Redrawing our Congressional Districts

As the Kansas Senate prepares to vote on proposed changes to the state's Congressional districts, this may be a good time for a bit of a redistricting review.

The apportionment of seats in Congress is based on the population of the states as counted by the U.S. Census Bureau during the decennial census. The states are then provided small area population counts so that they may redefine their Congressional districts to reflect changes in the state's population.

There are four Congressional districts in Kansas. The First Congressional District, which covers most of the western half of Kansas, has lost population while the other three, especially the Third District, have gained population. The Special Committee of Redistricting then has to redraw the maps so the population served by the districts is more equal. The Special Committee will do the same with the Kansas Senate, House and Board of Education districts, which have also seen population shifts.

To learn more about redistricting, and to see current proposals, the Kansas Legislative Research Department has created this site:

http://redistricting.ks.gov/

You can learn more about the Special Committee on Redistricting on the Kansas Legislature's site:

http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2011_12/committees/ctte_spc_special_committee_on_redistricting_1/

Kansas' Part-time Legislature

Due to our agricultural heritage, Kansas has a part-time Legislature; this means that our Representatives and Senators meet daily from January through May to make or amend laws. Seventeen other states have part-time Legislatures and our closest neighbors, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado, have two-thirds-time legislatures. Senators and Representatives receive $88 per day they are in session plus a $123 subsistence pay per day they are in Session. This equates to around $18,990 for a 90 day session, thus most legislators hold other jobs aside from being a Senator or Representative. The dates for Session are convenient for those legislators who run farms, especially since there is a break in session in early April to get spring crops going. 12.7% of Kansas legislators are retired from other occupations.

But just because the Legislature has left Topeka and gone home for the remainder of the year, does not mean that they have stopped working for their constituents. The period between Sessions is known as “interim.” During the interim, legislators prepare arguments, work on boards or commissions, hold interim committee meetings called for by the previous Session to discuss potential bills or legislation, and meet with their constituents. Interim is also the time that legislative state agencies perform audits and studies that were either called for by legislation in the previous Session or are in preparation for the next Session. So while the Capitol building is quiet, legislative business is still buzzing.

Learn more about the make-up of our Legislature at (click on Kansas from the map):
http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?TabId=18248

Once the 2011 interim committee schedule has been decided, it will be posted under the interim link on http://skyways.lib.ks.us/ksleg/KLRD/Committees.htm

After each interim committee meets, it develops a report to the following Session. See 2010’s reports:
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/ksleg/KLRD/Committees-2010.htm

See an index of all interim committee reports since 1934:
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/ksleg/KLRD/Publications/SubjectIndex1934through2009.pdf

See what audits are being performed this interim and find older audits from the Division of Post Audit:
http://www.kansas.gov/postaudit/

Interim is a great time to speak to your legislators with any concerns. Your legislator does not have staff during the interim so you will need to contact them at home. Their home numbers are published and they expect calls from constituents. You can find their numbers by going to www.kslegislature.org and clicking on either “House” or “Senate” from the tabs along the top.

For a complete directory of the Legislature go to (available in PDF or Excel):
http://www.kssos.org/pubs/pubs_legislative_directory.html

If you do not know the name or contact number for your legislator go to http://www.ipsr.ku.edu/ksdata/vote/ and input your county and your address. Or you can call the Legislative Hotline, 1-800-432-3924, to learn how to contact your legislator or to leave a message for your legislator.

Article contact: Kim Harp, Legislative Reference Librarian

Drawing the Lines and Divvying up the State

Now that the election has come and gone and votes have been tallied, one of the next tasks for the State Legislature is redistricting and apportionment. During the process of redistricting, the Legislature will use the new 2010 census population data to re-draw Kansas House, Kansas Senate, Kansas Board of Education and the state's four Congressional districts. As population shifts, counties may gain or lose representation in the State Legislature or Congress. The final drawing of boundaries will occur after the adjournment of the 2012 legislative session.

Public Law 94-171, enacted by Congress in December 1975, requires the Census Bureau to provide state legislatures with the small area census population tabulations necessary for legislative redistricting.

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Committee has already begun work on compiling resources for the Legislature.

Members of the Redistricting Advisory Committee:
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/ksleg/KLRD/2010CommMembership/2010-redist-ad-grp.pdf

Find maps, demographic tables and profiles for current Kansas House and Senate districts enacted by the 2002 Legislature. The population information was derived from the 2000 US Census of Population and Housing. The same information is available for Kansas' 10 State Board of Education and four Congressional districts:

http://skyways.lib.ks.us/ksleg/KLRD/LegisDist.htm

Find your Legislative, Congressional and Board of Education district numbers:

http://www.ipsr.ku.edu/ksdata/vote/

See the data available to the Legislature to use to help determine district boundaries:
http://www.census.gov/rdo/data/redistricting_data.html and
http://www.census.gov/rdo/data/state_legislative_district_data.html

Guide to the 2010 Redistricting Data from the U.S. Census:
http://www.census.gov/rdo/pdf/StrengthInNumbers2010.pdf

Learn more about the timeline for redistricting in Kansas from the Legislative Research Department:
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/ksleg/KLRD/Publications/2010Briefs/s-s-2-redistricting-timeline.pdf

As prescribed by the Constitution, the first decennial census was conducted in 1790. Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State at the time, directed the enumeration. Since then, the census has been taken in each year ending in a zero digit. Thus, the most recent enumeration (Census 2000) was the last census of the 20th century.

Learn more about apportionment at the U.S. Census:

http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/apportionment/index.html

Read the formula used to compute apportionment:
http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/apportionment/computing.html

History of apportionment in the United States:
http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/apportionment/history.html

View current state data for Kansas from the State Data Center of Kansas:

http://www.kslib.info/sdc/

Article contact: Kim Harp

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

Eyes on the Road

We all do our best to be good drivers, but the cell phone screams at us from the passenger seat and it is tempting to pick it up and respond. Be careful! Let it ring until you can pull over to pick it up; besides, the Kansas government may be giving you a new reason to ignore your phone. The Kansas Senate is currently working a bill, Senate Substitute for House Bill 2437, which would prohibit text messaging while driving a motor vehicle. Many other states have either introduced or passed bills on the same subject with intention of reducing the number of distracted-while-driving accidents.

You can find the full text of Senate Substitute for House Bill 2437 at http://www.kslegislature.org/
Click on "full text of bills" from the menu along the top of the page, then type in 2437.

You can find a list of states that either ban or limit cell phone use or texting while driving at:
List from the National Conference of State Legislatures
http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=17057

List from the Governors Highway Safety Association
http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has banned texting while driving for school bus drivers and commercial truckers:
http://www.distraction.gov/files/dot/MotorCarrierPressRelease.pdf

Secretary LaHood has instituted a non-profit organization to raise awareness of the problems derived from distracted driving:
http://www.distraction.gov/files/press-release/dot0410508forweb.pdf

Learn more about the facts and figures regarding distracted driving:
http://www.distraction.gov/stats-and-facts/

A study at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute funded by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration produced a report that has the most recent stats and figures:
http://www.access.vtti.vt.edu/PDFs/100CarDriverInattention.pdf

If you text, you are 23.2 times higher a risk for a crash or near-crash than non-distracted driving. So do yourself a favor: put your phone in the glove box or your purse until you get to your destination!

Interim and the Legislature

Even though your Kansas legislators are not currently in session does not mean that they are not working. Interim, or the months between sessions, is a time in which the Legislature does much of its work. Your Senators and Representatives are busy at home learning the wishes and desires of their constituents. Many legislators serve on task forces assigned by the Governor druing the interim. But there is more work than that to be done.

What is not widely known is the volume of the legislature's work takes place between sessions in interim committee meetings. Because the action of the legislative session flies by in 90 days, most of the discussion, negotiation, and research of the issues must take place well before the 2010 legislative session begins. Just before the start of session in January, the interim committees will produce reports to the legislature to utilize in the formation of new legislation.

If you wish to learn what is being worked on currently, there are online tools to help you:

You can find the list of interim committees, what is on their agenda, and the committee members at
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/ksleg/KLRD/Committees.htm

You can see this month's interim committee schedule at
http://www.kslegislature.org/committeeminutes/07-08/interim_joint/interim.pdf

You can find minutes of interim committees at
http://www.kslegislature.org/committeeminutes/09-10/interim_joint/index.shtml#joint

You can find a calendar of interim meetings at
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/ksleg/KLRD/agendas/grid.pdf

An index of interim reports from 1934-2005 is available at
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/ksleg/KLRD/Publications/SubjectIndex1934through2005.pdf

If you have any questions about the legislature or about interim, you are welcome to call the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-432-3924 or you may Ask a Librarian.

Article contact: Kim Harp
(Check out recent additions to our collection here)

Drive on the Right Law, et al.

Over 140 bills passed during the 2009 Legislative Session and were signed into law. Many of these new laws go into effect today. Among the new statutes is the "Drive on the Right" law which some have found to be a bit confusing.

Below is a summary of the "Drive on the Right" law provided by the Kansas Legislative Research Department from its publication, 2009 Summary of Legislation (pages 138-139). We've also included some other links to information on "drive on the right" laws as well as a couple resources on legislative activities during the 2009 Session .

Summary of the Drive on the Right Law
"Drive on the Right"; Increases in Certain Motor Carrier Permit Fees; and Cotton Module Permits —House Sub. for SB145

House Sub. for SB145 requires vehicles to be driven in the right lane on a multi-lane road outside of a city, increases certain permit fees charged by the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), and changes requirements for cotton module permits.

Specifically, the bill makes the following changes to the existing law:

● It amends existing law to require vehicles to be driven in the right lane when two lanes of traffic are going in the same direction on a highway outside of any city. It also requires vehicles on highways with three or more lanes proceeding in the same direction not to be driven in the far left lane. Exceptions apply to both cases:

● When overtaking and passing another vehicle;

● When preparing to make a proper left turn;

● As otherwise directed by official traffic-control devices; or

● As otherwise required by other provisions of law.

The provisions do not apply to authorized emergency, law enforcement, or Kansas Turnpike Authority vehicles or to KDOT vehicles used for construction or maintenance work. Law enforcement officials will be required to issue warning citations for the first full year the bill’s provisions will be in effect (until July 1, 2010).

Kansas News Media Information on the Law

Topeka Capital-Journal
http://www.cjonline.com/news/state/2009-06-27/stay_on_the_right_its_the_law

Wichita Eagle
http://www.kansas.com/news/legislature/story/874759.html

KWCH TV News (Wichita)
http://www.kwch.com/Global/story.asp?s=10556830

Other States With Keep Right Laws
(This is a sampling of a handful of states. Also keep in mind that laws can sometimes change faster than they are updated on state websites)

Colorado
http://www.cdot.info/Publications/Brochures/leftlanebrochure.pdf
(A pamphlet on the state's law)

Idaho
http://www3.idaho.gov/cgi-bin/newidst?sctid=490060030.K

Illinois
http://ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=062500050K11-701

Washington State
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.61.100

Other Resources on Right/Left Lane Laws

Lane Courtesy
http://www.motorists.org/lanecourtesy/
(National Motorists Association information on the importance of keeping to the right on highways)

State "Keep Right" Laws
http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/right.html
(A comparison of state "keep right" laws compiled by John Carr, MIT)

Other Legislation of Interest Passed During the 2009 Session

2009 Summary of Legislation
http://www.skyways.org/ksleg/KLRD/Publications/2009-summary-of-legislation.pdf
(Kansas Legislative Research Department)

2009 Legislative Highlights
http://www.skyways.org/ksleg/KLRD/Publications/2009-legislative-highlights.pdf
(Kansas Legislative Research Department)