With open government on the line, we’re calling Kansas legislators to account – Kansas Reflector

The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion items from writers who share our objective of widening the dialog about how public insurance policies have an effect on the day-to-day lives of individuals all through our state. Max Kautsch is an lawyer whose apply focuses on First Modification rights and open authorities regulation.

Following one of many extra contentious and veto-heavy legislative classes in current reminiscence, our state’s legislators and their constituents have had a number of weeks to replicate. Hopefully, we’re all fascinated by extra than simply why some payments handed and some didn’t. Carefully analyzing that query has turn out to be more and more irritating due to the best way the Legislature operates. 

Maybe we must be considering extra about how these legislative outcomes are the results of a deeply flawed legislative course of in determined want of reform.

I started my publish as president of the Kansas Coalition for Open Authorities firstly of this month. The coalition, beforehand often called the “Sunshine Coalition,” is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group that, since its inception in 1999, has helped make Kansas authorities extra clear. 

Because the authorized hotline lawyer for the Kansas Press Affiliation and Kansas Affiliation of Broadcasters, I’ve been on the coalition’s board of administrators since 2015. The group serves as a useful resource for Kansans with questions in regards to the transparency of their state and native authorities. 

Most just lately, the coalition put collectively eight fundamental concepts for legislative reform that had been included in an article revealed on the Kansas Reflector’s web site Might 8. These eight proposed reforms contain streamlining and making extra clear the method by which payments turn out to be legal guidelines. These ideas had been:

• Limit the variety of payments that may be bundled.
• Institute a requirement that every one payments will need to have had a public listening to as a way to be thought of by the committee of the entire.
• Restrict “intestine and gos” to same-subject payments which have had a public listening to.
• Require the general public be notified of a invoice’s listening to 48 hours prematurely of the listening to.
• Require all listening to testimony be posted on-line earlier than a invoice is taken into account by the committee of the entire, or inside 48 hours of the top of a listening to.
• Require that every legislator have entry to invoice language earlier than voting on a invoice.
• Present equal time to every particular person testifying earlier than a committee, not equal time per facet.
• Require the title of the legislator sponsoring a invoice.

The Reflector tells me that based on its metrics, the Might 8 article has been extensively learn, and it led to a column from the Reflector’s Clay Wirestone on Might 17 specializing in the eight reforms. However suggestions from the legislators themselves? 

“Crickets,” experiences editor in chief Sherman Smith.

Kansas voters can’t enable our elected leaders to keep away from this important concern. Certainly, to attain the most effective authorities attainable for the folks of this state and show that our legislators act within the public curiosity and never their very own, they have to, at minimal, present a willingness to entertain the ideas from the Might 8 article to enhance the legislative course of.

In any case, if elected leaders will not be delicate to the issues of their voters, why ought to they continue to be in workplace?

The coalition will likely be sending an e mail this week from [email protected] to every of the legislators asking: “Do you assist any of the eight legislative reforms prompt within the Reflector’s articles revealed Might 8 and Might 17? Why or why not?” 

To ensure all of the legislators obtain the e-mail, the coalition has contacted the Legislature’s info know-how division, and I’m fairly sure that the messages won’t go to legislators’ spam folders. On the very least, we ought to seek out out whether or not they’re checking their e mail when not in session.

You may anticipate a report in regards to the responses a month or so from now on this area. Till then, give some thought to how the Legislature passes these payments, not simply why.

Ask your self: Would I be higher off realizing extra about how legal guidelines are made? If the reply is sure, encourage your legislator to reply the coalition’s e mail. And preserve their responses in thoughts while you vote in August and November.

By way of its opinion part, the Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who find themselves affected by public insurance policies or excluded from public debate. Discover info, together with how you can submit your individual commentary, right here.