TOPEKA — The dustup in the Senate over a bill delivering voucher-like funding to Kansas private schools featured zinger one-liners, rival interpretations of an obscure parliamentary rule and allegations Republican leadership engaged in abuse of power.
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Democrat from Lenexa, got the ball rolling Thursday with a motion to call a vote on Senate Bill 83, which was transformed by the House to include a mandate to raise teacher raises, increase funding of special education and establish the Sunflower Education Equity Act. The equity act would create state funded $5,000 savings accounts for low- and middle-income students attending homeschools and private schools.
The bill barely cleared the Kansas House 64-61, despite an 85-40 GOP majority in the chamber. Gov. Laura Kelly equated the bundled bill to a political form of blackmail, suggesting it could be vetoed with little threat of two-thirds majorities required of an override by the Senate and House.
Sykes pressed her case by pointing to “Rule 3B,” which she said provided leverage to compel a snap vote in the Senate on the education bill.
“I do think we should vote,” she said. “I do think this bill was gutted and significantly altered from the way it came out of this chamber.”
Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, disagreed and urged his colleagues to steer the bill into a House-Senate conference committee. His substitute motion would place the bill in hands of six Senate and House negotiators. If compromise was reached by a bipartisan three-senator, three-representative negotiating committee, the deal could be voted on in both chambers without opportunity for amendment.
“I’m in support of this,” said Sen. Renee Erickson, a Wichita Republican. “A bill of this magnitude, the importance of this subject matter, we need more time to look at it through the conference process.”
Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, fought off an attempt by Democrats to compel an immediate vote in the Kansas Senate on a bill narrowly passed by the Kansas House that included voucher-like state funding for private school students. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
A committee hearing?
Sen. Jeff Longbine, R-Emporia, said he was perplexed by the conference-committee approach outlined by Masterson that apparently would bypass the Senate’s education committee. He suggested the Senate committee, with its subject-matter expertise, ought to evaluate details of the voucher-like initiative and consider other parts of the K-12 package.
“If this bill is of such magnitude, why is the Senate Education Committee not taking a look at it?” Longbine said.
At that point, Sen. Molly Baumgardner, the Louisburg Republican and chairwoman of the committee, revealed she requested from legislative staff comparative analysis of the Senate’s original Senate Bill 83, which offered low-income scholarships and tax credits to help students enroll in private schools, and the revamped Senate Bill 83 adopted by the House launching the voucher-like system.
For example, Baumgardner said, the Legislature didn’t have a solid grasp on the actual cost to taxpayers of the House’s version of the bill.
“We want to make sure we have as much data as possible,” Baumgardner said. “We make decisions based on real data, not just assumptions.”
Finally, Masterson got his vote to drop the bill into a conference committee. His motion prevailed 21-12, potentially another sign of underwhelming support for the education legislation.
Senate Vice President Rick Wilborn, R-McPherson, presided in the Kansas Senate while members took a dive into Robert’s Rules of Order to determine whether Democrats could force a quick vote on a controversial education spending bill. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
