TOPEKA
February 11, 2022
APEX Bill
On Tuesday, February 8, the House debated and passed House Substitute for Senate Bill 347. This bill is called the “Attracting Powerful Economic Expansion” Program, also referred to as APEX. This bill was needed to be passed in order for a major company to move into the state of Kansas that could produce 4,000 jobs.
This bill, which has been somewhat controversial, would provide tax incentives to qualified firms who agree to invest at least $1 billion in the state of Kansas within a five-year period. Please keep in mind that bill is a new economic development program and not a deal for one company.
This APEX bill will generate projects that have the potential to provide billions of dollars in ancillary economic benefits for the state. The House version requires a measured and prudent reduction of corporate taxes for all of Kansas corporations when an APEX project comes to Kansas. The reduction is a 0.5% one time for each such project.
This bill also promotes qualified suppliers where they can receive incentives as well. It also creates a $10 million matching fund for qualified firms to provide relocation incentives and help with expenses for employees who will move to Kansas and make Kansas their primary residence.
I voted “yes,” and the Senate debated and concurred on the bill that passed the House late Wednesday afternoon. Now that this legislation is law an offer will now be reaching out to the company.
Appropriations Committee
The House Appropriations Committee was busy this week with budgets and bill hearings. The budgets that we heard were Kansas Lottery, Kansas Racing and Gaming, the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts, Office of the State Bank Commissioner, State Historical Society, Kansas Bureau of Investigations and many more. We also conducted two bill hearings this week. House Bill 2591 is a technical clean up bill that is needed for a bill that passed last year regarding the combination of funds for abandoned oil and gas wells in Kansas. We then worked HB 2591 on Thursday and passed it out of committee for a debate on the House floor. The second is House Bill 2541, which credits the docket and other fees to the state general fund instead of the Judicial Branch docket fee fund.
Bill Activity in the House
Aside from the APEX bill, there were other bills that we debated and passed on the House floor this week. Here are the details of those bills:
The House debated House Concurrent Resolution 5023 which states that the state of Kansas denounces instances of price gouging and market manipulation involving natural gas. It also states that it supports state efforts by the Office of the Attorney General and federal efforts by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to investigate increases in natural gas prices during the extreme cold weather event of February 2021.
We also debated House Bill 2473 which amends current law governing the composition of the Board of Trustees of the Douglas County Law Library.
The last bill that we debated this week is House Bill 2490 which makes changes to the Kansas Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) savings program. The state of Kansas must make changes to our current ABLE program to comply with federal rules that were put into place in November 2020. Due to these rule changes, we needed to alter our current program or we could find the Kansas program noncompliant and no longer a federally qualified program.
I voted in favor of the resolution and both bills.
After the Senate passed the override from the veto by Governor Kelly regarding the Congressional maps, the House then took the override to a vote. Since the new map has no population deviation, meaning that all four districts have the exact same population numbers, I voted to override the veto.
Contact Information
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 www.kslegislature.org.
As always, if you have any concerns, feel free to contact me (785) 296-7672, follow on twitter at @waymaster4house, or email me at [email protected]. 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 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