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08 Feb

Posted at 10:35h in Industry News, Regulatory
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Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association (KARA) has submitted proponent testimony in support of proposed amendments to the Kansas Noxious Weed Act Regulations. The Kansas Dept. of Agriculture (KDA) has issued a public notice of its proposal to amend these agency regulations following the passage of amendments to the Noxious Weed Act by the Kansas Legislature in 2018. The act requires the Secretary of Agriculture to adopt rules and regulations to declare certain species of plants as noxious weeds in the state. In developing these proposed regulations, KDA sought input from the Noxious Weed...

08 Feb

Posted at 10:11h in Advocacy
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Week Four of the Kansas Legislative Session This week brought continued discussions in multiple committees on the issue of fraud on the Kansas state unemployment fund. It is thought that fraudulent claims paid-out over the last year could be as high as $400 million. Regarding the total number of new unemployment claims, Kansas is second only to the state of Illinois. Governor Laura Kelly has budgeted money for IT system upgrades for the Kansas Dept. of Labor (KDOL) in order to respond to the problem, and legislation has been introduced to hold...

04 Feb

Posted at 18:30h in Industry News, Regulatory
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 has posted online the Compliance Assistance Webinar held Aug. 25, 2020, hosted by its Enforcement and Compliance Assurance staff. The webinar includes a discussion about Risk Management Program rule changes that affect agricultural facilities and a session for questions and researched answers. Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act requires facilities that use extremely hazardous substances to develop risk management plans to prevent accidental releases that can cause serious harm to the public and the environment. In November 2019, EPA finalized changes to...

04 Feb

Posted at 15:00h in Industry News
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Governor Laura Kelly announced the launch of the "Find My Vaccine" mapping tool to assist in location of sites administering COVID-19 vaccines in Kansas. The page recommends Kansans in vaccine phase 1 and 2 use the tool to find providers offering the vaccine. To view the page, visit: https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/160/Find-My-Vaccine The governor stated vaccines may not be available yet at certain sites included on the map, but wanted the public to be aware of the tool. The website includes statistics, safety, availability, providers and much more. A frequently asked questions section also contains answers...

02 Feb

Posted at 09:36h in Advocacy
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Legislative Session, Week Three Many new bills were introduced and heard by committees in the third week of the Kansas legislative session. The House and Senate also continued hearings on the status of the Kansas unemployment insurance fund, attempting to find answers on the amount of fraud against the fund and how the program might buoyed. On Friday evening, Governor Laura Kelly appointed Amber Schultz as the new Secretary of Labor. Schultz, pending confirmation from the Senate, steps into the position with the need to update the Kansas Department of Labor’s 40-year-old...

02 Feb

Posted at 09:29h in Industry News
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Kansas Dept. of Labor has reported 1099-G forms have been mailed to all claimants who received unemployment benefits in 2020. If you received a 1099-G form for a claim that you did not receive payment for due to identity theft, you can fill out a request on the KDOL Self-Service Portal under “1099 Protest/Dispute”, making sure to check the box for “I want to dispute my 1099” and upload an Unsworn Declaration to declare you did not receive the benefits that were stated on your 1099-G form issued from the Kansas Department of Labor. You can...

23 Jan

Posted at 09:37h in Advocacy
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Legislative Session, Week Two Security issues with the capitol building caused a slow-down of activity for a couple of days during a week which also saw a flood of new bills introduced on dozens of issues. Many of these bills were being given new life following the shortened session last year. Of note this week, was the quick passage, by both the Senate and the House, of a bill extending the current emergency declaration under the Kansas Emergency Management Act (KEMA). That bill will be advanced to the Governor for review....

19 Jan

Posted at 14:19h in Industry News
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Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment has launched a website dedicated strictly to COVID-19 vaccination information. The website includes statistics, safety, availability, providers and much more. A frequently asked questions section also contains answers to many different inquiries. Anyone wishing to gather more information regarding the COVID-19 vaccine in Kansas, visit https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/....

15 Jan

Posted at 16:08h in Advocacy
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2021 Legislative Session Commences The Kansas legislature gaveled in on Monday, January 11, 2021, and your association’s government affairs staff was at the capitol monitoring and weighing in on bills affecting our industry. It was a busy week in Topeka which saw the swearing in of new members following the 2020 elections, a virtual State of the State address by Governor Laura Kelly, and the introduction of many new bills. Heading into the session, several controversial issues have been gearing up for prime time. The Senate started off quickly out of the gate, passing...

08 Jan

Posted at 09:21h in Industry News
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Governor Laura Kelly has announced the five-phase distribution order of COVID-19 vaccines for population groups in Kansas. In early December, Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association (KARA) organized a coalition of 14 agriculture-related organizations and led efforts of sending a letter to Kelly and Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Mike Beam emphasizing prioritizing distribution of COVID-19 vaccines among front-line agricultural employees behind the obvious top-tier recipients. ”These COVID-19 vaccination phase groups were created using guidance from national and state public health experts and with input from the Kansas Coronavirus Vaccine Advisory Council, or COVAC, which represents...

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