Topeka ? When legislation runs into a roadblock, lawmakers often get around the obstacle with the time-tested tactic of bundling bills.

A bill on death’s doorstep gets attached to a popular bill – and if there’s motherhood, apple pie and a touch of divinity in the mix, so much the better.

Last year, senators passed a bill allowing private prisons in Kansas and waited for the House to act. But the idea is about as popular with many House members as coddling sex offenders.

This year, lawmakers have the mother of motherhood bills – getting tough on sex offenders, particularly those victimizing children. It’s just the kind of thing House members can go home and crow about while seeking re-election.

The two chambers passed differing versions of what’s been dubbed “Jessica’s Law,” and House and Senate negotiators worked out the differences. But they also bundled it with the private prison bill so lawmakers must consider both ideas together when they return April 26 to wrap up their session.

There’s little doubt the bundled bill will sail through the Senate. But House Speaker Doug Mays says many in his chamber are philosophically opposed to private prisons.

“A lot of people think prisons should be 100 percent government function. They’re suspicious that private corporations can do as well. They’re distrustful,” said Mays, R-Topeka.

Senators may be counting on House members to collectively hold their noses on private prisons and vote for the bundle so they can brag about how they voted to lock up sex offenders and throw away the key.

“It’s a fabulous political tactic to get a bill passed in an election year that may not ordinarily be passed,” said Bob Beatty, Washburn University political science professor.

In this case, the Senate may force the House’s hand, said Burdett Loomis, a Kansas University political science professor who formerly served on Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ staff.

“I don’t see there being an option of not acting on a sexual predator bill and one way to take advantage of that is to link something to it,” Loomis said.

One of the biggest boosters of private prisons is Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt. He argues that because increased penalties for sex crimes – a minimum of 25 years for a first offense against a child – will mean the need for 1,000 more prison beds in 15 years, there’s logical linkage.

“The theory is if you want to cast a politically popular vote to get tough on criminals, you need to cast the vote for a place to put them,” said Schmidt, R-Independence.

House members do have a few options. They could reject the bundled bill and then pass the Senate version of Jessica’s Law, flushing private prisons in the process.

But there’s some risk in that for House members who vote against the bundle but later for a bill with only Jessica’s law.

A challenger could take the first vote and use it against the incumbent, implying that the incumbent didn’t support tougher penalties, without ever mentioning the second vote.

Jessica’s law is named for a murdered Florida girl. Bills for tougher penalties often come with a victim’s name in the title – to remind legislators and voters of the compelling stories that prompted them.

“During elections, voters aren’t into nuance. If voters hear their legislators voted against Jessica’s Law, they just want to know why they didn’t vote for it,” Beatty said.

No candidate wants to be the subject of an attack ad featuring a miscreant’s face and story.

“If that prospect doesn’t scare legislators to vote for it, nothing will,” Beatty said.

Such political games also carry other risks.

When legislators feel they are voting at gunpoint, they don’t forget it. The colleague who put a lawmaker in a hard place might need the same lawmaker’s vote on other legislation.

And even if the bundled bill gets passed, it must be signed by Sebelius, who isn’t exactly cheering for private prisons although she acknowledges the measure has “a lot of protections in place.”

But Sebelius is running for re-election, and despite her popularity, she can’t afford to alienate voters.

“I think that politically vetoing a bill with greater penalties for child predators would be very difficult,” Loomis said.

There’s always a chance each chamber will dig in and do nothing – justifying their stance with a “there’s always next year” attitude. But that could blow up in their faces like a bag of grenades.

Mays and other legislative leaders know that.

“We’re not going home without Jessica’s Law,” he said.