[ Truckers poke fun at Graves ]

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Mar 7, 2002 by Capital-Journal

Bill Graves

Nancey Harrington

Truckers poke fun at Graves

Gov. Bill Graves may have some bridge-building to do when he rolls into his new job heading a national truckers' lobbying organization next year.

Graves, who is completing his final year as governor, has announced he will become president and chief executive officer of the American Trucking Associations in January. But he has already drawn fire from the trucking community for his proposal to raise taxes on diesel fuel.

Lawmakers are facing a budget gap of $426 million, which is expected to grow when new revenue forecasts are released on Friday. Graves has proposed raising taxes on sales, cigarettes and motor fuels. The taxes would be used to prevent cuts in education and social services, as well as to preserve the comprehensive transportation program that the 1999 Legislature approved.

But in this month's issue of Overdrive, a 40-year-old national trucking magazine with a mail circulation of 100,000, editors took issue with Graves' proposed tax increase. Beside the headline "With friends like this ..." a picture of Graves appeared on which devil's horns, a moustache and beard had been crudely drawn.

The accompanying text read: "Kansas Gov. Bill Graves, who will become president of the American Trucking Associations when he leaves office in 2003, says one of the final things he wants to accomplish as governor is a 1-cent diesel tax increase. Thanks, Guv --- we'll remember that."

In an interview Wednesday, senior editor Andy Duncan said his magazine is read mostly by independent truckers. With an excise tax on trucks, property taxes on a $100,000 vehicle, income tax, and testing and licensing fees, truckers already feel "singled out," Duncan said. Because truckers put hundreds of gallons of diesel in their trucks each week, a penny per gallon would hurt, he said.

"It's not unusual at all that Graves is proposing this," Duncan said, noting that many state legislatures are considering motor fuels taxes because of budget shortfalls.

"What is interesting is we already know what his next job is going to be," he continued. The fact that it's being proposed by the future ATA head is worth some comment."

Asked about the magazine item, Graves' spokesman, Don Brown, said Graves knew he would be criticized by the trucking industry for proposing the tax, but "without that money, portions of that transportation package will not be built."

"Right now, Bill Graves is governor of Kansas and this is what he thinks is the best policy for Kansas," Brown said. "He has made it very clear that he isn't working for ATA until January 14, 2003."

Senate gives nod to map

The Senate gave tentative approval Wednesday to a bill redrawing Kansas House districts.

But the upper chamber remained tied in knots over its own redistricting map, which Gov. Bill Graves vetoed Tuesday.

The 125-district House map consolidates four Democratic incumbents into two districts and forces another Democrat to run against a Republican incumbent. Graves is expected to sign the House map.

Natalie Haag, Graves' chief of staff, began the process of piecing together a compromise map Wednesday, meeting with small groups of senators.

Conservative Republicans who joined in a coalition with the Senate's 11 Democrats to pass the vetoed map criticized Graves for doing what he accused them of doing in his veto message.

Graves charged that coalition members had circumvented the committee process and drawn their map "in the dark of night."

Sen. Nancey Harrington, R-Goddard, said Graves was doing essentially the same thing by designating his chief of staff to draw a new map.

"She's a committee of one who is not elected and who doesn't serve on the redistricting committee," Harrington said. "I think it is somewhat hypocritical."

The vetoed map forced a western Kansas Republican into the district of a Democratic incumbent. It also created a new Johnson County district that moderate Republicans fear will elect an anti- abortion conservative.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, met with Haag on Wednesday.

"She showed us a work in progress," Hensley said. "It was a map that had a tremendous number of flaws in it."

Hensley and leaders of the conservative GOP faction say they plan to use their 21 votes to substitute the vetoed map for whatever compromise map moderate Republicans bring to the Senate floor.

House to debate research bill

The Kansas House is expected to vote on a bill today that would authorize $110 million in state-backed bonds to build specialized research centers at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas State University and Wichita State University.

The money would go to build a brain research center at KU, a biosecurity facility at K-State and to expand aviation research at Wichita State.

The bill was on Wednesday's debate calendar but leaders decided to skip over it pending the outcome of a Senate vote on the House's redistricting map.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Kenny Wilk, R-Lansing, a supporter of the research initiative, said House members wanted to make sure the Senate honored its pledge to pass the House map without changes.