While many believe that judges should not "legislate from the bench," that is, make law themselves, the reality is that lawmaking is a judicial function. In a democracy, lawmakers should be elected under the principle of "one person, one vote." But Kansas, which uses the Missouri Plan for judicial selection to its highest court, violates this principle. A 2012 paper by Kansas University School of Law Professor Stephen J. Ware explains the problem with the judicial selection process in Kansas. The paper is titled Originalism, Balanced Legal Realism and Judicial Selection: A Case Study and may be downloaded at no…
Based on votes made in the Kansas Senate, the advertising claims of Sedgwick County Commission candidate Carolyn McGinn don't match her record. In a radio advertisement, Carolyn McGinn says she is conservative. In a mailer, she touts her "fiscal conservative leadership" in the Kansas Senate. But voting records don't match these claims. Several voting scorecards in recent years show Senator McGinn ranking low in terms of voting for economic freedom issues. These issues generally concern taxation, wasteful spending, and unnecessary regulation. In recent years, a freedom index has been produced by Kansas Policy Institute. In 2012 the Kansas Economic Freedom…
To help Kansans understand how legislators vote, Kansas Policy Institute has produced the Kansas Freedom Index for 2013. Legislative scorecards like this are important as they let citizens know how legislators have actually voted, which is sometimes different from their campaign rhetoric, and even different from their current proclamations. Generally, scorecards include a large sampling of votes, so that no single issue paints a member into a corner. [powerpress url="http://wichitaliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/james-franko-kansas-policy-institute-joseph-ashby-show-2013-05-17-excerpt.mp3"]James Franko of Kansas Policy Institute joins Bob Weeks on the Joseph Ashby Show to discuss the Kansas Freedom Index. Then, Bob runs down the scores for Wichita-area legislators. The Kansas…
This week the Kansas House of Representatives considered a bill that would expand the application of tax increment financing (TIF) and community improvement district taxes. The bill, HB 2086, is not a major expansion, but is still harmful. On Monday the bill failed to pass, with 61 members voting in favor, and 60 against. (63 votes are needed to pass a bill.) On the following day, Rep. Scott Schwab made a motion to reconsider. If agreed to, Schwab's motion would force another vote on the passage of the bill. The motion passed, and when the vote on the bill was…
While many believe that judges should not "legislate from the bench," that is, make law themselves, the reality is that lawmaking is a judicial function. In a democracy, lawmakers should be elected under the principle of "one person, one vote." But Kansas, which uses the Missouri Plan for judicial selection to its two highest courts, violates this principle. A recent paper by Kansas University School of Law Professor Stephen J. Ware explains the problem with the process used in Kansas. The paper is titled Originalism, Balanced Legal Realism and Judicial Selection: A Case Study and may be downloaded at no…
Who could be against more efficient government? Even those who score poorly on the Kansas Economic Freedom Index say they are in favor of efficiency and eliminating waste. Here's an example from the campaign website of Nile Dillmore, who is running for re-election: "Nile rejects that 'tax-and-spend' is the most effective and efficient way to manage government! Nile supports cutting waste and inefficiencies and keeping our tax burden as low as possible." But as is often the case in politics, legislators' campaign rhetoric and promises don't align with their actual votes. For example, in the 2011 session of the Kansas…
The headline in the Kansas City Star reads "Voters reject middle ground in Kansas Senate races." A more accurate conclusion is that voters have realized that the governance of Kansas by a coalition of Democrats and left-wing Republicans has not been in the state's best interest. Stagnate job growth as compared to other states, increasing spending on schools with no accountability and not even an honest discussion of achievement, falling behind other states in school reform and school choice, a highly undemocratic method of selecting our state's top judges, resistance to privatization and other measures to streamline government, business tax…
As Kansas Republicans decide who to vote for in next week's primary election, moderate senate incumbents and many newspapers urge voting for those Republicans who promote a “reasonable,” “balanced,” and “responsible” approach to Kansas government. When we examine the record of the coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats that governed Kansas for the first decade of this century, we see legislative accomplishment that not many Kansans may be aware of. Almost all have been harmful to our state. Most of the moderate Republicans run campaigns promoting themselves as fiscal conservatives. But their voting records often tell a different story. That's…
As campaigns for positions in the Kansas Legislature heat up, some are calling for voters to support candidates who will follow a tradition of "reasonableness" that, they say, is characteristic of successful Kansas politicians -- the "traditional" Republicans. Others call for a "balanced" approach to government and "responsible tax reform." Senate President Steve Morris contributes an op-ed in support of "incumbent senators who put their local communities above the agendas of these special interest groups." Reasonable, balanced, responsible. These are words that promote a positive image, although sometimes negative words are used, as in criticism of Kansas tax reform as…
The Kansas Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee has made campaign contributions to the primary election opponents of eight Republican members of the Kansas Senate that it sees as impediments to private sector job creation, according to reporting in the Lawrence Journal-World. According to its website, the Chamber PAC "supports and endorses incumbent state legislators and other candidates for state office who support the Kansas Chamber’s legislative agenda, promote the tenets of free enterprise and pledge to make Kansas a better place in which to do business." Following is the 2010 Kansas Senate roster with each senator's score on the…
