The last three members of a commission that will decide compensation for the Legislature were appointed on Thursday, including two more former lawmakers.
Senate President Ty Masterson named former state Rep. Mark Kahrs of Wichita to the nine-member panel. Kahrs is the state Republican Party’s national committeeman.
Senate Vice President Rick Wilborn named former lawmaker Clark Shultz of Lindsborg, who twice ran unsuccessfully for Kansas insurance commissioner.
Shultz served in the Kansas House representing District 73 from 1996 to 2014. He served in the state Senate from 2014-15.
He ran for insurance commissioner in 2014, finishing third in the Republican primary behind winner Ken Selzer and Beverly Gossage.
He ran for insurance commissioner again in 2018 and lost in the primary to Vicki Schmidt.
House Majority Leader Chris Croft named restaurateur Kevin Timmons, a partner in Nick and Jake’s Restaurant, to the commission.
Timmons is the only member of the commission who doesn’t have a background in Kansas politics.
Timmons sits on the board of directors of the Fore the Kids Foundation in Kansas City, which promotes mental health for children.
Last year, the organization donated $1.3 million to promote positive mental health through improving community awareness and advocating access to high-quality care and research.
The commission is required to establish a pay rate for lawmakers by Dec. 1.
The new pay rate for lawmakers would start in 2025 unless it’s rejected by the Legislature. The rate set by the commission would be good for four years.
A new commission would be appointed in 2026 and would have until Dec. 1, 2027, to set a new compensation rate for the next four-year period starting in 2029.
The base pay for lawmaker is now $88.66 a day plus $157 per day for subsistence and $354.15 for an allowance every two weeks for 20 pay periods. It totals roughly $29,000 a year overall.
A legislative audit in 2019 studied how Kansas lawmakers’ base pay and daily per diem compared to that of legislators in other states.
The audit found that – at that time – Kansas lawmakers ranked fifth out of 10 states with part-time legislatures.
Legislative auditors found that the estimated annual pay of $21,900 for Kansas legislators fell behind other states such as Mississippi ($40,200), West Virginia ($31,900), Utah ($28,600) and Idaho ($26,600) with part-time legislatures.
States with legislative pay less than Kansas at the time of the audit were New Mexico ($15,100), Vermont ($14,500), Maine ($13,500), Rhode Island ($12,700) and New Hampshire ($77).
The other members of the commission are:
Former state Sen. Steve Abrams of Arkansas City
(Appointed by Senate Majority Leader Larry Alley)
Former Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka
(Appointed by Gov. Laura Kelly)
Former state Sen. Tom Hawk of Manhattan
(Appointed by Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes)
Former state Rep. Mark Hutton of Wichita*
(Appointed by House Speaker Dan Hawkins)
Former Republican Party chair Kelly Arnold of Wichita
(Appointed by House Speaker Pro Tem Blake Carpenter)
Former state Rep. Ed McKechnie of Pittsburg
(Appointed by House Minority Leader Vic Miller)
*chair
