April 06, 2006
Sebelius signs law creating Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science
Bill among four signed by Governor Sebelius today
Saying Kansas needs an educated workforce for the 21st Century, Governor Kathleen Sebelius today signed into law a bill establishing the Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science.
“In order to attract new, high-tech industries Kansas needs to have a well-trained, well-educated workforce, particularly when it comes to math and science,” said Sebelius.
The bill, SB 139, creates the Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science, subject to appropriation of funds for that purpose. The academy will provide an accelerated residential or on-line program for Kansas high school juniors or seniors who are academically talented in science or math. The Board of Regents will determine if the academy should be residential, on-line, or a combination of the two.
The two-year curriculum would include coursework designed to meet both high school graduation requirements and requirements for associate of arts or associate of science degrees. The academy would be conducted by faculty of a Kansas post-secondary educational institution designated by the Board of Regents.
The Board of Regents would also set guidelines for selection and admission, faculty qualifications, research, laboratory and field trip activities, college and career counseling services and college credit to be awarded. A total of 40 students will be admitted, with the students admitted from throughout Kansas. Twenty will chosen based on residence with no more than five residing in a single congressional district, and 20 chosen without regard to location.
This bill will take effect after publication in the statute book.
Governor Sebelius also signed into law three other bills today, all of which take effect after publication in the statute book. To this date, the Governor has signed a total of 86 bills and vetoed two during the 2006 Legislative Session.
Enhancing air quality
SB 386 amends statutes dealing with air quality, creating new definitions for regional haze and deciview and augmenting the definition of air pollution. Over the last decade, air pollution regulation in the United States has changed from a focus on controlling pollutants at the local level to a regional or multi-state basis. This bill authorizes the Secretary of Health and Environment to enter into agreements to include local governments, other states and interstate agencies to prepare and adopt a regional haze plan to comply with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule. This bill addresses participation by Kansas utilities in the cap-and-trade program and authorizes the Secretary to conduct or participate in intrastate or interstate emissions trading programs that demonstrate equivalent air quality benefits for the prevention, abatement and control of air pollution in Kansas and other states.
Promoting safe boating
SB 417 amends eleven statutes and creates seven new statutes that concern the registration and operation of motor boats and other vessels on the waters of the state. Among other things, the bill adds new definitions of the types of lights that are required to be displayed at night; clarifies the hours when such lights are to be displayed when the boat is in use; and updates the statutory reference to the federal regulations relating to lights that may be met in lieu of the statutory requirements prescribed by the bill. In addition, the bill requires a motorboat to have an efficient whistle or other sound-producing mechanical appliance. Only class 3 motorboats would be required to have a bell. Other amendments clarify the requirement for “direct and audible supervision” of a minor under 12 years of age by a parent or other person over age 17 when such minor is operating a motorboat.
Extending Kansas Open Records Act exceptions
SB 499 amends the Kansas Open Records Act to extend for five years (until July 1, 2011) the life of 11 KORA exceptions scheduled to expire this July 1. The exceptions are as follows: CPAs and the Board of Accountancy peer review records; records exchanged between regulators of banks and trust companies and the State Bank Commissioner; records in court expungement proceedings; medical test records of juvenile offenders in the Juvenile Justice Authority and the Kansas Department of Corrections; juvenile criminal record history information of juvenile offenders in adult care homes in the Kansas Department of Health and Environment; investigative materials of law enforcement, insurance entities, and the Insurance Department; records concerning facilities such as child care centers, maternity centers, family day care homes in KDHE; criminal record history information held by KDHE on home health agencies; infectious disease tests and court ordered infectious disease tests held by KDOC and physicians for offenders; and complaints and related information about psychologists and others regulated by the Behavioral Sciences Board.
