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2017 1867
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
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Thursday, February 23, 2017
Veto override falls short; next steps unclear By ANDY MARSO Kansas News Service
The five-year fight over Gov. Sam Brownback’s efforts to remake Kansas income tax code came to a head Wednesday, and 16 senators voted to let it continue. With the governor’s signature fiscal accomplishment hanging by a thread, the Kansas Senate fell three votes short in an effort to override a Brownback veto hours after the House did so. The legislation Brown-
Gov. Sam Brownback announced Tuesday night that he would veto a tax bill. KANSAS NEWS SERVICE/ANDY MARSO
back vetoed, House Bill 2178, seeks to end persistent budget shortfalls by undoing many of the income tax cuts
he signed in 2012. The tax bill passed 22-18 last week in the Senate, but it needed five more votes to reach the veto override threshold and only gained two. Senate President Susan Wagle and Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, both Republicans who opposed the tax bill, said they preferred to hold out for another budget solution. Sen. Caryn Tyson, R-Parker, who represents Allen County, also voted against the tax bill.
“This isn’t the last train out of the station,” Denning said before he voted to sustain the governor’s veto. The Legislature faces a deficit of more than $300 million in the current fiscal year that ends June 30. Many legislators have said they won’t entertain Brownback’s proposed one-time fix for that — liquidating a long-term investment fund — until they get a tax bill that addresses projected future deficits. That includes a gap of about $550 million next fiscal year.
Brownback’s 2012 bill exempted more than 300,000 business owners from paying any income tax on “nonwage” revenue. It also sliced individual income tax rates and eliminated one bracket. “This isn’t the last train out of the station.”
At the time, Senate Republican leaders said Brownback told them it was just a negotiating point and they felt duped by his administration See VETO | Page A5
Care with wind farm contracts urged By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
SpaceX Dragon capsule
SpaceX aborts attempt to dock with ISS By NINA AGRAWAL Los Angeles Times (TNS)
A SpaceX capsule carrying more than 5,000 pounds of cargo aborted its attempt to dock at the International Space Station early Wednesday because of an “easily correctable” GPS error, officials said. It is scheduled to try again Thursday. This was not the mission’s first small delay. SpaceX scuttled its planned launch Saturday because of a potential issue with the Falcon 9 rocket meant to propel the Dragon capsule into space. See SPACEX | Page A5
MORAN — A handful of farmers were warned here Tuesday evening to explore fully before signing any contract that proposed use of their land for wind farm turbines. “I hope you are here ahead” of signing a contract, said Roger A. McEowen, Kansas Farm Bureau professor of agricultural law and taxation at Washburn University’s School of Law. Of the eight attendees with farm interests, three have been approached about land for a wind farm. A fourth, Gary Covey, already has signed on with NextEra. He expressed no regrets. McEowen said wind farm contracts often are modeled after oil and gas leases, some having originated a century ago, and “all are written by the company.” EDP Renewables, a subsidy of an international energy company based in Madrid, Spain, already has lease options
Roger McEowen, Kansas Farm Bureau professor of agricultural law and taxation at Washburn University’s School of Law, speaks in Moran Tuesday about wind farm contracts. REGISTER/BOB JOHNSON on 14,000 acres north of U.S. 54 in the east part of Allen County. Rory Peterson, associate director of development for EDP in Kansas City, Kan., told the Register his company
expected to erect between 58 and 100 turbines, with two or three and no more than five on a section (640 acres) of land. NextEra is a more recent player, and has designs for a
wind farm in Bourbon and southeast Allen counties. Sam Massey, NextEra project director, is not ready to attach See WIND FARM | Page A5
Planetary find CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — For the first time, astronomers have discovered seven Earth-size planets orbiting a single nearby star — and these new worlds could hold life. This cluster of planets is less than 40 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius, according to NASA and the Belgian-led research team who announced the discovery Wednesday. The planets circle tightly around a dim dwarf star called Trappist-1, barely the size of Jupiter. Three are in the so-called habitable zone, the area around a star where water and, possibly life, might exist. The others are right on the doorstep. Scientists said they need to study the atmospheres before determining whether these rocky, terrestrial planets could support some sort of life. But it already shows just how many Earth-size planets could be out there — especially in a star’s sweet spot, ripe for extraterrestrial life. The more planets like this, the greater the potential of finding one that’s truly habitable. Until now, only two or three Earth-size planets had been spotted around a star.
Hitting the high notes More than 200 high school musicians descended upon Marmaton Valley High School Wednesday for the Three Rivers League Music Festival. All-league concert band and choir students performed a 30-minute concert for the public at the conclusion of the festival. At top left, Marmaton Valley’s Kari Shadden plays in the TRL band. At top right, Marmaton Valley’s Rachel Shaffer, from left, Clara Boyd, Isabelle Bigelow and Selena Veenstra sing with the all-league choir. Students from Crest and Yates Center also participated. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Quote of the day Vol. 119, No. 83
“Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot.” — Groucho Marx 75 Cents
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