EDITORIAL: Clock ticking on legislative progress

When the Kansas Legislature headed to Topeka in January, there were a number of issues that demanded their attention. Not only did the state House and Senate have the yearly battle over the budget and the every-10-years battle over redistricting looming, but they also had to tackle the ambitious goals set out by Gov. Sam Brownback in his State of the State address.

Brownback wanted to see reforms of school finance, Medicaid and the state income tax. In addition to all that, the Legislature put on its own plate a call to reform KPERS, the state retirement system.

Now that the Legislature has returned to finish up the session after close to a month off, it’s interesting to note just what has been accomplished during what was described beforehand as the “session from hell.” The curious answer, of course, is that not one of those major issues facing the state has been completed.

The budget? Still not passed. Redistricting? Still in a battle. School finance reform? Some of the pieces have passed, but nothing in its entirety. State income tax? Not reformed. KPERS? Not done yet. Medicaid reform? Not passed and being fought.

The good news is that by the end of the session, at least redistricting and the budget will be completed, because they have to by statute. The bad news is that the time is running out for the meaningful progress that was promised.
The Legislature doesn’t have much time — a couple of weeks or so — left in its session.

With so little time, it creates a fair amount of fear, not only that these major issues won’t be addressed, but that these issues won’t be given enough time to be thoroughly vetted by either the legislators or the public.

Take redistricting, for instance. The Senate has not yet proposed a map of its own redistricting, and the Congressional redistricting has become a battle between conservative and moderate Republicans in different chambers. If redistricting is to pass — and it must — then there is a likelihood it may be pushed through in a matter of days. The other issues are likely to be much the same, with formal bills popping up one day and being voted on seemingly the next.

There are two ways of looking at this. Either that means these major issues are going to be rushed to be passed, or that these major issues have been so carefully vetted already that there’s not much left to do but get the ball rolling on passage.

We tend to find the latter possibility flimsy at best. If so much progress has been made already, then surely some sign of that progress would be obvious. But instead, the major issues sit unresolved with weeks to go, with no sign of rapid movement on any particular front.

Going into this legislative session, it was said that Topeka was putting a lot on its plate. Dinner is almost over, and the plate sits largely untouched. We’re worried that either the Legislature’s eyes are too big for its stomach and won’t get much of what was promised accomplished or that it will get indigestion from trying to take on too much too fast. Neither possibility is particularly appealing.

What we want to see out of Topeka is progress on redistricting rather than more delays. We want to see a budget passed quickly. We want to see major reforms — KPERS, income tax, school finance, Medicaid — be given at least two to three days in the public eye before a single vote is taken. We want to see votes taken on those issues, too. Not all of these plans will or should be approved. And that is OK. But what we need is some sign that our Legislature has done what it set out to do.

So far, we’re still waiting.

—The Morning Sun