May 23, 2006
Governor signs bill promoting grandparents as caregivers
Governor Sebelius signs four bills into law
As grandparents are stepping forward to help raise their grandchildren, Governor Kathleen Sebelius believes their willingness to serve as caregivers should be rewarded.
Earlier this year as part of her budget, Sebelius proposed additional assistance for grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. Today, she signed the Grandparents as Caregivers Act into law.
“Keeping families together helps reduce disruptions for children, and that’s important to their long-term success. Many grandparents are willing to become caregivers for their grandchildren, but may be reluctant because of the cost of raising a child. By providing grandparents and other close relatives with this assistance, we can help more children stay with their families,” said Sebelius.
SB 62 gives eligible grandparents $200 per grandchild per month, not to exceed $600 a month. A grandparent will be eligible if he or she is at least 50 years old, has custody of a grandchild through state placement, legal guardianship or other legal means and has an annual income of less than 130% of the federal poverty level.
Grandparents will not be eligible for the program if the parent or parents of the child reside with them and the parent of the child receiving assistance would remain liable for the support of the child. If there were no grandparent willing to participate in the program, SRS could allow any other close relative who is the legal guardian or has legal custody of the child to participate if they meet the program criteria.
In addition, the bill also provides a mechanism to bar the purchase of any license, permit, stamp, tag or other authorization issued by the Department of Wildlife and Parks to an applicant who is in arrearage under a child support order, or who has failed to comply with an outstanding warrant or subpoena in a child support case.
Finally, the bill also increases the personal needs allowance for persons residing in Medicaid approved institutions from $30 per month to not less than $50 per month in FY 2007, and to not less than $60 per month in FY 2008. The bill increases nursing facility reimbursement rates in FY 2007 by utilizing the average of the cost data from 2003, 2004, and 2005 (instead of 2001 only) as the base year and by eliminating the 85% occupancy rule for nursing facilities with 60 licensed beds or less.
This bill will take effect after publication in the statute book.
Today, the Governor also signed three other bills. During the 2006 Legislative Session, the Governor has signed 208 bills into law and vetoed four.
Wine to be shipped to licensed retailer for delivery
SB 297 amends the Kansas Liquor Control Act by permitting wine or beer, which is legally available in Kansas, to be sold and consumed during the days of the Kansas State Fair pursuant to the guidelines of the State Fair Board. The bill also allows direct shipment of wine from a wine manufacturer located within Kansas and an out-of-state winery directly to a consumer, if such consumer is 21 years of age or older, purchases the wine while physically present on the premises of the wine manufacturer, uses the wine for personal consumption only and pays all applicable taxes. In-state and out-of-state wineries manufacturing no more than 100,000 gallons of wine are allowed to ship wine to a licensed retailer in Kansas for delivery to persons over 21 years of age. An out-of-state winery manufacturing more than 100,000 gallons of wine is allowed to ship wine to a licensed distributor who would deliver it to a retailer designated by the consumer. The bill also authorizes drinking establishments to permit legal patrons to remove one or more opened containers of alcoholic liquor from the licensed premises, if such containers are the original containers and securely resealed, placed in a tamper-proof transparent bag and contains a dated receipt for the unfinished container. This bill will take effect after publication in the statute book.
Promoting energy production in Kansas
SB 303 enacts the Kansas Energy Development Act by authorizing income tax credits, accelerated depreciation, and property tax exemptions for several types of energy-related projects. Projects potentially eligible for incentives include oil refineries, crude oil and natural gas liquids pipelines, integrated coal or coke gasification nitrogen fertilizer plants, cellulosic alcohol plants, and integrated coal gasification power plants. The goal is to create jobs in Kansas by promoting investment in energy projects; projects which will also hopefully increase supplies and reduce prices. This bill will take effect after publication in the statute book.
Requirements changed for government consolidation
SB 379 deletes the requirement city-city consolidation must be adjacent cities, thus permitting cities whose boundaries don’t touch to consolidate. A petition carrying signatures of 5% of qualified electors would be sufficient to bring the issue before voters. Regarding county-county consolidation, the bill deletes the current provision requiring more than half of the legal voters in each county to petition for the consolidation or boundary change. Instead, the issue could be brought before voters of each county either by the passage of a resolution by each county or by petition of at least 5% of the qualified electors of each county. Finally, the bill amends three drainage district acts to expand those persons who are considered qualified electors and those persons who may be eligible to hold the office of director. If there are no residents within the district who are owners of land, any owner of land located within the district shall be a qualified voter and eligible to hold the office of director. This bill will take effect after publication in the statute book.
