For the first time, House Speaker Dan Hawkins is more fully discussing his thoughts about the unsuccessful effort to drum up enough signatures in the House to call a special session to address redistricting and other issues.
In his weekly newsletter Friday, Hawkins confirmed publicly for the first time that the chamber was six signatures short of the 84 needed to call a special session, adding that disappointment would be an “understatement” to describe his reaction.
Overall, 78 of the 88 Republican members of the House agreed to sign the petition, Hawkins wrote. It is not known with a certainty who didn’t sign the petition, although some unconfirmed lists have been circulating on the internet.
Further, Hawkins said the lawmakers who didn’t sign the petition helped Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly by giving her unfettered control overs hundreds of millions of dollars that are expected to come to the state through the Rural Health Transformation Program.
The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress established a program creating a national $50 billion fund to help states reinvent rural health care through innovation, strategic partnerships and workforce investment.
Kansas could get $1.5 billion from the program over the next five years, and state lawmakers want controls in place to oversee how the money is spent.
“Without a special session, Gov. Kelly has full discretion as the rural healthcare dollars start getting paid out,” Hawkins said.
“Those who refused to sign a petition played right into the governor’s hands by giving her free rein without oversight on hundreds of millions of dollars,” he wrote. “Sad.”
Over in the Senate, the chamber’s majority leader, Chase Blasi proposed creating a six-member committee to oversee how the rural health care money was spent.
Under Blasi’s proposal, the committee would have been made up of the majority leaders of the House and Senate, the minority leaders of each chamber and the chairs of the House and Senate budget committees.
They would have had to sign off on any expenditures of the money proposed by the executive branch.
Republicans believed they needed to put a check in place on the spending before the funds start being disbursed by the end of the year, hence the reason for needing to take action during a special session in November.
Hawkins said he also heard complaints from some members of his caucus about the cost of the special session. Legislative leaders had budgeted $460,000 for four days.
He said that was a “valid” concern.
“But it’s also important to remember that the Legislature did their business in record time this session saving a significant amount of money,” he wrote.
“These savings would have been more than enough to cover the cost of a special session.
“And most importantly, we would have been able to do the jobs we were elected to do.”
He also wanted to address a recent state Supreme Court decision to uphold an appeals court ruling that allowed transgender Kansans to change their gender markers on driver’s licenses while a legal battle plays out in court.
“To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement,” Hawkins wrote.
“Rest assured, we will look at all of these issues when we return in January. Unfortunately, for some things, it will be too late,” he wrote.
“People who know me know I’m not one to cry over spilled cream.
“I learned a long time ago that when you get thrown by the bull, you dust yourself off and you climb back on.
“Now we prepare for January 12. When it gets here, House Republicans will be ready to ride.”
