Day One – State of the State
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Submitted by Jesse Muller, Liberty
KARL XV convened on January 15, 2020, at the Kansas Grain and Feed Association offices for the start of their State of the State Seminar. Class member Darci Cain was the chairperson for the day. The class received a welcome from the Vice President of Governmental Affairs for the Kansas Grain and Feed Association, who also sponsored the lunch.
Alan Cobb, class VIII, President and CEO of Kansas Chamber of Commerce, visited with the class about the “State of the State of the Kansas Economy.” Mr. Cobb gave an overview of his background. Some snippets included:
Mr. Cobb also spoke about something the class had heard at previous seminars: a shortage of workers. Again, educating through training, community colleges, vocational & technical schools, universities, even high schools can contribute to this philosophy. One concern from employers is the lack of soft skills.
Patty Clark, Deputy Secretary of Kansas Department of Commerce, was also an original board member for the KARL organization. Mrs. Clark provided an update on the Framework for Growth, an initiative that Governor Laura Kelly has undertaken. The last Framework for Growth was in 1986, and it’s time for a new road map for the economic development for our state. In 2015-16, Kansas was the only state to have negative GDP growth. However, this can be reversed through workforce development. There has been growth in the technology industry in Wichita, and Kansas City is becoming a strong market for domestic and international headquarters. A key point Mrs. Clark made is to really dig down and look at the cost of living, is it really cheaper to live in a rural area versus urban location.
Mr. Scott Sewell, Director of the Main Street Program, and started in this position in October 2019. Prior to the termination of this program, 25 communities were part of the program. The program is a “self-help approach,” where they give the tools for the community to get the tasks done. This program is driven by the local people and will continue to be successful if the people invest and engage in their communities.
Miss Jordan Hildebrand, class XIV, Tourism Marketing Manager for the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism (KDWPT), provided an overview of the tourism opportunities in Kansas. There are roughly 30 state parks. KDWPT is partnering with the Kansas Department of Transportation to promote the scenic and historic byways in Kansas. Byways are looking for people to help promote and maintain the areas. There is an opportunity for some big growth in Agritourism in the western two-thirds of Kansas. Remember the comparison of Kansas versus other states and the Globetrotters versus NBA, and how Kansas has unique, fun, and family-friendly places to explore.
Mr. Karl Elmshaeuser, Nebraska State Director for Rural Development, gave an interesting insight into how the USDA and other agencies can help develop our communities. Do you remember how he started the talk? Influence: we all have it BUT how do we choose to use it.
That evening the class had supper at the historic Dillon House. It’s a beautiful house with an interesting history. Mr. Allen Cobb and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce sponsored the meal. Prior to the featured speaker, an announcement was made about the next seminar. Kansas Farm Credit Systems is sponsoring Class XV to complete the Gettysburg Leadership Institute during the Washington, D.C. seminar. The Gettysburg Leadership Institute uses key aspects from the battlefield and corresponds them to leadership. Whether it’s General Buford’s strategic fight and withdrawal in an effort to hold the high ground on day 1 or General Lee and Longstreet’s decisions during the battle, there’s much that can be learned from a battle that may have been a turning point in the American Civil War. Keynote Speaker Allie Devine presented a lively presentation on Ag law in Kansas. Her experiences and stories had everyone engaged. A couple of key points:
Class members had many questions for the presenters and found the day to insightful for the rest of the seminar. These questions and presentations led to discussions that would carry on throughout the week. Many board members and supporters of the KARL program were in attendance for the dinner and part of the afternoon speakers.
Day Two – State of the State
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Submitted by Amy Doane, Downs
Class XV met at the capitol auditorium to begin day two of the Topeka seminar.
The first presentation was from staff at the Department of Education. Dale Dennis, deputy commissioner, division of fiscal administration, and Craig Neuenswander, director of school finance, spoke to the group about how aid is calculated for schools in Kansas.
The average size of a school district in the state is 550 students. Base aid is provided per student with additional aid for students below the poverty line, students who require transportation, students who need ESL support and school districts that have low enrollment (1,600 students).
Recently Kansas has seen some challenges funding education and has dealt with mid-year budget cuts at the state level. This means that school districts who have counted on funds coming in may not receive the amount they expected causing cuts locally.
Dennis and Neuenswander indicated that more often than not these cuts start with building/campus maintenance including custodial services. After several years of ignoring or cutting funds for maintenance projects, schools find themselves with inadequate facilities to service their communities and often go directly to the taxpayers for additional funding.
Class members asked if lottery money was set aside for education in Kansas the way it is in some other states. Lottery fund does not come directly to the education budget, but replacing general funds can have an impact on how much money is available for the state to allocate to education.
The state is required to pay 92% of extra cost for special education. Currently, the state has 75.3% of the funding required so it is not fully funding services for special education. These services are mandated and must be provided regardless of funding. The federal government is also not fully funding these services. Districts must pick up the additional costs for unfunded services.
School safety has become more of a topic in recent years. KSDE has two staff that are dedicated to safety. They work on issues ranging from earthquakes to school shootings.
Following the presentation from Dennis and Neuenswander, Class XV heard from three experts in ag trade associations and check-off organizations. Jancey Hall, Class XIV member and KARL board member, led a panel of Kenlon Johannes, CEO and commission administrator of Kansas Soybean Association, Matt Teagarden, CEO of Kansas Livestock Association, and Terry Holdren, CEO of Kansas Farm Bureau.
The three panelists gave brief overviews of their organizations. Teagarden said the goal of trade associations is to collectively do what can’t be done by individuals. KLA was started by a few ranchers near Emporia who were dealing with high freight rates and cattle theft. While the methods of changes, transportation and theft are still issues for the organization today. Policy issues are at the top of the list of member benefits when joining a trade association. Like other trade associations, KLA represents Kansans and deals with state issues. KLA is an affiliate of National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which deals with federal issues and through that affiliation KLA gives Kansans a voice nationally.
Similarly, Johannes finds members of Kansas Soybean Association are interested in policy that affects their farm practices and income. In addition to his role as CEO of the trade association, Johannes is the commission administrator for the check-off organization. State check-off participation is voluntary and national check-offs are mandatory. Check-offs are different for nearly every commodity so rules and processes are also different, but funds collected from this program are supposed to be used to do promotion and research.
Holdren described KFB’s mission as advocate, educate, serve. KFB has been around since before the first farm bill in 1933. In 1920 what is now known as Farm Bureau Financial Services was formed as a subsidiary to provide insurance to members of the trade association. Today, KFB has 105,000 members across the state representing agriculture. Like KLA, KFB is an affiliate of American Farm Bureau Federation and aim to position Kansas well nationally through member participation.
Farm Bureau was specifically designed to be a member-driven, grassroots organization. In December, 435 delegates meet at the annual meeting to vote on issues. Holdren gave the example of the impact of the grassroots voice. As a response to member concerns about rising health care costs, KFB successfully started a new imitative to offer members lower cost health plans.
Following individually scheduled meetings with legislators and other groups, Class XV met with Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers. Rogers spoke to the work of the Office of Rural Prosperity. Specifically he went over results from the office’s recent listening tour and what is in the pipeline for rural revitalization. The results from the listening tour are available at ruralkanprosper.kan.gov. The biggest issues that came out of the sessions are broadband, housing, childcare and property tax.
Rogers said the goal was not necessarily to create new policy based on the results but to see how the state can be more effective with its resources. Currently, he said, there are several channels for support, but those channels don’t necessarily work together or share information well. He is hoping these groups can come together to provide solutions and/or share resources in a more effective way.
He also hopes to help bridge the gap between rural and urban populations. Neither can be successful without the other, but more work needs to be done to make this connection.
He also encouraged members of the class to complete the Census 2020 form and encourage their friends, family and neighbors to do the same. It is vital for rural areas to be represented and representation comes from being counted.
Rogers concluded by saying rural revitalization isn’t a one-time conversation. Needs and solutions change over time and the conversations need to be constant. Engaged leadership is key to the success of rural Kansas.
Tom Bell, CEO of Kansas Hospital Association, spoke next. He shared some general information about healthcare with the class. In a public opinion poll, Americans are split on ACA. While they may not like the policy, polls show that even those who aren’t in favor of ACA do want some of the services allowed for by the law.
Bell went on to give some statistics about how the healthcare industry has changed over time. Specifically he discussed some of the disruptors to the industry such as new healthcare plans from CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Amazon and others. He also talked about the changes to population–29% of Kansas hospitals are at risk of closure. Bell doesn’t believe this will happen because most taxpayers will increase taxes to support local healthcare options.
In Kansas, health care is the third largest aggregate employer providing 185,000 jobs. The economic impact in rural communities is huge.
During the latter part of the afternoon, the Class XV toured the Kansas Bureau of Investigation office on Washburn University’s campus. The KBI uses the lab to perform chemical, fingerprint, firearms and other testing in criminal investigations.
Just before dinner group heard “Your Responsibility as a News Consumer” from Mike Matson, director of industry affairs at Kansas Farm Bureau. Matson asked the class to list ways they consume news and compare these methods to what might have been available in 1995. The group also discussed its expectations of news and media.
The dinner speaker was Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt. Schmidt’s topic “Big People Come from Small Towns” was a quote from William Inge who was from Independence, Kan., where Schmidt grew up. He encouraged those in the room to think about how they are impacting their communities and to continue to work for big things. He said, “If we don’t figure out how we’re going to deliver quality government services, we’ll lose that thing that is special. And, people will vote with their feet and leave.”
Day Three – State of the State
Friday, January 17, 2020
Submitted by Kendra Riley, Dexter
The day began with an overnight ice storm. A majority of the seminars were canceled (state government closed, legislature and judicial branches are open “at their discretion”). Bags were hauled to cars in the rain/sleet/wind… cars were solid sheets of ice… remote-start was coveted… carefully coiffed hairstyles were ruined.
Might try to reschedule some tours, but no way to get into Supreme Court to tour today.
Phillip R Michael – Assistant Attorney General (8:15 – 10:25)
A Guide to Open Meetings and Open Records
