By DARRIN STINEMAN

Salina Journal

When the Kansas Legislature goes into session on Jan. 14, discussions regarding coal energy could go nuclear.

Rep. Josh Svaty -- who has seen the discussions in the Legislature get heated -- but not necessarily on the subject of energy -- said during an address to about 35 members of the Downtown Lions Club on Wednesday that the 2008 session could be a particularly volatile.

"This session is going to be about energy, and more specifically, it is going to be about Holcomb," Svaty said in reference to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment's decision in October to deny a permit to greatly expand a coal-fired Sunflower Electric generator in Holcomb. "The political wonk in me is saying, 'This is really going to be exciting, because of the storm that we're seeing developing.' It should make for a really, really interesting session."

The ingredients of the storm, said Svaty, D-Ellsworth, include the dynamic between the following players: Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who supported the KDHE decision ("and for all intents and purposes, (she) was pretty engaged in that happening"); Speaker of the House Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, a native of southwest Kansas who strongly opposed KDHE's decision; and Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, another southwest Kansas resident with constituents who stand to gain from the plant expansion.

"(Morris) has a history of working with the governor on a lot of things," Svaty said, "but he lives in the same neighborhood as the speaker, which is the same neighborhood as the would-be Holcomb power plant."

Neufeld already has issued an ultimatum, Svaty said.

"The speaker of the House has said that if we don't do exactly what he wants to do with Holcomb in the first two weeks, he'll essentially shut the Legislature down and we won't get anything through," said Svaty, whose first term started in 2003. "If I've learned anything, it's that compromise tends to rule the day, and shutting things down doesn't tend to solve anything."

Still, gridlock is looking like a distinct possibility, he said.

"What concerns me a little bit is that neither side, neither the speaker's side nor the governor's side, seems to be talking about this middle ground that we do need to find in order to move forward," Svaty said. "That is where, hopefully, the (Energy and Utilities) Committee can find some sort of policy that can move the state of Kansas forward and will be in the best interest of all of the state, not just now but 30 years from now."

Svaty, a member of the Energy and Utilities Committee, said he understands the need for cheap electricity, especially in western Kansas, where rates tend to be significantly higher. But coal-fired plants aren't necessarily the answer, he said.

"Right now, coal is the least-cost power source, but we have to think in terms of 10 or 20 years from now and will it continue to be the least-cost power source," said Svaty, who called himself a "huge supporter" of wind energy. "I don't think you could find hardly anyone that says 20 years from now coal, the way we know it today, will be the least-cost power source. It just simply won't be."

Move over, education

Legislative sessions have featured numerous meltdowns in recent years, mostly over how to appropriately fund the state's education system. Not this year.

"It's going to be much quieter this year," Svaty said. "We're going to be looking at, perhaps, what happens in the next two or three years, but I don't see any major change to it."

The state is doing well enough economically to pay off bonds that were issued to cover mounting debts to pay for education, Svaty said.

Taxes, transportation

The state's 10-year comprehensive transportation plan ends in 2009, and waning federal funding puts the future of the state's transportation system in doubt, Svaty said.

"The federal government is not coming through with the transportation dollars that they have in the past," he said. "The state is now going to have to make that up."

Svaty mentioned Saline County's huge inventory of outdated bridges and extremely limited funds to address those needs, and he said smaller counties have it even worse.

"They don't have the tax base to fix bridges which get little to no use but play a role in reaching areas of our counties," he said.

Abner Perney, a member of the Salina City Commission, asked if a gasoline tax would be added to help pay for transportation.

"I've heard it being floated around," Svaty said. "I have a hard time believing it would pass this year, because it's an election cycle and no one wants to come home and say, 'Well, I was able to raise the price of gas for you.' "

Need for prenatal care

A comprehensive program to improve prenatal care is the best way to make Kansans healthier, Svaty said.

"We're still seeing evidence now that's overwhelming that prenatal care is the absolute best thing you can do for your children," he said. "It makes them healthier, and healthier kids make for healthier adults and less of a burden on the system.

"I think we will see some sort of legislation pushing prenatal care, which is one of those things I think everyone will be on board with, but it will be a matter of how big we want to make the legislation. I hope we're pretty aggressive with it."

Gambling's looking good

Svaty was asked if he thought the Kansas Supreme Court would uphold the expanded gambling law passed in April that permits a single casino each in Ford, Sumner and Wyandotte counties and either Crawford or Cherokee county -- as well as slot machines at racetracks in Kansas City and outside Pittsburg.

The attorney general's office has asked the court to determine whether the new gambling law adheres to a constitutional amendment allowing a state-owned and operated lottery.

"I believe so," Svaty said. "That was so thoroughly passed over by the legislators for so many years that I can't imagine they would propose something that would not be allowed by the courts."

Svaty went on to say that he believes expanded gambling will be "a real success story" for the state."

Svaty was less committal regarding the success he is projecting for the upcoming legislative session, but he said he's keeping a positive outlook.

"I don't want to call it an impending disaster -- yet -- because I'm always optimistic every time I go into it," he said. "But I do think we have some very serious hurdles we have to overcome with the Holcomb energy decision."

n Reporter Darrin Stineman can be reached at 822¬­-1416 or by e-mail at dstineman@salina.com.

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