KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2010 / NEWS
7A
STATE
Texting and seat belt use main components of bill
BY ROBERT ALTMAN
raltman@kansan.com
Members of the Kansas House and Senate last week debated stricter seat belt laws and new restrictions on texting for Kansas drivers.
The Senate has approved Bill 351, which would outlaw texting while driving and make the offense punishable with a $100 fine and all subsequent charges misdemeanors.
While the House has passed a similar bill on texting, it will now discuss a Senate bill that would allow officers to pull a driver over primarily for not wearing a seat-belt. Currently, an officer must cite another violation before issuing a seat belt ticket.
Sen. Dwayne Umbarger, R-Thayer and chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, calls the seat belt bill a lifesave, as it requires all occupants to buckle up instead of just front seat passengers. He also said the state may be eligible for federal dollars as an incentive if the bill is enacted before the end of the fiscal year.
"That's just a little more frosting on the cake, but that's not the genesis or main motive of getting this passed," he said. "It's about safety, It's about human life."
The Kansas Department of
Transportation found in an extensive survey that about 62 percent of people buckled up on city streets in 2009 compared with 91 percent on rural interstates such as Interstate 70.
Umbarger said it would be difficult for officers to be certain of seeing a passenger without a seat belt and thought it would pertain more to slower traffic where people are less
people are less likely to buckle.
"I think this is going to be more pertinent in the city limits, and even then it's going to be somewhat challenging," he said. "I guess if in doubt, the officer would pull that person c
pull that person over."
Another difficult feat for officers will be determining whether a person is texting, or simply dialing to make a phone call, which is legal. Kansas would join 21 other states with texting bans, some of which prohibit all cell phone use.
City, who opposes the texting bill, said drivers aren't only distracted by cell phones.
"I think it's kind of bullshit," Tom Attwater, a sophomore from Wichita, said "If you're going to ban texting you need to ban all cell phone use so there is no gray area for officers."
If you're going to ban texting you need to ban all cell phone use so there is no gray area for officers.
Steinere said the real problem is weak testing requirements
Sen. Chris Steineger, D-Kansas
"My real beef with the texting bill was that it only applied to texting while driving, not eating a burrito, or applying makeup or shaving, which I've seen people do," he said.
TOM ATTWATER sophomore from Wichita
for licenses,
and that a thorough ban needs to be enacted upon all distractions while driving.
He said that with proper driver education the roads would be safe enough to not
place restrictions on drivers.
"You don't need much more than a pulse and $25 to get a driver's license," he said. "The higher the education requirement, the better the driver and the lower number of accidents and fatalities."
The House have yet to vote on their version of the texting ban, and the seat belt bill will now go to the House, which rejected a similar bill last year.
- Edited by Drew Anderson
STATE
Proposed bill could double wholesale alcohol tax
BY ROBERT ALTMAN saltman@kansan.com
As the state deals with budget cuts, legislators are digging through law books to find ways to make up for the growing deficit.
The House Taxation Committee heard testimony Friday for a bill that would double the gallonage tax on alcohol in an effort to aid mental health and disability programs affected by the cuts.
“In times like this our job is to look everywhere to find out the best way to balance the budget,” said State Rep. Jeff King, R Independence, vice-chair of the taxation committee. “So I don't mind that we're looking at this and other taxes.”
Proponents of the bill point to the fact that the gallonage tax hasn't increased since 1977, but alcohol wholesalers urge that the industry already contributes enough money to the state through other alcohol taxes.
The bill would double the tax on alcohol by the gallon from 18 to 36 cents for beer, 30 to 60 cents for light wine and $2.50 to $5 for hard liquor. That's close to an extra 55 cents on a 30-pack of beer, or 75 cents a handle. Although the tax directly targets wholesalers, consumers can expect an increase in cost as store owners consequently
implement price adjustments to accommodate the new tax. It is estimated the bill would generate approximately $22 million in revenue a year.
Philip Bradley, CEO of the Kansas Licensed Beverage Association, said that while the gallonage tax is a flat rate, the other three taxes are taxed at a percentage and therefore have adjusted appropriately to inflation through the year.
"The alcohol industry returns more revenue to the state of Kansas for every dollar that is spent in one of their places, than any other business," he said.
"And therefore it seems unrea-
Rep. Pat Colloton, R Leawood, said that community mental health centers have seen cuts from $30 million to $10 million in the last year and a half, and that because of staff cuts, over 4,000 of the state's developmentally disabled patients are on a waiting list for care.
that would be derived from the gallonage tax is not going to be a drop in the bucket of what the deficit is going to be at the end of this year."
sonable to ask it to pay any more in this crisis."
"If you vote against this bill
Bradley said he sympathized with the programs that are receiving less government support, but felt it was unfair to ask one industry to make up the lost funding.
"In times like this our job is to look everywhere to find out the best way to balance the budget."
"There's absolutely no way any reasonable person believes that the alcohol industry should bear the burden for the state's problem all alone," he said. "And the money
JEFF KING
State representative
R-Independence
you're saying it's more important that they save a few pennies on beer and wine than it is to take care of our most vulnerable citizens," she said. Coltonl said she didn't.
think the minor increases would affect alcohol sales in any way, but proponents of the bill such as Bradley fear raised liquor prices would drive customers across state lines.
King said the House Taxation Committee would debate and vote on the bill within the next few weeks.
— Edited by Becky Howlett
www.ContinuingEd.ku.edu (keyword: testprep) • 785-864-5823
Playing the part
Mia Iverson/KANSAN
Tall Beth Friedman, a senior from Salon, Ohio, and Benjamin Richard Sullivan, a senior from Lenexa, perform in the University Theatre's production of "Arms and the Man" Sunday afternoon in Crafton-Preacher Theater located in Murphy Hall. The play premiered on Friday.
Mia Iverson/KANSAN
Maggie Parker, a sophomore from Bella Vista, Ark., and Garrett Lawson, a junior from Bixby, Okla., perform in the University Theatre's production of "Arms and the Man" Sunday. The play will run at 2:30 p.m. March 4-6 at the Crafton-Preyer Theatre.
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