Representative Jim Minnix’s take on HB Sub for SB 83

March 22, 2023

It seems the session has hit cruise control. Everyone is settled into their committees, the routine seems to be flowing, etc. Committees have been back at work for a couple of weeks, reviewing the work of the Senate. 

Unfortunately, for the Water Committee, the Senate didn’t address a lot of items that are headed our way. 

There was a bit of action this past week as the House debated an education bill. It is a large bill that covers many areas, which is why I have chosen to highlight that this week.

As a reminder, there are a lot of ways you can follow the action during the session. The Legislature’s website www.kslegislature.org has all of the bills. You can also listen in to the audio of any committee. All legislative committees and our daily session (11 a.m.) are streamed to the Legislature’s YouTube channel. 

If there is a particular committee or issue you are interested in, I encourage you to watch the action!

It’s an honor to serve you in the Kansas House. If there is anything I can do to be of assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact me. 

Education Debate

There is a reason the legislative process is often akin to sausage making… it often gets messy. This past week was a prime example. 

The House of Representatives debated H Sub for SB 83. The massive education bill covered several topics including special education funding, the establishment of Education Savings Accounts and mandated teacher salary increases. It is important to note this bill did not include the full education budget, which will be debated and voted on at a later time. First, I’d like to note that I strongly support fully funding special education and still hope to do that later this session in the education budget.

I was disappointed, but not surprised to see that those pushing the Education Savings Accounts (ESA) bill chose to tie the two issues together. The ESA bill creates education savings accounts for non-public school students. It is a massive new entitlement program with no checks and balances, leaving it ripe for waste, fraud, and abuse.

It further divides rural and urban schools by incentivizing rural students to attend schools in urban areas. For the majority of our district, this bill represents a false choice. Furthermore, this bill takes the decision-making power out of the hands of locally elected school boards, who know our communities and students the best and places the power in the hands of unelected bureaucrats in Topeka. 

Lastly, the bill includes mandated teacher salaries. I strongly support our local teachers and additional resources for them. However, I support salary increases based on merit and provided by local school boards, who regularly manage staffing and budget decisions. The mandate may also force some of our smaller school districts, dealing with declining enrollment, to eliminate positions or cut other areas of their budget to meet this mandate. 

Ultimately, I voted against H Sub SB 83 because it puts rural schools at a greater disadvantage. The bill passed the House 64-61 after a “Call of the House” where lawmakers are locked in the chamber and must remain in their seats until the call is raised. This is a political maneuver to buy time until enough arms have been twisted to get the votes to pass the legislation. The bill is almost guaranteed to be vetoed by the governor and there will certainly not be the votes to override the veto.