Newspapers and other media outlets in Kansas should brace themselves for the criticism we’ll take six or eight months from now when people realize some new law has taken effect, and we probably didn’t give it full coverage when it was being debated. So allow me to offer this preemptive rebuttal: It’s because they all happened in the same two days, and there are only so many column inches in a newspaper.

Over the course of the next two days, Kansas lawmakers are scheduled to vote on 49 bills — 14 in the House; 35 in the Senate — as they engage in the legislative equivalent of a college student cramming for midterms.

In their rush to shorten the 2016 session, and thereby lengthen the 2016 campaign season, House and Senate leaders have moved up the “turnaround” deadline — the deadline when most bills have to pass out of their house of origin to remain alive — to Tuesday. After that, they’ll take a week off, returning March 1 to continue the session, largely dealing with bills sent over by the other chamber.

Most of the attention will focus on the Senate, which will consider, among other things, a bill spelling out the grounds for impeaching a Supreme Court justice. As written, that would include “attempting to usurp the power of the legislative or executive branch,” or “attempting to subvert fundamental laws and introduce arbitrary power.”

That language was originally part of another bill introduced by Sen. Steve Fitzgerald, R-Leavenworth, and others, but it never received a public hearing and, thus, no one was allowed to testify for or against it. But in the Senate Judiciary Committee, it was folded into a “separation of powers” bill dealing with administrative powers of the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice.

In the House, the most controversial measure may be House Concurrent Resolution 5008, calling for a constitutional amendment establishing the public’s right to hunt, fish and trap. Some critics have said such an amendment could impose a high legal burden on the Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism to justify any kind of hunting limits or wildlife protection measures.

Jayhawks could influence caucuses

Here’s a question that strategists in the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders presidential campaigns might want to think about: What time will the Kansas Jayhawks play the Iowa State Cyclones on March 5?

It’s the last game of the regular season, and Seniors Day at Allen Fieldhouse. And, coincidentally, it’s also the day of the Democratic and Republican caucuses in Kansas.

As of this writing, the schedule on the Jayhawks’ website has game time listed as “TBA,” which probably means that ESPN, the NCAA and/or the Big 12 Conference are still trying to figure out when it will draw the biggest audience. But the time of the caucuses is already set in stone, which means any candidate banking on a big turnout from the 18- to 24-year-old crowd has reason to be concerned.

College Republicans can rest easy because their caucuses open at 10 a.m. and will close by 2 p.m., giving them plenty of time to vote, even if it ends up being an early afternoon game. But the Democrats have a somewhat more complicated caucus procedure, with registration running from 1 to 3 p.m., followed by the actual “caucusing,” which involves more than just marking a ballot.

According to folks at the political blog FiveThirtyEight, a basketball conflict would be more concerning to Sanders who, based on results of the Iowa caucuses, has a decided advantage among younger voters, while Clinton fares better among voters over age 45. But we shouldn’t discount the fact that Jayhawk basketball draws a sizable TV audience from viewers over age 45, so a conflict could cut both ways.

Though we’ve heard no official reports, we wouldn’t be surprised to learn that either one or both of the campaigns have been on the phone to ESPN, lobbying to get the game into a favorable time slot.