Kansas views on special session, defying court, water
Special session – Gov. Sam Brownback acted properly when he ordered the Legislature to meet starting June 23. But will extremist Republicans and Brownback – who have aimed ignorant ire at the court’s members for simply doing their job – really commit to finding a solution that would serve more than 450,000 K-12 students in the state? Or will the lawmakers cobble together different kinds of poison-pill bills or even a proposed constitutional amendment?
If the Legislature chooses to defy the Supreme Court’s school finance ruling, it will be a direct challenge to the separation of powers in Kansas. Legislators can’t unilaterally decide that their interpretation of the Kansas Constitution supersedes the Supreme Court’s.
The “constitutional crisis” you might have read about is manufactured. Lawmakers have no more right to defy a court order than the lowest of criminals. They know it, too.
Each day of the special legislative session will cost Kansas taxpayers in the neighborhood of $40,000. Voters will have plenty of time between now and November to hear political rhetoric – for free. What they’d like to see now is some concrete action to make sure Kansas schools are able to open in the fall.
Water – In a region fueled by agriculture, everyone has cause to celebrate the Sunflower State showing no signs of drought for the first time since April 2011. The Governor’s Office encouraged Kansans to maintain vigilance when it comes to water use, and to always take steps to conserve the precious resource – vital actions for citizens and communities alike. At the same time, it would help to see more attention in Topeka focused on meaningful policymaking needed to address water woes in western Kansas in particular.
This story was originally published June 13, 2016 at 12:06 AM with the headline "Kansas views on special session, defying court, water."