J o u r n a l o f t h e S e n a t e SECOND DAY -------- SENATE CHAMBER, TOPEKA, KANSAS Tuesday, January 14, 1997--2:30 p.m. The Senate was called to order by President Dick Bond. The roll was called with forty senators present. Invocation by Chaplain Fred S. Hollomon: Heavenly Father, Your apostle Paul has said ``There is no authority except that which God has established.'' (Romans 13:1) The Chief Executive Officer of our State begins the third year of his term this month. The Chief Executive Officer of the United States will be inaugurated for his second term next week. Both of them have great authority. Both of them are named Bill. Your apostle has urged ``that . . . prayers . . . be made for . . . all those in authority.'' (I Timothy 2:12) So today we pray for these two Bills. We pray that under their mantle of leadership there will beat the heart of a servant; That they will conduct themselves as role models for young people who aspire to public office; That they will have ears attentive to the voices of those who have no authority; That they will do their best to see that work is rewarded, virtue is honored, unselfishness is encouraged, godliness is respected and crime is punished; And finally, O God, that for strength and wisdom they will always turn to You. I pray in the Name of Jesus, AMEN. INTRODUCTION OF BILLS AND CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS The following bills and concurrent resolution were introduced and read by title: SB 17, by Committee on Transportation and Tourism: An act relating to school buses; concerning the definition thereof; amending K.S.A. 72-8301 and repealing the existing section. SB 18, by Joint Committee on Economic Development: An act concerning state governmental ethics; relating to financial disclosures by state employees engaged in economic development activities; amending K.S.A. 46-247 and 46-285 and repealing the existing sections. SB 19, by Joint Committee on Economic Development: An act concerning the Kansas economic opportunity initiatives fund; amending K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 7450,151 and repealing the existing section. SB 20, by Senators Salisbury, Barone, Becker, Biggs, Bleeker, Bond, Brownlee, Clark, Corbin, Downey, Emert, Feleciano, Gilstrap, Gooch, Goodwin, Hardenburger, Harrington, Harris, Hensley, Huelskamp, Jones, Jordan, Karr, Kerr, Langworthy, Lawrence, Lee, Morris, Oleen, Petty, Praeger, Ranson, Sallee, Salmans, Schraad, Steffes, Steineger, Tyson, Umbarger and Vidricksen: An act concerning the employment security law; extending the moratorium on contributions for an additional year; amending K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 44-710a and repealing the existing section. SB 21, by Senator Hardenburger: An act providing for licensure to carry certain concealed weapons; prohibiting certain acts and prescribing penalties for violations; amending K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 21-4201 and repealing the existing section. SB 22, by Committee on Assessment and Taxation: An act relating to property taxation; concerning the exemption of certain industrial training center buildings; amending K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 79-201a and repealing the existing section. SB 23, by Committee on Assessment and Taxation: An act relating to property taxation; amending K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 79-503a and 79-1448 and repealing the existing sections. SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 1603-- By Senators Bond, Emert and Hensley A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION adopting joint rules for the Senate and House of Representatives for the 1997-1998 biennium. Be it resolved by the Senate of the State of Kansas, the House of Representatives concurring therein: That the following joint rules shall be the joint rules of the Senate and House of Representatives for the 1997-1998 biennium. JOINT RULES OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1997-1998 Joint rule 1. Joint rules; application and date of expiration; adoption, amendment, suspension and revocation. (a) Joint rules; expiration, adoption, amendment, suspension and revocation; vote required. Joint rules are adopted under the authority of section 8 of article 2 of the Constitution of the State of Kansas and shall govern matters made subject thereto except when otherwise specifically provided by joint rule. Joint rules shall expire at the conclusion of the terms of representatives. Joint rules shall be adopted, amended, suspended and revoked by concurrent resolution of the two houses of the legislature. Concurrent resolutions adopting joint rules shall receive the affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the members then elected (or appointed) and qualified in each house. (b) Amendment, suspension or revocation of joint rules; previous notice; vote required. After one day's previous notice, joint rules may be amended, suspended or revoked by the affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the members then elected (or appointed) and qualified in each house. Upon the filing of such notice in either house, a message shall be sent to the other house advising of the filing of such notice and the reading of the message shall constitute notice to the members of such house. If such previous notice is not given, the affirmative vote of 2/3 of the members then elected (or appointed) and qualified in each house shall be required for the amendment, suspension or revocation of a joint rule. (c) Amendment, suspension or revocation of joint rules at commencement of legislative session; vote required; conditions. Notwithstanding any provision of this rule to the contrary, no notice shall be required for the adoption of a concurrent resolution amending, suspending or revoking any one or more joint rules at the commencement of a legislative session, and adoption of any such concurrent resolution shall require only the affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the members then elected (or appointed) and qualified in each house, subject to the following conditions: (1) The concurrent resolution is sponsored by the speaker or the president, and (2) either (a) a copy thereof is mailed to each member of the legislature by deposit in the United States mails not later than 11:00 p.m. on the Thursday preceding the Monday on which the legislative session is to commence or (b) in lieu of mailing, copies of the concurrent resolution are made available to members on the first day of the legislative session and final action is taken on a subsequent legislative day. Joint rule 2. Joint sessions. (a) Joint session called by concurrent resolution; vote required; time, place and subject matter. A joint session of the senate and house of representatives may be called by concurrent resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the members elected (or appointed) and qualified in each house of the legislature or as may otherwise be prescribed by law. Any such resolution shall fix the time and place of the joint session, and the subject matter to be considered at the joint session. Joint sessions shall consider only such matters as are prescribed by law or by the concurrent resolution calling such joint session. (b) Presiding officer at joint sessions; record of joint session; rules applicable. The speaker of the house of representatives shall preside at all joint sessions of the senate and house of representatives, and the clerk of the house of representatives shall keep a record of the proceedings thereof and shall enter the record of each such session in the journal of the house of representatives. The rules of the house of representatives and the joint rules of the two houses, insofar as the same may be applicable shall be the rules for joint sessions of the two houses. (c) Votes in joint session; taking; requirements. All votes in a joint session shall be taken by yeas and nays, and in taking the same it shall be the duty of the secretary of the senate first to call the names of the members of the senate, and after which the clerk of the house of representatives shall in like manner call the names of the members of the house. Each member of the senate and the house of representatives present shall be required to vote on all matters considered in joint session, unless excused by a vote of a majority of the members of both houses present. Joint rule 3. Conference committee procedure. (a) Action by house of origin of bill or concurrent resolution amended by other house. When a bill or concurrent resolution is returned to the house of origin with amendments by the other house, the house of origin may: (1) Concur in such amendments; (2) refuse to concur in such amendments; or (3) refuse to concur in such amendments and request a conference on the bill or concurrent resolution. (b) Concurrence by house of origin; concurrence prior to taking action on conference committee report by other house; final action; effect of failure of motion to concur. The house of origin of any bill or concurrent resolution may concur in any amendments made by the other house, except that if the bill or concurrent resolution has been referred to a conference committee such action may only be taken prior to the taking of final action upon the conference committee report upon such bill or concurrent resolution by the other house. A vote in the house of origin of any bill or concurrent resolution on a motion to concur in amendments to such bill or concurrent resolution by the other house shall be considered action on the final passage of the bill or concurrent resolution and the affirmative and negative votes thereon shall be entered in the journal. If the motion to concur is upon amendments to a bill or concurrent resolution for which a conference committee has been appointed and action has not been taken upon the report of such committee by the other house and such motion fails, the bill or concurrent resolution shall not be deemed to have been killed thereby, but if the motion to concur is upon amendments to a bill or concurrent resolution for which a conference committee has not been appointed and such motion fails, the bill or concurrent resolution shall be deemed to be killed. (c) Motion to nonconcur; when considered final action; effect of adoption of motion. A vote in the house of origin of any bill or concurrent resolution on a motion to nonconcur or to refuse to concur in amendments to such bill or concurrent resolution by the other house which is not coupled with a request for the appointment of a conference committee shall be considered action on final passage of the bill or concurrent resolution and the affirmative and negative votes thereon shall be entered in the journal, and the bill or concurrent resolution shall be deemed killed on the adoption thereof. (d) House of origin refusal to concur or nonconcur; request for conference; procedure. When a bill or concurrent resolution is returned by either house to the house of origin with amendments, and the house of origin refuses to concur or to nonconcur therein, a conference may be requested by a majority vote of the members present and voting. Such request shall be transmitted to the other house by message which shall include the names of the conferees on the part of the requesting house. Upon receipt of any such message, the receiving house may, in like manner, approve such conference, and shall thereupon notify the requesting house by message stating the names of its conferees. (e) Membership; appointment; chairperson; house of origin of substitute or materially changed bill or concurrent resolution; meetings of conference committee. Each conference committee shall consist of three members of the senate and three members of the house of representatives, unless otherwise fixed by agreement of the president of the senate and speaker of the house. Senate members shall be appointed by the president of the senate and house members shall be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives. The president or the speaker may replace any conferee previously appointed by such person. Not less than one member appointed from each house shall be a member of the minority political party of such house except when such representation for such house is waived by the minority leader of such house. In all cases, the first-named member of the house of origin of the bill or concurrent resolution assigned to the committee shall be chairperson of the conference committee. The house of origin of a substitute bill or substitute concurrent resolution shall be the house in which the bill or concurrent resolution in its original form was introduced. The house of origin of a bill or concurrent resolution the subject matter of which has been ruled to be materially changed under the rules of the Senate or the House of Representatives shall be the house which amended the bill or concurrent resolution to materially change the subject matter of the bill or concurrent resolution. Each conference committee shall meet on the call of its chairperson. All meetings of conference committees shall be open to the public and no meeting shall be adjourned to another time or place in order to subvert such policy. (f) Conference committee reports; subject matters which may be included; report not subject to amendment; house which acts first on report; copies of reports; reports considered under any order of business. Only subject matters which are or have been included in the bill or concurrent resolution in conference or in bills or concurrent resolutions which have been passed or adopted in either one or both houses during the current biennium of the legislature may be included in the report of the conference committee on any bill or concurrent resolution except in any appropriations bill there may be included a proviso relating to any such item of appropriation. A conference committee report shall not be subject to amendment. The original signed conference committee report shall be submitted to and acted upon first by the house other than the house of origin of the bill or concurrent resolution. Copies of each report shall be made available to all members of the house considering the same not later than the time of consideration of the report, except when such report is that members of the committee are unable to reach agreement or is a recommendation to accede to or to recede from all of the amendments of the second house. The affirmative vote of 2/3 of the members present in the house at the time of consideration of the report shall be sufficient to dispense with distribution of copies of the conference committee report to all members of that house. Reports of conference committees may be received and considered under any order of business. (g) Signatures required on conference committee reports. All initial conference committee reports other than an agreement to disagree coupled with a request that a new conference committee be appointed shall be signed by all of the conferees. All initial conference committee reports which are an agreement to disagree coupled with a request that a new conference committee be appointed shall be signed by a majority of the conferees appointed in each house. All other conference committee reports shall be signed by a majority of the conferees appointed in each house. (h) Vote to adopt conference committee report final action; effect of failure of motion to adopt conference committee report. The vote to adopt the report of a conference committee, other than a report of failure to agree coupled with a recommendation for appointment of a new conference committee, shall be considered final action on the bill or concurrent resolution and the affirmative and negative votes thereon shall be entered in the journal. If the motion fails, the bill or concurrent resolution shall be deemed to be killed. (i) Report of conference committee unable to agree; effect of failure to request new conference committee; effect of failure of motion to adopt report requesting new conference committee. If a conference committee upon any bill or concurrent resolution is unable to agree, it shall report that fact to both houses. Such report may request that a new conference committee be appointed thereon. If the committee so reports but fails to request the appointment of a new conference committee thereon the bill or concurrent resolution shall be deemed to have been killed upon the adoption by either house of such report. If the motion to adopt a report requesting the appointment of a new conference committee fails, the bill or concurrent resolution shall be deemed to be killed. (j) Bills or concurrent resolutions under consideration by conference committees and reports thereof; carryover from odd-numbered to even-numbered year. Bills or concurrent resolutions under consideration by a conference committee, or a report of which has been filed but no action taken thereon in either house, at the time of adjournment of a regular session of the legislature held in an odd-numbered year shall remain alive during the interim and may be considered by the committee and legislature as the case may be at the regular session held in the following evennumbered year. Joint rule 4. Deadlines for introduction and consideration of bills. The senate and house of representatives shall observe the following schedule of deadlines in making requests for drafting and in the introduction and consideration of bills. (a) Bill request deadline for individual members. Except for bills introduced pursuant to (i) of this rule, no request to draft bills, except those made by committees, through their respective chairpersons, shall be made to, or accepted by, the office of the revisor of statutes after the hour of 5:00 p.m. on January 27, 1997, during the 1997 regular session and on January 26, 1998, during the 1998 regular session. (b) Bill introduction deadline for individual members. Except as provided in (i) of this rule, no bill sponsored by a member or members shall be introduced in either house of the legislature after the hour of adjournment on February 14, 1997, during the 1997 regular session and on February 13, 1998, during the 1998 regular session. Such deadline for the introduction of bills by individual members may be changed to an earlier date in either house at any time by resolution duly adopted by the affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the members then elected (or appointed) and qualified in such house. (c) Bill request deadline for certain committees. Except for bills to be introduced pursuant to (i) of this rule, no committee except the committee on ways and means of the senate, select committees of either house when so authorized, the committee on federal and state affairs of either house or the house committees on calendar and printing, appropriations and taxation shall make a request to the office of the revisor of statutes for any bill to be drafted for sponsorship by such committee after the hour of 5:00 p.m. on February 3, 1997, during the 1997 regular session and on February 2, 1998, during the 1998 regular session. (d) Bill introduction deadline for certain committees. Except as provided in (i) of this rule, no bill sponsored by any committee of either house of the legislature, except the committee on ways and means of the senate, select committees of either house when so authorized, the committee on federal and state affairs of either house or the house committees on calendar and printing, appropriations and taxation shall be introduced in either house after the hour of adjournment on February 14, 1997, during the 1997 regular session and on February 13, 1998, during the 1998 regular session. (e) House of origin bill consideration deadline. No bill, except bills sponsored by, referred to or acted upon by the committee on ways and means of the senate, select committees of either house when so authorized, the committee on federal and state affairs of either house or the house committees on calendar and printing, appropriations and taxation shall be considered in the house in which such bill originated after the hour of adjournment on March 1, 1997, during the 1997 regular session and on February 28, 1998, during the 1998 regular session. (f) Second house bill consideration deadline. No bill, except bills sponsored by, referred to or acted upon by the committee on ways and means of the senate, select committees of either house when so authorized, the committee on federal and state affairs of either house or the house committees on calendar and printing, appropriations and taxation shall be considered by the house, not the house of origin of such bill, after the hour of adjournment on March 29, 1997, during the 1997 regular session and March 28, 1998, during the 1998 regular session. (g) Exceptions to limitation of (d), (e) and (f); procedure. Specific exceptions to the limitations prescribed in subsections (d), (e) and (f) may be made in either house by resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the members of such house then elected (or appointed) and qualified. (h) Deadline which falls on day neither house in session; effect. In the event that any deadline prescribed in this rule falls on a day that neither house of the legislature is in session, such deadline shall be observed on the next following day that either house is in session. (i) Bills introduced in odd-numbered years after deadlines; effect. Bills may be introduced by members and committees in regular sessions occurring in an oddnumbered year after the times prescribed in (b) and (d) of this rule, but there shall be no final action thereon by either house during the session when introduced. Such bills shall be held over for consideration at the next succeeding regular session held in an even-numbered year. (j) Modification of schedule of deadlines for introduction and consideration of bills; procedure. In any regular session a concurrent resolution may be adopted by the affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the members then elected (or appointed) and qualified of each house setting forth a different schedule of deadlines for introduction and consideration of bills for that session and the provisions of such concurrent resolution shall apply to such session notwithstanding provisions of this rule to the contrary. (k) Bill consideration deadline; exceptions. No bills shall be considered by the Legislature after April 12, 1997, during the 1997 regular session and after April 11, 1998, during the 1998 regular session except bills vetoed by the Governor, the omnibus appropriation act and the omnibus reconciliation spending limit bill provided for under K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 75-6702 and amendments thereto. This subsection (k) may be suspended for the consideration of a specific bill or bills not otherwise exempt under this subsection by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members then elected (or appointed) and qualified in the house in which the bill is to be considered. REFERENCE OF BILLS AND CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS The following bills and resolution were referred to Committees as indicated: Assessment and Taxation: SB 6, 7. Commerce: SB 3 (separately). Education: SB 4, 13. Financial Institutions & Insurance: SB 3 (separately), 12, 15; SCR 1601. Judiciary: SB 8, 9. Public Health and Welfare: SB 10. Transportation and Tourism SB 2, 16. Ways and Means: SB 1, 5, 11, 14. FINAL ACTION OF BILLS AND CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS On motion of Senator Emert an emergency was declared by a 2/3 constitutional majority, and SCR 1603 was advanced to Final Action, subject to amendment, debate and roll call. SCR 1603, A concurrent resolution adopting joint rules for the Senate and House of Representatives for the 1997-1998 biennium, was considered on final action. On roll call, the vote was: Yeas 40, nays 0, present and passing 0; absent or not voting 0. Yeas: Barone, Becker, Biggs, Bleeker, Bond, Brownlee, Clark, Corbin, Downey, Emert, Feleciano, Gilstrap, Gooch, Goodwin, Hardenburger, Harrington, Harris, Hensley, Huelskamp, Jones, Jordan, Karr, Kerr, Langworthy, Lawrence, Lee, Morris, Oleen, Petty, Praeger, Ranson, Salisbury, Sallee, Salmans, Schraad, Steffes, Steineger, Tyson, Umbarger, Vidricksen. The resolution was adopted. Task Force on Uniformity and Equality of Property Tax Appraisals Study Topic: Review the status of Shawnee County District Court Order No. 92CV-796 and study whether the legislature has taken adequate steps to ensure that all property within each subclass is appraised and taxed on a uniform and equal basis. Analyze issues and concerns raised by Judge Bullock with respect to the court order, including the definition of fair market value, the accuracy and efficacy of the sales ratio study as a monitoring device, and the intent of language in K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 79-503a with respect to a variance of 10 percent in any single appraisal's not being demonstrative of ``willful neglect'' by a county or district appraiser. Summary: The Task Force recommends that the annual reappraisal valuation cycle be retained for a number of reasons, including fairness to taxpayers and compliance with the court order. The Task Force notes with approval the recommendation of the Special Committee on Property Taxation with respect to expansion of the Homestead Property Tax Relief program. Background Following a meeting involving the Governor, the Attorney General, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, and Judge Bullock, the Legislative Coordinating Council (LCC) appointed the Task Force to review a number of issues and concerns raised by Judge Bullock in connection with the court order embodied in the April 12, 1996, amended journal entry in State of Kansas, ex rel., Carla J. Stovall, Attorney General v. Kansas Department of Revenue, John D. LaFaver, Secretary, Kansas Department of Revenue, and Mark S. Beck, Director, Division of Property Valuation, Kansas Department of Revenue, and the Honorable Sally Thompson, State Treasurer (Shawnee County District Court Order 92-CV-796). The LCC on November 20 directed that representatives of the Department of Revenue, State Board of Tax Appeals, the Kansas Association of Counties, and the Kansas County Appraisers Association join certain legislative tax committee members or their designees to comprise the Task Force. The LCC authorized the Task Force to conduct three one-day meetings prior to the start of the 1997 Session on January 13. Committee Activities At the initial meeting on December 9, staff provided the Task Force with flow charts on the current property-tax-appeals and payment-under-protest procedures. PVD presented information on the way the Kansas sales-ratio study is conducted. Addressing the technical reliability of the sales-ratio study, Dr. Ronald L. Wasserstein, Washburn University, told the Task Force that he had concluded that the study ``is a valid and reasonable method for monitoring appraisal uniformity, and is being conducted in Kansas in a manner consistent with industry standards and with statistical standards of good practice.'' PVD and the Attorney General's office briefed the Task Force extensively on the status of the court order and on the issues and concerns raised by Judge Bullock. PVD also provided information on the number of counties in ``substantial'' compliance as of January 1, 1996. At the December 17 meeting, the Attorney General's office responded to a number of questions raised by Task Force members with respect to the status of the case and what the court order actually requires. The Task Force asked the Attorney General's staff and PVD to seek clarification from the court with respect to the date of compliance determination in the court order. The Attorney General filed such a motion on December 31 and scheduled a meeting with Judge Bullock to discuss the motion on January 14, 1997. PVD provided information indicating that as of January 1, 1996, 26 counties were not in ``statistical'' compliance outlined in the court order for one or both of the residential and/or commercial subclasses of real property. PVD also provided a partial year-to-date report for calendar year 1996. The Task Force discussed policy options with respect to seeking an additional evaluation of the accuracy and efficacy of the sales-ratio study as a measuring tool. The Task Force learned at its January 8 meeting that the Division of Legislative Post Audit had been directed to perform such an evaluation. The Task Force also extensively discussed the tax implications of allowing land owners to continue to acquire use valuation tax treatment on commercially zoned parcels by planting crops. The Chairman of the State Board of Tax Appeals said that this tactic was occurring far more often than the Legislature realized. The Task Force discussed the possibility of eliminating the ``laundry list'' in K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 79-503a of additional factors (besides sales, cost, and income) which need to be taken into consideration by appraisers in the determination of fair market value. The Task Force asked the representative of the Kansas County Appraisers' Association to provide the ``USPAP'' market value definition for consideration. In terms of other potential amendments to K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 79-503a, the Task Force decided to take up at its final meeting the possibility of eliminating the 10 percent variance language. The Task Force asked PVD to conduct a comparison between their budget requests over the last four years and the final legislative appropriations results. After a discussion of taxpayer frustration with respect to the short amount of time available at the hearing officer/hearing panel level in the appeals process, the Task Force agreed to consider recommending changing certain dates within the appeals process. Conclusions and Recommendations The Task Force strongly recommends that Kansas retain the annual reappraisal valuation cycle for a number of reasons. · Decelerating the reappraisal cycle would increase the number of counties not in statistical compliance as measured by the court order. · A multi-year cyclical approach within which new property and improvements come on line at fair market value in the first year could tend to shift the property tax burden more heavily toward fast-growing counties. · A multi-year cyclical approach also could seem unfair to rural counties where values are declining. Owners of a grocery store on Main Street in a small town where the market value declines by $5,000 per year could be taxed based on a valuation that is too high. · Even if a multi-year cyclical reappraisal were somehow to be crafted to allow the grocery store described above to have its valuation go down every year but NOT ALLOW property with increasing values to be adjusted for several years at a time, the Task Force would have serious concerns about the constitutionality of such a system. How could ``fair market value'' mean something different for two different parcels depending solely on where the appraiser felt the valuations were relative to last year's valuations? · Freezing values for the residential and commercial subclasses of real property without freezing values for other classes and subclasses of property could raise serious constitutional concerns, as well. · With the exception of the 1.5 mill levy for state building funds and the mandatory 33 mill school district general fund levy, ``freezing'' values would in no way guarantee lower taxes. If values are normally increasing and are not allowed to increase, county clerks would simply set higher levies based on local units' legally adopted budgets, everything else being equal. · Assuming county clerks would be required to automatically set higher levies, motor vehicle taxes would simply increase that much faster beginning two years in the future. · Reducing somewhat the annual growth in the tax base would have implications with respect to mandating increased spending to continue to fully fund school finance relative to the Governor's Budget and current estimates. The statewide property tax base is projected currently to grow by 3 percent per year. · A taxpayer with a $100,000 house whose valuation is increasing by $4,000 per year may not be terribly happy under current law when he receives his valuation notice. But he is likely to be even more upset if he received a valuation notice every third year indicating an increase of $12,000. In order to facilitate the aim of achieving uniformity and equality, the Task Force recommends that the 1997 Legislature thoroughly analyze resource issues associated with PVD's budget and the requirements of the court order. The Task Force recommends that the standing tax committees study further the notion of replacing the definition of fair market value in K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 79-503a with the definition provided by ``USPAP'' standards. (The chairpersons of the standing committees agreed to hold hearings should such legislation be introduced.) While there was no consensus on the Task Force for a specific legislative solution, the Task Force encourages the standing tax committees to study legislation designed to clarify what the statutory definition of ``agricultural land'' for property tax purposes should be in order to combat some of the perceived abuses described by the Chairman of the State Board of Tax Appeals. The Task Force recommends the introduction of legislation to delete the 10 percent variance language from K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 79-503a to clearup any confusion such language may have caused. The Task Force notes that K.S. A. 79-1426 provides that a 10 percent variance shall not be considered violative of that statute, which provides for county appraisers to be removed from office and charged with a misdemeanor for willfully failing to properly appraise and list property. The Task Force recommends the introduction of legislation to change the initial property tax appeals deadline from April 1 to ``within 30 days of the mailing'' of the valuation notices. The Task Force notes that this should encourage counties to mail valuation notices earlier than the current March 1 mailing deadline and could allow taxpayers more time to present their cases at the hearing panel level. The Task Force also notes with approval the recommendation of the Special Committee on Property Taxation with respect to expanding the Homestead Property Tax Refund program by raising the total household income eligibility ceiling from $17,200 to $25,000. Kansas property tax expert Dr. Glenn W. Fisher has said that expansion of the Homestead program is the best targeted method of alleviating some of the property tax burden on certain elderly, disabled, and poor Kansans. On motion of Senator Emert the Senate adjourned until 2:30 p.m., Wednesday, January 15, 1997.