(Updated to include Cobb comment)
Alan Cobb, a pivotal player in Kansas politics for at least 30 years, is leaving his position as president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber announced Cobb’s departure Friday morning. The organization said he was leaving to “pursue new opportunities aligned with his passion for Kansas.”
A replacement was not announced.
“The Kansas Chamber is grateful for the leadership Alan demonstrated as he championed policy solutions to enhance our state’s competitiveness,” said Karma Mason, chair of the Kansas chamber board.
“Throughout his tenure, Alan expanded the chamber’s influence and impact. From reducing barriers to entry to reining in excessive regulations, he consistently worked to empower Kansas businesses to thrive,” she said in a statement.
“The Kansas Chamber is an important and wonderful organization that I have been privileged to have been the CEO for over eight years,” Cobb said in a statement.
“As a lifelong Kansan, my position at the Kansas Chamber has been a lifelong dream and I look forward to continuing to improve my home state,” he said.
Cobb had been with the Kansas chamber since March of 2017, leading one of the state’s most influential business organizations.
The chamber has an independent influential political action committee that has been key over the years in electing Republicans to the Legislature and helping expand the GOP’s supermajority in the statehouse.
He had served as senior adviser and national director of coalitions for President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and was part of the Trump presidential transition team from November 2016 through January 2017.
He was also an election observer during Ukraine’s 2014 presidential elections.
Cobb also worked for about eight years with Americans for Prosperity and the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, beginning as the Kansas state director and then as vice president for state operations. During his tenure, AFP state chapters grew from 18 to 31.
In 1995, Cobb was named deputy state director for former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole. He worked as deputy state director for former U.S. Sen. Sheila Frahm.
He also served as campaign adviser in 2014 to former Congressman Mike Pompeo and U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts.
At one point in 2020, Cobb flirted with the idea of running for the U.S. Senate but decided to remain with the chamber because he thought Kansas still faced many challenges.
“Taxes are too high. Regulations too cumbersome. We don’t critically review the best ways to invest our citizen’s money,” Cobb said in a statement at the time.
“Our state Supreme Court wants to be a policy making body. Our educational institutions must better understand the workforce needs of our business community, so its students are better prepared to succeed when they graduate.
“Our economy consistently grows slower than the rest of the nation. More people move out of Kansas than move into our wonderful state.”
He earned his bachelor’s in business administration from Wichita State University, a master’s in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from the Washburn University School of Law.
As the leader of the chamber, Cobb spearheaded an agenda that called for cutting income taxes and pushed toward a single income tax rate that had been opposed by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
Last session, the chamber succeeded at getting the Legislature to pass a bill – over the objections of the governor – that gradually buys down income tax rates if revenues come in over inflation.
The law gradually cuts individual income taxes to 4% when the state generates $5.96 billion dollars that come from income taxes plus inflation.
The legislation also subsequently cuts the tax rates for corporations as well as banks after individual income tax rates are reduced.
Also last session, the chamber achieved one of its top agenda items when the Legislature enacted a law requiring the disclosure of third-party litigation funding agreements.
Critics said the agreements weaken the traditional attorney-client relationship and give outside funders undue influence in lawsuits.
The chamber had been working for several years to rein in third-party litigation agreements where parties unrelated to a lawsuit – usually a hedge fund or some other financier – invest in a plaintiff’s case in exchange for a slice of a settlement or judgment.
During his term, Cobb defended the chamber against claims from Kris Kobach that the organization’s PAC didn’t endorse him for state attorney general in 2022 because it wanted a supply of illegal immigrant coming into the state.
Cobb said at the time the chamber PAC didn’t endorse Kobach because he had a “track record of failure” in the courtroom.
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