photo by: Leigh Vogel/Pool via AP

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., is pictured on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021.

TOPEKA — The House and Senate voted to approve a bill Monday placing the Legislature in greater control of decisions traditionally left to governors when temporarily filling vacancies for U.S. Senate, state treasurer and state insurance commissioner.

The content of Senate Bill 105 was developed based on the potential of U.S. Sens. Roger Marshall or Jerry Moran, both Republicans, vacating office before completing their Senate terms. The bill also envisioned a scenario in which state Treasurer Steven Johnson and Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt, also Republicans, departed early.

Traditionally, Kansas governors have temporarily filled vacancies in these political offices until a special election or the term of the departed politician was close to expiring and a regularly scheduled election took place.

Rep. Pat Proctor, a Leavenworth Republican, said the compromise bill would allow formation of a 12-member joint legislative committee to review applicants for vacancies in these jobs. Ten of 12 members on the nominating committee would be appointed by Republican leaders in the Legislature, with two selected by Democratic leadership in Legislature.

The committee would be required to conduct at least one public meeting so nominees could be heard. Only members of the Legislature — 125 representatives, 40 senators — would be eligible to nominate candidates to fill a vacancy. Each legislator could nominate one person. An individual serving on the nominating committee couldn’t be recommended to fill a vacancy.

To be eligible to assume the role of U.S. senator, state treasurer or state insurance commissioner, an applicant would have to be a Kansas resident and registered in the same political party as the previous officeholder for at least six years preceding the vacancy. If the departing officeholder was unaffiliated with a political party, any suitable person residing in Kansas could be eligible the appointment.

“We were opposed to this to begin with,” said Rep. Silas Miller, D-Wichita. “Now, it’s even worse. Legislative power grab.”

The House voted for the deal 84-36, which led to the Senate’s 31-9 vote affirming the deal. The bill moves to the desk of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly with two-thirds margins capable of overriding a veto.

Under existing law, a Kansas governor possessed the power to appoint a Democrat to a seat formerly held by a Republican or the other way around. In 2020, Kelly named Democratic Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers to replace state Treasurer Jake LaTurner, a Republican who had been elected to the U.S. House. Republicans in the Legislature expressed disappointment Kelly handed a statewide office to a fellow Democrat. Republicans won the post back in 2022.

The negotiated bill would require the nominating committee to submit a list of three finalists to the full House and Senate. If available, the House and Senate would meet in joint session to vote on nominees. All members of the Legislature would be expected to vote. If the Legislature endorsed less than three finalists, the nominating committee would reconvene to come up with alternatives.

If the Legislature wasn’t in regular session and no special session was called within five days, the nominating committee would be responsible for forwarding names of three finalists directly to a governor. A governor would have to make the appointment within three calendar days of receiving the nominations.

“It gives a little urgency to the Legislature to decide whether or not the Legislature wants to come back in special session,” said Sen. Mike Thompson, a Johnson County Republican.

Thompson said “all sorts of amendments” added to the bill by the House were dropped during final negotiations among Senate and House members.

• Tim Carpenter is a reporter with the Topeka-based news service Kansas Reflector.