GCDP News

Rep. Goyle Fights for Funeral Privacy Bill
       Funeral privacy bill passes House committee Rep. Raj Goyle testifies in support of HB 2970, expects
swift approval on House floor Rep. Raj Goyle, D-Wichita, testified today before the House Federal and
State Affairs Committee in support of House Bill 2970, a revised version of the 2007 Kansas Funeral
Privacy Act.
       Last week, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled the judicial trigger provision of the Kansas Funeral
Privacy Act unconstitutional. This ruling consequently struck down the law, but the Court made no
findings regarding substantive provisions of the statute. As co-sponsor of the 2007 legislation with Rep.
Jeff Whitham, R-Garden City, Goyle took immediate action to remedy the technicality.
       “We are pleased that we are one step closer to providing Kansas families protection from hateful
protests as they mourn the passing of their loved ones,” said Goyle. “I expect swift passage on the House
floor in the coming days.”
       House Bill 2970 removes the judicial trigger from the Kansas Funeral Privacy Act, which includes the
establishment of a 150-foot buffer zone around funerals to prevent protestors from engaging in public
demonstration.
       The House Federal and State Affairs Committee approved House Bill 2970 on a unanimous voice
vote. It will now advance to the House floor for consideration.

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Attorney General Six Honors Crime Victims in Kansas
In honor of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week and the 11th Annual Kansas Crime Victims’ Rights Conference, Attorney
General Steve Six spoke with professionals and volunteers about the importance of working together to serve victims. Six also
presented the Attorney General’s 2008 Victim Service Awards.

“To ensure victims’ rights, we have to effectively assist victims at every step in the criminal justice process. We must work as a
team—from first responders, to healthcare professionals, to victim advocates, to counseling centers,” Six said. “We can ensure
that each victim is treated appropriately and is given the opportunity to heal and more forward.”

Six spoke at the annual conference of professionals and volunteers who work with programs that assist crime victims. Six also
presented this year’s awards for outstanding service to crime victims.

The Criminal Justice Award recognizes exceptional work by a law enforcement professional in the area of victims’ rights. This
years’ award was given to Ellen Mitchell the Saline County Attorney.

Mitchell served for 24 years as an attorney in Saline County, first as an assistant county attorney, then city prosecutor and
currently as county attorney. During that time, she was committed to serving victims and identifying their needs.

Mitchell has served as Board President of the Domestic Violence Association of Central Kansas. She has dedicated her time to
educating many in her community about the needs of crime victims.

Mitchell was instrumental in starting the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner and Sexual Assault Response Team programs in Salina.

“Not only does she work to ensure victims’ rights are met, she delivers justice by prosecuting criminals to the fullest extent of
the law,” Six said.

The next award went to Verlene Kunz of Garden City for serving as an Outstanding Victim Advocate.

After retiring from SRS, Kunz completed the volunteer advocate training through the Spirit of the Plains Court Appointed Special
Advocates. She immediately began taking on the toughest cases. She helped kids who were the victims of sexual abuse, neglect,
and physical abuse.

Kunz assists victims and becomes a part of these children’s lives, even attending their graduations. She is a true example of a
“volunteer advocate.”

“Verlene has been a dream come true for these children, giving them the voice they deserve in court,” Six said.

The Community Champion Award, given to Officer Dwain Diehl of the Wichita Police Department, recognizes an individual who
made a positive contribution regarding the needs of victims in their community.

Officer Diehl was committed to stopping the “revolving door” for female prostitutes in the area of South Broadway in Wichita.
As a Community Policing Officer, he realized these women were the victims of sexual assault, rape and domestic abuse.

The “revolving door” occurs when the police arrest a prostitute, book them into jail and within hours find them on the street
again. Some of these women are drug addicts, homeless, and caught in a cycle of violence.

Officer Diehl wanted to offer more to make a real difference in these women’s lives. Working with the YWCA and other
community organizations, Project Butterfly was born.

This program offers hope, help, and an opportunity for a violence free life. Because of Officer Diehl and Project Butterfly, the
women receive treatment for their addictions, domestic violence and sexual assault education and the support they need to
establish a drug-free, violence-free, self-sufficient life.

“To date this wonderful program has served 160 women. And it is spreading to other communities in Kansas,” Six said. “Officer
Diehl has gone above and beyond to help victims in the Wichita community.”

The award for Outstanding Victim Service Organization was given to the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence
(KCSDV).

KCSDV is a network of programs reaching across the state whose primary focus is providing support and safety to the victims
of crime. KCSDV supports community based programs to ensure top-notch services are available to victims. They also
collaborate with state entities to expand services and make the most of available resources.

“This organization has been instrumental in the progress of victims’ rights and services across our state for years,” Six said.
“And they have worked very hard to make victim safety an important part of offender reform and accountability.”

The Annual Crime Victims’ Right Conference is hosted by Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Steve Six. It is an
educational opportunity for counselors, advocates, law enforcement and more to learn how to better serve crime victims.
Workshop topics include stalking, child victims, sexual assault, domestic violence, homicide, cyber crime, the Adam Walsh Act,
and more.

Moore Works to Improve Commercial Insurance Market for Kansas Businesses

Congressman Dennis Moore (Third District – Kansas) and Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (Fifteenth District - Ohio),
introduced legislation Tuesday to help bring down prices and increase coverage availability in the commercial property insurance
marketplace.

The legislation, referred to as the Increasing Insurance Coverage Options for Consumers Act, would do this by allowing risk
retention groups (RRGs) and risk purchasing groups (RPGs) to expand their insurance offerings to include commercial property
coverage. Currently, they are limited to offering liability coverage.

“My legislation will build upon the success of these groups in improving capacity in the liability marketplace by expanding
coverage to commercial property coverage,” said Moore, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee. “At the
same time, it will shore up corporate governance standards for these entities to ensure that the groups are operating in the best
interest of their members. The bipartisan support for this legislation is a testament to the need for this reform.”

In response to recurring shortages of liability insurance, Congress passed the Products Liability Risk Retention Act in 1981. This
legislation authorized a group of similar businesses with similar risk exposures to form RRGs to self-insure those risks on a
group basis and created RPGs to allow insurers to market on a group basis. In 1986, the Act was amended into its present form
to include all types of liability coverage while also providing that RRGs and RPGs would be regulated primarily by their
domiciliary states, with only limited regulatory oversight by non-domiciliary states in which the groups operate.

A 2005 study conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that RRGs have had an important effect on
increasing the availability and affordability of commercial insurance for certain groups with limited access to insurance, such as
medical malpractice insurance. The GAO also found, however, that the Act’s partial preemption of state insurance laws has
resulted in divergent state standards and limited regulator confidence in the system.

Congresswoman Pryce, who introduced the bill with Moore, echoed the importance of passing this important reform: “Risk
retention groups proved their effectiveness when the traditional liability insurance industry became cost-prohibitive to a number
of sectors in our economy like malpractice insurance, higher education, and public housing. With enhanced regulation, risk
retention groups should be expanded to provide affordable coverage to areas of our economy that have proven difficult to price,
such as catastrophic coverage.”

Moore and Pryce were joined by their colleagues Congressman John Campbell [R-CA] and Ron Klein [D-FL], who are original
cosponsors of the legislation. The legislation was introduced in advance of a Wednesday hearing on insurance regulation
scheduled to be held by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored
Enterprises.

Boyda Refuses Congressional Pay Raise, Uses Extra Salary to Create Scholarship for Kansas
Students

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (Kansas Second District) has announced that she will create a scholarship fund with a $4,100
automatic Congressional raise in pay.

Boyda said, “As the middle class struggles to get by on shrinking paychecks, it is unconscionable for Congress to vote itself a
pay raise. I voted against automatic raises last year and I have cosponsored another bill (H.R. 2934) that would suspend pay
raises to Members of Congress in 2008.”

“I just could not, in good conscience, put this raise to personal use.” said Boyda. “There are so many worthy causes in Kansas
that it took long and careful consideration to decide exactly where to put this money. I ultimately decided to put it toward the
education of tomorrow’s Kansas leaders.”

The requirements for the Representative Nancy Boyda Scholarship are:

Applicant must be a graduating senior residing in the Second District of Kansas who is planning to pursue studies in one of the
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields and planning to attend an accredited school in the state of
Kansas.

Applications must include the following information:

A statement of circumstances of financial need (completed Parent Financial Analysis form).
An essay of no more than 500 words answering the following two questions: “What do you think should be done to encourage
an interest in and the study of STEM fields?” and “Why is this your chosen area of study?”
Applicant should have at least a 3.0 G.P.A., and must provide verification of G.P.A. via a high school transcript or equivalent.
Proof of United States citizenship with a copy of a birth certificate or U.S. citizenship naturalization papers.
Procedure for selection of recipient:

An independent reading team of the Topeka Community Foundation will review and select the recipient of the scholarship.
The award is for one year and a family is eligible to receive the award one time.
In all other respects, these funds will be awarded without restriction to race, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation or disability.
The $1,500 annual scholarship will be paid to the college or university of choice and the student.
The scholarship fund will be managed by the Topeka Community Foundation, whose mission is to improve the quality of life in
the region by connecting donors to their philanthropic priorities as well as to the needs of the community, by increasing
charitable giving and providing leadership on critical community issues. The Foundation celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
It has more than $50 million in assets and granted more than $2 million in 2007.