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At some point in the next week, expect a southeast Kansas legislator to take a shot at improving the expanded gaming bill.
Rep. Julie Menghini, D-Pittsburg, said she was working on an expanded gaming bill to propose to the House Federal and State Affairs committee, and if she couldn't get it in there, to the Senate.
"There are some changes that need to be made to the gaming statute if it is going to be successful," Menghini said.
Rep. Bob Grant, D-Cherokee, said he didn't see any problems with getting it into the hands of the committee, on which he serves.
"Gaming is something that we're expecting to deal with in the next two or three weeks," Grant said.
Menghini said she would wait to disclose the specifics on the bill until they were more firm.
Until then, much of the work, in both the House and the Senate will be focused on finding a solid budget. Sen. Bob Marshall, R-Fort Scott, said the Senate would wait for recommendations from the Senate Ways and Means committee.
"We're waiting anxiously for their version of the rescission bill," Marshall said. "We have to do something with it. There's such a disparity between revenues and the 2009 budget and estimated revenues."
Marshall added that there was some sense of urgency — other bills that could count against the budget would need to be tabled until the budget situation was resolved.
"We're not at that point yet because we are just getting started," Marshall said. "But if we don't get the budget set, it is going to be that situation. We haven't reached the point where we are holding off on making decisions.
We know everyone is concerned and everybody is conscious of it. We're working hard to get it established," Marshall said. "There are a lot of agencies sitting with the 2009 budget in their hands, and they're all fearful and pretty sure they are going to have cuts. The sooner we can get that information out to them, the quicker they can adjust to the funds they are going to have."
Menghini said her taxation committee held a hearing on freezing the elimination of the franchise tax.
"It's a pretty somber, serious and gloomy outlook," Menghini said. "We're going to take positive steps to try and get it under control, but there are no guarantees that it's not going to get worse.
"It's not going to be pretty," Menghini said. "It's not going to be easy."
Legislators have had to deal with other problems stemming from the economy as well. Grant said he had been hearing calls with people who were struggling to get unemployment money because they couldn't get through via phone.
"If you're computer literate, which I am not, you can probably do it better by filing for unemployment online instead of going through the call center," Grant said. "It can be tough to get through."
Grant said one area that wasn't struggling were the Kansas banks, one piece of good news he received through committee work.
"That was good to hear," Grant said. "Overall, things haven't really sped up on the floor yet, but with everything going on, I'm sure it won't be too quiet for too long."
At some point in the next week, expect a southeast Kansas legislator to take a shot at improving the expanded gaming bill.
Rep. Julie Menghini, D-Pittsburg, said she was working on an expanded gaming bill to propose to the House Federal and State Affairs committee, and if she couldn't get it in there, to the Senate.
"There are some changes that need to be made to the gaming statute if it is going to be successful," Menghini said.
Rep. Bob Grant, D-Cherokee, said he didn't see any problems with getting it into the hands of the committee, on which he serves.
"Gaming is something that we're expecting to deal with in the next two or three weeks," Grant said.
Menghini said she would wait to disclose the specifics on the bill until they were more firm.
Until then, much of the work, in both the House and the Senate will be focused on finding a solid budget. Sen. Bob Marshall, R-Fort Scott, said the Senate would wait for recommendations from the Senate Ways and Means committee.
"We're waiting anxiously for their version of the rescission bill," Marshall said. "We have to do something with it. There's such a disparity between revenues and the 2009 budget and estimated revenues."
Marshall added that there was some sense of urgency — other bills that could count against the budget would need to be tabled until the budget situation was resolved.
"We're not at that point yet because we are just getting started," Marshall said. "But if we don't get the budget set, it is going to be that situation. We haven't reached the point where we are holding off on making decisions.
We know everyone is concerned and everybody is conscious of it. We're working hard to get it established," Marshall said. "There are a lot of agencies sitting with the 2009 budget in their hands, and they're all fearful and pretty sure they are going to have cuts. The sooner we can get that information out to them, the quicker they can adjust to the funds they are going to have."
Menghini said her taxation committee held a hearing on freezing the elimination of the franchise tax.
"It's a pretty somber, serious and gloomy outlook," Menghini said. "We're going to take positive steps to try and get it under control, but there are no guarantees that it's not going to get worse.
"It's not going to be pretty," Menghini said. "It's not going to be easy."
Legislators have had to deal with other problems stemming from the economy as well. Grant said he had been hearing calls with people who were struggling to get unemployment money because they couldn't get through via phone.
"If you're computer literate, which I am not, you can probably do it better by filing for unemployment online instead of going through the call center," Grant said. "It can be tough to get through."
Grant said one area that wasn't struggling were the Kansas banks, one piece of good news he received through committee work.
"That was good to hear," Grant said. "Overall, things haven't really sped up on the floor yet, but with everything going on, I'm sure it won't be too quiet for too long."
