Kansas primary elections were held on Tuesday, August 5.  The primaries determine who will represent Democrat and Republican parties in the General Election November 4 – if there are candidates from more than one party on the ballot.

Most current legislators were able to retain their positions Tuesday, except for three legislators from the House of Representatives.  In District 50, Rep. Josh Powell (R-Topeka) may have lost his position as the Republican nominee to Fred Patton.  At this time, the difference is less than 50 votes and the race won’t be final until the provisional ballots are counted.  The winner will face Chris Huntsman (D) in the general election.

In District 65, Rep. Allan Rothlisberg (R-Junction City) lost the nomination to Lonnie Clark, who will run against Tom Brungardt (D) in the general election.  In District 93, Rep. Joe Edwards (R-Wichita) lost the nomination to John Whitmer, who will run against Sammy Flaharty (D) in the general election.

There were two State Senate races determined on Tuesday.  Richard Wilborn (R-McPherson) will serve District 35 after winning a five-person primary race to replace Senator Clark Shultz, who ran for Insurance Commissioner.  Former Rep. Marshall Christmann, R-Lyons, placed third in that race.

Molly Baumgardner, R-Louisburg, defeated Charlotte O’Hara (former Representative) to retain the senate seat for District 37.  Baumgardner had been appointed to replace Senator Pat Apple, who was appointed to the Kansas Corporation Commission.

The top statewide office-holders were able to hold onto their Republican nominations, but many news outlets are suggesting that the vote counts were close enough to indicate some voter dissatisfaction with these incumbents.  Governor Brownback / Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer defeated Jennifer Winn with 63% of the vote.  Congressman Mike Pompeo beat Todd Tiahrt with 63%.  Senator Pat Roberts beat challenger Milton Wolf in a three-way race with only 48%.  Congressman Tim Huelskamp beat his challenger with 55% of the vote. 

For more information about the candidates, see the attached report which has several spreadsheets detailing the races – including primary results and general election information.  It is color-coded, with the explanation in the first row.

Now is a great time to reach out and congratulate your local winners.  If there is a general election pending, be sure to offer your support to friendly candidates through financial contributions, hosting fundraisers or meet-and-greet events, and posting campaign signs on your property.

For more information or to share information from your area, contact KABR by clicking here.  

It is officially election season in Kansas again, with the House of Representatives up for election, and all statewide offices as well as congressional representation.  State Senators get to wait until 2016, unless the seat has opened up for one reason or another.  As much as we would all like to sit back and watch politics from a distance, we will have to be active over the next few months. 

How?  Support those who support you.  Plan now to be involved!  Find out who is running and where they stand.  Talk to the candidates directly.  Make a decision today how much money you can contribute, where you can post signs, and watch for public forums to attend. 

The Uncork / Big Box Liquor Bill was stalled in House committee again this year, showing no new progress.  But the committee was closely divided.  Some statehouse observers think this could be the election that will tilt the balance in the House of Representatives (or just the committee) to be more favorable to liquor deregulation.  The Uncork group continues to repeat their mantra that “it is going to happen eventually”, and some people believe that.  Kansas retailers must decide today to be active supporters of the policymakers who support our Kansas owned small businesses.  Certainly, the Big Box group will be working to influence candidates in their favor. 

When it comes to contributing to candidates, we encourage you to support your local candidates first.  We will also pass on information to you regarding key state legislators who have chosen to stand up against the heavy pressure to expand liquor sales put forward from the corporate interests in the Capitol. 

Please let us know when you participate by emailing campbell525@sbcglobal.net  That way we can know if we are getting a response.

By Bryan Thompson
Kansas Public Radio
June 20, 2014

Although the Senate passed the necessary budget bill this morning, the House just began its budget bill at 9:10 p.m.  They are expected to wrap it up tonight.  The Senate has basically wrapped up its heavy lifting, although they must wait for the House to act on the tax conference bills before they can finish.  

The House is grinding at a tortuous pace.  They meet to vote on a few items, then break for up to an hour to caucus to discuss two or three conference committee reports at a time.

Perhaps the most lively action of the day was when Rep. Dan Hawkins made a motion to concur on HB 2463 - a major tax bill that is being crafted by the Tax Conference Committee.  He did so because the Conference Committee was planning to drop the Senate's proposed measure to give private non-profit health clubs the same tax exemptions as are enjoyed by the non-profit health clubs, such as the YMCA/YWCA.  (They are exempt from property taxes and from sales taxes.) 

For their part, the YMCA/YWCA clubs argue that they provide much more than just health club services to the public, and the for-profit clubs would not be required to provide any reduced fees to low income citizens or other services.  House Tax Chairman Richard Carlson, R-St. Marys, argued that it was a slippery slope, since many for-profit businesses compete against non-profits, such as golf courses, hospitals, 

But journalists really sat up when Rep. John Edmonds, R-Great Bend, called out the campaign contributions made by the owner of Genesis health clubs to key senators, listing the amount of the contributions - without mentioning any names.  He said he was ashamed that most were from his own party and called the process "highly suspect".  Ultimately, the motion failed by a huge margin.  The Conference Committee Report on HB 2463 will return later tonight to the House as a Tax mega-bill including changes to machinery & equipment property tax valuations, the Ashgrove cement company M & E tax change, a phase-out version of the repeal of the Mortgage Application Fee, and a motor vehicle fee exemption for the military.  The Tax Conference Committee has been firm about not adopting any measures that would reduce receipts to the state general fund, but these are all items that affect local government revenues.  Read the notes.

Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, gave a touching good-by speech this evening, thanking his family and his peers for their support over the past 12 years in the Legislature (6 years as House minority leader) and indicated he hoped to be back with a role on second floor.  (He is running for Governor.)

When the Legislature convened for Veto Session on Wednesday, April 30, the Appropriations Committee wasted no time in creating a budget bill.  The committee adopted the consensus caseloads, adopted the Governor's Budget Amendments (GBAs), adopted some of the omnibus funding items associated with legislation that has already passed the Legislature, dumped the contents into a Senate bill and the race was on.  

The normal legislative process would have led to staff cranking out multiple pages of statistics, combined costs, and ending balances.  Then, perhaps by Friday, the full House would consider the budget bill.  But this is certainly not a year for normal legislative process.  There has been no further action to create a House budget bill - instead, House conferees moved directly into negotiating with the Senate over the Senate's budget bill.

Senate Ways and Means had already adopted the consensus caseloads over the legislative break.  Also, the Senate had already passed a "mega-budget bill" during the regular session under a House bill number, so it was ready for conference committee.  Typically, SWM would meet again to create an omnibus budget bill.  Not this year.

Since the House was willing to bypass developing its own budget bill - the Legislature was in the amazing position of being able to create a budget bill in conference and possibly adjourn by late Friday.  Tax, Health, and other conference committees got to work quickly with a new shorter deadline in mind.  

When the news broke that Kansas April revenues came in short $92 million, many thought that would throw a big wrench in the proceedings - but there was no delay.  Read about April revenue shortfall here.  

There are other issues pending before the Legislature, but none are absolutely necessary to accomplish before adjourning.  Even though the Legislature has ten days set aside for its veto session this year, it is apparent that the leadership planned to wrap this up as soon as possible.  So, the major tax proposals, anti-common core bills, or anti-renewable portfolio standards bills had to be ready by today.  

There were no further meetings of the Commerce Committee to consider the Big Box Liquor bill.  

The Governor signed HB 2223 April 18.  

HB 2223 began in the House of Representatives as the Homebrewer’s Bill, and was amended by the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee on March 20 to become the 2014 “micro-mega liquor bill”.  This bill includes the few Liquor Control Act items that have been headed for passage this session.  The bill legalizes sharing homemade beer with personal guests and judges at a competition - as long as there are no sales of the home brewed product.

The bill includes the contents of SB 346, a bill requested by Kansas Microbreweries to raise their annual production cap from 15,000 barrels to 30,000 barrels.

Additionally, a clause to amend the citizenship requirement for liquor licenses was added.  The House Federal and State Affairs Committee held hearings on this issue and adopted the change in HB 2196 and added it to SB 346 as well.  Current law requires applicants for all forms of liquor licenses to be a U.S. citizen for ten years.  Applicants may now qualify if they are currently a U.S. citizen.

Finally, the Senate Federal and State Affairs added a section to clarify that Kansas farm wineries are permitted to participate in consumer tastings at liquor stores as a supplier.

Because HB 2223 has passed the House and the Senate, it is now eligible for conference committee between representatives of the House and Senate Federal and State Affairs committees. The House could also choose to simply concur with the Senate amendment to HB 2223 and the bill would be adopted.

With its passage, it is no longer necessary for the full House of Representatives to debate SB 346 or HB 2196.  Members may remember that House Federal and State Affairs adopted a bill February 14 (HB 2196) that reduces the current 10 year citizenship rule for licensing to simply being a U.S. citizen.  2196 also includes the amendment to open up retailer licenses to unlimited numbers.

Yeah, yeah, we know what you're thinking: This can't possibly be real, right?

Wrong.

This week, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved Palcohol, an alcoholic powder that comes in four highly questionable flavors: Cosmopolitan, Powderita (it "tastes just like a Margarita") Lemon Drop and Mojito (in case you really hate muddling mint that much).

Why, you ask? Well, as Palcohol's website states, this super-handy new product is "a great convenience for the person on the go. One package weighs about an ounce and is small enough to fit into any pocket."

So if your bottle of single malt Scotch or fancy gin proves to be too much of an inconvenience to you, all you have to do is add a packet of Powderita to your water bottle, shake and you've got a cocktailundefinedno bulky bottle of tequila necessary.

And our personal favorite use of Palcohol isn't the easy drink on-the-go philosophy; it's the possibility of adding a kick to our favorite foods. The company suggests "adding Powderita powder to guacamole, Cosmopolitan powder on a salad, V in a vodka sauce, etc." The possibilities are endless.

Of course, many concerns have been raised about the snort-ability of alcohol in powdered form, which is a disturbing thought indeedundefinedespecially considering most of Palcohol's products are about 55 to 65 percent ABV. But the company claims to have added enough volume to the powder that it would "take more than a half of a cup of powder to get the equivalent of one drink up your nose."

So there you have it. Read more about the powdered drink, which is expected to hit liquor store shelves later this year, at Palcohol.com.

2014 may claim the shortest conference committee on a liquor bill.  Today, the Federal and State Affairs conference committee met and discussed the Senate's additions to HB 2223 - originally the House bill to assist Kansas home brewers.  

After going over the contents of the bill, House Chairman Steve Brunk asked two questions - When a farm winery hosts a tasting in a liquor store, does the product have to be sold by the liquor store?  Yes.  When the Senate amended the citizenship provision of the Liquor Control Act, did you make any changes to residency?  No.  The House committee members - Brunk, Couture-Lovelady, and Ruiz - conferred for a few seconds and then agreed to the changes.

The House will vote on a motion to concur on Sub for HB 2223 to accept the bill as amended by the Senate Committee of the Whole.  

The bill is described at http://kansasretailer.org.  Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.