Republican-controlled committees on Tuesday recommended against Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s plans to restructure state social service agencies and the state’s energy office.
Two committees struck against Kelly’s plans amid a fierce debate at the Capitol over a constitutional amendment that would override a state Supreme Court decision finding the right to an abortion in the state constitution.
The House utility and budget committees voted to recommend against Kelly’s reorganization proposals aimed at improving access to social services and developing a state energy plan.
“The committees’ rushed decision to send resolutions to the House rejecting Gov. Kelly’s (reorganization orders) was extreme political gamesmanship fueled by Republican leadership, and disappointing,” Kelly spokeswoman Lauren Fitzgerald said.
“This is a disservice to the people of Kansas.”
The hint of abortion surfaced toward the end of a House Appropriations Committee meeting Tuesday when lawmakers recommended against the consolidation of programs run by two social service agencies.
Republican Rep. Sean Tarwater accused the governor of coercing Democratic lawmakers into voting against the constitutional amendment in response to Democrats who said reorganization efforts had been politicized.
“How dare you to try to politicize this after the vote that you all took on Friday, when your governor strong-armed her own people, her own Catholic people, to vote against their own faith along party lines,” Tarwater said.
“You can’t dare bring that into here.”
Tarwater was alluding to the vote in the House last week in which the constitutional amendment came up four votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass.
Since then, the statehouse has been mired in turmoil with Senate President Susan Wagle refusing to run Medicaid expansion until the constitutional amendment is passed and put on the ballot this summer.
She also pulled 13 bills off the debate calendar and sent them back to committees last week.
“There’s so much politically motivated stuff going on in this building right now,” said Republican state Rep. Mark Samsel, who sits on the House utilities committee.
“I hope cooler minds prevail in this building and we can get some positive things done for our state.”
Earlier in the day Tuesday, the House utilities committee took up Kelly’s plan to carve the Energy Office out of the Kansas Corporation Commission.
The governor wants to create an independent agency that would be the first step toward forming a state energy plan.
Kansas is one of three states nationally that houses its energy office with utility regulators, which the governor’s office says limits what it can do to develop new policy.
A recent $309,000 study by London Economics International recommended that the state develop an energy plan.
However, the committee recommended against the governor’s proposal, prompting some lawmakers to suggest it was an outgrowth of last week’s vote to defeat the constitutional amendment on abortion.
In a debate marked more by procedure than the merits of the reorganization proposal, some lawmakers complained about the lack of a thorough hearing on moving the Energy Office.
“I don’t know why we’re making an unfavorable recommendation,” said Republican state Rep. Tom Cox.
“We’ve had, like, 15 minutes of asking questions to the governor’s chief of staff,” he said.
“I haven’t had time to vet through this,” he said. “I haven’t had conversations with stakeholders. I don’t feel comfortable saying we shouldn’t do this or we should do this.”
At one point, state Rep. Joe Seiwert, the committee chairman, cut Cox off, telling him he couldn’t debate the motion recommending against the reorganization order.
A dispute erupted between Seiwert and Democratic Rep. John Carmichael as they argued over the procedure for handling the governor’s reorganization order.
Seiwert gaveled Carmichael down as they talked over each other, arguing about whether the committee needed a resolution opposing the reorganization order.
“I am talking,” Seiwert said to Carmichael.
“I hear you clearly, sir,” Carmichael responded.
“Then listen,” Seiwert shot back.
“You have the respect when you talk…,“ Seiwert continued. “I have the respect to talk when I do.”
Carmichael fired back, “You interrupted me, sir, but continue.”
Seiwert stressed that the committee wasn’t killing the reorganization plan, but rather letting the full House debate the reorganization order.
“We don’t kill it in committee. We move it to the House floor for open discussion there,” he said.
However, lawmakers warned that sending the reorganization order to the House floor with an unfavorable recommendation would ultimately lead to its defeat.
“I think that sends a clear signal to members of the House that we don’t want to go forward with this,” said Democratic Rep. Annie Kuether. “It dies when it gets to the House floor.”
Carmichael said there was no testimony to indicate that the governor’s proposal was bad public policy.
“So far, I haven’t heard anyone who is opposed to this idea,” he said. “There is been no opponent testimony. There’s been no basis no for this committee to make any decision.
“I certainly hope what we’re not about to see here is just a partisan vote in reaction to the governor’s idea,” he said.
By early Tuesday afternoon, the House Appropriations Committee had recommended against Kelly’s reorganization plan, as well.
Kelly wanted to bring together social services under one roof, unwinding some of the changes made under former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.
Kelly wanted to create the Department of Human Services, which would bring together programs run by the Department for Children and Families and the Department for Aging and Disability Services.
The newly formed agency also would take in the juvenile services division of the Department of Corrections.
Consolidation, the governor said, would give Kansans a single point of access to social services that are now spread across three different state agencies.
The agency would be run by Laura Howard, who has already been overseeing DCF and KDADS in the Kelly administration.
Republican state Rep. Will Carpenter said he thought there were few items that the secretary couldn’t do on her own without the executive order.
“I’ve never seen an organization become more efficient by getting larger,” Carpenter said.
Democratic state Reps. Kathy Wolfe Moore and Brett Parker asked for more time to digest the testimony so they could better understand the implications of the reorganization plan.
Republican state Rep. Brenda Landwehr said she wasn’t convinced that the governor’s reorganization order would solve many of the issues that plague social services for children.
“I don’t see how making a larger agency is going to fix that,” Landwehr said. “I would think being able to focus more on these kids would give us a better opportunity to do this.”
She said a better approach would have been through a bill that can be amended rather than an executive reorganization order.
Democrat Rep. Henry Helgerson said he knew a day earlier how the vote count would go on the reorganization order.
“If you’re going to vote it down, that’s fine,” he said.
“But then vote it down with a commitment to say, ‘I’m going to stand up and make the system work. I’m going to stand with a Republican or a Democrat against a governor, the speaker, the majority leader or whoever if I think this is right,'”
Landwehr said accusations that the reorganization vote was motivated by party affiliation were “insulting.”
“I don’t care who the governor is and I don’t really care who my leadership is,” Landwehr said.
“If I feel something needs to be done and it needs to be done right, then that’s what I will do,” she said.
Carpenter said the vote on the reorganization order was not political.
“I totally resist that,” Carpenter said. “It has nothing to do with it from my standpoint whatsoever. I’m looking out for what I believe is best for the people in the state of Kansas.
“End of story.”
