Leaders in the Kansas House are expressing concern about the 70 House members whose offices have been moved to the Docking State Office Building to allow for continued renovation of the Capitol building.

The Docking building is (gasp!) a block away from the Capitol and leaders are worried about legislators having to walk back and forth during the winter months. An old underground tunnel between the two buildings also is unavailable so the lawmakers will have to walk outside.

The legislators’ hardy Kansas ancestors must be having a good chuckle. Where’s your pioneer spirit? Haven’t you heard your grandparents’ stories about walking five miles to school in a blizzard? How about having to chop through ice in a basin in order to wash your face in the morning? And you’re afraid to walk a block from one heated building to another?

Come on, legislators, put on your coats and show us some pluck. If a brisk one-block walk is the worst adversity you face during the upcoming legislative session, you – and the state – should count yourselves lucky.