Friends:

I should have sent this out yesterday!

Yesterday, we mostly handled attempts to override the Governor's vetoes.

Vetoes:

1.  Agritourism:  This provides some protection for farming operations that participate in agritourism activities.  The bill excludes operating farm machinery (i.e. a farmer is not protected from being sued if someone gets hurt while operating a combine).  Though many Republicans supported the override (including me - I think this bill would have been good for the Kansas economy - do something to enable farmers to use what they have to build tourism in their communities).  However, there were not enough votes to override.

2.  Clinic regulations:  This bill leveled regulations specifically targeted at abortion clinics.  As many of you know, I supported an amendment to make the regulations stretch across all outpatient surgical centers.  This seemed to make sense to me.  Many of us have minor surgeries or diagnostic procedures done in outpatient clinics (mole removals, colonoscopy, etc.), and I wanted all Kansans to be safer under these regulations.  Unfortunately, the amendment did not pass.  Though I was lukewarm on the bill, I considered it at a step in the right direction for safety in clinics, and supported it anyway.  The bill passed the Senate but was vetoed by the Governor.
After hearing from dozens of you, I received only two responses in favor of overriding the veto.  I am confident there will be other, better attempts to protect all Kansans who visit surgical clinics, and the support for the Governor's veto was so overwhelming from my constituents, that I voted not to override the veto.

3.  KU sex-ed class:  Senator Wagle did not move to override the Governor's veto of her bill regarding Dr. Dennis Dailey's class at KU.  She was able to add an amendment yesterday to a bill that would require professors to submit the syllabus and materials of sex-ed classes to the Board of Regents.

Final Action:

1.  Gambling:  The "Christmas Tree" bill I mentioned in Thursday's email did pass on Final Action today.  It will now find its way to the Senate for consideration.  As you might expect, the Senate has a different idea of what it wants in a gambling bill, so that issue will metamorphosize a couple of times before this is all said and done!

2.  After a two-hour "Call of the House," the budget bill passed with just 63 votes, the bare minimum.  A Call of the House is a tool that is used to put pressure on wavering votes.  The doors are shut and locked, and in theory, no one can leave or enter without asking permission from the Chair.  Everyone has to stay in their seats, so there are a lot of phone calls bouncing around, the Governor was calling people, encouraging them to vote against the budget.  The Democrats wanted the budget to fail so there could be more time added to the discussions.

Tax Plan Reaction:

Of course, this did not pass to Final Action, but the stain has set - there are editorials all over the state supporting the freshmen and our plan.  The Kansas City Star and Sun are the closest to home, but there were supporting editorials in Parsons, Salina, Manhattan, Topeka, Lawrence, Iola, Garden City, Winfield, and Hutchinson.  Articles also ran in Pittsburg, Ottawa, a couple more in Topeka and Kansas City, beyond the editorial endorsements.
Here is are some examples:

JoCO Sun:  http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7878086&BRD=1459&PAG=461&dept_id=155725&rfi=6
KC Star:  http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/5745718.htm
Winfield Courier:  http://www.winfieldcourier.com/dave/d030430.html
Iola Register:  http://www.iolaregister.com/edithonorroll.html
Lawrence Journal-World:  http://www.ljworld.com/section/legislature03/story/130308
Topeka Capital-Journal:  http://www.cjonline.com/stories/050103/opi_goering.shtml

We voted on the Boeing bill, which provides some help to Boeing to secure a program for the 7E7 airplane.  We have adjourned for the weekend and will be back in Monday!