Legislative Updates

Come to the Capitol Tomorrow – Thursday February 1, 2018 in show of support:

Press Conference with Senator Holland and Rep. Karleskint:

Kansas State Capitol
300 SW 10th Ave Room 212 N
Topeka, KS 66612
Thursday Feburary 1, 2018 at 3:00 PM

Thursday’s press conference will be about the legislation Senator Holland and Representative Karleskint are working on. This would place chicken processing factories and chicken CAFOs under rules requiring public notification and mandating a time frame for community and neighbor input. The purpose is so that something like Tyson could not be snuck into town in the dark of night like what happened inTonganoxie.

We need a grassroots effort of support. Please come to Topeka in a show of support. As we found out this summer, there is power in numbers.

Follow this bill introduced by KDHE SB 337, nicknamed the “Tyson Bill”

Last week the Kansas Department of Health & Environment requested legislation to change animal conversion units so that clusters of chicken houses with over 100,000 birds can be sited much closer to neighboring properties (4,000 feet down to 1,360 feet).

As state law is currently written, the number of birds is restricted by set back distances from neighbors. This is a move in opening the state up to contract poultry production and processing.

Read the full bill here:
http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/documents/sb337_00_0000.pdf

Protecting Water in Kansas – A Panel Discussion
Sponsored by the Sustainable Action Network

Date: Friday, February 2, 2018
Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Locatoin: 2110 Harper St., Lawrence, KS

The panel will consist of water activists who are leaders in their own organizations, and who draw upon varying perspectives for protecting our valuable waters. Our intent is to educate, inspire, bring additional people into the movement, collaborate, and mobilize to action. The following representatives from these groups will be the panelists:

Dawn Buehler – Friends of the Kaw: Kansas Riverkeeper
Craig Volland- Kansas Sierra Club
Thad Holcombe – Water Advocacy Team
Rachel Jefferson – Historic Northeast Midtown Association
Karin Pagel-Meiners – Wakarusa Group – Kansas Sierra Club
Jessica Skyfield – Kansas Water
Eric Kirkendall, moderator – Sustainability Action Network

The evening will begin with a pot luck dinner at 6:00pm.
7:00pm we will welcome everyone and give an overview of water issues concerning our local communities.

After introductions, each of the panelists will describe the state of water as they see it, and how their organization is working to protect our waters for the common good.

In the second hour, we want to explore how all of us can best work together as a team to define and spark action that will lead to substantive change. Each of the panelists and their organizations have distinctive approaches to these issues, and any potential actions will be more effective if we combine our efforts. We hope you will join us.