25 July 2005

Governor Sebelius signs SB 4, funds help protect children from predators; issues line item vetoes

Governor Kathleen Sebelius has signed the last bill of the 2005 Special Session, SB 4.

Among other things, SB 4 appropriates $250,000 for the Safe Kids Program, which is designed to help protect children from Internet predators. The bill also appropriates money to the Attorney General’s office for the defense of Kansas’ death penalty law at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The bill also creates a special committee on children’s issues to be appointed by the Legislative Coordinating Council and removes the $1.3M limit on the State Tort Claims Fund created under the Kansas tort claims act.

Pursuant to Article 2, Section 14 of the Kansas Constitution, Governor Sebelius signed the bill with four exceptions. Section 2 (c), Section 3, Section 5, and Section 6 of Senate Bill 4 have been line item vetoed.

Message from Governor Sebelius regarding line item veto on Section 2 (c):

“Over the past several years, Kansas has been faced with considerable uncertainty over federal funding for state human services programs. As a result, it is dangerous to set a precedent whereby the SRS fee fund is used to pay for programs in other state agencies. All available resources in the SRS fee fund must be devoted to protecting children and the state's most vulnerable adults.

“The Young Kansans – Safe Kids Program is an exciting new initiative. To ensure that the program is appropriately funded, in line with the Legislature’s intentions, the funding should come from the State General Fund.

Note: By vetoing Section 2 (c), this initiative will be funded from the General Fund.

Message from Governor Sebelius regarding line item veto on Section 3 and 6:

“Kansas taxpayers deserve to know where their tax dollars are going. Section 3 of Senate Bill 4 would prevent that from happening by misleading taxpayers into believing their tax dollars are paying for all state media advertising. Many state advertisements are paid for by federal dollars, private grants, and voluntary payments like lottery ticket sales, but this section makes no distinction among those sources.

Even worse, Section 3 would waste the very tax dollars it seeks to save. For example, agencies placing simple classified ads for employment openings would be required to place the disclaimer in eight-point font, which would significantly increase the cost of the ads. It would be ironic and unfortunate to waste tax dollars in the name of saving them.

Earlier this year, I signed Senate Substitute for House Bill 2482, which requires a reasonable, accurate disclosure in state advertising. This new proposal would prevent taxpayers from knowing where their tax dollars are going, and would waste those very dollars. Because I believe misleading the people is bad for our democracy, I veto this section.”

Note: Section 6 was line item vetoed to allow previously passed disclaimer language in Senate Substitute for House Bill 2482 to remain the law.

Message from Governor Sebelius regarding line item veto on Section 5:

“Section 5 of Senate Bill 4 appropriated $1.75 million for a special election to amend the Kansas Constitution. Because the resolution calling for the special election did not pass the Legislature, this appropriation is no longer necessary.”