The most important day of the 2006 Kansas Legislature will be Monday, January 9th, the first day of the session. Normally the first day of the session is a rather uneventful day.
This is the day where Legislators get reacquainted with each other. Any new members will be sworn in and the ceremonial actions will be made to prepare for the State of the State Address. The day ends with the Governor’s speech and the replies by the opposing party leaders.
As the Representatives and Senators head off to their favorite watering holes Monday night, they will have more than the Governor’s speech to mull over. The 9th is also the day that the Legislative Division of Post Audit will finally release their study on school finance in Kansas.
The release of the study will set the direction of the session. If they find that the level of funding is adequate, then the Legislature will still address the issue of Education, but with far less urgency.
If the Division of Post Audit finds that additional funding is needed to meet the Constitutional requirement that the State provide a suitable education, then the war is on. Conservatives will find ways to try and discredit the study. Moderates will seek to find the mix of revenue to reach the goal set in the report. Liberals, the handful that actually are in the Legislature, will say that the amount cited by the auditors is not enough for the kids of Kansas.
This report is so important to the direction of the session that it is logical that the Governor’s staff probably has two State of the State speeches ready. One for if additional money is needed for schools and one for if it is not needed.
Granted other issues will be discussed during the session. Topics such as setting a minimum age for marriage, stiffening the penalties for animal cruelty, rewriting the eminent domain laws to give land owners more protections, another proposal by Wichita Mayor Carlos Mayans to subsidize airlines at Mid-Continent Airport, and the State’s debt load will be broached. Most of these topics will at some time have to deal with how does it mix in with the battle over education funding.
One legislator might have to vote a certain way on a revenue enhancement (fancy way of saying tax or fee increase) bill to get a vote on a topic mentioned earlier. Smart legislative strategists and tacticians will know to watch the education report as that could be the gravy train for the year.
Another element of the education debate to watch will be the simmering battle between the Legislature and the Supreme Court over the Court’s role in appropriating money. Many conservatives began to use the term “Activist Court†after the decisions to throw out the death penalty law and that the State was not funding public schools in a suitable manner as directed by the State Constitution. Many of these legislators felt that the justices were trying to appropriate money from the bench when only the Legislative Branch can appropriate money. This debate is bound to flare up again as many of the conservatives did not get the votes they wanted to tie the hands of the Judicial Branch in future cases.
The final cherry to put on top of a potentially contentious session is the fact that 2006 is an election year. The entire House of Representatives and the Statewide elected offices are up for election this year. Many of the people needed to make a vote successful for a new school funding package might run away out of fear from being branded a tax and spend liberal in their primary or general election race.
Mix all of these components together and you have a recipe for a long, nasty, and not to mention bloody session. Which will make you wonder who said that Kansas politics can be boring?
