Sen. Pete Brungardt pointed out some notable things from the 2008 Kansas Legislature when he spoke to Salina's noon Rotary Club on Monday.
Some of his comments were significant in a good way, but one of his topics was not. Tim Unruh's report on the meeting was published in Tuesday's Journal.
On the good side, Brungardt showed common sense when he discussed Hays-based Sunflower Electric's attempts to add two 700-megawatt coal-fired generators to its plant south of Holcomb. He showed support for coal-generated electricity, but he did not support his Republican Party leadership when Speaker of the House Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, bundled two key economic development packages with the coal plant legislation. That move was a power play meant to force Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to sign the bill.
Brungardt and other Republican lawmakers stood their ground, refusing to be herded like sheep. Good for them.
However, the not-so-good news involves changes in the Kansas Open Meetings law that redefines a public meeting. Previously, the law stated a majority of a quorum of a governing body could not meet and discuss public business.
In the case of five-member governing bodies, when two officials met it had to be conducted as a public meeting, with advance notice to the media and other interested parties, plus it had to be open to any member of the public.
With the new law, two members of a five-member board can meet privately and discuss the public's business. Clearly, this change is not in citizens' best interest. It makes it easier for members of public bodies to arrange votes behind the scenes.
As Brungardt points out, the new law attempts to avert this abuse of the open meetings act by preventing "serial meetings," where officials talk to their peers one at a time to line up support or votes. The serial meeting prohibition looks good on paper, but it does not outweigh the negatives of allowing two members of a governing body to conduct our business behind closed doors.
Lawmakers should help shine more light on government. These changes do the opposite.
-- Tom Bell
Editor & Publisher
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