Water, water everywhere...

Living in a plains state makes Kansans unique in their uncanny sense of the weather and of water resources. Kansas has its watersheds, 14 reservoirs, and 12 river basins that help to keep metropolitan areas in drinking water and farm fields irrigated. The Kansas Water Office and Kansas Water Authority are charged with maintaining and preserving and preparing Kansas waterways. The Water Office coordinates the Kansas water planning process in concert with the Kansas Water Authority which advises the Kansas Legislature and the Governor in policy-making. This week, the Legislature meets in interim committee meetings regarding the water planning process. They will be looking at water supply and conservation issues, including the nature of the supply, where and whom it serves, and what it will look like in 10-20 years. Learn more about your Kansas government's plan for our water resources.

Kansas Water Office home page:
http://www.kwo.org/

Kansas Water Authority and its members:
http://www.kwo.org/KWA/Kansas%20Water%20Authority.htm

2009 Kansas Water Plan:
http://www.kwo.org/Kansas%20Water%20Plan/Kansas%20Water%20Plan.htm

2010 Water Plan Status:
http://www.kwo.org/Reports%20%26%20Publications/Rpt_2010_StatusReport_012509_ab_ss.pdf

2010 Annual Report to the Governor and the Legislature:
http://www.kwo.org/KWA/Rpt_2010_KWA_Rpt_Gov_Leg.pdf

More reports and publications by the Kansas Water Office:
http://www.kwo.org/Reports%20%26%20Publications/Reports%20and%20Publications.htm

Kansas Department of Agriculture- Division of Water Resources:
http://www.ksda.gov/dwr/

Kansas Geological Survey- Water Resources:
http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Hydro/hydroIndex.html

Kansas State Conservation Commission (SCC):
http://www.scc.ks.gov/

Article contact: Kim Harp

Legislators Are Coming Back

On January 11 the 2010 Legislature will return to Topeka to represent you in the Kansas House of Representatives and Kansas State Senate. On Monday, as required by the Kansas Constitution, Governor Mark Parkinson will present his State of the State speech in which he will lay out his goals for the state and the current status of state functions to the legislature. Check your local listings to see when the Governor's State of the State address will be televised.

Previous Governors' State of the State addresses and other messages can be found online at:
http://www.kslib.info/messages/index.html

Section of the Kansas Constitution requiring the Governor to deliver a message to the legislature:
http://www.kslib.info/constitution/art1.html

Interesting facts:

*The State of the State address has been given 128 times.
*The first message delivered in person, Governor Carney, 1863.
*First radio broadcast of the message was Governor Woodring, 1931:
http://www.kslib.info/messages/1931.html
*From the House Journal, March 30, 1861, pg. 43: "Resolved, That the Secretary of State be directed to have 2,500 copies of the Governor's Message printed for the use of this House, 500 of which to be in the German language."

The following are recommendations to communicate with your elected officials
Find your legislators' contact information at:
http://www.kslegislature.org/

Find out who your state legislators are by entering your address at:
http://www.ipsr.ku.edu/ksdata/vote/

Click on either House or Sentate and then on the roster in the middle. Select the name of your legislator; this will bring up a picture and the contact information for your legislator
OR you can call the Legislative Hotline, a service of the State Library, to leave a message for your legislator at 1-800-432-3924.

Talk to your legislators about what concerns you:
1. When emailing or writing a letter to your legislator address him or her as Honorable Representative or Honorable Senator
2. Be sure to include how your concern affects people in your area
3. Offer background information to support your argument
4. Offer to testify to your argument

Find out more about your legislators:
Directories:
http://www.kssos.org/forms/communication/legis.pdf
Histories of elected officials:
http://www.kssos.org/forms/communication/history.pdf
Legislators Past and Present:
http://www.kslib.info/legislators/index.html

Article contact: Kim Harp

Gov. Sebelius nominated to U.S. Cabinet Post

On March 2, 2009, President Obama nominated Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be a member of his Cabinet as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Governor Sebelius accepted the nomination and will await approval by the U.S. Senate before officially taking office.

The nation recently went through a smoothe transition from one presidential administration to another and now Kansas will prepare for the possibility of a change in governors under the laws that govern our state.

Below are online resources on Governor Sebelius and our Lieutenant Governor, Mark Parkinson who will assume the governorship pending Sebelius' departure. Also included are links to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and sites proving information on the processes that will take place as our state and federal governments move through changes in leadership.

Kathleen Sebelius

Information from the Governor's website
http://www.governor.ks.gov/about/default.htm

Biographical information from Wikipedia with references
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Sebelius

Mark Parkinson

Lieutenant Governor's web page at governor.ks.gov
http://www.governor.ks.gov/LtGov/

Biographical information from Wikipedia with references
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Parkinson

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
http://www.hhs.gov/
“The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America". In 2004 the Department had 67,000 employees.

The department was created when President Jimmy Carter signed the Department of Education Organization Act (PL 96-88) into law on October 17, 1979. It split the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, (HEW), which included the Social Security Administration, agencies constituting the Public Health Service, Family Support Administration, and the Office of Education into the Department of Health and Human Services and the United States Department of Education. Both began operation on May 4, 1980.” (Wikipedia.org)

Vacancies in Kansas Executive Offices
From Article 1 of the Kansas State Constitution:
http://www.kslib.info/constitution/art1.html

“11. Vacancies in executive offices. When the office of governor is vacant, the lieutenant governor shall become governor. In the event of the disability of the governor, the lieutenant governor shall assume the powers and duties of governor until the disability is removed. The legislature shall provide by law for the succession to the office of governor should the offices of governor and lieutenant governor be vacant, and for the assumption of the powers and duties of governor during the disability of the governor, should the office of lieutenant governor be vacant or the lieutenant governor be disabled. When the office of secretary of state or attorney general is vacant, the governor shall fill the vacancy by appointment for the remainder of the term. If the secretary of state or attorney general is disabled, the governor shall name a person to assume the powers and duties of the office until the disability is removed. The procedure for determining disability and the removal thereof shall be provided by law.”

United States Cabinet

Official site of U.S. Presidential Cabinet
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/cabinet/

Track the Confirmation of President Obama's Cabinet Nominees
http://innovation.cq.com/projects/cabinet_nominee
(From CQ Politics)

United States Cabinet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Cabinet
(Information from Wikipedia)

Sebelius on the White House Blog
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/03/02/Sebelius-at-HHS/

Federal Stimulus: What it means to Kansans

The Federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has passed and is in the process to be implemented. The purpose of the Recovery Act, also known as the economic stimulus bill, is to create and save jobs, jumpstart our economy, and build the foundation for long-term economic growth. The Act includes measures to modernize the nation's infrastructure, enhance America's energy independence, expand educational opportunities, increase access to health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need. This now generates questions above and beyond "should it pass?" Questions pop up such as how will these monies affect the states and how much will Kansas get? How is this money going to be used? Where did this money come from? Some answers to these questions will need to wait until the funding available in this bill is allocated; until then, see the resources below for available answers and much more information:

From the U.S. government:

New! Kansas Department of Transportation lists transportation projects that would utilize ARRA monies
http://www.ksdot.org/EconomicStimulus.asp

Real and valid grants available from Federal Agencies via ARRA
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?mode=Search&dates=7&docs1=doc_open_checked

Quick FAQ from the Whitehouse:
http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/frequently-asked-questions#2

You will be able to track the funds when they have been allocated at:
http://www.recovery.gov/

Full text of the actual stimulus bill
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:H.R.1:
or
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h1enr.pdf

To view the committee report on this act go to:
http://www.rules.house.gov/bills_details.aspx?NewsID=4149

To meet the acts' objectives, the President is directing Federal agencies to take critical steps in preparation for the Act’s implementation. See here, for the White House’s February 9, 2009 initial implementation memorandum and February 18 detailed guidance memorandum.
http://www.recovery.gov/files/recoverylegislationmemo.pdf

http://www.recovery.gov/files/Initial%20Recovery%20Act%20Implementing%20Guidance.pdf

Timeline of the Act and implementation:
http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/timeline

How your tax dollars to be used according to this act:
http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/investments

Speaker Pelosi's highlights of the act:
http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/legislation?id=0273

Word from President Obama:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/president-obama-delivers-your-weekly-address/
or
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/24/obama.speech/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCVideo

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Advisory Group:
http://www.governor.ks.gov/news/NewsRelease/2009/nr-09-0123a.htm

Summary of the effects on the economy by the Congressional Budget Office:
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9987/Gregg_Year-by-Year_Stimulus.pdf


From the Kansas Government:
Governor's press release, "Federal Stimulus: The action we need to put America back to work"
http://www.governor.ks.gov/news/GovColumn/col09-0211g.htm

Quick highlights:
http://www.governor.ks.gov/recovery/highlights.htm

Sebelius forms group to prepare Kansas for Federal stimulus bill:
www.governor.ks.gov/news/NewsRelease/2009/nr-09-0123a.htm

Governor Sebelius’ statement on the American recovery act: www.governor.ks.gov/news/NewsRelease/2009/nr-09-0213a-st.htm

Kansas Health Policy Authority and Medicaid monies available for Kansas:
http://www.khpa.ks.gov/LegislativeInformation/Testimony/2-23-09%20ARRA%20fact%20sheet.pdf

Monies for projects for roads and highways:
http://www.ksdot.org/EconomicStimulus.asp

The Governor's Budget

Last night, January 12th, Governor Sebelius gave her State of the State Address. This is a speech in which the governor details the current state of affairs to the state legislature as well as discussing her ideas for the state budget. The Governor's budget is a report that details where state funding comes from, the governor's goals for the following year, what each state agency has previously received and should receive as funding from your state taxes. Governor Sebelius is releasing her published State Budget today, January 13th at 10:00 am. See the resources below to find out more about state appropriations and financing and how your tax dollars are being used:

Full text of the Governor's State of the State Address:
http://www.governor.ks.gov/news/sp-stateofstate2009.htm

Full text of the Governor's Budget will be at:
http://budget.ks.gov/gbr.htm

Governor's homepage:
http://www.governor.ks.gov/

As the Legislature works the state appropriations, you can find out details at http://skyways.lib.ks.us/ksleg/KLRD/Appropriations.html

Information on current state revenues:
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/ksleg/KLRD/Revenue&Tax.htm

Review audits of current state agency functions at:
http://www.kslegislature.org/postaudit/

To tell your legislator your thoughts on the Governor's Budget call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 and the staff there can relay your message to your legislator. Your representative's or senator's emails will be available at www.kslegislature.org shortly. If needed, you can find out who your legislator is at http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-legisportal/redistricting.do

Kansas Economics

Kansans are feeling the pinch due to recent events in the nation’s economy. Below are some of the tools that our lawmakers use to predict events and write laws pertaining to Kansas’ labor market and economy:

Kansas, Inc.: Kansas, Inc. provides a respected forum for business and industry, local leaders, and state executive and legislative officials to debate issues directly with one another
http://www.kansasinc.org/index.shtml

KTEC: The Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC) is a private/public partnership established by the state of Kansas to promote technology based economic development.
http://www.ktec.com/

Kansas Economy at a Glance- developed by the U.S. Department of Labor
http://stats.bls.gov/eag/eag.KS.htm

2008 Kansas Economic Report- developed by the Kansas Department of Labor
http://www.dol.ks.gov/LMIS/economicReport/2008/economic_Report_2008.pdf

Economic Development Report- developed by the Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit
http://www.kslegislature.org/postaudit/audits_perform/08pa06a.pdf

Kansas Labor Market Information- developed by the Kansas Department of Labor
http://www.dol.ks.gov/lmis/lmis.html

2008 Kansas Wage Survey- developed by the Kansas Department of Labor
http://www.dol.ks.gov/LMIS/wagesurvey/ws2008/wagesurvey_2008.html

Kansas Economic Incentives from the Kansas Department of Commerce
http://kdoch.state.ks.us/public/resources/businesses/list.jsp

Employment and Economy Statistics from the Kansas Department of Commerce, Business Development
http://www.thinkbigks.com/EconomicIndicators.aspx

2007-2008 Data Book from the Kansas Department of Commerce
http://www.thinkbigks.com/Documents/databook_all.pdf

The Governor's Economic and Demographic Report
http://budget.ks.gov/ecodemo.htm