Legislative panel seeking bids for $3 million efficiency study; Milton Wolf claims a moral victory

The Kansas Legislative Budget Committee agreed Monday to solicit proposals from outside firms to conduct an examination of the state’s operations and make recommendations about how it can be more cost effective.

Lawmakers set aside $3 million in the Legislature’s own budget this year to pay for such a study. The committee on Monday looked over a draft Request for Proposals and laid out a schedule aimed at having a contractor selected by Oct. 1.

The action came just days after the Department of Revenue reported that tax collections in July fell about $3.7 million short of projections, and after Republican Gov. Sam Brownback ordered $62.7 million in budget adjustments to prevent the state general fund from sliding into the red this year.

Despite concerns expressed by Democrats on the panel, Republicans agreed that the contractor should have broad authority to examine activities of executive branch agencies, including the Department of Education and the state’s 286 public school districts, as well as Medicaid. But the the legislative and judicial branches of government will not be part of the study.

Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, expressed concerns about how much authority a contractor would have to seek information and documents from school districts which, strictly speaking, are separate units of government. And Rep. Jerry Henry, D-Atchison, expressed concern about certain Medicaid providers, including community mental health centers, many of which are managed by private businesses on contract with local governments.

But Sen. Jim Denning, R-Overland Park, said K-12 education and Medicaid make up nearly 75 percent of all state spending, so it would be pointless to ignore those areas.

Senate budget chairman Ty Masterson, R-Andover, also noted that the Legislature is supposed to draft a new school funding formula in two years, and he said there may be outside contractors who have particular expertise in that area.

The panel hopes to have a contractor in place by Oct. 1 so that it will have one full fiscal quarter in which to work before delivering a preliminary report to the Legislature by the first of next year.

Milton Wolf fires back, again

Milton Wolf, the tea party candidate who tried unsuccessfully to defeat U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts for re-election last year, announced Monday that the Kansas Board of Healing Arts had ended its investigation of him without filing any charges.

But the most interesting thing about his statement was that it was released via email from his campaign email account, a possible indication that he may be eyeing a challenge against Kansas’ other senator, Jerry Moran, in 2016.

“I am very pleased to announce that the Board finally closed Dr. Wolf’s inquiry without any findings of wrongdoing,” Wolf’s attorney Mark Stafford said in a statement. “This was proper based upon the facts. His reputation should be built upon his professional skills and his devotion to his patients. It’s frustrating that justice is often delayed, but in our system ultimately the truth must prevail.”

During the campaign last year, Wolf, a radiologist, was criticized for having posted gruesome x-ray images of gunshot victims on a Facebook page and making inappropriate comments about them. He apologized, but claimed the stories were part of a smear campaign orchestrated by the Roberts campaign.

The Board of Healing Arts was reportedly looking into whether Wolf had violated patient confidentiality and privacy laws.

There was no immediate word from the Board of Healing Arts about Wolf’s case.