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Coal bill backers try new strategy

Eagle staff and news services

Kansas lawmakers mounted last-minute efforts Saturday to resurrect two rejected coal plants.

Two days after a failed effort to overrule a regulator's rejection and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' veto of the two proposed western Kansas coal plants, lawmakers in the House tried one more push.

Supporters of Sunflower Electric Power Corp.' s project inserted a bill authorizing the two plants into an economic development package that's tied to an intermodal project in Johnson County.

Lawmakers had hoped to adjourn the session late Saturday, but the House adjourned without a vote. The Senate remained in session.

Known as the "Hail Mary" in Capitol hallways, the legislation was meant to give lawmakers yet another chance to get the plants authorized.

Rod Bremby, the governor's secretary of health and environment, rejected the project last fall because of concerns about carbon emissions and climate change. Since then, lawmakers have tried repeatedly to overrule the regulator and Sebelius, who has vetoed two earlier bills to approve the plants.

Bremby's decision inspired six separate legal challenges, three of which are before the Supreme Court. Sunflower also turned to legislators for help because they can clear the way for the plants more quickly.

"Clearly, we're making the statement this is economic development," said House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, who strongly supports Sunflower's project. "There needs to be a decision whether we want economic development in this state or whether we want to go back to the Stone Age."

The tactic infuriated Rep. Judy Morrison, R-Shawnee, who voted "no" on an effort to override a Sebelius veto.

"It's one of the worst bills I've ever seen. What they're trying to do is force everyone to vote for it," she said. "It's blackmail."

Sebelius called the effort "unfortunate" and criticized legislators for not finishing their work on economic legislation earlier.

"It's an indication that the House and Senate just didn't do their work in a timely fashion, and now they're trying, you know, to repackage a whole series of things," she said. "I have the same opposition to the key components of the coal bills that I've had from day one."

Sebelius said attorneys in her administration already have told her that the latest bill would violate the constitution's one-subject rule.

"By calling the building of coal plants economic development doesn't make them economic development," she said. "Just on that basis, we will give it a very close look."

Passage requires only a simple majority. But the bill likely faces another veto from Sebelius. Lawmakers would then return a few weeks before the formal end of the session later this month, when they could attempt to overrule Sebelius.

Usually a formality that many lawmakers skip, the final day could take on unusual significance this year if an override attempt is made. The Senate has twice voted to override Sebelius on the issue, but when the House tried Thursday, it fell four votes short of the required 84.

Supporters noted the project's economic impact on western Kansas, and the effect energy decisions have on the entire state economy.

"I don't want the Legislature faced with constituents wondering why they don't have electricity," said Rep. Carl Holmes, R-Liberal, a top backer of the project.

Sebelius favors renewable energy investment and notes that nearly 85 percent of the project's electricity would serve out-of-state customers. She said the latest bill was yet another example of legislative leaders putting the coal plants before other issues.

"So much time and energy has been spent on one issue to the detriment of other issues," she said.

Contributing: David Klepper of The Eagle's Topeka Bureau; Associated Press