THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012
PAGE 7A
STATE
Wichita focuses on long-term tornado relief
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WICHITA — With debris cleanup now in its second week, immediate relief efforts for Kansas tornado victims have been scaled back as disaster help moves into the next stage.
The Small Business Administration began taking applications Tuesday for low-interest federal loans to homeowners, renters, businesses and nonprofit groups whose property was damaged or destroyed by the April 14 storms. The SBA loans are available in Sedgwick, Butler, Cowley, Harvey, Kingman, Reno and Sumner counties.
The Wichita Eagle reports that the American Red Cross, Midway-Kansas Chapter, has closed its shelter and fixed feeding site.
"We are working with the people who were affected to find more immediate shelter for them, more transitional and long-term housing," said James Williams, a Red Cross spokesman. "Now we want to encourage people who have been affected to visit us at the Oaklawn Activity Center where we have caseworkers who will listen to their needs and concerns and put them on a clear path to rebuilding their life and getting back to normal."
Cindy Wood is among the
affected Wichita residents. The tornado ripped away the rented mobile home she lived in with her three children and parents in the Pinaire Mobile Home Park.
"It is bumpy right now," she said. "Any place I try and rent is completely out of our price range. Once I stop cleaning up, I've got to go to the Salvation Army to see what they can do to help. The Red Cross gave me a little bit to help with replacing Mom and Dad's meds."
The Salvation Army is also no longer serving hot meals in the area, but has a mobile kitchen traveling through neighborhoods that provides sandwiches, water and snacks for volunteers.
"We have gone into another phase because people — those that still have their homes - have their utilities back on," said Maj. Douglas Rowland, city manager for the Salvation Army. "The immediate needs have been met, and now we look at the longer term."
Meanwhile, the cleanup continues. More than 500 loads of cut-up trees have been taken to Sedgwick County's designated burn pile in Oaklawn.
About 1,000 people clean up debris, work on the roofs, test equipment and put some temporary fixes in place Monday so Spirit's 10,800 employees can come back to work. Some production returned Friday. Spirit AeroSystems CEO Jeff Turner said Friday the company is already back online in many departments following the tornado that hit the facility in south Wichita on April 14.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
POLITICS
Legislative leaders struggle to redraw political boundaries
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOPEKA — Kansas legislative leaders said Tuesday that work remains on drawing new political boundaries, and they expect several busy and contentious days, if not weeks, as lawmakers prepare for the final push of the 2012 session.
The House and Senate return Wednesday from a three-week break with several major issues to resolve, including work on next year's $14 billion budget and redrawing the state's political
boundaries. The new districts must be completed by May 10 to avoid delays in the June candidate filing deadline and August primary.
"I hope the Legislature will not waste a lot of time in the initial days of the wrap-up session and we'll get right to business," said House Minority Leader Paul Davis, a Lawrence Democrat. "We have a tendency to sort of procrastinate until we run out of days. I hope that is not the case."
Democratic and Republican leaders said the redistricting work
has become highly partisan but that it needs to be resolved quickly. Lawmakers must redraw the boundaries of the 125 state House districts, 40 Senate districts and four U.S. House districts to reflect changes in population in the 2010 census.
Gov. Sam Brownback said legislators must put resolving redistricting issues "front and center." Both Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Attorney General Derek Schmidt have warned legislators that delays could lead to administrative problems and lawsuits or could force the state to postpone its primary election.
"It's been moving way late, and it's time — past time — to get redistricting done," Brownback said.
House and Senate negotiators are expected to resume talks on proposals to reduce the state income tax for individuals and eliminate the tax for nearly 200,000 businesses. However, legislators have also approved two versions of a plan to share state revenues with local units of government to reduce
property taxes by as much as $180 million over the next four years.
Legislators learned April 13 that the state can expect $252 million more in revenues over the next 18 months as the economy improves. That gives the state more breathing room in the $14 billion budget to restore cuts made in previous years and pay for income tax cuts.
"We have a lot of unresolved issues, but the budget is the highest priority," said Senate President Steve Morris, a Hugoton Republican.
to seeing income tax cuts passed this session as a means to creating jobs and reviving an economy that has a 6.2 percent unemployment rate.
Brownback remains committed
"We need to get to a pro-growth tax position. We've got the proposal there. It's queued up. It's paid for," Brownback said. "We need to do it, and then we need to get a budget through that takes care of the needs of the state."