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Kansan staff
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Investigations editor Miranda Davis
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The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of The Kansan are 50 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at the Kansan business office, 2051 A1 Dale Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS,.
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House bill could lower legislators' allowance
OPEKA - Lawmakers are discussing two bills that could decrease legislators' spending allowances and halt salary and allowance pay after 90 days of a legislative session.
per diem for legislators from the end of the standard 90 days until the end of the session, said Tom Day, director of legislative administrative services. That figure doesn't include staff and administrative costs or money saved from legislators who refused their salaries or per diems during that time.
On Thursday, members of the House General Government Budget Committee discussed House Bill 2487. The bill proposes lowering the per diem — the daily spending allowance each
legislator is allocated — from $140 to $129. Under current law, legislators either receive the federal employee per diem amount for Topeka or $109, whichever is higher. The bill would change the provision to a set pay of $129.
The change would save about $170,000 in fiscal year 2017, legislative analysts said. It could also save a small amount this year because the decrease would take effect during the current pay cycle for lawmakers.
Another bill, House Bill 2624 would end salary and per diem at the end of the normal 90-day session. If the legislative session runs longer than 90 days, lawmakers' compensation would end at that time. However, legislators who travel would still receive compensation for mileage. If the session ended before 90 days, the per diem would end with it.
Rep. Don Hineman,
R-Dighton, said the bill
HB 2624 wouldn't save the state any money unless the legislative session continued past the 90-day limit as it did in 2015.
However, Rep. Craig McPherson, R-Overland Park, expressed concerns about the legislation because it would force legislators to work for no pay.
could encourage efficiency in government.
During last year's record 114-day session, the state paid approximately $900,000 in salaries and
No action was taken on the bills Thursday.
- Edited by Leah Sitz and Deanna Ambrose
$350M Central District Development Plan will address needs for influx of freshmen
▶ MATT OSTROWSKI
@matto1233
As the University gains first-year freshmen, it has found itself lacking in another area.
The consistent increase in freshman enrollment over the past four years has created a need for more student housing, said Joe Monaco, director of strategic communications for the University.
The construction of those two buildings, which have yet to be named, are the fourth
"We have been looking at enrollment numbers, and our plans for growing the campus go back to 2010," he said. "There is a need for additional bed space. We have now had four straight years of freshman class growth."
In the fall of 2015, the University reported 4,187 freshmen on campus, an increase of 2.5 percent from the fall of 2014.
The student housing issue will be addressed with the construction of new apartment complexes for students, and a new residence hall. According to Monaco, both will be located on 19th Street near Oliver Hall. The apartment complex will house 220 student athletes and 500 traditional students.
The housing need will be addressed by the Central District Development plan, a construction project that has begun preparations with the tearing down of Stouffer Place apartments. The project, which has had several state legislators questioning the process through which the University received funding for it, will cost approximately $350 million, and will be paid mostly through bonds, Monaco said.
"There's a few components to it, but essentially it addresses several needs we have related to science facilities, student space, student housing, parking and utilities," he said.
The main issue at hand for some legislators is that the University went through a Wisconsin public finance agency for a $327 million bond instead of waiting for legislative approval. University officials, including Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little, appeared before the House Appropriations Committee to answer questions of why the University went through the firm.
and fifth new student housing options added to campus in the past two years. Oswald and Self Halls opened at the start of this school year, and McCarthy Hall opened in October 2015.
"Our residence halls are currently running full," said Diana Robertson, director of the department of student housing. "We fill them each year, and with the projected growth in enrollment, and particularly the growth in international student population, that's the growth area and that's why we need more beds to be able to meet that demand."
First-year freshmen are not required to live in residence halls, but according to Robertson, first-year freshmen are the wide majority of students living at residence halls.
Moving athletes out of their previous home, the Jayhawker Towers, will alleviate some of the student-housing pressure.
*Thad Allton/Toppea Capital-Journal/AP*
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little attends a house appropriations committee hearing in Topeka on Feb. 9.
"We've had a long-standing wait list for Jayhawker Towers most years," Robertson said.
The residence hall is scheduled to be completed in 2017,with the apartment complex completed in 2018.
The project will also include a new dining center for Oliver Hall and its new counterpart, Robertson said. Oliver's current dining center will turn into an Academic Service Center, similar to the one found on Daisy Hill.
- Edited by Deanna Ambrose
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