We returned to the legislative session to start on bills received from the other chamber. There were only a few bills considered on the House Floor.

SB 62 related to standards for student vision screenings.

SB 101 regulates electric-assisted bicycles and SB 358 amended the definition of “project” within the public water supply project loan program All three passed.

Some committees were slow for the week waitin for bills to come from th Senate. The Appropriations and Re-Districting committees continued with their work through the first deadline. We will pass the state budget and maps towards the end of March as we finish the general session.

On redistricting, let m know your thoughts on Ellsworth County being in more than one House district. With the popu lation shift, rural districts will be getting geographically larger. That expansion has to collapse inward from the state lines. Most likely, we will be combining with the district to our west. Let me know if you would prefer a solution where the entirety of Ellsworth County remains in the same district or where the county has multiple districts and representatives.

We continued work on several issues in Insurance and Pensions.

With the issues in Ukraine, we are concerned about our exposure to Russia in Kansas’ investments. We opened our first hearing since the Russian aggression began with a presentation from Dr. Sergey Aleksashenko, now a Senior Fellow with the Brookings Institute and a former Russian deputy minister of finance. He educated us on foreign policy issues and Russia. Their economy is dependent on oil, with roughly 45 percent of exports going to Europe and 20 percent to China.

A significant portion of these exports are transported through pipelines. While the pipelines are an efficient means of transporting oil, it limits the ability to easily shift exports. Should western Europe be able to shift their dependence on Russian oil, that would be a significant economic impact.

The KPERS portfolio did have exposure (0.14 percent) to Russia, the majority of which was through an index fund. Our first step was to work with the KPERS board to make no new investments in Russia. KPERS has let us know investment managers have been given that direction, and new capital will not be committed to index funds with exposure to Russia. Russian markets are currently closed and valuations have fallen dramatically.

Sales of Russian investments are not immediately possible. Further, it appears immediate sales will not benefit the Ukraine and may play into the hands of the Russians controlling their markets. KPERS is looking to divest holdings at the first prudent opportunity. If you want to watch a recording of this hearing, you can go online or contact my office for the link.

Second, we are working on an agreement between Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM’s) and pharmacies.

Both sides negotiated some regulations on and licensure of the PBM’s. That agreement is being drafted. We will hear it in the House committee this week to work to get it to the Senate in time for consideration yet this year.

Third, Working After Retirement rules for those who retire from KPERS are also being discussed. Given the tight labor market we are experiencing, we are considering if there are changes that can be made to provide some additional flexibility to employers without creating even greate issues for funding of the KPERS system and compliance with IRS guidelines.

Several issues from other committees still need to be discussed as we move into the last weeks o the general session. Thank you for the calls and e-mails I have received so far this session.

If you have questions or concerns, my office is (785) 296-7696 and my email is steven.johnson@house.ks.gov.