Topeka — More pay, more play.
The Kansas House on Thursday supported a bill that would probably give its members a pay raise and would repeal much of a new law that shows which lawmakers are being wined and dined by lobbyists.
The measure was approved on a nonrecorded vote, 66-48. Another vote, scheduled for Monday, is necessary before it can advance to the Senate.
State Rep. Tony Powell, R-Wichita, pushed the bill, saying lawmakers deserve a pay raise and should be free from the disclosure of every little meal and gift that is provided by lobbyists.
He said the disclosure law, which was passed last year and went into effect July 1, made the public cynical about politics.
The law was passed after media reports about legislators accepting freebies, in the form of meals, entertainment and gifts, from special interest groups and then voting in support of those interests.
Gov. Bill Graves pushed for the lobbyists' disclosure, saying some lawmakers and lobbyists were getting too cozy.
Recently, he said he wasn't interested in changing the law.
"To the extent that it has been an irritant to some, it probably proves my point," Graves said.
Under Powell's bill, gifts, food or drinks worth less than $15 would be exempt from public disclosure, as well as freebies provided at a public event. Under the bill, a public event could include dinners and receptions hosted by special-interest groups at conferences, such as the National Conference of State Legislatures, Powell said.
State Rep. Ethel Peterson, D-Dodge City, tried to amend Powell's bill to outlaw all freebies from lobbyists. She said a bill that combined a legislative pay raise and eliminated public disclosure of much of what lobbyists spend on lawmakers was "going to be a hard sell" to the public. "We'll be viewed as greedy," she said.
Her amendment was defeated 48-67.
Under the pay plan, Powell's bill would set up a commission that would set legislative pay every seven years. In addition, members of the Legislature would receive the same annual pay raise that is given to classified employees,
In the past two years, advisory pay commissions have recommended pay raises, but the Legislature, fearing retribution at the polls, has ignored the recommendations.
The advisory panel's current recommendation would raise the average lawmaker's compensation to about $38,000 per year from about $22,000 per year.
Powell said that by having the commission set the pay, the issue would be taken out of the political sphere. Kansans will benefit with a better-paid Legislature because higher quality candidates will want to serve "to protect the public from the bureaucrats and executive branch," he said.
Lawrence's delegation was on all sides of the issue.
Rep. Troy Findley, a Democrat, voted against the proposal saying he supported public disclosure of lobbyists' freebies.
Rep. Tom Sloan, a Republican, voted for Powell's bill, saying he thought lawmakers should receive a pay raise. On the lobbyists' reporting part of the bill, Sloan agreed with Powell that some of what is required to be reported such as tubes of toothpaste given to lawmakers by the Kansas Dental Assn. was irrelevant.
Rep. Barbara Ballard, a Democrat, said she didn't vote because she was undecided, and added that she didn't know how she would vote when the measure comes up for final consideration.
But Ballard added that it didn't seem right to vote on an issue that could result in a pay raise when so many other issues, such as education funding, were still in the air.
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