Schmidt: Working
with the Legislature,
not against it, yields
successes for Kansas
Editor’s note: The following is a paid political letter.
Each year as attorney general, I have proposed legislation to make our state better and then worked cooperatively with legislators to get the job done. This year, I’m particularly grateful for the bipartisan support many of our proposals received. For example:
Debt & savings: Before legislators convened, I recommended using at least $1 billion of the state’s current budget surplus to prepay debt owed to the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS). This saves taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in future debt service while further securing the pensions owed to thousands of police, firefighters, teachers and other public retirees. I also recommended setting aside not less than $500 million in a rainy-day fund to help stabilize state services when the next economic downturn inevitably comes. The Legislature did both.
Food & fence taxes: Last fall, I recommended reducing or eliminating the state sales tax on groceries and sales tax relief for fencing supplies needed to rebuild wildfire-damaged farms and ranches. Both got done.
Child pornography offenders: We discovered a loophole in state law that allowed offenders who trade online visual depictions of child sexual abuse to avoid registering as sex offenders. We recommended closing that loophole, and the Legislature agreed. Now, anyone convicted of trading child pornography must register as a sex offender.
Sex Offender Civil Commitment: For years, the state’s process for committing sexually violent predators for treatment at Larned State Hospital sometimes resulted in lengthy periods of detention in county jails not well-suited to house them. We helped the Legislature reform that process to more quickly move these violent predators out of county jails and to Larned at less cost to local property taxpayers.
Sanctuary cities: When a local government adopted an ordinance to hamper law enforcement cooperation with immigration authorities, I recommended state law to prevent local political interference with law enforcement. The Legislature agreed. The measure also helps fight identity theft and reinforces election integrity by limiting use of local-government identification cards to local purposes.
Drug-treatment prison: For many years, I have worked to establish a dedicated drug-treatment prison for Kansas. Certain offenders whose misbeheavior is caused by addiction – think burglars who repeatedly steal to buy drugs – would be sentenced to a specialized prison for intensive drug treatment while incarcerated. The goal is to change future behavior. We finally got that done and this year obtained funding to operate the new 240-bed facility at Lansing.
Rules & regulations oversight: After I joined in proposing a ‘legislative veto’ over state agency rules and regulations, the Legislature put that question on the ballot for voters to decide in November. The people through their elected legislators – not unelected government employees – should have the final say on agency regulations. After all, the Legislature gave the agency power to regulate in the first place.
Elected sheriffs: Sheriffs are uniquely accountable law enforcement officials because they are elected by the people. I was pleased to work closely with the Kansas Sheriffs Association as they proposed to secure our current system of electing sheriffs; the Legislature agreed, and voters will decide in November.
Sexual assault kits: When I began serving as attorney general, Kansas had a large backlog of untested sexual assault kits collected by law enforcement agencies statewide. We worked diligently and collaboratively to eliminate that backlog, and now – thanks to legislation we backed this year – Kansas law requires kits be submitted for testing so the backlog never happens again.
Despite the record number of vetoes by our governor, not everything in Topeka needs to be as cantankerous as it may appear. Working effectively and professionally with legislators can accomplish good things for Kansas.
Derek Schmidt,
attorney general
and Republican candidate for governor
