Three of the four members of the Salina delegation to the Kansas Legislature were in attendance Saturday at the final legislative update of 2014 at the Visit Salina Annex of the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce.

Due to work commitments, Senator Tom Arpke did not attend.

Most questions centered around the decision by the Legislature to end due process or tenure for teachers as part of a increase in funding for public schools, following a ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court that the state was not spending enough on public education.

71st district representative Diana Dierks said the decision was “a travesty of democracy”. Dierks said teachers should have had a chance to meet with the legislature to voice their views.

Both 108th district representative Steven Johnson, and 69th district representative J.R. Claeys did not like policy being added to the school funding bill, they were concerned if the had voted against the elimination of tenure placed in the bill by the Kansas Senate, something worse might have been added.

In regards to the recent decision by Moody’s Investors to downgrade the state bond rating, Johnson said if there was a need for a downgrade it should have occurred five years ago with concerns about the KPERS pension system and two years ago after the legislature passed income tax cuts.

Johnson said that the pension system has improved since 2008, and that meaningful growth in revenue for the state or meaningful spending cuts will be needed after the tax cuts. Johnson said he was not sure either will happen.

Claeys said a lot of attention has been paid to the $92 million dollar shortfall in revenue for the state, but many do not remember the $100 million dollar surplus in anticipated revenue in January.

Dierks said she was concerned about the revenue shortfall in April and no one knows what is going to happen.

All three said the supported the passage of a law that made gun laws uniform across the state of Kansas.

When asked if they were members of the group “ALEC” American Legislative Exchange Council, both Johnson and Dierks said no, and Claeys said he did not renew his membership.

Both Dierks and Claeys have filed for re-election, Johnson said he has not, but plans to soon.