Some have asked me about the two bills coming out of the house. The first bill, HB2440, if passed, would implement Caylee's law, after Florida's 2-year-old Caylee Anthony who disappeared in 2008. Caylee's mother, Casey, failed to notify authorities of Caylee's disappearance for a month. Kansas law does not impose criminal penalties for failing to notify law enforcement of the disappearance or death of a child. Kansas along with many states are working on the legislation.

Regents reporting

The second bill has to do with Board of Regents reporting requirements. Last fall, Penn State University was rocked by allegations that former football coach, Jerry Sandusky, allegedly had been caught sexually assaulting or inappropriately interacting with minor boys on or near university property. This legislation will require all state post-secondary schools to develop reporting standards in case of abuse.

Kansas tax policy

Several different proposals have been proposed and each must to go through the committee process to ensure our end result is responsible, equitable and affordable.

In an effort to achieve these basic goals, and maintain our promise to Kansas, the House is formulating a tax bill concept that was introduced this week. The proposal would maintain current tax deductions, credits and exemptions, including food sales tax refunds, historic tax credits and mortgage deductions. It would maintain the statutory sales tax sunset, passed during the 2010 session, which lowers the sales tax rate to 5.7 percent in 2013.

A 2 percent growth factor is built into the plan and any increased revenues over two percent will trigger incremental reductions in individual income tax rates, with a specific emphasis on accelerating the reduction of the low and moderate tax brackets. This particular provision balances the need to lower rates while also ensuring a healthy ending balance to keep Kansas at a sound fiscal status.

In addition, small businesses will also be allowed to retain non-wage profits to keep and further invest in their business and create jobs. The bill would leverage the Earned Income Tax Credit with federal Medicaid funds to increase Medicaid funding from $60 million to approximately $113 million to protect safety nets for the most vulnerable Kansans. Finally, the House plan accelerates severance tax collections on new oil wells and expands the successful Rural Opportunity program.

Redistricting Kansas

Every 10 years, the state of Kansas redraws its congressional and legislative boundaries based on the most recent census figures. Each state has its own unique process for how they redraw these boundaries. Figures show the population of Kansas has grown in the eastern part of the state while western Kansas continues to struggle with declining population numbers. As a result, expectations are one Kansas Senate seat will shift from the west to the east side of state, as will approximately three Kansas House seats. The goal is to have 22,761 people in each Kansas House district, 70,986 in each Kansas Senate district and 713,280 people in each of the four congressional districts.

Redrawing the House, Senate and congressional districts is a time-consuming process, and sometimes a source of frustration as members are inevitably forced to swap territory with neighbors. In some cases, a member may have represented a certain community or geographical region for decades. This makes it difficult to part with constituents -- or perhaps meet new ones -- so it's a challenging phase for some. A multitude of factors must be considered, and the final product is still weeks away, but the House has committed to making the process as open and transparent as possible in an effort to create a fair and logical map that members feel comfortable voting for, which will allow us to move on to more pressing issues that directly impact our constituents.

I serve on the Commerce and Economic Development Committee. Last week, Anne Haught, workers compensation director, reported to our committee on changes implemented last year after we overhauled work compensation in our committee. Staffing levels were reduced from 95 to 80, mostly through retirement and position consolidations. The reduction of 15 positions with an estimated cost savings of about $800,000. Workers compensation operations were moved out of leased space and moved into agency owned space between November and December 2011. This move will show annual savings of approximately $325,000.

The fraud and abuse sections received 573 fraud referrals, investigated and closed over 559 cases. Twenty-nine administrative cases were prosecuted and one criminal case was prosecuted. This section collected more than $200,000 in fines and restitutions. Medical service section settled over 200 disputes between providers and payers.

Beginning in 2012, all forms, publications, schedule of medical fees and annual reports are available in digital copies and downloaded forms, no longer on paper, saving the division approximately $110,000 per year.

Rick Billinger, Goodland, represents the 121st District in the Kansas House. rick.bilinger@house.ks.gov