Climate and energy

Location: Kansas Capitol, Topeka KS, House Chambers
Time: House convenes at 11:00 a.m. Senate goes on at 2:00, but doubtful how many senators are planning to show up.
Issue: Sunflower Electric’s proposed 1400 MW of coal-fired generation, and the role of the KDHE Secretary in protecting Kansans’ health and environment

Bills/ Legislative Action:

- Yesterday everyone went to their separate corners to contemplate next moves. Legislatively nothing happened, but there were words exchanged in the papers. For a summary, click here.

- Two things need to be resolved today - (1) the budget, and (2) HB 2412, a huge “economic development” bill that also contains the coal plants. (Same was true yesterday, but nothing happened.)

- Senate President Steve Morris is now on record as saying that the Senate will not vote on House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 5042 (.pdf) - which would have allowed the legislature to sue the Governor over the coal plants.

- If you have only recently come to this policy debate, check out CEP’s FAQ’s on the Kansas Coal Controversy.

- Please hit your refresh button during the day to check for updates. - 99.9% of this entry is hidden below the surface - be sure to hit the “read the rest of this entry” link (when it appears) to see the full, er, glory

Summary/ Action: The Senate passed the new coal bill. The House waited forever and didn’t move on it.

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Somehow today I don’t think any introductory babble is needed. Check in around 11:00, folks!

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11:02 gavel crack prayed and pledged here we go. Please please please. Funny thing - the House chaplain is getting punchy. She just delivered the prayer in rhyming couplets and ended with a plea to “GIT-R-DONE!” by tonight. A la Larry the Cable Guy. With just a touch of iambic pentameter. Yep. It’s Kansas.

BTW spectators in the House Gallery are joking and taking bets about how soon the first recess will be.

11:07 That would be now. We are recessed till 2:30 p.m. A shout of nays went up but they weren’t counted. I briefly saw that one pro-coal vote was excused, before they blanked the voting board (it all happened pretty quick).

FYI - It looks like the nuclear bill, SB 586, could be back. This is a provision that allows utilities to recover for the costs of developing nuclear power. This means those costs can get passed on to your electric bill. Ratepayers bear the costs, rather than the shareholders bear the risk - ie, of investigating nuclear yet not moving forward with the project.

A conference committee was supposedly scheduled on the bill for later today, but it wasn’t announced that I heard when we went to recess.

Also the KCPL energy efficiency bill appears to be stuck, a casualty of the legislative limbo. More or less, this bill would have laid the ground for decoupling in Kansas. Important to ratepayers (and citizens) who want to save energy.

Wait. De-what? Decoupling is where your electric utility could make a profit by helping you save energy – and money, too.

Historically, utility regulators have controlled rates so that power companies can only make profits by selling more and more power. This gives no incentive for energy efficiency. Decoupling is when utility regulators break the link between power consumption and profit. Instead, they establish a rate structure that links power conservation and profit.

Decoupling policies would ensure that utilities could depend on recovering their costs for energy efficiency programs, like offering customers home energy audits, programmable thermostats, low-interest loans for EnergyStar appliances, etc.

End of quick decoupling lesson! Go enjoy your recess. The Senate goes back at two, I may stop in and watch that.

1:13 When I was out over recess, the air was horribly stale and muggy. Big storm boiling up out of the southwest, it looked like. Barometer is dropping. Although, our weather is not unlike our politics. Big build-up, but then sometimes nothing happens.

The following picture doesn’t really capture the storm that’s coming up, to the left of the Capitol dome below - but my blog traffic stats tell me that not all my readers are in Kansas anymore, so I thought I’d post it anyway, so you can see the scene of the action:

And there’s no way to post images of the Capitol, without showing its most famous mural - John Brown, by artist John Steuart Curry.

It’s perhaps one of the most poorly lit indoor murals in the history of public art, but, I tried:

There. Does that help set the scene a little better? Thought it might.

Thanks to Joel, here’s a MUCH better image - click here. Also, the actual title of the piece is “Tragic Prelude.”

1:27 Hanging out in the Senate gallery, waiting for them to reconvene at 2:00. If I were the Senate, I might have something to say right about now. Maybe!

A co-worker just made my day, with the best voice mail ever. Sung to the tune of the Hokey Pokey:

You put your gavel in
You put your gavel out
You put your gavel in
And you shake it all about…

Funny thing. I keep saying that the legislature is at a stalemate - well, it’s actually not.

No, nothing is happening out there on the House or Senate floor recently, where the public has access to the process… but things are indeed happening behind closed doors (as the KCStar has just observed). Where the public does not have access.

I’m sure that all is happening in accordance with the open meetings laws, that there’s not more than a quorum assembled - but still. It would really be nice to have access, wouldn’t it?

Sunflower Electric representatives are back in the building. After having mostly been absent since the veto override attempt failed at the end of last week. That does give me a little hope, at least - maybe there will be some movement of some kind on at least the new coal bill, if not the budget.

1:48 On and off all day, there have been very loud protests going on - advocates for the disabled are at the Capitol today.

Apparently over the last few years, a pattern has emerged where their funding gets cut right at the end of session (usually when last minute budget negotiations are going on - like now). This has encouraged them to start showing up at the end of every session, pretty much in self-defense.

They are gathered in front of the Senate chambers. To get into chambers, the senators are going to have to run quite a gauntlet.

And they now have about seven minutes to do so.

1:59 Not seeing very many senators. I am seeing energy lobbyists, though.

2:06 No Senate yet. Chamber is filling slowly, though.

Note of sympathy - longtime readers of the live blogging feature will probably recall Senator Janis Lee, ranking minority on the Senate Energy and Utilities Committee, and participant in all of the endless conference committees on the first and second coal bills.

She is here today, but with her left arm in a sling - she fell the other day at her home.

Hang in there, Senator Lee.

2:13 Gaveled in. Senate comes in order, roll called.

A quarter to a third of them don’t seem to be here. But definitely a quorum is present. Including the members of the budget committee. Prayed and pledged, we’re in. The Senate chaplain rhymed his prayer too! Two in one day.

Now we have a resolution commemorating the 75th anniversary of the New Deal. Can’t be read, though, the protestors outside are too loud. The Senator talks really loud, instead.

Pretty obviously, when the House goes back at 2:30, I won’t be on time. As long as the energy lobbyists stay in the Senate, though, we may be safe. And the House hasn’t exactly been tearing it up lately.

The resolution is passed by the full Senate.

Majority Leader Derek Schmidt - There have been active and vigorous discussions between the leaders of the chambers, trying to bring session to a close- we thought we were there, but we are not. However, we can do some business. We will consider two conference committee reports. Then we will take a break until we figure out how session is going to come to an end.

MH - the Senate is voting on the voter ID bill, the protesters (advocates for the disabled) are thronging and shouting and the sound is riccocheting, Majority Leader Schmidt says they will hold the roll open for the ID vote then recess until four, with majority party caucus at 3:30, to discuss what in the blazes they are going to do to get out of here. (that is not a direct quote)

2:43 In House now. Which is apparently at ease at the moment. (All together now - criminentally!) And now the House is holding announcements, which means… recess… Yep, House is recessed until 5:00. That hokey pokey tune seems really appropriate now, doesn’t it? Put your gavel in, put your gavel out…

Here is what I think might be happening. Wild guess. What the Senate wants most is to get the budget done and go home (although plenty of senators do want the coal plants, too, we’ve seen that). The House wants the budget AND the new coal bill.

However, the House can’t get the new coal bill until the Senate runs that committee report on the bill. The Senate probably won’t run the report, though, until the House gives them what they want on the budget - whatever that is.

I’m probably wrong. There’s always lots and lots going on that I don’t know about. But I would bet that the new coal bill and the budget are part of the “get us out of here” negotiations.

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3:15 The protestors were shouting “We want Melvin! We want Melvin!” Bad day for me to lend out my digital recorder!

Although as someone pointed out, Speaker Neufeld himself could have recorded that audio and played it for a campaign ad - it’s not necessarily a bad chant.

The protests are very noisy, but also very orderly. A calm and civilized exercise of the right to assembly. Plenty of security. Representatives and senators have to my knowledge been able to walk easily through the crowds to get access to the chambers.

3:58 The protesters (and the security) have now shifted back to the Senate side. Along with the rest of us.

4:01 Senate, o Senate, wherefore art thou o Senate?

Not my fault. The goofiness must be catching. Actually, it seems pretty apparent that the majority party is still caucusing, which is really code for “trying to plan the next move.” 4:13 still not here.

4:14 EXCITING NEWS! (And let’s not let the context - which I will explain - ruin this happy, happy moment.) As reported by Tim Carpenter of the TCJournal - a major wind turbine manufacturer is apparently considering Topeka for a manufacturing site! It could mean 700-950 jobs. The name of the firm is still confidential.

There’s just one small catch.

You guessed it.

Apparently, they dumped the wind turbine manufacturer tax incentives into the new coal bill!!!

Hang on. No need for drama. If they dumped this provision into the tax breaks that were for Hills, then I think that that can still serve as a stand-alone bill, should the new coal bill get tanked.

And even if that is not the case - then I find it really, really hard to imagine that a major wind turbine manufacturer (how cool is that) is not one of the best stand alone economic development proposals to hit the Kansas legislature in a while.

Also, I bet that it’s not necessary to have the credits considered until next year, or for sure that company would have been ON it this year. Big giant companies tend to plan ahead like that. That’s usually how they stay big giant companies. However, since the name is still confidential - can’t ask them can we? Funny coincidence. And the timing!

Still. Kind of raises the stakes, though, doesn’t it? Can Republican leadership possibly want to risk all the thousands of jobs now bundled into the new coal bill, when it is all but sure to be vetoed?

Ironic, too. This really expresses how Kansas stands at a crossroads right now.

Should be interesting to see how all of it plays.

4:20 Senate comes to order. Majority Leader Schmidt - 2683 conference committee report to be considered. Then another break. House and Senate still locked into discussions on budget - but he is optimistic. Senate now considers the conference committee report on replacement for vacancies in the U.S. Senate.

The Senate gallery is cracking me up. There’s a special brand of lobbyist humor that gets going when they are tired, tired, tired of the legislative maneuvers. Although everyone in the building, no matter their job description, really wants to go home.

Protests have died down.

4:32 Senate has adjourned till 5:00. Also, something happened but I don’t have the experience to know what it means - Minority Leader Hensley said that he was going to ask that the 30 minute rule NOT be waived when the Senate considered the conference committee report on HB 2412 (the new coal bill), because there was great interest in having time to review the committee report.

4:55 Weather alert - chance of isolated thunderstorms tonight, including damaging hail. Spring, Kansas, whatchagonnado. Get the cars in, if possible.

Sitting in the House, now, waiting, waiting… funny how agreement on the budget is finally supposed to shake that coal bill loose, isn’t it? Listening to the Senate online. As always, you can listen in here. 5:01 Still waiting. Listening to the Senate, they are waiting too.

5:14 Senate is waiting on the thirty minute rule for the conference committee report on the new coal bill - that thirty minutes expires at 5:35, so they will consider it then. 5:19 Speaker Neufeld is in the House. Gavel crack crack crack. We’re back. Not only the chaplains can rhyme around here.

Rules suspension to consider 2019 - ha, it’s contested. Voter ID bill that just sailed through Senate. Running into obstacles in the House. Don’t disenfranchise minorities, says Rep. Sawyer (?). There is discussion. Role call vote to even consider the bill. Mm. 63 for, 58 against. Two pro-coal votes are absent, BTW. Now they officially consider the bill (I know. The procedure makes sense but is also crazy).

Sawyer - we don’t have a problem with voter fraud - we have a problem with voter turnout. Don’t put more hoops in the way. And these hoops disenfranchise poor and minorities. This bill will also cause problems and aggravation for longtime voters. It will also cause an administrative nightmare. More reps talk. None for it, yet. Wait, we have one. MH not going to cover this (although it is interesting). Voter ID passes 67-56.

5:38 Senate just came to order (listening in online). Considering 2412. Huge conference committee report. Why does it have the name of economic development, because it builds basic infrastructure. Bill contains the IMPACT bill (has already been passed by Senate), intermodal hub for gardner (already passed by the senate), hills tax credits (and possibly turbine folks), and telecom bill, and vetoed coal bill plus the trailer.

Questions raised on bill - wyandotte senator says he has always supported 148 and 2802 - but what is the status of the other measures that have made it thru senate? are they too meeting resistance from House? What are the prospects for their individual passage?

Holcomb bills have been vetoed. Other issues have been tied to that. Transportation chair is from Holcomb area and he is holding Gardner bill in his committee, so that bill cannot otherwise progress. 2037, the tax credits, has passed the Senate 39-1 - and of course we know the fate of the coal bills. That’s no secret.

Senator from Wyandotte - is there no duplicity in this bill - would this be a fresh action by both chambers on all the measures?

Chairman of taxation - are you asking - can these proivisions appear in other conference committee reports that have already been passed? I think this is the only place these measures are showing up.

Sen. from Wyandotte - we all want to go home, and say we have accomplished something, but I don’t want one issue to supersede other economic development issues acros our state

(FYI House recesses until 8:00 agh)

Sen Vratil - re the intermodal hub - I understand that the bonds would be sold and issued by state, but state’s full faith and credit not backed by state. Chair - yes. Vratil - is there an a limit to bonds that can be sold for any one project? Chair - not a limit in the bill. Vratil - bill explainer mentions $40 million in bonds. (more on the bonds, how they work) Vratil - what is the source of revenue for the bonds? Chair - excise taxes, developer fees, money from BNSF, taxes, sales taxes, etc. and a bit of a federal match - $49.4 million total. Vratil - term of bonds? Chair - ten year, I believe. Vratil - does the math - only $8 million interest? Interest rate sounds unbelievably low. Those facts don’t jibe in my mind.

Sen Umbarger (Neosho) - re infrastructure - what types of infrastructure does this bill support? Chair - re intermodal? Road improvement. (explains) Umbarger - infrastructure for roads for proposed economic development. I am very supportive of that.

Barone for Chair - I want to expand on definition of infrastructure- availability of electric power is key for infrastrcuture. Businesses are moving from SE KS because they don’t have neough power. Infrastructure is more than roads, it’s electric power too. Chair - this hub would have huge financial impact to state.

Sen Francisco - re coal plants - I have already expressed my concerns about the wording that lets Sunflower escape the jurisdiction of the KCC. (She asks questions about this.)

Sen. Hensley - I have comments. One of the bills referenced is the so-called IMPACT bill. It passed th Senate March 26, but it hasn’t come up in the House. Obviously this bill is of great interest to my ommunity, and to Shawnee County delegation. We will ry before we leave this evening to make a motion to concur on this bill, to let it pass on its own merits, as opposed to being part of this bundle of bills in 2412. I know practice of bundling bills has been done in the past - but tis bundle is very unfiortuante situation. the senate did its job, to send these ED bills to house. On their own. But the SPeaker decided to hold those bills hostage until he could put together the package you now have in front of you. I guess he has dcided he wants to play high stake poker in favor of his own agenda. We have done the coal bill - but enough is enough. We have this bill time and time and time again - and now this latest stragetgy. These bills should have stood alone in the House. But the Speaker decided otherwise. I resent it. Liek I resented that he adjourned the House without telling the Seante. I have an article from the Lawrence Journal-World - Jan 12 - “Neufeld says he won’t hold session over coal-fired plants.” Said he didn’t operate that way. But that’s exactly how he’s operated. He trades votes - 2412 is the most ranspoarent trading of votes I have ever seen. I know it’s been done before - but I think it’s unfortunate we can’t divide or amend to consider these bills separately. This is a yes or no vote. Today I told the Republican House leadership, I am exercising my right to protest the actions that will be taken on 2412. I’m going to file this protest which is not limited in number of words - use it to - article 16 section 2 (reads) no bill shall contain more than one subject (etc.) and KS Supreme Court… blah blah, have to read the constitutional language online, sorry… he lists the bills found unconstitutional under this provision. Anyway, he thinks 2412 is unconstitutional, if it is passed and were ever signed, he thinks it won’t be, the KS SUpreme Court will declare it unconstitutional. 2412 is an incredibly reckless approach to public policy for our state.

Sen Umbarger - I have question on bonds. I’m a little confused on the bond numbers still. Subcommittee report (explains/ questions the numbers problem). (Umbarger and Vratil are not keen on these bond numbers for the hub). Umbarger - raises more questions. And stands in support of Hensleys’ concerns.

Sen Jordan? talking about Hensley’s comments. He too is concerned about constitutionality, asked their reviser - our staff is very professional, the reviser thinks the bill is constitutional. It’s an economic development bill. Coal plants are ED. Coal plants is key to ED in western Kansas.

Sen Journey - fortune is in the eye of the beholder. What is good fortune for one is not for another. Part of this debate about constitutionality is also in the eye of the beholder. It is dangerous to ascribe motives to a colleague in this body. It is unfortunate that we have dropped to that level. Rather than debate the bill and what it brings to the table - ED - when we ascribe motives to House and Senate, we get it wrong, motives are difficult to assess, when we lose our objectivity in the pressure of politics and the upcoming election cycle - then bad decisions come. We need this project for western Kansas. If we do not get this legislation off this floor tonight, then there are jobs that will not be created. To vote against this bill is to cut our nose off to spite our face.

Sen Francisco - question for chair or Journey. Ie, how 15 member science and technology commission est by this bill is related to economic development. Chair - that council will be critical in determining future energy needs of KS. (talks about power needs) Sen Jordan - the commission is innovative will create economic development another way to innovatively and environmentally assess energy needs of this state so we can address ED. And set good sound policy. Sen Francisco - renewables and EE are indeed important to ED - but are any of these commission members chosen becuase of their background in ED? Jordan - I don’t think so, and I don’t think it’s necessary. Chair - ED councils I have sat on always involve power industry. Ie, Ernie Lehman from Midwest Energy.

chair - I have had my cncerns over the years about bundling. But we ae in a very difficult position, because Governors action and KDHE will shut off lights in western part of our state. We’ve talked about how green this bill is. California is green, even SFrancisco is moving forward on fossil fuel plant because of need for reliable power. So many people have said why don’t we have wind power? But wind doesn’t blow all the time. Sun doesn’t shine all the time. We need reliable base load pwoer. Wall St Journal said the losers here are ordinary Kansans (MH 0 she refers to WSJ editorial, not the news side) we need to stand up for all Kansans, or we will lose representation in congress because we don’t have infrastructure to keep population. We also need to stand for rule of law. That;s whathappned with pwoer plant. I move the Senate adopt this conference committee report.

Final action on 2412 in Senate - MH can’t hear who the votes are, sorry. Barone does vote aye, and explains - he votes yes on 2412 because it will have good impact on everyday KS citizens. Haley wants to explain vote - he supports coal plants, but these unrelated issues are unconstitutional, will have to vote no. Vratil wants to vote for this bill, because its parts all have merit, and we need them for ED - but I have sworn to uphold the constitution and I sincerely believe this bill violate the constitution. I have lsitened very carefully to this debate. I did intend to vote for this bill - but I cannot do this. It is a violation. I understand the supporters argument - but if that is the standard under the constitution, then very few bills would ever qualify. BEcause ED covers everything if you make this argument, I vote no. Wysong - I respect you, President, but IO vote against this bill for the eighth time. And I want to defend myself against someone who is holding up these bills and others, and he is accusing me of trading votes. I resent the implications that this man has put on me, and I resent having to be here to vote for the eighth time on this bill. Reitz - I change to no. Francisco - I petition to join Senator from Shawnee in his protest. If not possible, I would like to join him in his explaination. Reitz - I am troubled by this scenario. I thought we had it resolved - I do agree we are skirting the edges of the constitution. It distresses me that we haven’t talked at all about the loss of the nuclear energy bill (MH - SB 586) and that is a shame. We need to get cracking on it. We need to address nuclear now. That bill died, go held. We should be ashamed of ourselves. Betts - joins Hensley in remarks.

Final Senate vote tally on conference report for 2412, the newest coal bill - 24 for, 10 against. 6 apparently passed or were not present. It takes 13 (I think??) for a veto-proof vote in the Senate.

Majority leader Schmidt- we should wind up the budget tonight, one way or another. That may mean - it’ll be late. But I think we are making headway with the House. Vratil - we are setting up to be here until daylight - but what are we getting done tonight, that we can’t get done tomorrow? This is really hard on staff. I have real concerns about staying here till daylight.

MH again - OK. We just saw a major shift in the coal plant votes in the Senate - 24 for, 10 against. Previously, those votes have all been 33-7, with the coal plants sailing through. We have a large margin - 6 - and I don’t know who they are yet - but there are at least three more votes against the plants now in play. The votes mostly changed on the basis of the unconstitutionality of the bundling - the dumping of the economic development initiatives and the coal bill into one big mega initiative.

Will the House vote show a similar trend? (Have they done anything like the Senate at all this year? or at last lately?) hang in.

The Senate is now debating what I call the beer goggles theory of legislation - staying here all night.

6:46 MH must run and find dinner. New rumor (KC Star) - that the immigration bill will be resurrected, as will a new abortion bill to replace the one that the Governor vetoed (and was failed to be overridden).

7:59 Back. Again. Listening to Senate, sitting in House. Nothing going on anywhere. CEP nightmare: That instead of going straight to the coal bill, they will first take on the budget. 8:16 nada. 8:18 Leadership is in the House. 8:23 They announce a conference committee for the budget. Wait a second! Oh man. Other announcements follow. Bet I know what’s coming. Ope, nope, didn’t.

8:30 call of the House has been raised on a bill I didn’t catch - oh wait, yeah. The changes to how Senate seats are filled. I believe the thinking is that Brownback’s seat may need to be filled in the future should he run for Governor. Right now, the seat is set up so that Governor Sebelius would appoint his replacement. Instead supporters of this bill want to hold a special election. It passed.

8:32 The third coal bill, 2412, has appeared on the vote board. Please oh please let that be for real, please oh please let us rock and roll. Nope! They changed it! Went to 2707. A judiciary bill that passes overwhelmingly.

8:41 Senate’s passage of 2412 read into record. Chairman Holmes announces that SB 586 - the nuclear bill - will be considered at 9:00 tonight by the conference committee. 2412 just went up and down off the vote board AGAIN.

House stands at ease to find out what the Senate is doing. 9:15 still figuring it out. Nuclear bill went into committee. New rumor is that 2412 won’t be considered tonight, agh.

9:42 - I should clarify - what I have been calling the nuclear bill, SB 586 - well… it just so happens that is one of five plus (I think) bills that contains the language we have been calling the KCPL bill all session - the decoupling language.

If that language gets pulled out of the nuclear bill - well, I’m trying to think what the possible reasons would be. It is widely known to be KCPL’s language. As CEP reported a while ago, KCPL had the misfortune to fall afoul of some supporters of the coal plants (KCPL and Westar testified as neutral on the coal plants - not in favor. Not against, either, though).

10:14 we are outta here. Adjourned. Come back tomorrow at 10 a.m.. The House didn’t move on the new coal bill, 2412.

— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org