The wish lists are in, and Reno County’s state legislators are frustrated.

Lawmakers will convene in Statehouse chambers at 2 p.m. Monday to complete the second year of the two-year 87th Kansas Legislature.

The Legislature is under pressure from the Supreme Court to increase K-12 school funding, said State Rep. Steven Becker, R-Buhler.

“We don’t have that pressure to fund poverty and mental health issues,” Becker said, expressing frustration with the answer those agencies likely will hear. 

“It’s hard to find money for everything,” he said.

Listening

In recent months, the Reno County delegation heard presentations from the city of Hutchinson and Reno County, school district superintendents in Reno County, the Kansas State Fair, Hutchinson Community College, the Reno County Conservation District, and the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce. They also attended a K-96 Corridor Association meeting.

On Thursday afternoon, they heard from eight nonprofit entities, each allotted 20 minutes in the face-to-face meeting in a conference room in the First National Bank building. 

Last year, then-Rep.-elect Patsy Terrell, D-Hutchinson, was the spark behind a meeting at Hutchinson Community Foundation between local legislators and social service and nonprofit agencies. Terrell died in June, but the Hutchinson Community Foundation continued the tradition, and the available time slots filled quickly. Groups that didn’t get in last year nabbed slots Thursday.

Becker, State Sen. Ed Berger, R-Hutchinson, and State Rep. Jason Probst, D-Hutchinson, sat for all the presentations, and State Rep. Joe Seiwert, R-Pretty Prairie, was present for most. State Rep. Jack Thimesch, R-Spivey, was absent. 

After hearing from the eight entities, Probst said not one presentation left him thinking, “’I would never support that.’”

“That’s the frustrating thing,” he said. Berger agreed.

Becker was so affected by the Circles of Hope description about families trapped in poverty who have lost hope, that he said, "Man, that just tugs at my heartstrings when somebody just gives up."

As for people in distress who are delivered by law enforcement to the jail or hospital, Becker and Horizons Mental Health Center agreed on the need for a community crisis intervention center.

Repeatedly, legislators heard accounts about people who are paranoid or homeless. Why are so many people suffering from mental illness? Seiwert asked New Beginnings Inc.’s officials.

In some cases, it’s the impact of longtime methamphetamine use and in some instances, it's workforce problems, they said.

TECH has permanent supportive housing for adults with intellectual disabilities, but there isn’t a housing counterpart for adults with mental health or previous drug issues, the lawmakers heard.

Independent living centers used to be a line item in the state general fund. The Hutchinson-based Prairie Independent Living Resource Center, one of 12 centers in the state, urged that the centers again be a line item in the state’s budget.

Changing statutes

Some requests touched on statutory or regulatory matters.

Last year, Lorna Moore, now chief executive officer at Interfaith Housing Services Inc. of Hutchinson, testified before a House committee on House Bill 2160. It would amend the Individual Development Account program to make it easier for the teenager aging out of the foster care program to finance a vehicle or start-up living costs.

The bill passed the House 125-0. It never made it through the Senate. Interfaith Housing is pushing again for passage.

Reno County Health Department Director Nick Baldetti said the state public health funding structure has not been looked at since 1995. He also said he would prefer to transition from state grants for specific health programs at the county department to state funds that come with greater flexibility. 

The Cosmosphere was interested in expanding the K-12 school finance formula to benefit students who may not be able to afford space camp. The current formula allows for tax credits to donors who make it possible for students in some public schools to attend private schools.

Tax credits reduce state revenue, Becker said, and “we need every dollar we can find.”

“Not now. Not 2018,” he told the Cosmosphere team.

About half the adults who go to Horizons Mental Health Center have no payer source for the services they receive, legislators heard. That prompted it – and other agencies – to advocate for expanding Medicaid.

Over about a decade, the state cut funding to community mental health centers. The current two-year budget authorized more money, and Horizons’ Chief Executive Officer Michael Garrett told legislators he hopes the funding stays.