Fifteen people gathered at Grandma’s Soda Shop in Wilson Saturday morning for an update on activities at the state legislature from two local lawmakers, 108th District Rep. Steven Johnson, R-Assaria, and 109th District Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill.

Johnson also spoke and answered questions for more than a hour at the Ellsworth Antique Mall. About 50, including government students at Ellsworth High School, attended the Ellsworth session.

Topics raised at both coffees ranged from school finance, the state budget and highways to pay increases for state employees and Medicaid expansion. Here is a summary of the those discussions.

School Finance

Johnson, who chairs the House committee on Taxation and co-chairs the House committee on pensions, investments and benefits, said he did not vote for the recent $90 million increase in funding for education over the next four years because he thought it was necessary to have a conversation on funding methods.

“Next year we’ll be okay, because our ending balance is still there. But the next session something will have to change. There will have to be a big cut in the hundreds of millions or a tax increase in the hundreds of millions,” he said.

He also didn’t want to make a promise someone else might have to keep if he is no longer in the legislature after his present term ends.

That said, Johnson thinks it’s actually good that the $90 million passed the House and the Senate.

“I think it gets us to the right position in dealing with the courts and in helping the schools know where they need to be,” Johnson said.

The bill now goes to Gov. Laura Kelly, who is expected to approve it.

If he had to guess, Johnson said he was 75 to 80 percent sure Kelly and others would pressure Schools for Fair Funding to agree to support the increase with the understanding the Kansas Supreme Court retains jurisdiction over the issue and reviews school funding in 2020.

At Ellsworth, the court’s role in the funding issue sparked a short discussion between several members of the audience. Retired teacher Jerry Marsh said he objected to the court setting funding levels.

Wilson School principal Kenroy Wilson said it would be much easier for lawmakers to make tough decisions if they didn’t have to worry about being re-elected.

“We need term limits,” he said.

He also complimented Johnson and Waymaster, chairman of the House committees on legislative budget and appropriations, thanked Johnson and Waymaster for their support.

“I applaud you for the increase in education funding,” he said. “We’ve got a huge crisis in education. Financially, it’s tough to make it. The respect for the job is gone.”

The Budget

Waymaster said he thinks an agreement on the budget between the House and Senate is close to being finalized.

“We have talked about education, public safety, corrections, social services — the whole gamut of what the state budget provides for the people of the State of Kansas,” he said.

Waymaster said legislators have decided to hold off on the budget until they go back to Topeka on May 1 and resume conversations.

“At that point we will have a better gauge of where we’re at,” he said. “We will kind of know what the new numbers are.”

Pay increases for state employees

Waymaster said the number one priority of lawmakers to address when they return May 1 is pay increases for state employees.

“The last two years, we have tried to address that,” he said.

Waymaster said how lawmakers come to a compromise on this large item is key.

“That’s going to be from addressing correctional officer pay,” he said.“We’re going to be looking at the judicial branch, which has been a constant request to the legislature. So we’re going to have to come to a compromise.”

Waymaster said up until 2017, state employees hadn’t seen a pay increase since 2009.

He said an increase is important for employee retention.

State Highways

Waymaster said it is far better to preserve the current infrastructure the state has before the roads have to be rebuilt.

“We’re still ranked, nationally, high, for our transportation system,” he said.

Waymaster said the state doesn’t want to be in a position where it has to play catchup on road repairs.

Medicaid Expansion

Johnson said Medicaid expansion was a topic that was taken up in the House but not in the Senate.

“Based on that, I don’t think there’s anything that gets to the governor’s desk on the issue this year,” he said.“But it’s another big discussion point.”

Johnson is for Medicaid expansion while Waymaster is against it.

“If we were to expand, I’m going to say it cost us between $50 and $70 million,” Johnson said.“The governor’s plan said it was a $500 million note and the Kansas Health Institute, and I’m not trying to cook numbers, said it was $700 million. It’s 10 percent that we owe, so it’s $50 to $70 million.”

As he works to put out legislative fires every day, Johnson said he is concerned that with $70 million in the system, he has to operate at that level.

“In some areas where I have to make the same hard decision in the future, what I don’t want to do is to get where that becomes the new normal,” he said. “I want to continue to say how do we innovate, how do we provide services to all of the population that we are and need to, and what are the changes we have to keep looking to make.”

Johnson said if the state expands Medicaid, there has to be an immediate and certain end if the federal funding is not there.

“If this is a $700 million item, we can’t afford a six month winddown,” he said.

Waymaster said Medicaid expansion is too massive of a program to institute in the state.