Topeka ? The AAA office in Lawrence is at the center of a gathering fight in the Legislature.

Since May, the office at 3514 Clinton Parkway has contracted with the state to handle driver’s license renewals.

Kansas Department of Revenue officials say the office has processed about 2,000 licenses, and saved the state $235,000 from not having to open a new motor vehicle office.

But insurance industry lobbyists have asked lawmakers to end the pilot project because they say the deal gives AAA an unfair advantage in marketing and selling insurance.

The House has passed a bill that would end the arrangement. Sen. Ruth Teichman, R-Stafford, who’s chairwoman of the Senate Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee, pushed for approval of the legislation last week in the Senate.

“This is very real to the insurers of the state,” Teichman said. “This is not creating a level playing field,” she said of AAA’s arrangement.

But several senators defended the pilot project.

“We have before us a public-private partnership that saves us money and helps consumers,” said Sen. Pete Brungardt, R-Salina.

The Senate amended HB 2553 so that an independent study would have to be done on the project.

Both Lawrence senators – Marci Francisco, a Democrat, and Roger Pine, a Republican – voted for the amendment, which passed 19-15. The battle now goes to a House-Senate conference committee.