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31 Jan

Posted at 07:11h in Advocacy
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2022 Legislative Session, Week 3 This week, the Legislature passed a map drawing new lines for the state’s four Congressional districts, held hearings on various bills proposing to exempt “food” from states sales tax, and advanced an economic development bill that would provide for incentives for specified industries to establish their national corporate headquarters in the state with specified capital investment of at least $1,000,000,000. In addition, the Committees on Agriculture received annual reports from the state commodity commissions, and the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on a bill making it unlawful to capture or possess an ornate box...

24 Jan

Posted at 08:32h in Advocacy
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2022 Legislative Session, Week 2 This week, the Legislature worked through bills and hearings, even while many legislators were absent due to positive COVID tests. The Senate passed a few bills of high importance, as the House also began initial committee work. Here are some of the highlights of the week. KDA Grain Warehouse Program Budget Enhancement In 2021, as part of an agreement with KDA to allow for increased fees on Kansas licensed commercial grain warehouses, KGFA requested, and received, an additional $60k in SGF for KDA’s grain warehouse program to pay for an additional...

17 Jan

Posted at 08:55h in Advocacy
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2022 Legislative Session Commences The Kansas legislature gaveled in on Monday, January 10, 2022, and your Association’s government affairs staff was at the capitol monitoring and weighing in on bills affecting our industry. It was a busy week in Topeka which saw hearings on various tax issues related to wildfires in the state and Governor Laura Kelly’s State of the State address. Key issues this session will include reapportionment and redistricting following the 2020 census, a Senate vote on the “Value Them Both” constitutional amendment question on abortion, possible legalization of medical marijuana, and deliberation of how to most appropriately spend the...

19 Dec

Posted at 13:58h in Industry News, Regulatory
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Late on Friday, December 17, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a split decision removing the stay on OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for large employers. The ETS requires covered employees to be vaccinated or wear a protective face covering and test weekly. The ETS was published in the Federal Register on November 5, 2021, and then immediately challenged in federal court by dozens of states and other plaintiffs. The very next day, a stay was issued on the emergency standard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. OSHA...

16 Dec

Posted at 08:47h in Industry News
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The selection committee for the Tomorrow’s Agribusiness Leaders (TAL) program met in early-December to review applications and select five members of the Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association and five members of the Kansas Grain and Feed Association to comprise the 24th class of agribusiness’ premier leadership development course. The selection committee, comprised of former TAL graduates chose: Michelle Busch (Syngenta); Garrett Buschjost (Koch Agronomic Services); Adam Butler (MKC); Douglas Graber (Producers Cooperative Association); Brandon Legg (Concordia Terminal LLC); Jacob Leis (CoMark Equity Alliance); Stacy Letourneau (Cloud County Cooperative Elevator); Adam Niehues (Jackson Farmers Inc.); Scotty Yerges (Team Marketing Alliance); and Mike Zacharias (MKC) to...

23 Nov

Posted at 09:12h in Advocacy
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In a one-day historic Special Session yesterday brought by legislative petition, the Kansas legislature passed House Bill 2001. The Special Session was called following legislative hearings where over a hundred people testified to a special committee on the negative affects the COVID-19 mandate would have on their employment status. The bill was championed by both House and Senate leadership and was the sole purpose for the Special Session. The Senate passed the bill 24-11 and the House passed it by a vote of 77-34. Your association joined others in the business community in lobbying against specific portions of the bill that...

22 Nov

Posted at 09:21h in Advocacy, Industry News
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The Kansas Grain and Feed Association board of directors have approved the association's 2022 legislative and regulatory policy guide in advance of the state's legislative session in January. The KGFA Policy Guide contains the policy and position statements of the Kansas Grain and Feed Association relating to state and federal legislative and regulatory issues. It is intended to serve as a general reference for Association members, legislators, and other state officials. The policy guide is reviewed and updated annually by the KGFA Legislative Committee and approved by the KGFA Board of Directors....

12 Nov

Posted at 07:16h in Industry News
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The Kansas Department of Transportation is committed to keeping the highways cleared whenever inclement weather impacts the state.In line with workforce shortages across the nation, KDOT does not have enough equipment operators – the agency’s primary snowplow operators – in a number of areas across Kansas. These shortages create the potential for highways to not be cleared of snow and ice as quickly as in the past.The agency has dealt with reduced staffing in the past, but the shortages are greater this year. KDOT is about 30% short of snowplow...

04 Nov

Posted at 06:33h in Industry News, Regulatory
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On Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, President Joe Biden released details of the administration's long-rumored COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The mandate includes two newly-released policies and updates the previously announced federal contractor/employee rule: Vaccine requirement for employers with 100 or more employeesVaccine requirement for health care workersNew timeline for federal contractors/employees of vaccination by Jan. 4, 2022. OSHA) is announcing the details of a requirement for employers with 100 or more employees to ensure each of their workers is fully vaccinated or tests for COVID-19 on at least a weekly basis. The OSHA rule will also require that these employers provide paid-time for employees to...

29 Oct

Posted at 07:10h in Industry News, Regulatory
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Jess McCluer | NGFA Vice President, Safety, Regulatory Affairs The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on Oct. 25 updated its COVID-19 technical guidance outlining procedures for religious objections to employer COVID-19 vaccination requirements, specifically relating to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The guidance focuses on questions that arise when applicants or employees seek exemptions from vaccine requirements. The seven key points from the EEOC’s update are: Title VII does not require employers to exempt employees from vaccine requirements for their political, social, or economic reasons, which are not...

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