Topeka ? A House committee will examine the Kansas Open Meetings Act and how it applies to elected officials before they take office, incoming Speaker Doug Mays says.

Gov.-elect Kathleen Sebelius contends the law does not apply to her until she is inaugurated on Jan. 13. Atty. Gen. Carla Stovall has agreed.

Fourteen news organizations, including the Lawrence Journal-World, have sued Sebelius in Shawnee County District Court over her plan to hold some budget discussions in private. The news organizations argue the budget-cutting teams she has created must comply with the law before Sebelius is inaugurated.

Mays, R-Topeka, agreed Thursday with Sebelius’ interpretation but said he would have the House Ethics and Elections Committee consider changes.

He said he was worried more about the local officials taking advantage of a loophole than state officials.

The Open Meetings Act requires state and local government boards and commissions to discuss business and vote in open sessions and to notify the public of meetings.

As an example of how the law might be abused under Sebelius’ interpretation, Mays said newly elected members of school boards might discuss public business privately before being sworn in.

“There’s room for abuse,” Mays said. “Somewhere, sometime, that abuse will occur at some level.”