The Kansas Legislative session is underway for 2022.

We reconvened on Jan. 10 and will continue our General Session through the first week of April.

State revenues have been very strong and we start the year with the largest ending balance I have seen. Deciding how to best handle this roughly $3 billion balance along with some remaining federal funds are among our top responsibilities.

The Governor’s State of the State address is one of the main news items in the first week. The administration’s proposed budget is released at this time also.

The morning after the State of the State, our joint House and Senate budget committees heard an overview from the governor’s budget director, Adam Proffitt. While we may not always agree, he is a very good director with a deep understanding of budgetrelated issues.

The governor and legislature do agree on our first priority which is debt reduction. Further, we agree the first dollars deployed will go towards the KPERS liability. Due to the high interest assumption, this has the largest impact to reduce future debt payments.

Other spending priorities and tax cuts will be major discussion items.

The governor and others have called for an end or reduction in the food sales tax. While there is revenue to make that cut (over $500 million annually) this year, whether the state’s surplus reve nues are more driven by one-time stimulus money or ongoing economic growth is still in some question.

How to handle local taxes on food as well as whether we begin to tax farm inputs are also central to this discussion.

Sales tax is currently applied at the last transaction on goods in process. When food is no longer taxed, it is possible tax could then be applied to farm inputs like fertilizer, parts and equipment?

I believe the governor’s bill does continue to exempt farm inputs, but a future decline in revenue could put pressure on those exemptions. In any case, this will be a big discussion for us across the state in the coming weeks.

With the 2020 census, the legislature will redraw the maps for our legislative districts this year. This is a big effort every 10 years.

For the Kansas House, population changes likely shift three rural seats to our urban areas.

At the federal level, how to re-draw the big first congressional district is another challenge. The committee has already held several listening events across the state. We will start seeing map alternatives to consider soon.

It has been good to hear from families interested in having students serve as pages this year. I look forward to these opportunities to share the capitol and our government process with constituents.

If you are interested in this or other issues, please contact my office at (785) 296-7696. I look forward to hearing from you.

Steven Johnson, an Assaria Republican, represents the 108th House District.