Kansas views on impeaching justices, notifying attorney general, voting, Wagle’s outreach, newspaper business
Impeaching justices – Last week’s narrow passage by the Kansas Senate should be the end of the road for damaging and probably unconstitutional legislation that would set broad new criteria for the impeachment of Kansas Supreme Court justices, the governor and other state-level elected officials. The sponsors of Senate Bill 439 claim that their intention is to clarify the checks and balances among the three branches of state government, but the bill, instead, is a transparent legislative power grab.
Notifying AG – Gov. Sam Brownback recently signed Senate Bill 334 into law. It requires the state attorney general be given notice any time a court or other party plans to challenge the validity or constitutionality of any state statute. Given the collective mentality of this state’s current Legislature, Attorney General Derek Schmidt simply should plan to be on call 24/7.
Be sure to vote – Look at the news coming out of Topeka any day of the week while the Legislature is in session and you’ll shake your head in disgust or dismay. This is an election year. This is your chance to do something about the craziness in Topeka. Make sure you vote. Our state’s future depends on it.
Wagle’s outreach – Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, did something unusual and unexpected recently: She crossed the aisle to join a Democratic caucus meeting. In these times of increasing partisanship and political polarization, it is refreshing to see the Senate leader of one party meet with senators from the other party to update them on Senate business. Our only complaint about that unusual gathering is that it is unusual.
Newspapers – The recent announcement that The Wichita Eagle is shutting down its local press and outsourcing the printing of its newspapers to Kansas City is the latest discouraging news about newspapers. But let’s be clear on one point: Newspapers are far from finished. They have long been the cornerstones of the communities where they’ve served. Many, including The Eagle and the Hutchinson News, have served as the voices for their cities for more than a century. The business may be changing. But we’re not going anywhere.
This story was originally published March 27, 2016 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Kansas views on impeaching justices, notifying attorney general, voting, Wagle’s outreach, newspaper business."