Nine House members announce retirements

0
1100

Nine members of the Kansas House on Monday announced their retirements from the Legislature on the last day of the 2022 session.

Topping the list was House Speaker Pro Tem Blaine Finch of Ottawa, who had many political observers speculating what his next move might be after deciding to run for attorney general.

Finch, a lawyer, has been in the House since 2013 and has served as the chair of the House Judiciary Committee and the Special Committee on a Comprehensive Response to School Finance.

“This is kind of hard for me,” Finch said. “This is the day that I’m telling you farewell. I am leaving the Kansas House. I will not be seeking reelection. I am going to go home to the greatest title that any person can have: citizen.”

Finch encouraged all lawmakers to stand on their own.

“I wish each of you would have the courage to follow your own path to not just do what special interests wanted, to not just do what your political party might want, but to define yourself,” Finch said.

State Rep. Blaine Finch

“I wish that you would have the strength to treat everyone here with kindness and civility, even the people who might not have deserved it,” he said.

“I ask and wish that you would have the vision to not just act in the interest of today, but in the long-term best interests of the state of Kansas,” he said.

As expected, House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr. will not return next session after serving an unprecedented three terms as speaker in the modern era.

“As my season in the Kansas House comes to a close, I want to leave you with the same advice I shared when we started this journey,” Ryckman said.

“Serve with a servant’s heart. Focus less on temporary hardships and more on permanent good,” he said. “Focus less on you alone and more on all of us together doing the work of the people. With these principles as your guide, I know our state will be in good hands.”

Also announcing retirements Monday were Republican state Reps. Jim Kelly of Independence, David French of Lansing, Steve Huebert of Valley Center as well as Democratic Reps. Tom Burroughs of Kansas City, Kathy Wolfe Moore of Kansas City and Jim Gartner of Topeka.

Also retiring is Republican state Rep. Lonnie Clark of Junction City. He has represented House District 65 since 2015.

Kelly, chair of the financial institutions committee, has represented House District 11 since 2011. Huebert, chair of the Education Committee, has represented House District 90 since 2001. French has represented House District 40 since 2019.

Kathy Wolfe Moore

Wolf Moore, the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, has represented House District 36 since 2011. Gartner, the ranking member on the House Tax Committee, has represented House District 53 since 2016.

Burroughs, the top Democrat in the House from 2015 to 2016, has been in the House since 1997 and is finishing his 13th term in the Legislature.

“Even in the hardest of times and the darkest of times, many of you have been a light to me,” Burroughs said.

“I’m not retiring. I’m going to stay active. My community deserves that,” he said.

“I’ll be active on the local level,” Burroughs said. “I’m not saying you won’t see me again. There’s a good possibility.”

Bonner Springs City Councilman Mike Thompson, a Republican, has already filed to run for Burroughs’ seat.

Wolf Moore said her decision not to run again was difficult.

“It was a very, very tough decision and I just made it so very recently,” Wolfe Moore told the House chamber in announcing her decision.

The Kansas City lawmaker said she planned to pursue new avenues. She’s not sure what those will be yet, but said they would include a new grandchild who’s on the way.

“This is a privilege that so few people across the state get the opportunity to achieve,” she said. “I have enjoyed it and appreciated it more than you can know.

“It’s probably been the highest privilege and honor I’ve had in my career,” she said. “It’s been such a wonderful thing to work in this beautiful building.

“What really makes it special is the people that you work with, and I have enjoyed getting to know all of you so very much,” she said.

French talked about what he’ll miss about serving.

“It truly has been an honor to represent the people of the 40th District in this established and wonderful body in this beautiful, beautiful chamber,” he said.

“What I’m going to miss are the new friends that I’ve been able to gather while serving here. Some great people in this body.

“I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. I hope you go where you want to go. God bless each member in this body. God bless Kansas.”

Retired Naval officer David Buehler, a Republican, is running for French’s seat and so is Democrat Martha Allen, cofounder and chair of a nonprofit that provides transportation to less affluent residents in northeast Leavenworth to grocery stores.

Gartner said he decided to leave the Legislature as his enthusiasm for the work waned.

Jim Gartner

In his first couple of years, Gartner said he enjoyed the legislative process because there was more collegiality, more compromise and more working across the aisle.

Gartner said that work enabled the Legislature to repeal the Brownback tax cuts and fully fund education.

Gartner said he started to reevaluate his time in the Legislature last year as he lost his earnestness for the position.

He returned thinking that if he had fun and could get some things accomplished, he would filed for reelection.

“I didn’t have a lot of fun,” he said.

“Too bad politics has to enter the process because, I think, we could have really done some major good things this year more than we accomplished.

“But again, politics, the process,” he said. “I just urge all of you to come back next year in 2023 to think of your constituents, think of what’s good for them and what’s right.”

“Stand up for them, no matter how tough it is.”

Huebert called his time in the Legislature an “incredible ride,” crediting his wife for inspiring him to run for office for the first time.

Steve Huebert

“I hope to stay involved somehow because I couldn’t go cold turkey,” he said. “God has plans and I look forward to see how that plays out.

“You need to know when it’s time to listen to God, that small voice, and know that it’s time to wrap things up and allow somebody else to come and serve in this great institution,” Huebert said.

The announced retirements bring to at least 15 House members who have decided not to seek reelection this year.

Lawmakers who have previously announced their decisions to not seek reelection were Democratic state Rep. Annie Kuether of Topeka, Republican state Rep. Richard Proehl of Parsons, Republican state Rep. Ron Highland of Wamego, Republican state Rep. Marty Long of Ulysses and Republican state Rep. Megan Lynn of Olathe.

Republican state Rep. Steven Johnson of Assaria is running for state treasurer is not returning to the House.