Members of the Kansas Legislature have too much time on their hands, State Sen. Tom Holland told those who attended the Lawrence chamber of commerce legislative update session on Saturday.

To help remedy that situation, Holland, a Democrat from Baldwin City, said he had introduced a bill (SB 223) that would reduce the current 90-day legislative session to just 60 days, although the session could be extended by a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate.

A 60-day session is plenty of time, he said, for the Legislature to deal with its core duties related to the budget and the operation of state government. As it is now, legislators waste a lot of time talking about issues that aren’t part of their central responsibility or introducing legislation that has little chance of passage just as a way to make a political point.

Judging from the current legislative session, it seems that Holland has a point. The session is about half over and legislators are just now starting to work on a school finance plan, the Kansas Board of Regents budget and other key bills. They’ve spent plenty of time, however, talking about issues that probably won’t result in any legislation being passed and sent to the governor — at least this year.

There certainly are issues that need more study than they can receive during a 60-day session, but that work can be done by interim committees before the session begins. A concentrated 60-day session might force legislators to better prioritize how they use their time and concentrate on their essential duties.

The Kansas Legislature was envisioned as a “citizen legislature,” consisting of lawmakers with other jobs who come to Topeka for a short time to decide important state issues — not a body of professional politicians. A shorter session could make it easier for many Kansans to serve in the Legislature.

Holland’s bill got a hearing in the Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs, but it seems unlikely to progress further this year. At about 90 words, SB 223 may be one of the shortest bills introduced in the Legislature this year. It wastes no time or words and gets right to the issue at hand. That’s what Holland hopes a 60-day session would force state legislators to do: identify the work that must be done, get it done and go home.