Shawnee and Lenexa residents got some inside information on the Kansas Legislature last weekend in a meeting with two local legislators.

Rep. Stephanie Sharp, R-Shawnee, whose District 17 covers areas of southern Shawnee and northern Lenexa, held a town hall meeting Saturday at the Lackman Library with fellow Republican Ron Worley, who represents District 30 in Lenexa. The two covered the issues the state legislature has discussed thus far in the legislative session and that it would address in the future.

Both representatives serve on the Transportation Committee, and they said one bill up for consideration is a graduated driver's license. Sharp said studies have proven that 16- and 17-year-old drivers are much more likely to be involved in fatal car accidents, so the bill would call for more supervised driving for teenagers until they are 17 or 18.

Another bill is looking to increase penalties for drivers who pull out into traffic that has the right-of-way, especially in cases of a fatal accident. A third bill would remove an insured driver's liability to pay for the other driver's car repairs if they hit an uninsured driver.

In the Government Efficiency and Technology Committee, Sharp said legislators are looking to streamline the state government's technology, and a transparency in government act would make the state budget searchable online through Google.

Worley said the Tax Committee is currently looking at a bill repealing the franchise tax. He explained that Republicans don't approve of repealing the tax all at once and are trying to amend the bill so the tax is phased out over three years instead.

Also up for review is a bill that would change the threshold for taxation on Social Security income from $25,000 a year to $50,000.

In Economic Development, Worley said legislators were looking at bills that would encourage a national bio-defense research facility locating in Kansas. There is also a special interest bill to help Blue Cross Blue Shield get a contract and keep their 350 employees in Topeka.

This week, bills getting further study included one from the health committee, which tries to define stem cell research.

"You know how the school board has sullied Kansas' national reputation?" Sharp joked. "Next week, we're going to make the school board look good."

Sharp said the bill defines stem cell research as adult stem cell research, not embryonic or umbilical. She said the bill could be the first that raises some serious controversy.

"It will really be the first time that lines are drawn in the sand in this session," she said.

Sharp, who is supportive of the research, said legislators should not be writing such a bill, because they are not all scientists or doctors.

As for Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' proposal to fund health care for children 0-5, Sharp said she thought something would be passed, but the Legislature would first change a few things in the governor's plan.

Sharp and Worley also discussed the idea of using turnpike tolls to pay for deferred maintenance at state universities, which both said would affect people in this area much more than those elsewhere in the state. Sharp said Kansas universities receive much less funding from the state than universities in other states, but agreed with constituents present at the meeting who said highway funds shouldn't be used for education.

Sharp said legislators were also studying how to correct the funding shortfall in the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System.

In education, the Kansas Senate has passed a "lockbox" bill to fund education for the next two years in the funding plan passed last year. She said Johnson County legislators were still working to tweak this bill to make it better for local school districts.