January 31, 2022
TOPEKA - First off, I would like to thank everyone who braved the cold for the Rally for Life and march held last week on the capitol steps. It was great to see so many people at this rally especially the people from the 40th District in western Kansas even when the road conditions were snow and ice. We would like to remind the voters of a very important date, August 2, 2022, the Value Them Both Constitutional Amendment will be on the ballot. You can protect the most vulnerable by voting YES on the Value Them Both Amendment.
Every ten years the legislature is required to redraw the congressional, senate and house district maps according to the growth in each district. In preparation for the congressional map our committee held 20 town hall meetings along with many opportunities to participate virtually. Much of the growth in the State of Kansas was in Wyandotte and Johnson counties. These two counties saw the largest growth in residents. By law congressional districts require the same number of residents in each district; therefore, Johnson and Wyandotte county could not remain in the same district. It was decided after much testimony from the people in Johnson County that Johnson County should remain whole and Wyandotte county would be split as it has been numerous times in past maps. The dividing line in Wyandotte county is along I-70 west and east to the Kansas river. The bedroom communities of Miami, Franklin, and Anderson Counties joined Johnson County in the 3rd District. With this map District 3, Congresswoman Sharica Davis, would have still won this district as would have President Biden and Governor Kelly.
The only district that needed little or no change was District 4 which included Wichita and surrounding counties. The balance of Wyandotte County joined District 2 which it had been part of in past maps. The Second District includes several military installations, including Ft. Riley, Ft. Leavenworth, Forbes Field, and the Kansas National Guard.
The First District needed an increase in population which required moving east to get the required number. The new map goes east and includes Lawrence, KS, the University of Kansas, Kansas State and Fort Hays State University in the 1st District.
The challenge in redistricting is a math problem that requires that we have the same number of residents in each district.
On Thursday, the Kansas Senate adopted legislation which includes a substantial development incentive for the purpose of spurring large economic development investment in Kansas. The initial target of the incentive package is a $4.0 billion manufacturing project that would employee over 4,000 people and is one of the most significant private sector investments in Kansas history. The package, as it passed the Senate on Thursday, is known as the Attracting Powerful Economic Expansion Act or APEX Act. APEX would establish new economic development incentives targeted at specific industries that agree to invest at least $1.0 billion within the state of Kansas. The APEX Act also targets incentives at the suppliers involved in the APEX project. The APEX Program would be under the purview of the Secretary of Commerce for the purpose of attracting large capital investments in new facilities and operations by businesses engaged in specified industries and encouraging the development of Kansas based supply chains.
To help drive taxes down for all who do business in Kansas, an important provision of the bill would lower the corporate income tax the year after a qualified firm or supplier receives benefits under the law. Qualified firms under the bill would be for-profit businesses subject to state income, sales, or property tax that are engaged in one or more of the following industries as determined by the Secretary of Commerce: advanced manufacturing, aerospace, distribution, logistics and transportation, food and agriculture, professional and technical services. The bill provides exceptions to the definition by stating that a for-profit business establishment in any industry is eligible as a “qualified firm” if it is seeking benefits to relocate or establish its national corporate headquarters within the state.
Additionally, a project would need to be completed within five years.
Incentives available under the bill would include: investment’s tax credits, reimbursement of percentage of total payroll, reimbursement of a percentage of eligible employee training and education expenses, partial real property tax exemption, sales tax exemption for construction costs of the qualified business facilities.
Qualified firms and suppliers would not be eligible to participate in other economic development programs currently in existence, and they would be required to cooperate with any audit undertaken by the Department of Revenue.
To ensure proper oversight, the firms and suppliers would be required to provide information required for publication in the Economic Development Incentive Database, as well as reports required to be submitted to the governor and the legislature, among other provisions to ensure property transparency and accountability. To ensure oversight occurs in the short-term, a sunset of March 31, 2023 was added to ensure that the legislature reviews the provisions of the APEX Act in just one year. The bill was rushed through the process in order the allow commerce enough time to negotiate their offer to the prospective company. I believe Kansas needs to be careful when making huge concessions to attract new businesses.
If you are interested in following the legislature you can connect to the following links:
Kansas Legislature YouTube - Here you can follow the legislature live as it happens, or access archives of past sessions and committee meetings.
Kansas Legislature Audio - Here you can listen in on session or committees when they are in session, or access prior committee meetings.
Kansas Legislature website- www.kslegislature.org has extensive information on legislators, committees, bills and past sessions.
Middle school (12 years of age or older) and high school students are invited to come to our Kansas State Capitol, to be my sponsored Senate Page for a day. The dates available are February 7 and 21 as well as March 7 and 14. There are openings for 4 pages on each day. Please contact my office, if you know a student who may have an interest in being a Senate Page.
I am honored and grateful to represent the 40th Senate District in Kansas. Please do not hesitate to contact by email: [email protected] or call me with your questions and concerns, my office number is 785-296-7399 or my cell is 785-899-4700. If you are in Topeka stop by my office at 545-S.
Rick Billingr, R-Goodland, is the 40th district senator which includes:
* Cheyenne, Decatur, Ellis, Gove, Graham, Logan, Norton, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas, Trego and Wallace Counties
*Phillips County: Cities: Logan, Long Island, Prairie View, Speed; Townships: Beaver, Belmont, Dayton, Granite, Logan, Long Island, Mound, Plainview, Prairie View, Solomon(part) and Towanda