Good morning everyone:
We start a fresh week after a momentous ending to Friday’s session when a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion was defeated after it fell four votes short of passing in the Kansas House.
We begin a new week with a cloud cast over the direction of the 2020 legislative session, with Senate President Susan Wagle refusing to move Medicaid expansion until the House goes along with the abortion amendment.
The Medicaid expansion bill was set to be worked this week, and its future is still unclear as well as that of other House legislation that Wagle sent back to committee in the aftermath of last week’s House vote.
The approaching days will be interesting to watch.
Now, let’s recap the most significant news we published last week as well as events that you may have missed but need to know.
- Here’s the abortion news from the week, first the story on the final vote in the House from Friday, preceded by the preliminary vote Thursday.
- A Democratic state senator is seeking to expand state campaign finance law to require more frequent disclosure for candidates running for school boards and community college boards.
- Cities and counties came out in force last week to oppose a bill that’s intended to increase property tax transparency.
- Lawmakers don’t appear ready to allow Sedgwick County to implement the vote-everywhere law in 2020. Secretary of State Scott Schwab said he wants more time to securely implement the law so it’s ready in 2021.
- The Senate approved a bill that would force divorcing parents to share equal time with their children. The legislation appears to be more controversial outside the Capitol than inside. It now goes to the House.
- Former Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston, who prosecuted the BTK serial killer, announced her candidacy for the state Senate.
- For the second consecutive year, lawmakers are still trying to toughen the laws for unlicensed day cares.
Kobach & Thiel
The Kansas City Star revealed over the weekend that venture capitalist Peter Thiel was the principal contributor to a political action committee that did a poll showing Kris Kobach was leading the GOP primary for U.S. Senate.
The Free Forever Political Action Committee reported receiving $100,000 from Thiel and another $5,000 from Robert Hodgdon, owner of Hogdon Powder Co. in Shawnee. The report, we think, misspells Hodgdon as Hodgson.
The PAC paid $12,000 to the Trafalgar Group, which polled on scenarios with and without U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the race.
Without Pompeo, Kobach led the GOP field with about 33%, followed by Congressman Roger Marshall with about 18%, Dave Lindstrom with nearly 5% and Senate President Susan Wagle with 4%. The undecided in that field was 39%.
‘Dark store’ legislation
Out in Riley County, there’s momentum building behind legislation that would tackle the so-called “dark store” theory of appraising property.
Last week, the Manhattan-Ogden Board of Education endorsed a bill sponsored by Rep. Tom Phillips intended to keep big box stores from being appraised as if they were vacant, or “dark,” even if they’re open and operating.
The Manhattan Mercury reports that Phillips’ bill gets at the so-called dark store theory by adding new language to state law that says the definition of “fair market value” does not include a “hypothetical leased fee.”
Local governments are worried about the dark-store approach to appraising property, saying it potentially could cost them millions in revenue and drive up taxes for residential property owners.
There have been predictions that the impact cold be “catastrophic,” costing some cities between 25% and 30% of their property tax revenue.
The development community has ridiculed the dark store idea as fantasy, saying local governments want appraisals based on who occupies a building.
They say the counties are overvaluing the box stores, leading to appeals filed with the state Board of Tax Appeals.
Last year, for instance, the board found that Johnson County had overvalued Walmart and Sam’s Club properties by $60 million.
Lawyers for the retailers contended the county tried to account for the value of the business as well as the property, causing their taxes to rise.
Here’s more coverage on Phillips’ bill from KMAN news radio.
Nonpartisan secretary of state
Lots of talk last week over a bill that would make the secretary of state a nonpartisan position.
The bill, by Democratic state Rep. Brett Parker, is intended to take partisan politics out of state elections.
Parker wants to alleviate concerns about a sitting secretary of state overseeing elections in which they’re on the ballot.
The bill addresses a situation like the 2018 governor’s race, when former Secretary of State Kris Kobach was viewed as having a conflict as votes were counted in the narrow primary race against former Gov. Jeff Colyer.
While most of the election work is done at the local level, Parker noted that the secretary of state appoints election commissioners in the four largest counties.
He also noted that decisions about counting provisional ballots could influence the outcome of races decided by a slim margin.
“In my view, this is the beginning of a conversation of how we can try our best to depoliticize our election process, increase faith in that process,” Parker told the House elections committee last week.
Current Secretary of State Scott Schwab was neutral on the legislation, although he raised several questions.
The bill, “in its current form, is unclear on the logistics of the election for the secretary of state,” Schwab said in written testimony.
Schwab said the bill did not expressly say whether there would be a primary election and, further, it didn’t go into details over how the general election would work.
“If a primary election is not held, would all of the candidates appear on the ballot?
“If a primary election is held, how do you determine which candidates move on to the general election?”
He also wondered whether the bill would really remove politics from the process.
“All nonpartisan means is the party affiliation of a candidate will not appear on the ballot,” he wrote.
“This legislation does not prevent candidates from affiliating with a party on campaign materials and it does not prevent political or third parties from recruiting or supporting candidates,” he said.
The bill would require the Legislative Coordinating Council to create a committee to make recommendations for changing statutes needed to implement the nonpartisan election.
Parker said he would prefer to lay out a primary process if lawmakers move ahead with the bill.
The bill would require a secretary of state to step down from the position if they wanted to run for another partisan office.
It would not affect someone who now holds a partisan office from running for secretary of state.
Parker said he would be willing to grandfather the existing secretary of state into the bill or move the effective date so far in the future that he wouldn’t be affected.
The bill currently would start in January 2022.
Wagle, abortion and U.S. Senate race
The complexion of this story has changed dramatically since it was first published, but here’s The Associated Press’ look at how abortion figured into Senate President Susan Wagle’s campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Spousal exemption passes
Lost in all the fury over the abortion vote, the Kansas House did vote Friday to pass a bill that removed the spousal exemption from the state’s sexual battery law. It was the second time the bill has been considered in the House. Last year, the bill died on the calendar. Here’s the bill, record of the 105-15 vote and coverage from the Capital-Journal and The Associated Press, in case you missed it.
Rural broadband
The Kansas City Star has a nice overview about the demand for access to high-speed internet in Kansas.
Trump’s Kansas nominee
President Donald Trump has nominated the retired president of the Kansas Bankers Association as a member of the board of directors of the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp., more commonly known as Farmer Mac.
The president sent nominee Charles A. Stones to the Senate for confirmation at the end of last month.
Stones worked as the president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Bankers Association from 2004 until 2018. 
He was just the sixth person to hold that position in the 117-year history of the organization.
Stones started at the Bankers Association in 1986 as director of member relations. He later became research director.
In 1997, he was promoted to senior vice president and served as the organization’s top lobbyist.
Stones was the unanimous choice to succeed then-KBA President Jim Maag, who served as president from 1997 to 2004.
Stones earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Washburn University in 1978.
Farmer Mac is a stockholder-owned, publicly traded company that was chartered by the federal government in 1988 to serve as a secondary market in agricultural loans such as mortgages for agricultural real estate and rural housing.
Schmidt agrees to wrongful conviction payment
Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced last week he would recommend that Lamonte McIntyre be paid $1.5 million in compensation for serving 23 years in prison for a double murder he didn’t commit.
Schmidt had declined recommending a judgment be ordered against the state in McIntyre’s case until all available evidence could be gathered and reviewed.
The attorney general said the process was extended in this case because the 2017 proceeding in Wyandotte County District Court that ordered McIntyre released from prison ended before all evidence was presented and subjected to testing by examination and cross examination.
“It therefore was necessary for the state to do more fact-finding after Mr. McIntyre filed his wrongful conviction lawsuit because the attorney general’s office could not rely solely on the record created in the prior judicial proceeding,” the attorney general’s office said in making its announcement last week.
In a statement, Schmidt said his office “worked diligently to obtain and review all available evidence, including evidence not provided in the earlier judicial proceedings.
“We are now able to tell the court we have reviewed all evidence we know to be available, completed our due diligence in evaluating that evidence, and agree that Mr. McIntyre is able to show he has met the statutory requirements for compensation under the new law.”
Here’s more coverage from the Capital-Journal and The Associated Press.
Democrats hire primary director
The Kansas Democratic Party last week announced it hired Dwight Keeling Jr. to coordinate the upcoming presidential primary.
A native Kansan, Keeling is majoring in computer information systems at Johnson County Community College and is working toward minors in data analysis and project management.
He has worked for various state agencies, including the Department of Health and Environment.
“We’re introducing historic changes this year to Kansas’ Democratic presidential primary,” Party Chair Vicki Hiatt said in a statement. “That’s why we’re happy to welcome Dwight on board.
“Dwight will be dedicated to managing the primary election, assisting in the delegate selection process, and planning Kansas Democrats’ way to the national convention in Milwaukee.”
Judicial nominees
The 3rd Judicial District Nominating Commission will meet at the end of February to consider applicants seeking to fill the vacancy that came open when Chief Judge Evelyn Wilson was named to the Kansas Supreme Court.
The applicants are:
- Jay Befort, Topeka, deputy general counsel, Kansas Department of Revenue.
- Kevin Cook, Topeka, private practice, Cook Law Office.
- Jessica Domme, Tecumseh, assistant attorney general, Kansas attorney general’s office.
- Lori Dougherty-Bichsel, Silver Lake, administrative judge and department director, Topeka Municipal Court.
- Sarah Loquist-Berry, Topeka, general counsel, Sedgwick County Area Educational Services Interlocal Cooperative.
- Amy Raymond, Topeka, director of trial court programs, Office of Judicial Administration, Kansas judicial branch.
- Steven Roth, Topeka, administrative law judge, Kansas Department of Labor, Workers Compensation Division.
- Jennifer Martin Smith, Topeka, private practice, Alderson, Alderson, Conklin, Crow & Slinkard.
- Todd Thornburg, Topeka, staff attorney and special assistant attorney general, Kansas Department of Labor.
- Brett Watson, Topeka, deputy district attorney, Shawnee County district attorney’s office.
The commission will meet Feb. 28. It will select from three to five nominees, whose names will be submitted to the governor to fill the position.
The panel includes Supreme Court Justice Caleb Stegall as the nonvoting chair, Terry Beck, Daniel Crow, Thomas Lemon, Randall Phillips, and Eric Stafford, all of Topeka, and Toby McCullough of Rossville.
The 3rd Judicial District covers Shawnee County.
Kelly appointments
Gov. Laura Kelly has named Kristi Brown to the Workers Compensation and Employment Security Review Boards Nominating Committee.
The panel makes nominations to vacant positions in the Workers Compensation Division, the Workers Compensation Review Board and the Employment Security Board of Review.
Brown has been the senior director of government affairs for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce since 2017 and has worked in government affairs for 20 years.
Brown will represent the Kansas Chamber of Commerce on the board.
She received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Memphis in 1997 and is a 2018 graduate of Leadership Kansas.
The committee is made up of seven members, all appointed by the governor.
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The governor appointed Lynn Goossen to the Kansas Water Authority.
Goossen has been the owner and operator of Goossen Farms Inc. since 1983. There, he oversees the production of a variety of irrigated and dryland crops.
Goossen also served on the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission, the Thomas County Farm Bureau Board of Directors and the State Resolutions Committee of the State of Kansas Farm Bureau.
The Water Authority advises the governor, the Legislature and the director of the Kansas Water Office on water policy issues — including the approval of the Kansas Water Plan.
Croft attends State of the Union
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran hosted Republican state Rep. Chris Croft at the president’s State of the Union speech last week.
“Rep. Croft is both a veteran and an advocate for veterans in his role as a Kansas representative,” Moran said in a statement.
Croft “is dedicated to his country, to Kansas and to our nation’s veterans,” Moran said.
Croft served in the Army for 30 years, including time as executive director for the Center for Army Leadership at Fort Leavenworth.
District 14 race
Later this month, Democrat Angela Schweller will make her candidacy official for House District 14.
Schweller has an event planned for Feb. 23 to launch a new campaign against Republican state Rep. Charlotte Esau.
Esau defeated Schweller by 175 votes in 2018. Schweller raised $7,492 and had $8,558 on hand on Dec. 31.
The Republican incumbent raised $5,110 last year and had $4,403 on hand at the end of the year.
