2008 Legislative Wrap Up

The 2008 spring session was busy! Here at your Chamber we are constantly supporting and fighting legislative issues that will affect your businesses. Here is an update on the issues we followed this spring.

Energy
Regulatory fairness and the permitting of the Holcomb power plant expansion dominated the 2008 Legislative Session. The Governor vetoed three measures that would provide many environmentally friendly provisions in addition to regulatory certainty and the permitting of the plant. The Senate was able to override all the vetoes but the House was unable to provide the 84 votes necessary to override a veto at any time during the session.

Taxes
With state budget issues on the horizon, tax relief was hard to come by this session. The business community saw corporate tax reductions but only coupled with changes to the appointment of business income. There was no movement on corporate tax credits but it will continue to be an issue during the next legislative session.

Corporate Tax Relief
The top corporation income tax rate will be reduced from 7.35 percent to 7.10 percent in tax year 2008; 7.05 percent in tax years 2009 and 2010; and 7.00 percent in tax year 2011 and thereafter.

Immigration
The lack of solutions at the federal level to the immigration issue prompted activist to demand solutions at the state level. The Kansas Chamber proactively assembled a coalition of 37 business organizations to uniformly communicate with legislators and the public about the harm immigration reform bills would cause to business, jobs, and the overall Kansas economy. The Kansas Chamber, who represents YOUR chamber in Topeka, worked with key legislators on the changes to the legislation that would mitigate damages to the business community. In the end, the Chamber led business coalition successfully defeated all harmful business measures.

Small Business Regulatory Fairness The Small Business Regulatory Fairness Act was enacted to help small business deal with the growing cost of state regulation. The new law requires that agencies consider the impact of proposed rules and regulation on small businesses. This measure defines a small business as having 50 or fewer employees.

COBRA Extension
A new law allows an extension to the state continuation of coverage period (COBRA) from six to eighteen months. One of the benefits of being a Chamber member is having your business represented in Topeka. If you have legislative issues you want the Garden City Area Chamber of Commerce to follow and fight for you let us know!