Kansas Rep. John Rubin, R-Shawnee, left, and Rep. John Barker, R-Abilene, right.

Topeka ? Kansas House Speaker Ray Merrick removed two Republican lawmakers as chairmen of powerful committees Tuesday following an unsuccessful maneuver on the House floor to bring up a bill that could have been a vehicle for amendments to expand casino gaming in Kansas.

Rep. John Rubin, R-Shawnee, who initiated the maneuver, was removed as chairman of the House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee, which is currently working on a massive overhaul of the state’s juvenile justice code.

And Rep. John Barker, R-Abilene, was removed as chairman of the Rules Committee, a position that gave him authority to rule on parliamentary motions in the House.

“Today there was an attempt to manipulate the House Rules and pull a bill out of committee despite a hearing on the issue in House Appropriations scheduled for Wednesday,” Merrick, R-Stilwell, said in a statement announcing the action.

The drama began shortly after the House came into session Tuesday when Rubin rose to make a motion to pull Senate Bill 415 out of committee and place it on the House calendar for immediate debate.

Rubin said the bill had been on the House calendar, but that Merrick had improperly taken the bill off the calendar and referred it to another committee, something he said requires a vote by a majority of House members.

Part of that bill deals with charitable raffles. But because the topic broadly includes legalized gambling, it could have become a vehicle for amendments for other kinds of expanded gaming.

Barker had introduced a bill earlier in the session dealing with slot machines at parimutuel racetracks. It would have increased the percentage of revenue from slot machines that the machine owners are allowed to keep, creating more of an incentive for them to reopen dog and horse tracks in Kansas that have not been in full operation for years.

Ironically, after a lengthy pause in House action that lasted about an hour, it was Barker, as chairman of the Rules Committee, who ruled Rubin’s motion out of order.

Merrick’s office would not expand on why Barker was punished over the controversy.

Merrick did say in his statement that the issue of expanded gaming in Kansas is scheduled for a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.

“This is a complex issue,” he said. “There is the possibility that expanded gaming in Kansas could result in the state being forced to pay over $100 million to the current operators of the state owned casinos.”

He said an opinion on the legal details of the issue has been requested from Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office.

“This isn’t a decision we should take lightly at this time, but especially in light of these circumstances,” he said.

Rubin will be replaced as chair of the Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee by the former vice chair, Rep. Ramon Gonzalez, R-Perry, who said he will continue working on the juvenile justice overhaul bill. Rep. Jan Pauls, R-Hutchinson, was named the new vice chair.

Pauls will also replace Barker as chair of the Rules Committee. That is a committee where a member of the minority party automatically serves as vice chair. Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita, currently serves in that position.