Good news: Kansas is projected to have a budget surplus of $2.9 billion.
Bad news: Kansas is on the hook to pay nearly $2 million in attorney fees to the American Civil Liberties Union and another firm. This stems from a federal lawsuit over a failed voting law championed by former Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
Read that again, nearly $2 million of the state’s $2.9 budget surplus is going to a lawsuit settlement.
The Topeka Capital-Journal’s Jason Tidd reports the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Special Claims Against the State formally recommended settlement payments of $1.4 million to the ACLU and $475,000 to a second law firm, Dentons US LLP. The two cases were separate but consolidated during litigation.
It seems that plenty of people want to blame Kobach solely for this issue. Among them are Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and current Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab. We admit Kobach is an easy target — and rightfully so — but others had a hand in this. Don’t forget that.
It might also be wise to remember that when you point a finger, three fingers point back at you.
In 2011, the Legislature passed and former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback signed the Secure and Fair Elections Act with overwhelming bipartisan majorities.
The House vote was 111-11 and the Senate’s was 26-3, including then-senator and now Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly among the ayes. Schwab was then a representative and chair of the Elections Committee and helped lead lawmakers to pass the law.
That’s a pretty large group of legislators.
After the initial ruling against the law, Schwab and Schmidt sought to appeal. They lost. Tidd reports it is unclear how much of the $1.9 million bill comes from appeals filed under Schwab and Schmidt.
We, like many lawmakers, are upset that this money will have to be used in this way, but here we are. The state is federally obligated to pay this settlement. Schmidt indicated to the committee that simply not paying isn’t an option worth exploring after a legislator asked about it.
We do hope lawmakers think long and hard about that almost $2 million.
What could that money have done for Kansas? Could it have helped expand broadband connections to rural areas? Supported education in our state? Helped ace that food tax? We may never know.
