would require the Capitol Preservation Committee to approve plans to place apermanent memorial honoring Kansas Gold Star families on the Statehouse grounds. “Gold Star families” are families who have lost a family member in the line of military duty. HB 2540 passed 38-0.

<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/hb2508/">HB 2508</a>&nbsp;clarifies and codifies requirements for participation in and usage of the state and federal Rap Back programs. Rap (stands for Record of Arrest and Prosecutions) Back is an optional FBI service that will allow authorized government agencies to receive notification of subsequent activity on individuals who hold positions of trust (e.g. school teachers, daycare workers) or who are under criminal justice supervision or investigation. HB 2508 passed 38-0.

<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/sb529/">SB 529</a>&nbsp;would require the Secretary of Revenue to permit electronic online renewal of nondriver’s identification cards under certain circumstances. SB 529 passed 38-0.

<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/hb2478/">HB 2478</a>&nbsp;would designate two portions of highway in honor of deceased military service members. The bill would designate a portion of United States highway 166 as the SGT Evan S. Parker Memorial Highway and would designate a portion of U.S. highway 56 as the PFC Shane Austin Memorial hHighway. HB 2478 passed 38-0.

<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/scr1623/">SCR 1623</a>&nbsp;is a resolution urging the president of the United States to stop importing oil and gas from Russia and restore energy independence in the United States. SCR 1623 passed 37-0.

<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/sb494/">SB 494</a>&nbsp;would prohibit the deployment, implementation, or use of a motor carrier safety improvement by, or as required by, a motor carrier from affecting, impacting, or changing the worker status of a driver. SB 494 passed 39-0.

Full texts of the bills and supplemental notes as well as the Final Action vote on these measures can be found at <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/">www.kslegislature.org</a>.

ADDITIONAL LINKS FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_0NO-Pb96CFABvxDwXAq8A?view_as=subscriber">Kansas
Legislature YouTube</a>&nbsp;– Here you can follow the legislature live as it happens, or access archives of past sessions and committee meetings.&nbsp; <a href="http://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00287/Harmony/en/View/Calendar/">Kansas
Legislature Audio</a>&nbsp;– Here you can listen in on session or committees when they are in session, or access prior committee meetings, as well.

UPDATE FROM KANSAS INSURANCE COMMISSIONER VICKI SCHMIDT

If you or someone you know has an issue with their insurance, we are happy to help! We may not always like the answers we get, but we will do our best to get you an answer. Please use the contact information below to reach out to us if we can be of assistance.

Main Line: (785) 296-3071 Consumer Assistance Hotline: 1-800-432-2484 Consumer Complaint: <a href="mailto:kid.webcomplaints@ks.gov" target="_blank">kid.webcomplaints@ks.gov</a> Producer Licensing:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:KID.Licensing@ks.gov" target="_blank">kid.licensing@ks.gov</a> Email:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:KID.Commissioner@ks.gov" target="_blank">KID.Commissioner@ks.gov</a> Website:&nbsp;<a href="https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001SoDYgtD-dFj2steoGgFmoL8pLuf0NSmUSYwQCgp1HsxoadVCfwcm_95Am0jNUs0wFnhLh6WZZDNC0I3bvXKrYLcDAFEsmw8M0DoCWSkqIfiLrZCsRdIrP9T0QLWMfcrFnRn8KKAZuWRvenC77dA6Tw==&amp;c=_XGtk_g_SmaADwMA6e5Ys1lOAPiD2n0Y0WhdVf1Fcsl9xHGubVgxOA==&amp;ch=r3uWbCcKhRBHU_y3dsLIzaxpLTKaKBOHKjED-RjqskJBJwcemc8Blw==" target="_blank">Insurance.kansas.gov</a>

Thank you for all of your calls, emails, and letters regarding your thoughts and concerns about happenings in Kansas. I always encourage you to stay informed of the issues under consideration by the Kansas Legislature. Committee schedules, bills, and other helpful information can be easily accessed through the legislature’s website at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/">www.kslegislature.org</a>. You are also able to ‘listen in live’ at this website to current committees and also past hearings. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your thoughts, concerns, and suggestions. An email is the best at this point in the session.

Senator Elaine Bowers Kansas State Capitol Building Room 223-E 300 SW 10th St. <a href="mailto:elaine.bowers@senate.ks.gov" target="_blank">elaine.bowers@senate.ks.gov</a> 785-296-7389 <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/">www.kslegislature.org</a>

Elaine Bowers, R-Concordia, is senator of the 36th District in Kansas which includes:

* Cloud, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Osborne, Ottawa, Republic, Rooks, Russell,&nbsp;Smith and Washington Counties * Marshall County: Cities: Blue Rapids, Marysville, Oketo and Waterville;&nbsp;Townships: Blue Rapids, Blue Rapids City, Cottage Hill, Elm Creek,&nbsp;Herkimer, Logan, Marysville, Oketo, Walnut and Waterville * Phillips County: Cities: Agra, Glade, Kirwin and Phillipsburg;&nbsp;Townships: Arcade, Bow Creek, Crystal Deer Creek, Freedom,&nbsp;Glenwood, Greenwood, Kirwin, Phillipsburg, Plum,&nbsp;Rushville, Solomon(part), Sumner,&nbsp;Valley and Walnut

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/2/1644853578448.jpeg" alt="State Sen. Elaine Bowers, R-Concordia, 36th Dist." />
 <figcaption>State Sen. Elaine Bowers, R-Concordia, 36th Dist.</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA March 21, 2022&nbsp;It may seem hard to believe, but the legislature is now fully ten weeks into its session and has just two weeks remaining prior to “first adjournment.” Last week the Kansas Senate accomplished its two primary constitutional responsibilities – adopting a budget and passing a new map for the Kansas Senate to cover the next decade. In addition, the Senate passed several other bills, including two bills addressing election security. This week the legislature will meet for three days and debate several important bills that have been making their way through the committee process and now will be up for a vote. Then, the legislature will adjourn briefly before returning to wrap up the regular part of the session.SENATE FLOOR ACTIONSB 444 - the Senate adopted a budget that includes $22.8 billion in total spending for FY 2023, with a little over $9.0 billion coming from the state general fund. It retires substantial amounts of debt including paying off the $253.9 million for the KPERS layering payments, provides state employees a 5% pay increase, puts away $600.0 million into the rainy-day fund, and leaves the state general fund with a healthy ending balance of nearly $360.0 million at the end of FY 2023. The budget, contained within&nbsp;<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/sb444/">SB 444</a>, passed by a vote of 23-14.SB 563 - Liberty contains the Kansas Senate map for the next decade. All 40 districts fell well within 5% deviation, and only two of the districts went beyond 3% deviation. There was a growth of 120,000 people within cities, requiring the collapsing of two districts. Following the Redistricting Guidelines. This was accomplished by preserving communities of interests and using easy-to-understand boundaries, such as highways and rivers and traditional political boundaries. 92 counties are whole and almost all small cities are kept whole. In addition, the core of districts was preserved wherever possible. Using the 2020 Kansas Senate results, the map would preserve the current partisan split within the Kansas Senate of 29 Republicans and 11 Democrats. Marshall County remains divided with 4 townships moving to Senate District 1 represented by Senator Dennis Pyle who will continue to share Marshall County with me in Senate District #36.&nbsp;<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/sb563/">Sub for SB
563</a>&nbsp;passed the Senate by a bi-partisan vote of 28-8.<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/sb389/">SB 389</a>&nbsp;would require all voting systems in Kansas to use a paper ballot with a distinctive watermark as established by the Secretary of State for elections on and after January 1, 2024. The bill would require a sample hand-counted audit of the paper ballots conducted for each precinct if the paper ballots are read by vote-tabulating equipment and would require the voting system to provide the voter an opportunity to correct any error on the paper ballot before it is secured and preserved. Finally, it would prohibit the use of poll books not requiring a hand-written signature. SB 389 passed 27-11.<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/sb390/">SB 390</a>&nbsp;would require the Secretary of State, in consultation with county election officers, to develop an affidavit system to be utilized for the handling of ballots. The bill would require each person who handles ballots to sign an affidavit listing, if applicable, the number of blank ballots, spoiled ballots, provisional ballots, counted ballots, the name of the person from whom such ballots were received, and the Location of where the ballots were received. SB 390 passed 27-10.<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/hb2540/">HB 2540</a>&nbsp;would require the Capitol Preservation Committee to approve plans to place apermanent memorial honoring Kansas Gold Star families on the Statehouse grounds. “Gold Star families” are families who have lost a family member in the line of military duty. HB 2540 passed 38-0.<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/hb2508/">HB 2508</a>&nbsp;clarifies and codifies requirements for participation in and usage of the state and federal Rap Back programs. Rap (stands for Record of Arrest and Prosecutions) Back is an optional FBI service that will allow authorized government agencies to receive notification of subsequent activity on individuals who hold positions of trust (e.g. school teachers, daycare workers) or who are under criminal justice supervision or investigation. HB 2508 passed 38-0.<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/sb529/">SB 529</a>&nbsp;would require the Secretary of Revenue to permit electronic online renewal of nondriver’s identification cards under certain circumstances. SB 529 passed 38-0.<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/hb2478/">HB 2478</a>&nbsp;would designate two portions of highway in honor of deceased military service members. The bill would designate a portion of United States highway 166 as the SGT Evan S. Parker Memorial Highway and would designate a portion of U.S. highway 56 as the PFC Shane Austin Memorial hHighway. HB 2478 passed 38-0.<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/scr1623/">SCR 1623</a>&nbsp;is a resolution urging the president of the United States to stop importing oil and gas from Russia and restore energy independence in the United States. SCR 1623 passed 37-0.<a href="http://kslegislature.com/li/b2021_22/measures/sb494/">SB 494</a>&nbsp;would prohibit the deployment, implementation, or use of a motor carrier safety improvement by, or as required by, a motor carrier from affecting, impacting, or changing the worker status of a driver. SB 494 passed 39-0.Full texts of the bills and supplemental notes as well as the Final Action vote on these measures can be found at <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/">www.kslegislature.org</a>.ADDITIONAL LINKS FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_0NO-Pb96CFABvxDwXAq8A?view_as=subscriber">Kansas
Legislature YouTube</a>&nbsp;– Here you can follow the legislature live as it happens, or access archives of past sessions and committee meetings.&nbsp; <a href="http://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00287/Harmony/en/View/Calendar/">Kansas
Legislature Audio</a>&nbsp;– Here you can listen in on session or committees when they are in session, or access prior committee meetings, as well.UPDATE FROM KANSAS INSURANCE COMMISSIONER VICKI SCHMIDTIf you or someone you know has an issue with their insurance, we are happy to help! We may not always like the answers we get, but we will do our best to get you an answer. Please use the contact information below to reach out to us if we can be of assistance.Main Line: (785) 296-3071 Consumer Assistance Hotline: 1-800-432-2484 Consumer Complaint: <a href="mailto:kid.webcomplaints@ks.gov" target="_blank">kid.webcomplaints@ks.gov</a> Producer Licensing:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:KID.Licensing@ks.gov" target="_blank">kid.licensing@ks.gov</a> Email:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:KID.Commissioner@ks.gov" target="_blank">KID.Commissioner@ks.gov</a> Website:&nbsp;<a href="https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001SoDYgtD-dFj2steoGgFmoL8pLuf0NSmUSYwQCgp1HsxoadVCfwcm_95Am0jNUs0wFnhLh6WZZDNC0I3bvXKrYLcDAFEsmw8M0DoCWSkqIfiLrZCsRdIrP9T0QLWMfcrFnRn8KKAZuWRvenC77dA6Tw==&amp;c=_XGtk_g_SmaADwMA6e5Ys1lOAPiD2n0Y0WhdVf1Fcsl9xHGubVgxOA==&amp;ch=r3uWbCcKhRBHU_y3dsLIzaxpLTKaKBOHKjED-RjqskJBJwcemc8Blw==" target="_blank">Insurance.kansas.gov</a>Thank you for all of your calls, emails, and letters regarding your thoughts and concerns about happenings in Kansas. I always encourage you to stay informed of the issues under consideration by the Kansas Legislature. Committee schedules, bills, and other helpful information can be easily accessed through the legislature’s website at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/">www.kslegislature.org</a>. You are also able to ‘listen in live’ at this website to current committees and also past hearings. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your thoughts, concerns, and suggestions. An email is the best at this point in the session.Thank you for the honor of serving you!Senator Elaine Bowers Kansas State Capitol Building Room 223-E 300 SW 10th St. <a href="mailto:elaine.bowers@senate.ks.gov" target="_blank">elaine.bowers@senate.ks.gov</a> 785-296-7389 <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/">www.kslegislature.org</a>Elaine Bowers, R-Concordia, is senator of the 36th District in Kansas which includes:* Cloud, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Osborne, Ottawa, Republic, Rooks, Russell,&nbsp;Smith and Washington Counties * Marshall County: Cities: Blue Rapids, Marysville, Oketo and Waterville;&nbsp;Townships: Blue Rapids, Blue Rapids City, Cottage Hill, Elm Creek,&nbsp;Herkimer, Logan, Marysville, Oketo, Walnut and Waterville * Phillips County: Cities: Agra, Glade, Kirwin and Phillipsburg;&nbsp;Townships: Arcade, Bow Creek, Crystal Deer Creek, Freedom,&nbsp;Glenwood, Greenwood, Kirwin, Phillipsburg, Plum,&nbsp;Rushville, Solomon(part), Sumner,&nbsp;Valley and Walnut

BOWERS: Senate Scene Week 10

By CLAY WIRESTONE <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/03/21/permanent-daylight-saving-time-sounds-great-for-kansas-and-u-s-but-careful-what-you-wish-for/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>

Bipartisan hope springs eternal in the breast of a red state opinion editor.

That’s why I was delighted to see last week that the U.S. Senate <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/03/15/u-s-senate-backs-shift-to-permanent-daylight-saving-time/">voted unanimously</a>
 to stop changing our clocks back and forth twice a year, by making 
daylight saving time permanent. The only downside was the vote happened 
while I took a few days off, although that time was useful in adjusting 
my own increasingly creaky body to the gruesome realities of springing 
forward for the spring.

What other issue could unite U.S. 
Sens. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran along with liberal stalwart Chuck 
Schumer and progressive icon Bernie Sanders? (Possibly naming a post 
office after someone famous, but more on that in a moment.)

Everyone hates changing their clocks, especially moving them forward. Researchers have discovered <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/8/3/404/htm">negative health effects</a> from both. As I dragged myself from bed last week, I cursed every missing minute.

One especially delighted onlooker was Kansas <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/members/rep_francis_shannon_1/">Rep. Shannon Francis</a>, R-Liberal.

He’s co-sponsoring a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/documents/hcr5008_00_0000.pdf">resolution</a> calling for year-round Daylight Saving Time. He <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/02/14/clock-is-ticking-ditch-the-switch-for-year-round-standard-or-daylight-saving-time/">made the case</a>
 for the change last year to Kansas Reflector. No surprise, he still 
thinks it’s a good idea and that senators in Washington, D.C., made the 
right call.

“I was glad to see the Senate pass 
the bill making daylight savings time permanent,” Francis said. “I hope 
the House of Representatives takes up the issue this year. The 
semi-annual time change is the real issue because it leads to sleep 
difficulties, increased heart attacks, strokes, car accidents and 
depression.”

All neat and tidy, right? We just need the U.S. House to follow the Senate’s lead and President Joe Biden to sign the bill.

Unfortunately, I doubt that’s going to happen soon. That might be a good thing, too.

According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/paulmcleod/daylight-saving-time-senate">reporting from Buzzfeed News</a>,
 the legislation made it through as part of the Senate’s consent agenda.
 That’s meant to contain noncontroversial legislation, such as Post 
Office namings and other feel-good trifles. Somehow, the time change 
made it onto the list.

“Any single senator could have 
blocked the daylight saving bill from passing but many didn’t know it 
was even happening,” wrote Buzzfeed’s Paul McLeod. “Sen. Rick Scott, a 
permanent daylight saving time proponent who signed a similar bill into 
law when he was governor of Florida, said he would have gone to give a 
speech on the Senate floor if he had known. Asked to re-create his 
reaction to the news, Sen. Chris Coons issued a series of shocked 
stammers that is impossible to phonetically translate.”

Was this outbreak of bipartisanship really just an errant staffer’s mistake?

We’ll have to wait and see. <a target="_blank" href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/598547-house-leaders-want-to-take-up-daylight-saving-time-bill-later">Your move</a>,
 Nancy Pelosi. In the meantime, we should debate whether we actually 
want permanent daylight saving time. Sure, it shifts sunlight later in 
the day, but that contradicts the body’s circadian rhythms.

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/03/16/daylight-saving-bill-health-effects/">According to the Washington Post</a>, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine thinks we should stick permanently with standard time. It is, after all, the standard.

“We do applaud stopping the switching
 during the course of the year and settling on a permanent time,” said 
Jocelyn Cheng, a member of the academy, to the Post. But she added that 
“standard time, for so many scientific and circadian rationales and 
public health safety reasons, should really be what the permanent time 
is set to.”

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/details/david-neubauer">David Neubauer</a>,
 an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns 
Hopkins University, put it this way to Post reporter Allyson Chiu: “With
 daylight saving time, we are perpetually out of synchronization with 
our internal clocks and we often achieve less nighttime sleep, both 
circumstances having negative health impacts. Extra evening light 
suppresses the melatonin that should be preparing us for falling asleep.
 The later dawn during daylight saving time deprives our biological 
clocks of the critical light signal.”

Who would have guessed? Solutions 
that sound quick and easy turn out to be considerably more complicated 
and challenging than first expected.

The arguments against changing our 
clocks sound rock solid. Almost everyone agrees there. But just because 
we agree on the problem doesn’t mean that we all know the best solution.

The United States has already <a target="_blank" href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-happened-the-last-time-the-us-tried-to-make-daylight-saving-time-permanent-180979742/">tried this once before</a>.
 In 1974, lawmakers passed a two-year trial run of permanent daylight 
saving time. It only lasted 10 months before being repealed, with 
parents especially unhappy about sending children to school in the dark.
 As said earlier in this column: Whoops.

If lawmakers want to get together and actually solve this problem in 2022, I’m all for it. Real bipartisanship is great.

On the other hand, so are real solutions.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1647874319326.png" alt="Kansas Senate leadership huddles around a clock in the Kansas Legislature. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Kansas Senate leadership huddles around a clock in the Kansas Legislature. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By CLAY WIRESTONE <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/03/21/permanent-daylight-saving-time-sounds-great-for-kansas-and-u-s-but-careful-what-you-wish-for/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>Bipartisan hope springs eternal in the breast of a red state opinion editor.That’s why I was delighted to see last week that the U.S. Senate <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/03/15/u-s-senate-backs-shift-to-permanent-daylight-saving-time/">voted unanimously</a>
 to stop changing our clocks back and forth twice a year, by making 
daylight saving time permanent. The only downside was the vote happened 
while I took a few days off, although that time was useful in adjusting 
my own increasingly creaky body to the gruesome realities of springing 
forward for the spring.What other issue could unite U.S. 
Sens. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran along with liberal stalwart Chuck 
Schumer and progressive icon Bernie Sanders? (Possibly naming a post 
office after someone famous, but more on that in a moment.)Everyone hates changing their clocks, especially moving them forward. Researchers have discovered <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/8/3/404/htm">negative health effects</a> from both. As I dragged myself from bed last week, I cursed every missing minute.One especially delighted onlooker was Kansas <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/members/rep_francis_shannon_1/">Rep. Shannon Francis</a>, R-Liberal.He’s co-sponsoring a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/documents/hcr5008_00_0000.pdf">resolution</a> calling for year-round Daylight Saving Time. He <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/02/14/clock-is-ticking-ditch-the-switch-for-year-round-standard-or-daylight-saving-time/">made the case</a>
 for the change last year to Kansas Reflector. No surprise, he still 
thinks it’s a good idea and that senators in Washington, D.C., made the 
right call.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1647874443131.jpeg" alt="Kansas Rep. Shannon Francis, R-Liberal, co-sponsored a resolution making daylight saving time permanent. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Kansas Rep. Shannon Francis, R-Liberal, co-sponsored a resolution making daylight saving time permanent. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>“I was glad to see the Senate pass 
the bill making daylight savings time permanent,” Francis said. “I hope 
the House of Representatives takes up the issue this year. The 
semi-annual time change is the real issue because it leads to sleep 
difficulties, increased heart attacks, strokes, car accidents and 
depression.”All neat and tidy, right? We just need the U.S. House to follow the Senate’s lead and President Joe Biden to sign the bill.Unfortunately, I doubt that’s going to happen soon. That might be a good thing, too.According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/paulmcleod/daylight-saving-time-senate">reporting from Buzzfeed News</a>,
 the legislation made it through as part of the Senate’s consent agenda.
 That’s meant to contain noncontroversial legislation, such as Post 
Office namings and other feel-good trifles. Somehow, the time change 
made it onto the list.“Any single senator could have 
blocked the daylight saving bill from passing but many didn’t know it 
was even happening,” wrote Buzzfeed’s Paul McLeod. “Sen. Rick Scott, a 
permanent daylight saving time proponent who signed a similar bill into 
law when he was governor of Florida, said he would have gone to give a 
speech on the Senate floor if he had known. Asked to re-create his 
reaction to the news, Sen. Chris Coons issued a series of shocked 
stammers that is impossible to phonetically translate.”Whoops.Was this outbreak of bipartisanship really just an errant staffer’s mistake?We’ll have to wait and see. <a target="_blank" href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/598547-house-leaders-want-to-take-up-daylight-saving-time-bill-later">Your move</a>,
 Nancy Pelosi. In the meantime, we should debate whether we actually 
want permanent daylight saving time. Sure, it shifts sunlight later in 
the day, but that contradicts the body’s circadian rhythms.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/03/16/daylight-saving-bill-health-effects/">According to the Washington Post</a>, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine thinks we should stick permanently with standard time. It is, after all, the standard.“We do applaud stopping the switching
 during the course of the year and settling on a permanent time,” said 
Jocelyn Cheng, a member of the academy, to the Post. But she added that 
“standard time, for so many scientific and circadian rationales and 
public health safety reasons, should really be what the permanent time 
is set to.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1647874470248.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><a target="_blank" href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/details/david-neubauer">David Neubauer</a>,
 an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns 
Hopkins University, put it this way to Post reporter Allyson Chiu: “With
 daylight saving time, we are perpetually out of synchronization with 
our internal clocks and we often achieve less nighttime sleep, both 
circumstances having negative health impacts. Extra evening light 
suppresses the melatonin that should be preparing us for falling asleep.
 The later dawn during daylight saving time deprives our biological 
clocks of the critical light signal.”Who would have guessed? Solutions 
that sound quick and easy turn out to be considerably more complicated 
and challenging than first expected.The arguments against changing our 
clocks sound rock solid. Almost everyone agrees there. But just because 
we agree on the problem doesn’t mean that we all know the best solution.The United States has already <a target="_blank" href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-happened-the-last-time-the-us-tried-to-make-daylight-saving-time-permanent-180979742/">tried this once before</a>.
 In 1974, lawmakers passed a two-year trial run of permanent daylight 
saving time. It only lasted 10 months before being repealed, with 
parents especially unhappy about sending children to school in the dark.
 As said earlier in this column: Whoops.If lawmakers want to get together and actually solve this problem in 2022, I’m all for it. Real bipartisanship is great.On the other hand, so are real solutions.

OPINION: Permanent daylight saving time? Careful what you wish for

By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development&nbsp;

Let’s take a trip back in time. How far?&nbsp;&nbsp;Let’s say, a couple of thousand years. That’s the premise of a play that one rural Kansas community performs live on Easter Sunday, using a remarkable stone outcropping as a natural stage.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Dale and Berny Unruh and Roy and Tricia Prescott are co-organizers of the working committee that produces this play as the Pawnee Rock Easter Pageant. Dale is a native of the area who taught agriculture before farming. While at K-State, he met his wife Berny, who became an extension agent. Berny is originally from the rural community of Munden, population 100 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;

Tricia grew up at Pawnee Rock. She went to Fort Hays State, married Roy, and is a teacher. Both the Unruhs and the Prescotts live near Pawnee Rock today.&nbsp;

The town of Pawnee Rock is named for the actual rock, a remarkable sandstone outcropping that stands 50 feet above the surrounding plains. For centuries it has been a landmark for natives and travelers across the prairie.&nbsp;

In 1932, an east-coast author wrote an Easter-themed play called&nbsp;The Way of the Cross.&nbsp;&nbsp;It tells the story of a modern-day person who goes back in time and is observing the events in the city of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’s crucifixion. According to the Bible, the crucifixion took place on a hill near Jerusalem.&nbsp;

In 1936, the ministerial alliance at Pawnee Rock decided to perform this play outside as a sunrise Easter pageant, using the rock itself as the natural backdrop. Three crosses were temporarily placed atop the rock. A choir provided accompaniment. It worked so well that, until 1972, the pageant was performed annually (except for World War II) on Easter Sunday.&nbsp;

In 1981, the pageant was revived by local volunteers with the plan to perform it every other year. That tradition continues today, although the pandemic forced a postponement in 2021. On April 17, volunteers will again perform the pageant at the historic Pawnee Rock.&nbsp;

Vivian Bright was the organizer of this event for more than 20 years. Vivian turns 90 in 2022. In 2019, her daughter Tricia Prescott and Tricia’s husband Roy assumed the co-organizer role along with the Unruhs.&nbsp;

This is a multi-generational community event. Tricia and Dale remember their parents hauling them to the pageant as kids. Tricia now plays the part of Salome, which her mother Vivian had played at one time. “(Vivian’s) mom had helped with the choir in the 1940s,” Tricia said.&nbsp;

There are also roles in the play for children. “I was told, `We’d like your daughter to play one of the children’s parts. And by the way, since you’re here anyway, we’ve got an opening for a Pharisee,” Dale said. The Unruhs have been involved ever since.&nbsp;

Dale and Berny’s daughters are now grown. Both live in Manhattan but return for the pageant. Nicolette is a managing partner of Nico’s Little Italy restaurant and Danette is a radiology technician. In the pageant, Nicolette plays Mary Magdalene and Danette is the Spirit of Easter. Their mom Berny helps with the costuming.&nbsp;

In 2022, Tricia Prescott’s seven-year-old granddaughter will fill one of the children’s roles. That would make the fifth generation of her family to participate in the event.&nbsp;

A professional sound company provides sound for a discounted fee. Volunteers do setup and cleanup. After the pageant, the owner of the old train depot opens it up for donuts and coffee.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

“This is a fun event for our little community to really grab hold of, and the play has a great message,” Dale said. The rock itself is a prominent feature of the play.&nbsp;&nbsp;“That setting makes you feel like you’re going back in time,” he said. “It’s a really bright spot for our community,” Tricia said.&nbsp;

For more information about the pageant, search for Pawnee Rock Easter on Facebook.&nbsp;

It’s time to return to the present, where the rural community of Pawnee Rock is preparing for the 2022 Easter pageant. We commend all the volunteers who are making a difference by conducting this performance. I hope they rock on!&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1647437315419.png" alt="Courtesy K-State Research &amp; Extension" />
 <figcaption>Courtesy K-State Research &amp; Extension</figcaption>
 </figure>By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development&nbsp;Let’s take a trip back in time. How far?&nbsp;&nbsp;Let’s say, a couple of thousand years. That’s the premise of a play that one rural Kansas community performs live on Easter Sunday, using a remarkable stone outcropping as a natural stage.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dale and Berny Unruh and Roy and Tricia Prescott are co-organizers of the working committee that produces this play as the Pawnee Rock Easter Pageant. Dale is a native of the area who taught agriculture before farming. While at K-State, he met his wife Berny, who became an extension agent. Berny is originally from the rural community of Munden, population 100 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;Tricia grew up at Pawnee Rock. She went to Fort Hays State, married Roy, and is a teacher. Both the Unruhs and the Prescotts live near Pawnee Rock today.&nbsp;The town of Pawnee Rock is named for the actual rock, a remarkable sandstone outcropping that stands 50 feet above the surrounding plains. For centuries it has been a landmark for natives and travelers across the prairie.&nbsp;In 1932, an east-coast author wrote an Easter-themed play called&nbsp;The Way of the Cross.&nbsp;&nbsp;It tells the story of a modern-day person who goes back in time and is observing the events in the city of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’s crucifixion. According to the Bible, the crucifixion took place on a hill near Jerusalem.&nbsp;In 1936, the ministerial alliance at Pawnee Rock decided to perform this play outside as a sunrise Easter pageant, using the rock itself as the natural backdrop. Three crosses were temporarily placed atop the rock. A choir provided accompaniment. It worked so well that, until 1972, the pageant was performed annually (except for World War II) on Easter Sunday.&nbsp;In 1981, the pageant was revived by local volunteers with the plan to perform it every other year. That tradition continues today, although the pandemic forced a postponement in 2021. On April 17, volunteers will again perform the pageant at the historic Pawnee Rock.&nbsp;Vivian Bright was the organizer of this event for more than 20 years. Vivian turns 90 in 2022. In 2019, her daughter Tricia Prescott and Tricia’s husband Roy assumed the co-organizer role along with the Unruhs.&nbsp;This is a multi-generational community event. Tricia and Dale remember their parents hauling them to the pageant as kids. Tricia now plays the part of Salome, which her mother Vivian had played at one time. “(Vivian’s) mom had helped with the choir in the 1940s,” Tricia said.&nbsp;There are also roles in the play for children. “I was told, `We’d like your daughter to play one of the children’s parts. And by the way, since you’re here anyway, we’ve got an opening for a Pharisee,” Dale said. The Unruhs have been involved ever since.&nbsp;Dale and Berny’s daughters are now grown. Both live in Manhattan but return for the pageant. Nicolette is a managing partner of Nico’s Little Italy restaurant and Danette is a radiology technician. In the pageant, Nicolette plays Mary Magdalene and Danette is the Spirit of Easter. Their mom Berny helps with the costuming.&nbsp;In 2022, Tricia Prescott’s seven-year-old granddaughter will fill one of the children’s roles. That would make the fifth generation of her family to participate in the event.&nbsp;A professional sound company provides sound for a discounted fee. Volunteers do setup and cleanup. After the pageant, the owner of the old train depot opens it up for donuts and coffee.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“This is a fun event for our little community to really grab hold of, and the play has a great message,” Dale said. The rock itself is a prominent feature of the play.&nbsp;&nbsp;“That setting makes you feel like you’re going back in time,” he said. “It’s a really bright spot for our community,” Tricia said.&nbsp;For more information about the pageant, search for Pawnee Rock Easter on Facebook.&nbsp;It’s time to return to the present, where the rural community of Pawnee Rock is preparing for the 2022 Easter pageant. We commend all the volunteers who are making a difference by conducting this performance. I hope they rock on!&nbsp;

Now That’s Rural: Pawnee Rock Easter Pageant  

Once again, another unfunded mandate is working its way through the Kansas Legislature — HB2662.&nbsp; If passed, this bill would establish a Parents’ Bill of Rights and Academic Transparency law.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In general, the parents’ rights part of the act restates provisions for parents of public school students that currently exist in other state laws. These include the right of parents to be heard in school board meetings, to have access to curricula, to protect the privacy of their children and the right to op-out of individual classes or health care services.

The transparency part of the act requires schools to post on-line and maintain extensive, detailed information on each course and grade-level curricula including library resources.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Although requiring teachers to post lesson plans has been eliminated from the bill, recording and updating a school master-site with each curriculum and resources used within lessons remains in the bill. Also required are that&nbsp;copies of certain tests, questionnaires, surveys and examinations be made available to parents prior to obtaining consent to administer these items.&nbsp;&nbsp;

All this&nbsp;would come with a big price tag for implementation that cannot be estimated as well as tremendous time in monitoring the information.

Educators see the bill as micromanaging, distrusting, even vilifying teachers. The fear is that the act will foster self-censorship that will make lessons about difficult but important subjects nearly impossible, not to mention the tremendous addition to teachers’ workload caused by posting multiple, evolving instructional resources—time taken away from teaching.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

As has happened in the past, our schools today, are highly politicalized with Republican and Democrat forces churning curriculum into election fodder that feeds public tensions surrounding American history, racism and gender identification.&nbsp;

Still, it’s puzzling that some of our legislators want to re-legislate extant laws and create more, and more costly, non-instructional work for teachers and schools.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Nevertheless, if we want the bill to become something more than using teachers for political gain, a revised HB2662 might start us down a better path.

There is a large, underlying challenge for Kansas public education to move toward learning models that will prepare our students for the 21st&nbsp;Century.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Reimagining our schools will require a more highly organized statewide education system that is supported by electronic technology and based on open access to data, is easy to navigate and encourages parental and community engagement in our schools.&nbsp;

At present there is incomplete access for Kansas parents because broadband is not yet available to all Kansas residents, particularly those in rural and low-income urban areas.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Moreover, teachers have the right not to be burdened by overwhelming, non-teaching data- management tasks.&nbsp; Generally, employees, when asked to take on more tasks at work, are given release- or over-time or, still better, tasks are assigned to others hired for the new purpose.&nbsp;

As yet, HB2662 does not account for how federal and state funds, including those earmarked for COVID relief and development, might be earmarked to set up a modern network for the Kansas State Department of Education and each school to connect state standards with school curriculum with limited resource lists solely for classroom goals.&nbsp;

The Parents’ Rights and Academic Transparency bill cannot be effective, if there is no fully accessible, efficiently organized, maintainable and funded access to school information.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1593719779701.jpeg" alt="Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education." />
 <figcaption>Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education.</figcaption>
 </figure>Once again, another unfunded mandate is working its way through the Kansas Legislature — HB2662.&nbsp; If passed, this bill would establish a Parents’ Bill of Rights and Academic Transparency law.&nbsp;&nbsp;In general, the parents’ rights part of the act restates provisions for parents of public school students that currently exist in other state laws. These include the right of parents to be heard in school board meetings, to have access to curricula, to protect the privacy of their children and the right to op-out of individual classes or health care services.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The transparency part of the act requires schools to post on-line and maintain extensive, detailed information on each course and grade-level curricula including library resources.&nbsp;&nbsp;Although requiring teachers to post lesson plans has been eliminated from the bill, recording and updating a school master-site with each curriculum and resources used within lessons remains in the bill. Also required are that&nbsp;copies of certain tests, questionnaires, surveys and examinations be made available to parents prior to obtaining consent to administer these items.&nbsp;&nbsp;All this&nbsp;would come with a big price tag for implementation that cannot be estimated as well as tremendous time in monitoring the information.Educators see the bill as micromanaging, distrusting, even vilifying teachers. The fear is that the act will foster self-censorship that will make lessons about difficult but important subjects nearly impossible, not to mention the tremendous addition to teachers’ workload caused by posting multiple, evolving instructional resources—time taken away from teaching.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As has happened in the past, our schools today, are highly politicalized with Republican and Democrat forces churning curriculum into election fodder that feeds public tensions surrounding American history, racism and gender identification.&nbsp;Still, it’s puzzling that some of our legislators want to re-legislate extant laws and create more, and more costly, non-instructional work for teachers and schools.&nbsp;&nbsp;Nevertheless, if we want the bill to become something more than using teachers for political gain, a revised HB2662 might start us down a better path.There is a large, underlying challenge for Kansas public education to move toward learning models that will prepare our students for the 21st&nbsp;Century.&nbsp;&nbsp;Reimagining our schools will require a more highly organized statewide education system that is supported by electronic technology and based on open access to data, is easy to navigate and encourages parental and community engagement in our schools.&nbsp;At present there is incomplete access for Kansas parents because broadband is not yet available to all Kansas residents, particularly those in rural and low-income urban areas.&nbsp;&nbsp;Moreover, teachers have the right not to be burdened by overwhelming, non-teaching data- management tasks.&nbsp; Generally, employees, when asked to take on more tasks at work, are given release- or over-time or, still better, tasks are assigned to others hired for the new purpose.&nbsp;As yet, HB2662 does not account for how federal and state funds, including those earmarked for COVID relief and development, might be earmarked to set up a modern network for the Kansas State Department of Education and each school to connect state standards with school curriculum with limited resource lists solely for classroom goals.&nbsp;The Parents’ Rights and Academic Transparency bill cannot be effective, if there is no fully accessible, efficiently organized, maintainable and funded access to school information.&nbsp;&nbsp;This bill needs a big rewrite.Sharon Hartin Iorio is Dean Emerita Wichita State University College of Education.

INSIGHT KANSAS: What the parent rights, transparency bill doesn’t do

At Fort Hays State University, we believe tomorrow is made by thinkers and doers who turn ideas into action. We turn challenges into opportunities, and we are at our best when the going gets tough. This past year was no exception.

During these pandemic-challenged months, we kept the lights&nbsp;on&nbsp;and the doors open, responsibly managed our finances without furloughing or terminating employees, and experienced a record year for students graduating.

We work to responsibly respond to the economic concerns of the state – and especially, the rural communities of our region.&nbsp;

Our roots are in teacher education. We embrace this important calling and continue to partner with school districts with creative solutions such as transition-to-teaching and para-pathways. Just last month, we worked with our local school district to have our teaching interns become licensed emergency substitute teachers.

As social unrest plagued our country, our criminal justice faculty and university police department went to work providing solutions. Supported by a $1.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, we established a regional de-escalation center to teach law enforcement officers techniques to help resolve potentially dangerous confrontations.

Nursing faculty understand the challenges nurses face in rural communities and prepare our students to meet those needs. That is why our program places special emphasis on rural preceptorships and simulations – creating over 40 unique rural care simulations. Starting this fall, our nurse practitioners will log 25% of clinical hours in rural communities with less than 5,000 people.&nbsp;

We are focused on the future for Kansas families and businesses. Our Transfer &amp; Military Center, for example, encourages degree completion through programs like our Kansas Community College Guarantee – complete an associate of arts or science at a Kansas community college, and you have fulfilled our general education requirements.&nbsp;We have&nbsp;earned “Military Friendly School”&nbsp;honors for 15&nbsp;straight years.&nbsp;Our partnership with the Kansas Army National Guard provides a pathway to a tuition-free degree.

We have built a Kansas&nbsp;computing&nbsp;talent pipeline with seven certificate programs, eight graduate programs, and undergraduate majors with eight different concentrations. We currently are serving over 400 traditional students as well as many mid-career professionals looking to grow their computing skills.

Near and dear to my heart, the key to our success at FHSU is affordability. FHSU has the most affordable tuition among our peers, and our online program is equally cost-effective. Using metrics provided by the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, we recently reviewed our return on investment (ROI), finding a positive return for every FHSU category.

We are seeing positive numbers in high-demand positions. Seventy-two percent of our nursing graduates stay in Kansas, and 90% of our APRNs work in rural or underserved areas. Our social work program has grown from 100 in 2015 to more than 300 today. Thanks to our new&nbsp;master’s&nbsp;of social work&nbsp;online program, social workers wanting to advance their careers can&nbsp;stay in place in the rural communities they serve while pursuing this academic credential. Jobs in the technology industry are in high demand. Ninety-seven percent in technology fields report employment after graduation, with an average starting salary of $65,000 to $70,000.

The foundation of our success rests squarely on the shoulders of our talented faculty, who combine their love of teaching in a smaller, regional university with innovation and forward thinking to best serve students and the people of Kansas. For example, I am very proud that Dr. Andrew Feldstein, associate provost for Teaching Innovation and Learning Technologies, was just recognized as one of Ingram Magazine’s 2022 Icons of Education.

We are always seeking ways to fill the talent pipeline in Kansas. Two key tools in this endeavor are our Small Business Development Center Network (SBDC) and our Docking Institute of Public Affairs.

Federally funded and overseen by FHSU, the SBDC is a network of 12 centers across the state which work with small businesses to achieve success in today’s marketplace. Every dollar invested in the network generates $45 in&nbsp;the&nbsp;funding partner’s ROI.

The Docking Institute facilitates public policy among governmental and non-profit entities, providing the research needed for economic development. Among their services are labor availability studies for economic development, economic impact analyses, and housing availability for recruitment/retention of workers.

As my colleague Marion&nbsp;Terenzio&nbsp;recently wrote in an article for Inside Higher Ed, universities such as Fort Hays State must “absorb the essence and distinct characteristics of its surrounding communities – both to enrich those communities and to be enriched by them.”&nbsp;

I couldn’t agree more. I know how conscientiously we work for the people of western Kansas&nbsp;in particular and&nbsp;the state in general. To Marion’s point, our truth is how our diligence is fueled by our students, colleagues, neighbors, and communities.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575301942236.jpeg" alt="Dr. Tisa Mason, FHSU president" />
 <figcaption>Dr. Tisa Mason, FHSU president</figcaption>
 </figure>At Fort Hays State University, we believe tomorrow is made by thinkers and doers who turn ideas into action. We turn challenges into opportunities, and we are at our best when the going gets tough. This past year was no exception.During these pandemic-challenged months, we kept the lights&nbsp;on&nbsp;and the doors open, responsibly managed our finances without furloughing or terminating employees, and experienced a record year for students graduating.We work to responsibly respond to the economic concerns of the state – and especially, the rural communities of our region.&nbsp;Our roots are in teacher education. We embrace this important calling and continue to partner with school districts with creative solutions such as transition-to-teaching and para-pathways. Just last month, we worked with our local school district to have our teaching interns become licensed emergency substitute teachers.As social unrest plagued our country, our criminal justice faculty and university police department went to work providing solutions. Supported by a $1.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, we established a regional de-escalation center to teach law enforcement officers techniques to help resolve potentially dangerous confrontations.Nursing faculty understand the challenges nurses face in rural communities and prepare our students to meet those needs. That is why our program places special emphasis on rural preceptorships and simulations – creating over 40 unique rural care simulations. Starting this fall, our nurse practitioners will log 25% of clinical hours in rural communities with less than 5,000 people.&nbsp;We are focused on the future for Kansas families and businesses. Our Transfer &amp; Military Center, for example, encourages degree completion through programs like our Kansas Community College Guarantee – complete an associate of arts or science at a Kansas community college, and you have fulfilled our general education requirements.&nbsp;We have&nbsp;earned “Military Friendly School”&nbsp;honors for 15&nbsp;straight years.&nbsp;Our partnership with the Kansas Army National Guard provides a pathway to a tuition-free degree.We have built a Kansas&nbsp;computing&nbsp;talent pipeline with seven certificate programs, eight graduate programs, and undergraduate majors with eight different concentrations. We currently are serving over 400 traditional students as well as many mid-career professionals looking to grow their computing skills.Near and dear to my heart, the key to our success at FHSU is affordability. FHSU has the most affordable tuition among our peers, and our online program is equally cost-effective. Using metrics provided by the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, we recently reviewed our return on investment (ROI), finding a positive return for every FHSU category.We are seeing positive numbers in high-demand positions. Seventy-two percent of our nursing graduates stay in Kansas, and 90% of our APRNs work in rural or underserved areas. Our social work program has grown from 100 in 2015 to more than 300 today. Thanks to our new&nbsp;master’s&nbsp;of social work&nbsp;online program, social workers wanting to advance their careers can&nbsp;stay in place in the rural communities they serve while pursuing this academic credential. Jobs in the technology industry are in high demand. Ninety-seven percent in technology fields report employment after graduation, with an average starting salary of $65,000 to $70,000.The foundation of our success rests squarely on the shoulders of our talented faculty, who combine their love of teaching in a smaller, regional university with innovation and forward thinking to best serve students and the people of Kansas. For example, I am very proud that Dr. Andrew Feldstein, associate provost for Teaching Innovation and Learning Technologies, was just recognized as one of Ingram Magazine’s 2022 Icons of Education.We are always seeking ways to fill the talent pipeline in Kansas. Two key tools in this endeavor are our Small Business Development Center Network (SBDC) and our Docking Institute of Public Affairs.Federally funded and overseen by FHSU, the SBDC is a network of 12 centers across the state which work with small businesses to achieve success in today’s marketplace. Every dollar invested in the network generates $45 in&nbsp;the&nbsp;funding partner’s ROI.The Docking Institute facilitates public policy among governmental and non-profit entities, providing the research needed for economic development. Among their services are labor availability studies for economic development, economic impact analyses, and housing availability for recruitment/retention of workers.As my colleague Marion&nbsp;Terenzio&nbsp;recently wrote in an article for Inside Higher Ed, universities such as Fort Hays State must “absorb the essence and distinct characteristics of its surrounding communities – both to enrich those communities and to be enriched by them.”&nbsp;I couldn’t agree more. I know how conscientiously we work for the people of western Kansas&nbsp;in particular and&nbsp;the state in general. To Marion’s point, our truth is how our diligence is fueled by our students, colleagues, neighbors, and communities.Simply put, together we are better.

MASON: Filling vital roles in rural Kansas

I’ve had some interesting adventures&nbsp;over the years&nbsp;involving skunks in traps, the worst of which led to a drive home in my underwear so I didn’t&nbsp;totally contaminate the inside of my truck.&nbsp;Looking back, I can call them interesting now, but at the time my descriptions were slightly different. Skunks are fairly&nbsp;laid-back&nbsp;critters and if caught in an enclosed or covered&nbsp;cage trap can usually be carted&nbsp;away in the trap and unceremoniously&nbsp;dumped somewhere&nbsp;without incident.&nbsp;

Last week, I informed&nbsp;you&nbsp;readers that the&nbsp;“sweet”&nbsp;smell&nbsp;of skunk in the air of late was because skunk breeding season was in full swing here in Kansas. This week, allow me to introduce&nbsp;you&nbsp;to&nbsp;a few skunks I have met over the years,&nbsp;one in particular,&nbsp;a little too&nbsp;closely.

Some years&nbsp;ago,&nbsp;as a new&nbsp;trapper I&nbsp;caught one in a large cage trap set for bobcats, possibly a first for both me and the skunk. As I slowly approached the cage, the silly thing ran to the back and&nbsp;began an acrobatics display fit&nbsp;for a circus. First up one side, across the back by its&nbsp;front claws then down the other side it went, twirling like a&nbsp;little black and white&nbsp;ballerina. With great effort and a long&nbsp;stick,&nbsp;I got the cage door propped&nbsp;open, then turned and ran cause’&nbsp;I knew Pepe’&nbsp;would be charging the open door for his freedom. At&nbsp;a safe distance I turned to&nbsp;watch, and there it still hung like Spiderman on the inside of the cage. My next plan involved rushing the cage, arms flailing and shouting at the top of my lungs, hoping&nbsp;to scare the critter out the open front door. It didn’t&nbsp;take me long to see how this would turn disastrous and the&nbsp;maneuver&nbsp;was called off in mid-charge. I had other traps to check, so I opted to leave for&nbsp;a while, then just stop on my way back through and&nbsp;reset the trap after Pepe’&nbsp;had vamoosed. A half hour later I&nbsp;found it still in the trap, curled up in a fuzzy little black and white ball in the back corner of the cage. I finally just left and the thing&nbsp;vanished sometime overnight.

A couple years later,&nbsp;I had a large cage trap&nbsp;set&nbsp;for&nbsp;bobcats&nbsp;on a&nbsp;cattle trail in an overgrown&nbsp;pasture.&nbsp;Onthat particular&nbsp;cold, miserable&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;morning, it was the last trap to check,&nbsp;then it was home to a plate of hot scrambled eggs and sausage.&nbsp;But as&nbsp;the pickup rolled to a stop, the distinct&nbsp;white-striped back of a skunk greeted me.&nbsp;I crept slowly toward the trap, calmly&nbsp;talking&nbsp;to the critter&nbsp;with&nbsp;hopes&nbsp;of quietly opening the trap door and leaving as I had successfully done a few times before.&nbsp;The little blighter charged&nbsp;harmlessly&nbsp;at me, stomping his feet like skunks often do, but while looking me square in the&nbsp;eyes,&nbsp;sprayed me over&nbsp;its&nbsp;back (yes,&nbsp;they can do that while facing you.) I&nbsp;stripped&nbsp;to my underwear, cranked the&nbsp;truck&nbsp;heater up and headed for home.&nbsp;On the phone, I informed Joyce of my&nbsp;predicament&nbsp;and she mixed up a bowl of 1 quart&nbsp;3%&nbsp;hydrogen&nbsp;peroxide,&nbsp;¼&nbsp;cup baking soda and 2&nbsp;teaspoons&nbsp;liquid dish soap.&nbsp;This stuff really works&nbsp;for washing yourself, your clothes and the dog.&nbsp;Warning; it may slightly bleach-out or discolor some clothing, but it removes the smell.

My latest encounter&nbsp;involved a skunk caught a short distance from town&nbsp;in a foothold coyote trap. Despite most people’s thinking, foothold&nbsp;traps usually&nbsp;cause a critter no more than a sore foot for&nbsp;a few days, but this skunk appeared to be stone cold dead. &nbsp;I stood and marveled at its beautiful silky fur as it rippled in the wind, and tried to figure what had caused its demise.&nbsp;It had the trap completely covered so I needed to push it aside to remove it. Both the skunk and the trap were going to stink already, and not anxious to drive home again in my stocking feet&nbsp;or underwear, I found a nice sturdy stick to roll it out of the way. I don’t know who was most surprised, the sleeping skunk when I poked it with the stick or me when it suddenly jumped to its feet! This encounter did not end in disaster (for me) but it&nbsp;gave new meaning to the&nbsp;old cliché’ “Things are not always as they seem.”&nbsp;

I’ve never understood how the term “skunked”&nbsp;came to mean basically getting nothing, as in getting “skunked” on a fishing trip. They are amazing little creatures that are very good&nbsp;at doing what God created them to do. Their fur is soft and silky, their essence is prized by trappers&nbsp;and the perfume industry&nbsp;and they’re actually fun to watch as they&nbsp;waddle along. But if you ever&nbsp;get “skunked” by messing with one, I guarantee you’ll get way more than nothing!

Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574696211722.png" alt="Steve&nbsp;Gilliland" />
 <figcaption>Steve&nbsp;Gilliland</figcaption>
 </figure>I’ve had some interesting adventures&nbsp;over the years&nbsp;involving skunks in traps, the worst of which led to a drive home in my underwear so I didn’t&nbsp;totally contaminate the inside of my truck.&nbsp;Looking back, I can call them interesting now, but at the time my descriptions were slightly different. Skunks are fairly&nbsp;laid-back&nbsp;critters and if caught in an enclosed or covered&nbsp;cage trap can usually be carted&nbsp;away in the trap and unceremoniously&nbsp;dumped somewhere&nbsp;without incident.&nbsp;Last week, I informed&nbsp;you&nbsp;readers that the&nbsp;“sweet”&nbsp;smell&nbsp;of skunk in the air of late was because skunk breeding season was in full swing here in Kansas. This week, allow me to introduce&nbsp;you&nbsp;to&nbsp;a few skunks I have met over the years,&nbsp;one in particular,&nbsp;a little too&nbsp;closely.Some years&nbsp;ago,&nbsp;as a new&nbsp;trapper I&nbsp;caught one in a large cage trap set for bobcats, possibly a first for both me and the skunk. As I slowly approached the cage, the silly thing ran to the back and&nbsp;began an acrobatics display fit&nbsp;for a circus. First up one side, across the back by its&nbsp;front claws then down the other side it went, twirling like a&nbsp;little black and white&nbsp;ballerina. With great effort and a long&nbsp;stick,&nbsp;I got the cage door propped&nbsp;open, then turned and ran cause’&nbsp;I knew Pepe’&nbsp;would be charging the open door for his freedom. At&nbsp;a safe distance I turned to&nbsp;watch, and there it still hung like Spiderman on the inside of the cage. My next plan involved rushing the cage, arms flailing and shouting at the top of my lungs, hoping&nbsp;to scare the critter out the open front door. It didn’t&nbsp;take me long to see how this would turn disastrous and the&nbsp;maneuver&nbsp;was called off in mid-charge. I had other traps to check, so I opted to leave for&nbsp;a while, then just stop on my way back through and&nbsp;reset the trap after Pepe’&nbsp;had vamoosed. A half hour later I&nbsp;found it still in the trap, curled up in a fuzzy little black and white ball in the back corner of the cage. I finally just left and the thing&nbsp;vanished sometime overnight.A couple years later,&nbsp;I had a large cage trap&nbsp;set&nbsp;for&nbsp;bobcats&nbsp;on a&nbsp;cattle trail in an overgrown&nbsp;pasture.&nbsp;Onthat particular&nbsp;cold, miserable&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;morning, it was the last trap to check,&nbsp;then it was home to a plate of hot scrambled eggs and sausage.&nbsp;But as&nbsp;the pickup rolled to a stop, the distinct&nbsp;white-striped back of a skunk greeted me.&nbsp;I crept slowly toward the trap, calmly&nbsp;talking&nbsp;to the critter&nbsp;with&nbsp;hopes&nbsp;of quietly opening the trap door and leaving as I had successfully done a few times before.&nbsp;The little blighter charged&nbsp;harmlessly&nbsp;at me, stomping his feet like skunks often do, but while looking me square in the&nbsp;eyes,&nbsp;sprayed me over&nbsp;its&nbsp;back (yes,&nbsp;they can do that while facing you.) I&nbsp;stripped&nbsp;to my underwear, cranked the&nbsp;truck&nbsp;heater up and headed for home.&nbsp;On the phone, I informed Joyce of my&nbsp;predicament&nbsp;and she mixed up a bowl of 1 quart&nbsp;3%&nbsp;hydrogen&nbsp;peroxide,&nbsp;¼&nbsp;cup baking soda and 2&nbsp;teaspoons&nbsp;liquid dish soap.&nbsp;This stuff really works&nbsp;for washing yourself, your clothes and the dog.&nbsp;Warning; it may slightly bleach-out or discolor some clothing, but it removes the smell.My latest encounter&nbsp;involved a skunk caught a short distance from town&nbsp;in a foothold coyote trap. Despite most people’s thinking, foothold&nbsp;traps usually&nbsp;cause a critter no more than a sore foot for&nbsp;a few days, but this skunk appeared to be stone cold dead. &nbsp;I stood and marveled at its beautiful silky fur as it rippled in the wind, and tried to figure what had caused its demise.&nbsp;It had the trap completely covered so I needed to push it aside to remove it. Both the skunk and the trap were going to stink already, and not anxious to drive home again in my stocking feet&nbsp;or underwear, I found a nice sturdy stick to roll it out of the way. I don’t know who was most surprised, the sleeping skunk when I poked it with the stick or me when it suddenly jumped to its feet! This encounter did not end in disaster (for me) but it&nbsp;gave new meaning to the&nbsp;old cliché’ “Things are not always as they seem.”&nbsp;I’ve never understood how the term “skunked”&nbsp;came to mean basically getting nothing, as in getting “skunked” on a fishing trip. They are amazing little creatures that are very good&nbsp;at doing what God created them to do. Their fur is soft and silky, their essence is prized by trappers&nbsp;and the perfume industry&nbsp;and they’re actually fun to watch as they&nbsp;waddle along. But if you ever&nbsp;get “skunked” by messing with one, I guarantee you’ll get way more than nothing!Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com

Exploring Outdoors Kansas: Skunks I have met

By GLENN BRUNKOW Pottawatomie County farmer and rancher Last week I had the privilege of being at my Kansas Farm Bureau district’s issue surfacing meeting. We had a great meeting with very good attendance and a lively discussion of issues affecting farmers and ranchers in northeast Kansas. I would hate to say how many issue surfacing meetings I have attended, but I look forward to them each and every year because they are the very epitome of what Kansas Farm Bureau is about. Just the week before I was explaining to a friend about how Farm Bureau’s policy development process works. It’s an explanation I have given many times over the years, and one I never get tired of sharing. Explaining how we do things also makes me so proud that our organization truly is one that works at a grassroots level. The policy development process for Farm Bureau can be kind of clunky. &nbsp;It is never fast, but it is truly driven by the members in each county. At our meeting last week, I saw fellow members bring forth issues affecting them and their operations each and every day. Some were issues I am familiar with, but others were topics that I had not thought of. &nbsp;Everything discussed was important and relevant to individual members. That every part of our policy started out as an issue surfaced by a member is something we should be proud of, and it should be the core of what we do. We should never lose sight that the most important part of our policy development are the needs of our members at the county level. An idea is brought forth at an issue surfacing meeting and then it is researched, discussed and policy is molded by Kansas Farm Bureau’s Resolutions Committee. Then in the fall, the refined policy proposal is brought to the membership that surfaced it to make sure it meets their expectations and needs. Finally, the proposed policy is discussed and voted on by our delegates at the Kansas Farm Bureau Annual Meeting. Then, and only then, is it part of our policy that will guide our work with legislators and other organizations. I know I am repeating this to most of you involved in Farm Bureau, but it is a good refresher to remind us that all policy comes from our grassroots. Those grassroots are the foundation and the strength of Kansas Farm Bureau. It is what makes us the most powerful general farm organization in Kansas and across the country. It is the power of millions of members coming together to represent agriculture. If you have been part of this process, thank you and keep up the good work. If you are a member and have not participated in the process, I urge you to take part either this spring or next fall. The truth is that we need every member to be a part of our policy development; we need your perspective, your unique viewpoint and, most importantly, your input. Contact your county office and find out how to get involved and then make the commitment, I promise you won’t regret it.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1576508626397.png" alt="Glenn Brunkow" />
 <figcaption>Glenn Brunkow</figcaption>
 </figure>By GLENN BRUNKOW Pottawatomie County farmer and rancher Last week I had the privilege of being at my Kansas Farm Bureau district’s issue surfacing meeting. We had a great meeting with very good attendance and a lively discussion of issues affecting farmers and ranchers in northeast Kansas. I would hate to say how many issue surfacing meetings I have attended, but I look forward to them each and every year because they are the very epitome of what Kansas Farm Bureau is about. Just the week before I was explaining to a friend about how Farm Bureau’s policy development process works. It’s an explanation I have given many times over the years, and one I never get tired of sharing. Explaining how we do things also makes me so proud that our organization truly is one that works at a grassroots level. The policy development process for Farm Bureau can be kind of clunky. &nbsp;It is never fast, but it is truly driven by the members in each county. At our meeting last week, I saw fellow members bring forth issues affecting them and their operations each and every day. Some were issues I am familiar with, but others were topics that I had not thought of. &nbsp;Everything discussed was important and relevant to individual members. That every part of our policy started out as an issue surfaced by a member is something we should be proud of, and it should be the core of what we do. We should never lose sight that the most important part of our policy development are the needs of our members at the county level. An idea is brought forth at an issue surfacing meeting and then it is researched, discussed and policy is molded by Kansas Farm Bureau’s Resolutions Committee. Then in the fall, the refined policy proposal is brought to the membership that surfaced it to make sure it meets their expectations and needs. Finally, the proposed policy is discussed and voted on by our delegates at the Kansas Farm Bureau Annual Meeting. Then, and only then, is it part of our policy that will guide our work with legislators and other organizations. I know I am repeating this to most of you involved in Farm Bureau, but it is a good refresher to remind us that all policy comes from our grassroots. Those grassroots are the foundation and the strength of Kansas Farm Bureau. It is what makes us the most powerful general farm organization in Kansas and across the country. It is the power of millions of members coming together to represent agriculture. If you have been part of this process, thank you and keep up the good work. If you are a member and have not participated in the process, I urge you to take part either this spring or next fall. The truth is that we need every member to be a part of our policy development; we need your perspective, your unique viewpoint and, most importantly, your input. Contact your county office and find out how to get involved and then make the commitment, I promise you won’t regret it. "Insight" is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.&nbsp;

Kansas Farm Bureau Insight: Proposing policies

By VICTOR MATHESON <a href="https://theconversation.com/">The Conversation</a>

“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball,” second baseman Rogers Hornsby <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/mlb/status/1074319018415267841?lang=en">once said</a>. “I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”

For a while, it was looking like the start of spring would come and go without any baseball on the horizon.

But just when <a target="_blank" href="https://thecomeback.com/mlb/fans-react-mlb-lockout-rob-manfred.html">fan morale was at its nadir</a>, Major League Baseball announced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2022/03/10/with-mlb-lockout-over-here-are-all-the-details-of-new-2022-26-labor-deal/?sh=3439736f23e2">a five-year agreement with its players</a>, ending the second-longest labor interruption in MLB history. Now, April 7, 2022, will serve as most teams’ opening day.

<a target="_blank" href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jR65pQoAAAAJ&amp;hl=en">Sports economists like me</a> have long studied labor disruptions in sports. In this dispute – the first major one in baseball <a target="_blank" href="https://www.si.com/mlb/indians/opinion/reliving-the-1994-mlb-strike-as-2022-labor-negotiations-continue">since the mid-1990s</a>
 – player grievances largely centered on two issues: the length of time 
it takes them to reach free agency and the lack of a payroll floor. Both
 policies suppressed their salaries despite the fact that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/193466/total-league-revenue-of-the-mlb-since-2005/">league revenues have grown in recent years</a>.

The new collective bargaining agreement takes some important steps 
toward correcting these problems. But it mostly just pushes the big 
issues another five years down the track. The deal also leaves baseball 
players with a fundamentally different – and very likely worse – 
arrangement than their counterparts in the other major American sports 
leagues have

MLB requires players to be on a big league roster for six years before they’re allowed to hit <a target="_blank" href="https://franchisesports.co.uk/mlb-free-agency-explained/">free agency</a> and negotiate a salary with any team of their choosing. In the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nba.com/news/free-agency-explained">NBA</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://operations.nfl.com/updates/football-ops/2021-nfl-free-agency-questions-answers/">NFL</a>,
 players need to play for only four years before they become free 
agents. And unlike football and basketball – sports in which players 
usually go straight from college to the pros – baseball players often 
spend several years in the minor leagues before getting called up to the
 Show. Those seasons don’t count toward the required service time for 
free agency.

Therefore, many players don’t get the right to freely negotiate for 
their services until they are in their late 20s or early 30s – ages at 
which many players are already past their prime.

In the period before free agency, players are bound to teams in ways 
that allow the teams to underpay them relative to their contributions to
 team success both on the field and for the team’s bottom line. For 
example, because he was in only his second season in the league, the 
Cleveland Guardians’ <a target="_blank" href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/biebesh01.shtml">Shane Bieber</a> earned just $231,000 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mlb.com/news/shane-bieber-wins-2020-al-cy-young">despite winning the American League’s Cy Young Award</a>
 as the league’s best pitcher. In a market in which he could freely 
negotiate for his services, Bieber would have likely earned in excess of
 $20 million. But he won’t actually get the right to earn market value 
for his talents until 2025, at which point he will be nearly 30 years 
old.

Since most players’ <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070709131254.htm">MLB careers</a> are shorter than six years, the majority of players never make it through “lean” years to that big free-agency payoff.

These free-agency rules remain unchanged in the new agreement, although the league’s minimum salary has been increased from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33470321/sources-mlb-union-reach-tentative-agreement-new-cba-salvage-162-game-season">$570,500 to $700,000</a>
 and will grow to $780,000 by the end of the deal. Another $50 million 
will be distributed each season to players who have yet to reach salary <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/what-is-arbitration-mlb-what-does-it-mean-baseball-eligibility-process/1atg6pycmf69o1x5yy2v31o03w">arbitration</a>,
 a system that grants pre-free-agency players at least some level of 
bargaining power with their existing team. In addition, the agreement 
includes incentives to encourage teams to bring up players from the 
minor leagues somewhat earlier, which should result in some players 
achieving free agency at a younger age.

While these are welcome additions that will increase wages for MLB’s 
lowest-paid players by about 40%, the new amounts allocated to players 
still total less than 1% of MLB’s annual revenue.

The MLB is also unique in that players are not entitled to specified 
percentages of league revenues, and teams are not required to spend a 
minimum amount on payroll. The new agreement does little to change this 
structure.

In the NFL, for example, organizations must spend at least <a target="_blank" href="https://nflpa.com/posts/nfl-economics-101">48% of league revenue</a> on player compensation, and individual teams have a salary cap of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-sets-salary-cap-at-208-2-million-per-team-for-2022-season">$208.2 million in 2022</a>.
 They’re also obligated to spend at least 89% of the cap on salaries 
over the course of several seasons, which effectively creates a salary 
floor of roughly $185 million.

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/193466/total-league-revenue-of-the-mlb-since-2005/">MLB revenues</a> rose 15%, from $9.03 billion in 2016 to $10.37 billion in 2019, while the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/236213/mean-salaray-of-players-in-majpr-league-baseball/">average salary</a> remained flat at $4.38 million, indicating that players were taking home a smaller piece of the economic pie.

Though revenue took a huge hit in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.libertymedia.com/investors/news-events/press-releases/detail/461/liberty-media-corporation-reports-fourth-quarter-and-year">some data suggests</a>
 that revenues in 2021 largely recovered to their pre-pandemic levels 
while average salaries fell nearly 5%. On top of that, the average 
figures are distorted by record-breaking contracts from just a handful 
of superstars. The <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/spotrac/status/1498823166650638336">median salary</a>
 of an MLB player fell from $1.65 million in 2015 to $1.15 million in 
2021 – a decline of over 30%. Over half of all players earn at or near 
the league’s minimum salary, since they are ineligible for either free 
agency or arbitration.

While MLB doesn’t have a salary cap that limits what teams can spend on players, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-mlb-cbt-explained-luxury-tax-20220304-rtmzefdymbcghll7vhsn42zqni-story.html">it does have a luxury tax</a>
 that penalizes teams that spend more than a certain amount on payroll. 
The luxury tax, which effectively serves as a soft salary cap, is set to
 increase from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-mlbpa-agree-to-cba">$210 to $230 million</a> in the new agreement, and will rise to $244 million by 2026.

However, since only eight teams exceeded the threshold even once 
between 2003 and 2019 – and only the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers have 
paid the luxury tax on a regular basis – this increase is unlikely to 
have a substantial impact on the wages paid to the typical player.

Most importantly, MLB teams – unlike their counterparts in other 
sports – have no salary floor. Such teams as the Orioles, Pirates and 
Marlins <a target="_blank" href="https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/">spend less on their entire active rosters</a>
 than some other teams spend on a single starting pitcher. These teams 
cycle through underpaid young players and then let them sign elsewhere 
when they’re eligible for free agency. Although these teams tend to be 
wildly unsuccessful on the field and at the ticket office, generous 
revenue sharing arrangements with the league <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2020/04/09/despite-lockdown-mlb-teams-gain-value-in-2020/?sh=5ec8e3002010">still allow them to make money</a>.

Nothing in the new agreement changes the incentives for these teams or provides relief for their long-suffering fans.

To me, the owners’ strategy was transparent. They knew the players 
had legitimate grievances that might result in a strike later in the 
season, so they wanted to force concessions as soon as possible, knowing
 that the players’ bargaining power would rise as the season progressed.
 A players strike right before playoffs in the fall would have inflicted
 the maximum pain on the owners.

Time was always on the owners’ side: Their careers as owners tend to 
be much longer than those of players, whose bodies are always aging.

Baseball junkies will notice <a target="_blank" href="https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/mlb-rules-changes-baseball-cba-deal-dh-pitch-clock-bases-postseason">several cosmetic changes</a>
 to the game right away: an expanded postseason, sponsor advertisements 
on jerseys and a designated hitter in the National League. The agreement
 also <a target="_blank" href="https://fansided.com/2022/03/10/mlb-lockout-new-rules-cba/">opens the door for rule changes in 2023</a>
 that include larger bases, limits on defensive shifts and a pitch 
clock. Other than some real improvements to the salaries for the 
league’s lowest-paid players, however, the economics of baseball’s 
underlying labor model remains as flawed as ever.

Nevertheless, for this summer – and for the next five years, at least
 – fans will be able to grab their peanuts and Cracker Jack and head out
 to the old ballgame.

This article is republished from&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://theconversation.com/">The Conversation</a>&nbsp;under a Creative Commons license. Read the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://theconversation.com/mlbs-new-collective-bargaining-agreement-fails-to-address-players-biggest-grievances-178583">original article</a>.

Victor Matheson is a professor of economics and accounting at College of the Holy Cross in Worchester, Mass.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1647369478369.jpg" alt="Image courtesy of Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy of Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure>By VICTOR MATHESON <a href="https://theconversation.com/">The Conversation</a>“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball,” second baseman Rogers Hornsby <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/mlb/status/1074319018415267841?lang=en">once said</a>. “I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”For a while, it was looking like the start of spring would come and go without any baseball on the horizon.But just when <a target="_blank" href="https://thecomeback.com/mlb/fans-react-mlb-lockout-rob-manfred.html">fan morale was at its nadir</a>, Major League Baseball announced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2022/03/10/with-mlb-lockout-over-here-are-all-the-details-of-new-2022-26-labor-deal/?sh=3439736f23e2">a five-year agreement with its players</a>, ending the second-longest labor interruption in MLB history. Now, April 7, 2022, will serve as most teams’ opening day.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><a target="_blank" href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jR65pQoAAAAJ&amp;hl=en">Sports economists like me</a> have long studied labor disruptions in sports. In this dispute – the first major one in baseball <a target="_blank" href="https://www.si.com/mlb/indians/opinion/reliving-the-1994-mlb-strike-as-2022-labor-negotiations-continue">since the mid-1990s</a>
 – player grievances largely centered on two issues: the length of time 
it takes them to reach free agency and the lack of a payroll floor. Both
 policies suppressed their salaries despite the fact that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/193466/total-league-revenue-of-the-mlb-since-2005/">league revenues have grown in recent years</a>.The new collective bargaining agreement takes some important steps 
toward correcting these problems. But it mostly just pushes the big 
issues another five years down the track. The deal also leaves baseball 
players with a fundamentally different – and very likely worse – 
arrangement than their counterparts in the other major American sports 
leagues have<h2>The indentured servants of pro sports</h2>MLB requires players to be on a big league roster for six years before they’re allowed to hit <a target="_blank" href="https://franchisesports.co.uk/mlb-free-agency-explained/">free agency</a> and negotiate a salary with any team of their choosing. In the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nba.com/news/free-agency-explained">NBA</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://operations.nfl.com/updates/football-ops/2021-nfl-free-agency-questions-answers/">NFL</a>,
 players need to play for only four years before they become free 
agents. And unlike football and basketball – sports in which players 
usually go straight from college to the pros – baseball players often 
spend several years in the minor leagues before getting called up to the
 Show. Those seasons don’t count toward the required service time for 
free agency.Therefore, many players don’t get the right to freely negotiate for 
their services until they are in their late 20s or early 30s – ages at 
which many players are already past their prime.In the period before free agency, players are bound to teams in ways 
that allow the teams to underpay them relative to their contributions to
 team success both on the field and for the team’s bottom line. For 
example, because he was in only his second season in the league, the 
Cleveland Guardians’ <a target="_blank" href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/biebesh01.shtml">Shane Bieber</a> earned just $231,000 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mlb.com/news/shane-bieber-wins-2020-al-cy-young">despite winning the American League’s Cy Young Award</a>
 as the league’s best pitcher. In a market in which he could freely 
negotiate for his services, Bieber would have likely earned in excess of
 $20 million. But he won’t actually get the right to earn market value 
for his talents until 2025, at which point he will be nearly 30 years 
old.Since most players’ <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070709131254.htm">MLB careers</a> are shorter than six years, the majority of players never make it through “lean” years to that big free-agency payoff.These free-agency rules remain unchanged in the new agreement, although the league’s minimum salary has been increased from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33470321/sources-mlb-union-reach-tentative-agreement-new-cba-salvage-162-game-season">$570,500 to $700,000</a>
 and will grow to $780,000 by the end of the deal. Another $50 million 
will be distributed each season to players who have yet to reach salary <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/what-is-arbitration-mlb-what-does-it-mean-baseball-eligibility-process/1atg6pycmf69o1x5yy2v31o03w">arbitration</a>,
 a system that grants pre-free-agency players at least some level of 
bargaining power with their existing team. In addition, the agreement 
includes incentives to encourage teams to bring up players from the 
minor leagues somewhat earlier, which should result in some players 
achieving free agency at a younger age.While these are welcome additions that will increase wages for MLB’s 
lowest-paid players by about 40%, the new amounts allocated to players 
still total less than 1% of MLB’s annual revenue.<h2>A soft cap – and no floor</h2>The MLB is also unique in that players are not entitled to specified 
percentages of league revenues, and teams are not required to spend a 
minimum amount on payroll. The new agreement does little to change this 
structure.In the NFL, for example, organizations must spend at least <a target="_blank" href="https://nflpa.com/posts/nfl-economics-101">48% of league revenue</a> on player compensation, and individual teams have a salary cap of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-sets-salary-cap-at-208-2-million-per-team-for-2022-season">$208.2 million in 2022</a>.
 They’re also obligated to spend at least 89% of the cap on salaries 
over the course of several seasons, which effectively creates a salary 
floor of roughly $185 million.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/193466/total-league-revenue-of-the-mlb-since-2005/">MLB revenues</a> rose 15%, from $9.03 billion in 2016 to $10.37 billion in 2019, while the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/236213/mean-salaray-of-players-in-majpr-league-baseball/">average salary</a> remained flat at $4.38 million, indicating that players were taking home a smaller piece of the economic pie.Though revenue took a huge hit in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.libertymedia.com/investors/news-events/press-releases/detail/461/liberty-media-corporation-reports-fourth-quarter-and-year">some data suggests</a>
 that revenues in 2021 largely recovered to their pre-pandemic levels 
while average salaries fell nearly 5%. On top of that, the average 
figures are distorted by record-breaking contracts from just a handful 
of superstars. The <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/spotrac/status/1498823166650638336">median salary</a>
 of an MLB player fell from $1.65 million in 2015 to $1.15 million in 
2021 – a decline of over 30%. Over half of all players earn at or near 
the league’s minimum salary, since they are ineligible for either free 
agency or arbitration.While MLB doesn’t have a salary cap that limits what teams can spend on players, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-mlb-cbt-explained-luxury-tax-20220304-rtmzefdymbcghll7vhsn42zqni-story.html">it does have a luxury tax</a>
 that penalizes teams that spend more than a certain amount on payroll. 
The luxury tax, which effectively serves as a soft salary cap, is set to
 increase from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-mlbpa-agree-to-cba">$210 to $230 million</a> in the new agreement, and will rise to $244 million by 2026.However, since only eight teams exceeded the threshold even once 
between 2003 and 2019 – and only the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers have 
paid the luxury tax on a regular basis – this increase is unlikely to 
have a substantial impact on the wages paid to the typical player.Most importantly, MLB teams – unlike their counterparts in other 
sports – have no salary floor. Such teams as the Orioles, Pirates and 
Marlins <a target="_blank" href="https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/">spend less on their entire active rosters</a>
 than some other teams spend on a single starting pitcher. These teams 
cycle through underpaid young players and then let them sign elsewhere 
when they’re eligible for free agency. Although these teams tend to be 
wildly unsuccessful on the field and at the ticket office, generous 
revenue sharing arrangements with the league <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2020/04/09/despite-lockdown-mlb-teams-gain-value-in-2020/?sh=5ec8e3002010">still allow them to make money</a>.Nothing in the new agreement changes the incentives for these teams or provides relief for their long-suffering fans.<h2>Owners had time on their side</h2>To me, the owners’ strategy was transparent. They knew the players 
had legitimate grievances that might result in a strike later in the 
season, so they wanted to force concessions as soon as possible, knowing
 that the players’ bargaining power would rise as the season progressed.
 A players strike right before playoffs in the fall would have inflicted
 the maximum pain on the owners.Time was always on the owners’ side: Their careers as owners tend to 
be much longer than those of players, whose bodies are always aging.Baseball junkies will notice <a target="_blank" href="https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/mlb-rules-changes-baseball-cba-deal-dh-pitch-clock-bases-postseason">several cosmetic changes</a>
 to the game right away: an expanded postseason, sponsor advertisements 
on jerseys and a designated hitter in the National League. The agreement
 also <a target="_blank" href="https://fansided.com/2022/03/10/mlb-lockout-new-rules-cba/">opens the door for rule changes in 2023</a>
 that include larger bases, limits on defensive shifts and a pitch 
clock. Other than some real improvements to the salaries for the 
league’s lowest-paid players, however, the economics of baseball’s 
underlying labor model remains as flawed as ever.Nevertheless, for this summer – and for the next five years, at least
 – fans will be able to grab their peanuts and Cracker Jack and head out
 to the old ballgame.This article is republished from&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://theconversation.com/">The Conversation</a>&nbsp;under a Creative Commons license. Read the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://theconversation.com/mlbs-new-collective-bargaining-agreement-fails-to-address-players-biggest-grievances-178583">original article</a>.Victor Matheson is a professor of economics and accounting at College of the Holy Cross in Worchester, Mass.Cover image courtesy Pixabay

OPINION: MLB agreement fails to address players’ biggest grievances

Hello from Topeka. We are on schedule for first adjournment
on April 1st.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/2/1644854972078.jpeg" alt="State Rep. Ken Rahjes, R-Agra, 110th Dist." />
 <figcaption>State Rep. Ken Rahjes, R-Agra, 110th Dist.</figcaption>
 </figure>Hello from Topeka. We are on schedule for first adjournment
on April 1st. Since the beginning of the&nbsp;COVID-19 pandemic, the legislature has worked quickly to
provide responsive legislation to address&nbsp;concerns in both the healthcare and business industries.
This past week the House passed SB 286, with a&nbsp;vote of 102-17. SB 286 extends the expiration dates from
March 31, 2022 to January 20, 2023 for certain&nbsp;portions of the governmental response to the COVID-19
pandemic. Those provisions include: • Expansion of telemedicine • Use of hospital beds and non-hospital space • Immunity from civil liability for health care providers
related to the COVID-19 public health • Immunity from civil liability for COVID-19 claims for businesses in substantial compliance with public health directives • Retroactivity provision regarding immunity from civil
liability • Bed usage by critical access hospitalsThe House amended the bill to make adjustments to the healthcare
provider civil immunity provisions.&nbsp;The House further amended the bill to add provisions of HB
2620, which provides for protections for&nbsp;healthcare workers. The bill creates the crime of
interference with the conduct of a hospital and amends&nbsp;the crime of battery to include battery against a healthcare
worker. The bill was requested by a&nbsp;bipartisan group of legislators and was passed by the House
Judiciary Committee earlier this session. SB&nbsp;286 goes back to the Senate for consideration of the House
amendments.Overwhelming support for ensuring long-term stability of
state retirees’ planLast week the House Insurance and Pensions Committee
recommended SB 421 favorably and the House&nbsp;endorsed the bill with a vote of 113-5. SB 421 contains the contents of HB 2561, which uses the budget&nbsp;surplus to stabilize the KPERS system, bringing KPERS above the recommended 80 percent funded level,&nbsp;lowering future costs for taxpayers by reducing the state’s share of employer contributions, and saving&nbsp;taxpayers $429 million over the next five years. During debate, Rep. Steven Johnson reminded the body&nbsp;about why it is essential to direct stabilization funding to the KPERS Trust Fund. He provided a historical&nbsp;snapshot of the extreme downturn in the economy just over a decade ago and relayed the importance&nbsp;of keeping the fund secure. Johnson referenced the 2009 KPERS Comprehensive Annual Financial&nbsp;Report. In just one year’s time the funded ratio plummeted from 70.8 percent to 59 percent, while the&nbsp;Unfunded Actuarial Liability ballooned from $5.55 billion to $8.28 billion. KPERS’ investment returns&nbsp;declined by 19.6 percent over the previous year. The Legislature has made strides to ensure that KPERS&nbsp;remains stable and to provide certainty so that it will be there for our teachers, our firefighters, and&nbsp;other public employees when they need it. SB 421 is an extremely important piece of legislation to&nbsp;continue that effort.Legislative PrayerEach House session is opened with a prayer and the Pledge of
Allegiance. The House is blessed to be&nbsp;served by Chaplain Eunice Brubaker, who has served as House Chaplain since the 2007 Session. She is a&nbsp;cancer survivor and unfortunately is in the midst of another bout with cancer. In her absence&nbsp; last week,&nbsp;Rep. Steven Johnson delivered the following prayer:Gracious God, We have so much for which to be thankful. We are thankful to be here. We are thankful for all you have given us. We pray that your providence be with those fighting in Ukraine,&nbsp;that your kingdom may be established and prevail there and throughout the world. May we all continually consider how our actions and words&nbsp;serve your kingdom above our earthly kingdoms. Today, we pray again for our sister Eunice, that your healing hand is upon her. In our journey together to the stars, we can only make it with Your great love and guidance. When hate, envy or deceit wells within or around us, help us to instead reflect Your love,&nbsp;understanding and truth. Amen.You can follow along on happenings in the legislature online at kslegislature.org and you can watch committee meetings and when the House and Senate are on the floor on the Kansas Legislature’s YouTube channel. If you would like to contact me: my office is still located in Room: 149-S. My statehouse phone number is (785) 296-7463 and email is: ken.rahjes@house.ks.gov and you can always try my cell number at (785) 302-8416.It is my honor to serve you.Ken Rahjes, R-Agra, is the Kansas state representative of the 110th Dist. House District 110 includes:&nbsp; Norton and Phillips Counties Ellis County: Cities: Catharine, Ellis and Schoenchen;&nbsp;Townships: Big Creek(part), Buckeye, Catherine, Ellis, Herzog(part),&nbsp;Lookout(part) and Wheatland(part) Graham County: City: Hill City;&nbsp;Townships: Hill City(part) and Nicodemus(part) Rooks County: Cities: Damar, Palco, Plainville,&nbsp;Stockton, Woodston and Zurich

Opinion