Officials with the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp. are dancing around a state senator’s request for public information on the agency’s operation.

The Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp. may have nothing to hide, but its reaction to a local legislator’s request for information on KTEC operations makes us wonder.

On Feb. 18, State Sen. Tom Holland of Baldwin City sent KTEC President and CEO Tracy Taylor a letter asking for a variety of information from the agency. Among the items requested was a list of total compensation for each KTEC staff member, meeting minutes from KTEC board of directors’ meetings since Jan. 1, 2000, and various other information on KTEC awards and investments around the state.

It’s the kind of information a state legislator would need to adequately assess how well KTEC is fulfilling its intended mission to build the state economy and whether the state is getting its money’s worth for almost $220 million in public investment in the agency. That assessment is particularly important this year because the governor’s budget recommendations for fiscal year 2010 called for KTEC and Kansas Inc., to be shut down and their functions turned over to the Kansas Department of Commerce.

In response to his letter, Holland received a visit from Taylor and an invitation to a KTEC board meeting to discuss his request. He also received a pile of financial reports, annual reports and various assessment documents, but few answers to the questions he asked. Holland confirmed Monday that he had received no meeting minutes and had been unable to find information about compensation packages in any of the documents he received. There was only limited specific information about how KTEC is spending state money, he said.

Nonetheless, Holland was informed earlier this month that the KTEC executive committee has decided it has done all that is necessary to fulfill his information request and that no more staff time will be dedicated to that task.

Holland already had pared down his list of requests, but how long does it take to find meeting minutes or employee compensation records? Talk about open records and transparency. Such information should be readily available to the general public, let alone a state legislator. This is state money we’re talking about.

KTEC is lobbying hard in Topeka and throughout the state to retain its status as an independent agency. As part of that effort, it is pushing the information it wants state legislators to have about its success and investments around the state. But when a state legislator wants some information not included in the lobbying packet, there simply isn’t enough time.

If KTEC has nothing to hide about salaries, bonuses and other matters, it should quit stonewalling and respond more fully to the senator’s information requests. Taylor’s refusal — with the apparent support of his executive committee — to supply all of the information sought by Holland offers strong evidence that KTEC officials are either squeaky clean or know they are wrong. Hopefully, Holland will keep up his inquiries and be joined by other legislators in his effort.