Toward the end of the legislative session in Kansas representatives vote on a variety of bills. Citizens use this as an opportunity to express their opinions "on the Hill." I had the opportunity to attend two events on the Hill in Kansas. The first was Hispanic Day on the Hill and the second was the Big Tent Coalition (BTC) Rally for disability rights.

Hispanic Day

Hispanic Day on the Hill was an event planned to acknowledge new members of the Kansas Advisory Committee on Hispanic Affairs. The Committee represents the needs and concerns of Latinos throughout the State. According to Steve Ramirez, member of the Kansas Advisory Committee on Hispanic Affairs and Assistant Director of the Equal Opportunity Staff at the University of Kansas, there are approximately 180,000 Latinos in the Kansas. Most are of Mexican descent, and the majority work in Southeast Kansas along the railroads in meat packing plants or the service industry. Most Latinos in the State are 2nd or 3rd generation, and are non-Spanish speakers.

As a result of the growing Latino population, there is an increasing number of groups working to get Latinos more active in the legislative process. A few in particular have been getting attention lately. These include the Hispanic Youth Symposium, League of United Latin American Citizens, GI Forum (Hispanic version of the American Legion), and the Kansas University Hispanic Network. Mr. Ramirez believes it is because of this community organizing that attention was given to legal issues that directly affect Latinos like driver license legislation.

Big Tent Coalition Rally

I was also able to attend the BTC Rally for disability rights. The BTC is a collaboration of the Kansas Centers for Independent Living and a group of organizations and individual advocates who share the common goal of restoring State funds to protect and preserve essential services for Kansas' most vulnerable citizens, including folks currently waiting for services.

The coalition is made up of 85 organizations with a total membership in excess of 645,000. It was founded in January 2003. The BTC includes partners such as the Kansas Hospital Association, the Kansas Medical Society, the State Federation of the American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations ( AFL-CIO), the Statewide Independent Living Council, Interhab, The United Methodist Church of Kansas, and most of the local and state organizations that provide services to disabled and elderly people.

In its first year of operation the BTC helped convince the Governor to include $3 million in the budget to help shorten the waiting lists for disabled and elderly people. The legislature also added $8.1 million for this same purpose in the final omnibus financing bill. This year the BTC hosted 600 people at their Freedom Rally.

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