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Senator Emler files for election
February 2, 2012
On Friday, Sen. Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg, filed for re-election to Kansas District 35. Emler, who has represented the 35th District since 2001, was elected Senate Majority Leader in 2011. He also is vice chairman of the Joint Committee on Kansas Security and is chairman of the Committee on Confirmation Oversight.
According to the senator’s website, he and his wife Lorraine have lived in McPherson County for more than 30 years. Emler has served on the Lindsborg Community Hospital Board, volunteered as an emergency medical technician and acted as chairman of the Lindsborg chapter of the McPherson County March of Dimes.
Emler files for re-election to Kansas Senate
February 1, 2012
State Sen. Jay Scott Emler filed Friday for re-election to the Kansas Senate. In December 2010, Emler was selected by his fellow senators to serve as Senate Majority Leader. Emler, a Republican, has represented the 35th District since 2001. “As Kansas emerges from this economic recession, there are many serious issues before the Legislature that will ultimately shape the future of our state. I am running for re-election because now, more than ever, we need a strong voice in the Senate who will stand up for rural jobs, our local schools and our quality of life.”
Redistricting tops discussion at Legislative coffee
February 1, 2012
Redistricting was a hot topic at the legislative coffee sponsored by the McPherson Chamber of Commerce and AT&T. All three members of the McPherson County delegation — Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg; Clark Shultz, R-Lindsborg; and Don Schroeder, R-Hesston — attended the event. Emler said there is a showdown shaping up in the Senate on whether McPherson County, which is in the 1st District, or multiple counties west of Sedgwick County will be added to the 4th District. “We have more shopping interest with Saline and Reno County and right here at home than we do with Sedgwick County, but we are dealing with the dynamics of an urban legislature,” Emler said. The Legislature’s goal is to have all the maps completed by March prior to the deadline for those filing to run in the August primary.
Jay Emler Files for Re-Election to Kansas Senate
January 27, 2012
Jay Scott Emler filed today for re-election to the Kansas Senate. Senator Emler, a Republican, has represented the 35th District since 2001. Emler works for the Kansas National Guard and as an attorney in McPherson. He and his wife Lorraine operate a small family farm at their home in rural Lindsborg. “It is a privilege and an honor to represent the citizens of the 35th District,” said Emler. “As Kansas emerges from this economic recession, there are many serious issues before the Legislature that will ultimately shape the future of our state. I am running for re-election because now, more than ever, we need a strong voice in the Senate who will stand up for rural jobs, our local schools and our quality of life.”... (Read the full press release)
January 12, 2012
The governor also touched on water rights in his state of the stae, Medicaid and the need to reform KPERS, the state employees retirement plan. Sen. Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg, said he has been personally working with local farmers and ranchers on reform of the current Kansas water policy. Brownback said he would like to repeal the so called “use it or lose it” policy. Emler said he recently spoke to a McPherson County farmer who worked to conserve his water consumption but lost rights as a consequence. “When we have drought conditions, they want to be able to pump, but why waste the water and deplete the aquifer if we don’t need to use it?” he said. “It is long past time to purpose a new rule.”
State awaits governor's tax plan
January 7, 2012
When the state’s Consensus Revenue Estimating group announced in November that tax revenues for fiscal year 2012 had exceeded previous estimates by $200 million, it spurred dreams of the long-missing “s-word” — surplus. With the economy puttering toward recovery, the state’s politicians are starting to talk about what should be done with increased revenue. Senate Majority Leader Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg, encouraged a cautious approach, because $200 million is only about 3.5 percent of the total budget and that, by Kansas law, isn’t a surplus at all. “Under the law we’re supposed to have 7.5 percent (ending balance),” Emler said. “What we’ve done for the last several years is waive that provision of the law for the ending balance.”
School finance plan to face session scrutiny
January 6, 2012
Ask Kansas school administrators about Gov. Sam Brownback’s school finance reform proposal, and the reactions are about as varied as if you had asked them which football team will win the state tournament next year. “I’m always kind of concerned about removing the cap on the LOB,” Senate Majority Leader Jay Emler said. “I know that’s something that Johnson County absolutely has wanted forever. They want to be able to go in and raise the LOB as much as they want, but then of course the litigation comes back into play, because then are you spending the same amount of money for kids in Johnson County that you’re spending for kids in Thomas County?”
Legislators wait for Medicaid reform details
January 5, 2012
The National Institutes of Health defines "managed care" as "health insurance plans that contract with health care providers and medical facilities to provide care for members at reduced costs." How Gov. Sam Brownback's administration defines it could determine the future of Kansas Medicaid, which now serves an estimated 400,000 people. In November, the administration unveiled an ambitious proposal to expand managed care to all state Medicaid recipients. It is now accepting bids for three private-sector contracts to administer the plans. "I anticipate something will come to the Senate floor for a debate, but at this point I haven't a clue what that's going to look like," said Senate Majority Leader Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg. "I would expect there will be changes to Medicaid by the end of the session." Emler also cautioned that reform had to be focused on more than just reducing costs. He said past cuts in reimbursement for things like prescription drugs had led independent, small-town pharmacies to stop accepting Medicaid. "The same thing applies to physicians," Emler said. "I've talked to physicians who say their clinics will not take any more Medicaid patients."
Next chapter in KPERS debate looms
January 3, 2012
One very large number looms over the pending debate on how to fix the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System: $8.3 billion. That is the pension system’s “unfunded actuarial liability” projected over the next 30 years — or, in plain English, how much more the system has to pay out than what it will likely take in. It is a problem that has been brewing for a long time but was pushed over a cliff by the recent recession. “There were errors made in the past,” Emler said. “When the state took over the school pensions, they were not properly funded by the locals at that time and they haven’t been properly funded since. No question about that.”
Consensus building around water conservation
January 2, 2012
In soliciting input on water rights from his constituents, Sen. Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg, came across a retiree who he said illustrates the problems with the state’s current policies. The man had returned to his native Kansas to farm after spending much of his life in California. He was used to conserving water, but in Kansas that brought him smack up against the state’s “use-it-or-lose-it” policy. “What he was trying to do was be a good steward and what ended up happening is he lost his water rights, which makes his farm far less valuable and productive than it was,” Emler said. “Those are the kind of things that just need to be taken into consideration, and I think we’re going to see some bills come out with the input of the water office on how to take care of this.” Gov. Sam Brownback put forth a series of water conservation proposals in November aimed at eliminating the sort of disincentives that caught the California transplant.
