Topeka ? A bill stripping a state board of its role in picking the secretary of agriculture cleared a Senate committee Tuesday.

The measure would allow the governor to act alone in picking the head of the Department of Agriculture, treating it like the 11 other Cabinet agencies.

Currently, the nine-member Governor’s Advisory Board of Agriculture interviews applicants for agriculture secretary and nominates three finalists. That role would end under the bill that advanced to the full Senate on Tuesday’s voice vote of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

The advisory board is a holdover from the days when farm and agribusiness groups controlled the secretary’s appointment.

This year, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius rejected the board’s three nominees for secretary, forcing the board to take applications again.

Sebelius last week appointed Belleville farmer Adrian Polansky as secretary. Polansky had led a task force appointed by Sebelius to review agriculture and natural resources agencies.

Some legislators believe Sebelius had favored Polansky all along. But his name was not submitted until Sebelius took office and appointed a majority of the Advisory Board of Agriculture.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Derek Schmidt said a governor should be able to pick the secretary he or she wants.

However, the Agriculture Committee rejected the idea of abolishing the board altogether. Under the bill, the board would continue to review regulations proposed by the department and advise the governor on policy.

“The board does play a role in ensuring that producers are at the table,” said Schmidt, R-Independence.

For more than 120 years, delegates to an annual convention of farm organizations picked 12 members for the State Board of Agriculture. The board selected the secretary to oversee the department’s day-to-day operations.

In 1993, at the urging of two advocacy groups, a federal judge struck down the selection system as unconstitutional, saying most Kansans weren’t adequately represented.