2.13.24 – Kansas Reflector – TOPEKA
Team of lobbyists with Americans for Prosperity-Kansas pushing the legislation
Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist touted a bill introduced by a lobbyist with Americans for Prosperity banning taxpayer-funded lobbying by cities, counties, schools and the state as a remedy to government’s excessive spending and devotion to regulation.
Norquist attempted to build support Monday for a Kansas Senate bill prohibiting use of public dollars for direct or indirect lobbying, to pay membership dues of associations engaged in lobbying, or for gifts or campaign contributions to elected officials or government workers.
Violations would leave public employees — those working for a county, township, city, school district or state agency, authority or institution — open to disciplinary action ranging from suspension to termination. The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission would be authorized under Senate Bill 373 to assess any person civil fines of $1,000 for a first offense, $3,000 for a second infraction and $8,000 for a third or subsequent violation.
“Far too often, the biggest proponents of higher taxes are those whose salaries are funded by those very same taxes,” Norquist said. “Too often, taxpaying families and businesses are left footing the bill for not only the increased spending and regulations, but the lobbying responsible for its success.”
County, city, school and law enforcement organizations rebutted Norquist’s suggestion that lobbying sponsored with public funds was nefarious. During the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee hearing, opponents of the bill outnumber proponents 3-to-1.
Bel Aire Police Chief Darrell Atteberry, legislative chair of the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, said the bill would forbid his organization as well as the Kansas Sheriff’s Association and Kansas Peace Officers Association to share a lobbyist — former Topeka Police Chief Ed Klumpp.
“The impact of SB 373 will be to effectively silence and disenfranchise the law enforcement associations across the state,” Atteberry said. “The associations represent over 6,600 sworn officers in Kansas. If SB 373 were to pass, there would be no unified voice from the law enforcement associations. Legislators would have to reach out to a pool of over 100 sheriffs or over 300 police chiefs across the state to get input on general questions or pending legislation.”
Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter said law enforcement officers didn’t have time to spend day after day at the Capitol going to committee meetings, huddling with legislators, tinkering with drafts and amendments to bills and rallying votes for and against bills. He said law enforcement associations depended on a lobbyist to help the Legislature “create good laws that protect fellow Kansans.”
Violation of rights
While the bill was introduced in January on behalf of Americans for Prosperity-Kansas lobbyist Jonathan Lueth, it was left to AFP lobbyist Michael Austin to make the case that it was unfair for taxpayers to pay for government lobbying. Austin’s commentary was offered on behalf of Mackenzie Martin-Fisk and Elizabeth Patton, the two other registered lobbyists at AFP-Kansas.
“Taxpayers already have a designated advocate for lawmaking, and that is their own legislator. If a constituent wants additional representation, they should give their expressed permission for it. Siphoning taxpayer dollars for purposes beyond carrying out the law is a violation of rights,” Austin said.
Kari Sue Vosburgh, a Republican Party precinct committeewoman in Sedgwick County, said the bill reflected the GOP’s politically conservative objectives.
“By setting clear guidelines, the legislation promotes ethical conduct within government entities,” she said. “Ensuring that employees adhere to ethical standards is crucial for building public trust.”
James Franko, a registered state lobbyist with Kansas Policy Institute, said political organizations in Kansas had been concerned for years about lobbying funded by taxpayers. KPI was founded by an individual who worked three decades for Koch companies and foundations.
Franko said in testimony supporting the bill that lobbyists could be viewed as influence peddlers available to the highest bidder. To emphasize the point, he quoted President Thomas Jefferson’s remark about religious freedom: “To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical.”
Just ‘mean spirited’
Mike Taylor, a lobbyist for the Kansas County Commissioners Association, said he served interests of all 105 counties at the Capitol. He said his role was to stand in for more than 360 elected county officials, who were Republicans and Democrats and from rural and urban areas.
Taylor said the legislation was “mean spirited” and “designed to censor and silence the voices of local elected officials who the Kansas Legislature should be working in partnership with.”
Mark Skoglund, executive director of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, said the bill would create an unwieldy system for tracking taxpayer-connected expenditures that might be interpreted as lobbying.
He questioned the practicality of an exception for a government employee to communicate with legislators if a senator or representative requested information. He likewise was puzzled by the bill’s exception for a government employee to discuss issues “necessary for the efficient conduct of the public business or actually made in the proper performance of such officer’s or employee’s official duties.” He said it would be difficult to adhere to the bill’s mandate that communication go through “proper official channels.”
“This exception lacks specificity, making it difficult to enforce,” Skoglund said. “It is unclear when a requested action used proper official channels or when a request actually implicates operations of the state or a municipality.”
‘Flatly unconstitutional’
Nathan Eberline, executive director of the League of Kansas Municipalities, said the bill would significantly reduce the organization’s capacity to be a resource for local government. He said the measure appeared to violate U.S. Supreme Court precedent in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
“The proposal seems flatly unconstitutional,” said Eberline, who registers as a lobbyist. “SB 373 infringes upon the First Amendment rights of municipal corporations by placing restrictions on their ability to engage in political speech and advocacy.”
The Senate bill might appear to be an opportunity to save money for taxpayers, said Kansas Association of Counties general counsel Jay Hall, but it would ultimately hurt local communities denied reasonable opportunity to be stewards of the public interest.
Hall, another of the state’s registered lobbyists, said the bill seemed to ignore state law required counties to be involved in issues of public health, emergency management, solid waste planning, law enforcement, roads and bridges, noxious weed eradication, election administration, property tax collection, criminal prosecution, flood control and more.
“Any inefficiencies created by policy that does not consider the real-world implications of that policy costs taxpayers money,” Hall said.
Tim Danneberg, director of external affairs with the city of Olathe, said it was imperative the Legislature consider all sides of issues when laying down the law.
“This bill is the 373rd bill coming before just the Senate side,” he said. “It is impractical and irresponsible to think that legislation could be effectively monitored without a presence in the Statehouse.”