Pivot Point: Kansas’ state of state speech shouldn’t come from its current governor

The Kansas City Star’s editorial board asked Gov. Sam Brownback to resign Thursday, comparing his situation of waiting for the Senate’s vote to confirm him as U.S. ambassador-at-large for religous freedom to Pope Benedict XVI, who made the rare move of resigning in 2013 because of deteriorating strength at age 85.

“Deteriorating strength” aptly describes Brownback’s nomination by President Trump to the ambassadorship and his role as Kansas governor.

Let’s hope a trusted adviser has whispered to Brownback that he needs to resign whether or not a new nomination and confirmation process comes. Kansas cannot be served by a governor who’s distracted by a job opportunity during a critical Legislative session, and Kansans deserve to get a look at how Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer does with a promotion since he’d like to be elected to the job next November.

Brownback delivering the State of the State address next month, with Colyer sitting in attendance, would be a muddy start to a critical year in which lawmakers must solve public education funding, a prison system crisis, disarray within the foster-care system and other problems.

Even if he doesn’t get Trump’s nomination again, Brownback shouldn’t leave Kansas hanging. He picked Colyer as a possible replacement for a reason. Time for him to take over.

This story was originally published December 28, 2017 at 1:52 PM with the headline "Pivot Point: Kansas’ state of state speech shouldn’t come from its current governor."