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Kansas Rural Center
Legislative Policy Watch
Issue No. 7, February 18, 2022
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KANSAS WATER OFFICE BUDGET OVERVIEW
This detailed budget overview starts with the agency purpose, agency priorities and agency programs. See KWO budget overview.
The Kansas Water Office (KWO) - created in 1981 - is the water planning, policy, and coordination agency for the State of Kansas. KWO is made up of two primary programs – Water Planning & Administration and the Public Water Supply Program. The agency’s budget is comprised of three funding sources – State General Fund, user fees form the Public Water Supply Program, and the State Water Plan Fund.
Water Planning & Implementation includes the Kansas Water Authority (KWA), the Regional Advisory Committees (RACs), and the State Water Plan Fund. Under the Public Water Supply Program is future use storage, the water marketing fund, water assurance fund, and the access district fund.
KWA is comprised of 24 members (13 voting and 11 ex-officio). There is a map on page 4 of the overview listing the 13 voting members and their affiliations. KWA is responsible for advising the Governor, the Legislature, and Director of the Kansas Water Office (KWO) on water issues. KWA approves the Kansas Water Plan, the annual legislative report, federal and state contracts, public water supply contracts, and public water supply rates as well as State Water Plan Fund recommendations.
There are 14 Regional Planning Areas - established in December 2014 – depicted on page 5. Since 1991, the State Water Plan Fund was pledged to receive $6 million from the State General Fund (SGF) and $2 million from EDIF (lottery funds). The SWP Fund has been shortchanged over 30 years to a total of $84 million. The Governor’s FY 2023 recommends full restoration. The budget overview lists the specific State Water Plan Fund Programs & Projects administered by KWO.
KWO has contracts with the Army Corps of Engineers for purchase of water supply storage in 14 reservoirs. 11 of the 14 have storage currently committed to, and being paid for by, the customers of the Water Marketing Program. 8 of the 14 have storage that has been sold to Assurance Districts for district members. 5 of the 14 have Future Use storage that has been purchased by the State but has not yet been called into service. This budget overview explains the contractual arrangements with the Corps regarding capital costs plus operation, maintenance and repair costs. Two out of three Kansans depend on the public water supplies coming from these reservoirs. There is now a debate in Kansas to lock down public water storage capacity - specifically in Perry and Milford - for future water needs from the Corps at a cost of $112 million.
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KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BUDGET OVERVIEW
The Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) provides a detailed budget overview to the Kansas Legislature. See overview here.
The budget overview document is usually not put up on KDA’s homepage, but can be downloaded via legislative committee documents. This overview has the most detailed look at each program in terms of budget, staffing, statutory authority and performance measures.
The budgetary numbers include actual expenditures for Fiscal Year (FY) 19, FY20, FY21, FY22 Program adjustments, and the FY 23 Budget – Governor’s Recommendations. The program expenditures for FY 19 were $50.3 million, FY 20 was $51.7 million, FY 21 was $52.8 million, FY 22 adjusted budget $55.1 million, and the Governor’s recommended budget for FY 23 - $54.2 million.
Sixteen budgetary line items are listed. The largest line item is conservation at $11.6 million followed by water structures at $8.1 million, and administration at $6 million. There are two pages for each program that lists purpose, statutory authority, total employees, program expenditures and a performance-based budget. There is a fund analysis showing revenue sources from the State General Fund to State Water Plan to federal funds to fees for programs. For animal health, there is a listing of the fees for inspection, brands and disease control. Under program expenditures, there is a listing of salaries, fees-professional services, grants, aid to locals and other operating expenditures. On the final page is a listing of the legislative team and key program contacts.
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ENERGY BRIEFS: Anti-Wind Bills Stall
The Senate Utility Committee worked three bills this past week: SB 353 on Wednesday, and SB323 and SB 324 on Thursday. All failed to have enough Committee support to make it out of Committee.
SB 353 would establish setback and construction requirements for wind energy facilities that wind energy proponents argue would effectively stop all future wind development in the state. It requires setbacks of 10 times the turbine height of 5,280 feet whichever is greater, from non-participating landowners, public buildings, airports, federal wildlife refuges, public hunting or public parks.
The Chair held “informational hearings” early in the week relying on primarily anti-wind advocates. However, on Wednesday he announced he could not get support to move the bill out of committee.
SB 323 and SB 324 both dealt with wind or solar leases, disclosures, measurements, and termination of leases. On Thursday, the Chair could not get seconds on motions to move the bills out of committee. While this should kill the bills for this year, the Chair has indicated his determination to leave them “open”. Some are concerned that there may be an attempt
to use the “gut and go” process to insert bill language into another bill later in the session.
Read more at:
https://kansasreflector.com/2022/02/16/kansas-senate-committee-unable-to-advance-anti-wind-bills-chairman-says/
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KANSAS SLAUGHTER FACILITY MAP
The past two years under the Pandemic revealed early on the weaknesses and limitations of the state’s meat processing plants as existing small to mid-sized plants were overwhelmed by demand. KDA testified that prior to 2020, there were around 60 plants and 40 new since 2020. KDA used $8-10 million in pandemic funding to assist these new or expanding slaughter facilities. State inspected plants can process meat that can be sold commercially in Kansas but not across state lines. Custom plants are inspected annually, and the meat processed cannot be sold commercially.
KDA now has produced a map listing the state slaughter facilities statewide.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=16U73Np0K9QaT2losTrIBE28sUybSx7dP&usp=sharing
The map has four layers: 1) state inspected plants; 2) state custom plants; 3) current plants working towards full inspection; and 4) potential plants under construction. All four layers can be viewed at once, or separately.
One iteration shows the existing state inspected plants which total 51. A second map shows the custom plants that number 41. Another map shows 10 current plants working towards full state inspection. A final map shows 16 potential plants.
Under each category there is a marker that says ‘all items’ which lists the plants name found on the map and provides details.
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CALENDAR Week of February 21
Note: Calendars are set by committee chair discretion so are subject to change. Check the daily calendar at http://kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/chamber/calendars/
Hearings are also available remotely. See http://www.kslegislature.org/li/ Go to Audio/Video broadcast box on right side of page.
As Turn Around Day in the house of origin approaches (Feb. 24), committees will be working bills, then floor action on bills in both House and Senate will take center stage. We suggest you consult the daily calendars for most timely information.
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FEDERAL FOOD AND FARM
CHARTING THE PATH AHEAD
(From NSAC Feb, 16, 2022)
Over the course of the first week of February, members of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) worked to simultaneously “dream big” and nail down the specific tasks and tools necessary to ensure a sustainable and equitable Farm Bill.
Every year, NSAC comes together to set policy priorities based on needs identified by members and informed by the work of issue committees to firmly establish the Coalition’s positions and “asks” on issues. Policy priorities address critical issues across the food and farming system. Some of the issues NSAC is advocating for include key structural reforms to safety net programs like crop insurance, expanded programs and policies targeted to serve BIPOC, beginning, and socially disadvantaged farmers, the reform of procurement standards, and the implementation of programs and policies to support working lands conservation and sustainable research.
To read more about NSAC priorities, click HERE
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