When you stop and think about it, the Kansas Legislature’s 2010 session was pretty incredible.

Conventional wisdom would say that you can’t raise taxes in an election year or pass an ambitious transportation plan during one of the worst budget crises in state history.

Conventional wisdom would say that, during a rise in the anti-government sentiment like that displayed by the current tea party movement, you can’t increase the reach of the government by doing such things as banning smoking in public places, starting regulation of home day care centers, banning texting while driving and tightening seat belt laws.

And conventional wisdom would say you certainly couldn’t get these things done in conservative Kansas, in a Legislature that is nearly 2-to-1 Republican, during a year that saw a general Democratic backlash, and under the leadership of a lame duck Democratic governor.

But that’s exactly what happened.

Led by Gov. Mark Parkinson and a bipartisan coalition of Democrats and Republicans, Kansas legislators accomplished all the above. Parkinson had a lot of help in the House and Senate from a group of moderate Republicans, and, granted, several of these issues had been simmering for a few years, but for some reason, this is the year they got resolved.

Whether or not you agree with everything that came out of the 2010 session, it’s pretty amazing how much our governor and lawmakers accomplished. This kind of work product probably won’t be repeated for some time to come.