Topeka ? Annoying robo calls, mysterious groups funding slash-and-burn ads, and last-minute cash drops reached a new high – or low – in the recent election in Kansas.

The Kansas Ethics Commission has decided again to try to rein in the situation by proposing reforms for the Legislature to consider in 2007.

“It’s all about trying to promote openness and disclosure of information,” said Carol Williams, executive director of the Ethics Commission.

Williams said the No. 1 complaint during the past election cycle was from people bombarded with recorded phone-bank campaign messages.

She said many people wanted to know why they were getting the calls because they were on the state’s No-Call list, which prohibits unsolicited calls from telemarketers. The law, however, exempts political candidates or issue organizations.

In Missouri, Atty. Gen. Jay Nixon has proposed expanding the No-Call list to political phone messages.

Mark Simpson, a spokesman for Kansas Atty. Gen.-elect Paul Morrison, said Morrison thinks it’s an interesting idea and worth considering.

The Kansas Ethics Commission recommendation doesn’t go as far as Nixon’s proposal, but it would require that the messages identify who is paying for or sponsoring the communication.

But state Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, who has tried to push through campaign reforms, said Thursday that Kansas should consider an expansion of No-Call.

“That’s an intriguing idea. If you are going to pay for a telephone line into your house, you should have some kind of say over who calls,” Davis said.

The Ethics Commission also has proposed requiring:

¢ Political action committees specifically report the name of the candidate they spent money on. Currently, PACs have to report only the amount spent and the name of the vendor that the money went to.

¢ Timely reporting of contributions made in excess of $50 received during the last 11 days before an election. Currently, contributions during that period aren’t reported until months after the election.

¢ Issue advocacy organizations disclose who is paying for their ads and how much the sponsors are spending. Currently, spending from issue advocacy groups goes unreported.

The reforms have been pushed before but usually get strangled in partisan fighting.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has stated she supports the reforms, but vetoed a package during the last session that would have enacted some of them. She said she vetoed the package because it included a provision that would have made it more difficult to cast absentee ballots.

But Davis said he was optimistic something will be done when the Legislature meets Jan. 8.

“I hope coming off a campaign cycle, the Legislature will realize there are some things we need to get a handle on,” he said.