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Renew Kansas Biofuels Association encouraged its congressional delegation in the United States House of Representatives to join a bipartisan letter to newly-confirmed United States Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin on the importance of fulfilling the Renewable Fuels Standard. The letter, available to view via the link below, emphasized the important role the American biofuels industry plays in maximizing energy abundance and affordability. "Steady growth in U.S. biofuel production means more American fuel in the marketplace and lower prices at the pump for hardworking families who have spent years suffering under high...

Schools from around the state brought students to the statehouse this week to celebrate Kansas Day as lawmakers scrambled against the clock to get their bills introduced in this truncated 2025 legislative session. Social issues including gender affirming care dominated the headlines this week. Meanwhile, the first major piece of property tax legislation cleared the Senate chamber eliminating the state’s 1.5 mill property tax levy. With the legislature’s, “Turnaround,” scheduled for Feb. 20, a date by which all non-exempt bills must be passed out of their house of origin, committee chairs...

Following Monday’s holiday, lawmakers took advantage of the short work week and quickly introduced a flurry of bills ahead of the Jan. 27 deadline concluding the window for individual bill drafts. In all, nearly 170 pieces of legislation have been introduced in the 2025 Kansas legislative session, with many more ideas still in the drafting queue. The House of Representatives passed its resolution of the joint rules for the 2025-2026 biennium to the Senate for consideration, however, most of the heavy-lifting was conducted in committees during the legislature’s second week in...

As your eyes and ears at the capitol, we were in attendance to welcome legislators into the new biennium on your behalf on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. Following the election in November, where all 125 House of Representatives seats and 40 Senate seats were open, more than 30 new lawmakers were sworn in to represent their districts’ interests. Governor Laura Kelly delivered the annual State of the State address on Wednesday where she focused on economic development initiatives, a new strategic plan to conserve water and her disagreement toward republican leadership’s...

On Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, Renew Kansas Biofuels Association submitted responses to a request for information on biofuel tax credit policy by the United States House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee. On Nov. 18, 2024 Congressman Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, of the House Ways and Means Committee released a joint letter seeking stakeholder input on biofuel tax policy. The request for information (RFI) pertains to biofuel tax credits created by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 which extended the existing 40A $1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit through 2024 and created the...

2024 Election Report The 2024 election was full of surprises. Below is an initial overview. Mail in ballots will continue to be counted until Friday, meaning a couple of close races may still change. The final votes will be certified sometime next week. All unofficial election results can be found on the Kansas Secretary of State’s website. President of the United States Former president Donald Trump won 57 percent of the vote in Kansas, roughly the same as in 2016 and 2020. United States Congress District 1: Incumbent Republican Tracey Mann won reelection in the...

Members of the United States House of Representatives, including the entirety of the Kansas congressional delegation, worked to introduce the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, which is a bipartisan effort to allow for the year-round availability of E15 fuel nationwide. Renew Kansas Biofuels Association has been in frequent contact with the Kansas congressional delegation on the issue of year-round E15 and has frequently encouraged their support of the effort. The association applauds representatives Sharice Davids, Ron Estes, Jake LaTurner and Tracey Mann for their support of the legislation. "We thank...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final guidance and a test method to evaluate efficacy claims for antimicrobial products against Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila) in cooling tower water. Legionnaires’ disease (LD) is a serious type of pneumonia (lung infection) acquired by breathing in water droplets contaminated with L. pneumophila bacteria. Cooling towers are a potential breeding ground for this bacterium. L. pneumophila can disperse through the air in water droplets if cooling towers are not properly maintained. The incidence of LD in the United States has been increasing since...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today announced the publication of a heat standard proposal that would require employers to develop an injury and illness prevention plan to control heat hazards in workplaces affected by excessive heat. “The nation’s first-ever federal safety standard addressing excessive heat in the workplace,” would apply to all employers conducting outdoor and indoor work in all general industry, construction, maritime, and agriculture sectors where OSHA has jurisdiction. Excluded from the rule would be short-duration employee exposures to heat, emergency response activities, work at indoor sites kept below 80°F,...

On June 18, in response to an action by Governor Laura Kelly, the Kansas legislature convened a one-day Special Session where two matters were debated. The first was a comprehensive tax relief bill. The second item was approval of a Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonding package intended to incentivize the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals sports franchises to come to Kansas City, Kan. Both bills were passed, and the governor has indicated she will sign the bills into law. COMPREHENSIVE TAX RELIEF – Senate Bill 1: The House and Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass...

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