Legislators reject Democrat's travel expenses to Oxford meeting / LJWorld.com

Kansas Legislature

December 20, 2005

Topeka — Republican legislative leaders Monday rejected allowing travel expenses for a Democratic legislator to attend a prestigious meeting.

State Rep. Valdenia Winn, D-Kansas City, Kan., said because of the decision she was going to investigate what expenses Republicans have allowed.

"This was strictly a partisan decision," Winn said of the voice vote by the Republican-dominated Legislative Coordinating Council that denied her $1,000 for expenses to attend the Oxford Round Table in March.

But House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka, said his concern was that for Winn to attend the meeting she would have to miss one week of the legislative session.

House Democratic Leader Dennis McKinney of Greensburg, however, said other lawmakers had missed parts of the session to attend leadership conferences.

The annual meeting in Oxford, England, focuses on educational issues and attracts leaders from throughout the world. Winn, a professor at Kansas City Kansas Community College, was selected to talk about diversity in the public school system.

McKinney said it was an honor for the state for a Kansan to be invited and that Winn "would be a good ambassador for the state."

He also said the meeting was just as valuable as the traditional conventions that some lawmakers attend, such as the National Council of State Legislatures.

Travel costs for lawmakers going to state government conventions totaled $198,483 during the fiscal year that ended July 31. That's $84,483 more than the $114,000 spent the previous year, according to the Division of Legislative Administrative Services.

The increase is due to the fact that legislative leaders during the last fiscal year removed a $700 per trip cap for reimbursement on travel expenses, which had been put in place when the state was facing tough budgetary times.