The push is on now to find some consensus on the State budget before final decisions can be made on tax cuts. The House Appropriations committee and the Senate Ways & Means committee will make final decisions next week on their version of the 2024 State budget, send that to respective floors for full debate the week after and then pass their respective versions. From there a House and Senate conference committee of three members from each chamber will start reconciling the difference between the House and Senate budgets for a final compromise that can pass both chambers and be sent to the Governor. April 6 is the final day for the regular session.

Legislative game playing will start to increase as the session moves toward adjournment. The ‘gut and go’ tactic of stripping a bill of its original content and putting in the favored legislation of key committee chairpersons will occur. Apparently this is beginning in the House K-12 Education Budget committee on Monday with a gutted bill that has yet to be made public. The battle over the culture war of ‘environmental, social governance (ESG)’ in Senate Bill 224 (written by outside special interests) starts Tuesday in Senate Federal and State Affairs. The House version is House Bill 2436. The battles over ‘women’s bill of rights’ – SB 180 – starts Monday in House Health and Human Services with abortion debates coming Tuesday – HB 2429 – and Wednesday – HB 2313. In terms of water, there is a discussion before House Water on Tuesday concerning Quivira National Wildlife Refuge and efforts for water restoration.

WIND TURBINE LIGHTING

Celia Lopes-Jepsen has written a terrific article for the Kansas News Service on wind energy in Kansas and the debate over mandatory lighting regulations by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Kansas has nearly 4,000 turbines and the red, blinkinglights can be seen for miles. Now radar can be utilized to activate those lights when aircraft is near. Senate Bill 49 as amended requires installation of light-mitigating systems on new wind farms and eventually on existing wind farms subject to approval by the FAA. Kansas ranks 4th of the 50 states in wind power and there is a link to a Department of Energy study updating the wind industry nationwide. The central U.S is by far the most productive wind area for further development and the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) - that ties Kansas to 13 states with high level electricity transmission - has gained the most efficient and cost-effective renewable power from wind. There is a link to a Nature Conservancy map highlighting the best areas for wind development and the least impact on the ecosystem.

TURTLE CREEK RESERVOIR SEDIMENTATION PILOT PROGRAM

John Shelley - from the United States Army Corps of Engineers - gave a presentation to the Kansas House Water committee on this coming pilot program. It will be a first of its kind to move sediment from the bottom of Tuttle Creek down stream with jacuzzi style pumps to stir up sediment and by gravity move through the dam. This works at Tuttle because of the gates are at the bottom of the dam. It might also work for Milford and Kanopolis.

Congress has put in $8 million over two years while the State of Kansas has put in $2 million. There will be extensive testing on the sediment and its impact downstream. The thought is that this sediment will move all the way down the river to the Missouri River and that it will not stall on sand bars or build up along the Kansas River. There will be testing sites at Fort Riley, Wamego and Topeka. This will commence in 2024 with two weeks of dredging in the Spring, Summer and Fall to gauge the impact at the different times. Drought could well stall some of this testing.

The equipment for this dredging is unique to this site and will have to be specially built for an estimated cost of $2 million. Kansas may purchase this dredge and lease it to the Corps or it might be built privately and rented for Tuttle. Kansas spent $20 million to manually dredge John Redmond and place the sediment on lands nearby. If this were done for Tuttle, the cost would be $41 million yearly and Kansas would just be holding its own given the continual sediment coming into Tuttle. Tuttle is now 49% filled with sediment over its 60-year life. This was expected but still discerning given the importance of public water supplies in a drought and flood control such as 1993. This is only a pilot and any long-term options are not now funded. This pilot will provide the expertise to assess all possible options going forward. In the attached video of the presentation (which unfortunately begins 10 minutes into the presentation) there are some insightful committee questions at the conclusion: House Water Committee Recording

OPPORTUNITIES FOR USDA CONSERVATION PROGRAMS

On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law. The IRA contains roughly $20 Billion worth of funding for agriculture conservation over five years. This generational investment falls within the popular and often oversubscribed USDA working lands conservation programs. The IRA funds four key conservation programs: the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). As of February 13, USDA began enrolling producers into working lands conservation programs using IRA funding.

IRA funding is already available through CSP and EQIP. In order to access this funding, producers need to contact the local Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) office and ask about applying to either program.

Find Your Local Service Center

In addition to the ‘new’ IRA funding, both CSP and EQIP also have normal Farm Bill funding available. This means there is more money to support conservation through these programs than at any time in perhaps the last 10 years. Farmers should strongly consider applying to both programs, even if they have been unsuccessful in the past, as this year may be the best in recent memory to secure a new contract. In both CSP and EQIP, IRA funds will be targeted at conservation practices and activities on this list:

Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry (CSAF) Mitigation Activities List

Farmers implementing them will be first in line for IRA funding. NRCS is still able to fund all conservation practices this year. Since there are both IRA and Farm Bill funds available in CSP and EQIP this year, farmers will be able to use both programs to implement whichever practices and enhancements make the most sense for their farm, regardless of where the money comes from. Every state has updated their application process to give farmers an extended opportunity to apply for IRA funding through CSP and EQIP. For Kansas - the deadline for CSP is March 24 and the deadline for EQIP is May 5.

NRCS has produced a one-page IRA Fact Sheet to help promote IRA rollout:

NRCS Conservation Programs and the Infation Reduction Act

CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM (CRP) UPDATE

USDA announced on February 16 that agricultural producers and private landowners can begin applying for the CRP’s General sign-up starting February 27 through April 7, 2023. Producers and landowners enrolled more than 5 million acres into CRP through sign-ups in 2022 – building on the acceptance of more than 3.1 million acres in the largest Grassland signup in history. There are currently 23 million acres enrolled in CRP, with 1.9 million acres set to expire this year. Kansas has currently 1.7 million CRP acres with close to 300,000 set to expire. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is aiming to reach the 27-million-acre cap statutorily set for 2023.

General CRP helps producers and landowners establish log-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees, to control soil erosion, improve water quality and enhance wildlife habitat on cropland. General CRP now includes a Climate-Smart Incentive to help increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by helping producers and landowners establish trees and permanent grasses, enhance wildlife habitat, and restore wetlands.

Continuous CRP allows producers and landowners to enroll in CRP throughout the year. Offers are automatically accepted provided the producer and land meet the eligibility requirements and that enrollment levels do not exceed the statutory cap. The Climate-Smart Practice Incentive is also available in the Continuous Signup. Also included is the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) which leverages federal and non-federal funds to target specific State, regional or nationally significant conservation concerns under Continuous CRP. USDA made significant improvements to CREP to reduce barriers and make the program more accessible to a broad range of producers and new types of partners. These updates included flexibility for partners to provide matching funds in the form of cash, in-kind contributions, or technical assistance.

FSA will announce the dates for Grassland CRP in the coming weeks. Grassland CRP is a working lands program, helping landowners and operators protect grassland, including rangeland and pastureland and certain other lands, while maintaining the areas as working grazing lands. Producers with expiring CRP acres can use the Transition Incentives Program (CRP-TIP) which incentivizes producers who sell or enter into a long-term lease with a beginning, veteran, or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher who plans to sustainably farm or ranch the land. CRP-TIP offers two years of additional CRP rental payments to owners or operators of expiring CRP land.USDA Conservation Programs

KANSAS WEALTH DAY OF ADVOCACY AND EDUCATION

Kansas WEALTH Day of Advocacy and Education brings together organizations, advocates, and legislators to connect on Water, Energy, Air, Land, Transportation, and Health - Kansas WEALTH! We are excited to have our first in-person WEALTH Day at the Capitol since 2020! Each Wednesday there is an online option for discussing these issues. You may register for the next zoom WEALTH on Community Resilience (6-7pm) Wednesday HERE 

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OBSERVER CALLS

Kansas Legislature Website