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Minutes for SB3 - Committee on Federal and State Affairs
Short Title
Designating Silvisaurus condrayi as the official state land fossil.
Minutes Content for Wed, Jan 18, 2023
The Chairman called for proponent testimony on the bill.
Proponent oral testimony
Senator Elaine Bowers spoke as a proponent of the bill. She stated she became aware of the fossil from a constituent in her Senate district whose father found the fossil on his farmland in 1955. His son, in turn, asked the students in his social studies class if they wanted to learn the legislative process by seeking to have the fossil named as the official Kansas State Land Fossil. She said she was anxious to hear the students testify and learn more about the fossil. (Attachment 1)
Senator Dan Kerschen spoke as a proponent of the bill. He thanked Senator Bowers for putting this together and congratulated the students on their efforts to make the Silvisaurus condrayi the Kansas official state land fossil. (Attachment 2)
Dr. David Burnham, Kansas University History Museum, spoke as a proponent of the bill. Dr. Burnham is a preparator, who goes out into the field and recovers fossils, then brings them back to the lab to remove them from rock and get them ready for research or exhibit. He stated it would add immeasurably to our Kansas heritage to recognize this fossil as proposed by SB3, because it is rare to find a fossil this complete , and is the only known dinosaur from the Dakota Formation in Kansas. He showed an artist's depiction of the dinosaur, and explained it was a plant eater which lived in the forest lowlands. It was 12 to 13 feet long, weighed less than 2,000 pounds and its head measured 12 inches. The skull and bones are on display at an exhibit at the Kansas University Natural History Museum. (Attachment 3)
Joel Condray, private citizen, and teacher at Challenger Intermediate School, spoke as a proponent of the bill. His grandfather, Warren Condray, discovered the fossil while checking his pasture on horseback after a storm in 1955. He stated he was proud to have his principal and students with him sharing in this experience and testifying before the Committee. (Attachment 4)
Craig Ryan, principal at Challenger Intermediate School, spoke as a proponent of the bill. He complimented Joel Condray for being an outstanding teacher and for undertaking the process to name a state fossil. He also thanked the students and Committee Members. (Attachment 5)
Ava Mantanona, student, Challenger Intermediate School, spoke as a proponent of the bill. She stated "the Silvisaurus condrayi dinosaur was discovered in Ottowa County in 1955, on the farm owned and operated by Warren Condray and his family. Warren Condray came across the unusual looking bones while trying to round up his cattle after an overnight storm had scattered them throughout the pasture." (Attachment 6)
Zach Liedl, student, Challenger Intermediate School, spoke as a proponent of the bill. He stated "the dinosaur's genus name, Silvisaurus, means woodland lizard, and is said to be from the late Cretaceus period, more than 100 million years ago", and was officially designated as a new species to science by Theodore Eaton of the University of Kansas in 1960. (Attachment 7)
Sophia Phillips, student at Challenger Intermediate School, spoke as a proponent of the bill. She thanked the Chairman and Committee Members for allowing them to speak, and to be an "integral part of history being made here in Kansas". (Attachment 8)
There were no conferees providing Neutral nor Opponent testimony.
Following proponent testimony, Chairman Thompson closed the hearing on SB3.
The Chairman called for discussion and final action on SB3. Jason Long, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, gave an overview of the bill.
Senator Blasi made a motion, and Senator Faust-Goudeau seconded, to recommend SB3 favorably for passage and be placed on the consent calendar. Motion carried.
Senator Thompson adjourned the meeting at 11:00 am.
