Location: Kansas Capitol, Topeka KS, House Chambers
Time: House convenes at 10:00
Issue: Sunflower Electric’s proposed 1400 MW of coal-fired generation, and the role of the KDHE Secretary in protecting Kansans’ health and environment
Bills/ Legislative Action:
- Last night, the House successfully upheld the Governor’s veto of the coal plants (SB 148). Today, it is rumored that leadership will call for a “reconsideration” of that vote.
- If you have only recently come to this policy debate, check out CEP’s FAQ’s on the Kansas Coal Controversy.
- Please hit your refresh button during the day to check for updates. – 99.9% of this entry is hidden below the surface – be sure to hit the “read the rest of this entry” link to see the full, er, glory
Summary/ Action: The “reconsider” option on the veto vote has expired. SB 148 is officially dead. The Governor’s veto is no longer in danger of being overturned by a do-over. Now, SB 327 is left. The clock for a veto override vote on that measure expires tomorrow. The House will reconvene at 10:00 a.m. Saturday.
************************
No, silly. Yesterday wasn’t Opposite Day. It’s not even an alternate reality. Get with it, Dorothy, this is Kansas – and not just that, you’re in the Kansas legislature now!
Where indeed there can be a “reconsideration” (meaning, do-over) of a successful vote to sustain a veto.
Last night, members of the Kansas House did indeed successfully sustain the Governor’s veto of the proposed 1,400 megawatts coal plants by an 80-45 margin.
However, this morning there seems to be a very good chance that House leadership will use a technicality to do the vote all over again.
BTW – I have very much appreciated the emails!! Please forgive me for not being able to respond to them all. Ditto on phone calls (very sorry). However, below is the information that most of you crave:
NO VOTES (votes against the coal plants, and to sustain the veto): Ballard, Burroughs, Carlin, Colloton, Crow, Davis, Dillmore, Faust-Goudeau, Flaharty, Flora, Frownfelter, Garcia, Goyle, Henderson, Henry, Hodge, Holland, Huntington, Kuether, Lane, Loganbill, Long, Mah, McCray-Miller, McLachlan, Menghini, Metsker, Judy Morrison, Neighbor, Pottorff, Quigley, Rardin, Ruiz, Sawyer, Spalding, Storm, Svaty, Swenson, Tietze, Treaster, Trimmer, Ward, Winn, K. Wolf, Worley.
KNRC has compared these no votes with prior no votes – for who was gained and lost since the final action vote on SB 148, and this override vote. A complete roll call vote is available at the KCStar.
To find and contact your representative: Go to www.congress.org and type in your zip code.
The six supportive votes who could probably use extra support and thanks (although they all deserve some love): Rep. Judy Morrison, Rep. Henry, Rep. Pottorff, Rep. Hodge, Rep. Swenson, Rep. Metsker How to contact these six: The Great Plains Alliance for Clean Energy (GPACE) has an online email form.
On the general indignation re a possible “reconsideration.” For those of you feeling like someone just kicked you in the shins while shaking your hand – all I can say is, the theory and the practice of representative democracy sometimes lays further apart than one would expect.
It is worth remembering, though – modern technology makes it pretty easy to start developing a relationship with your elected representative. The neat thing about all this coal drama is that many Kansans have begun to do exactly that.
If you were an employer, would you hire someone whom you never checked in with, never explained your expectations, never supervised or worked with in any way at all? Probably not. It’s also not exactly a great way to treat an official – a regular person, like you, whom you spent your votes to elect.
Speaking of, every seat in the House and Senate is up for grabs this fall. Do not forget. This is your state. Whatever your concerns, whatever your position on the issues, your involvement matters.
***********************
And on a happy note – the national championship Kansas men’s basketball team is here this morning! along with the football team and the debate team. Two very funny ladies in front of me are discussing how this puts diehard K-State fans in a quandary.
Procedural note – what it takes for a “reconsideration.” A majority vote is needed to call for a reconsideration vote, and it must do so within one day of the disputed vote. Majority in the House is 63.
Then we are back on the blessed bill, by golly by gum. Again, supporters of the coal plants need 84 votes for an override. Deals are probably being made, fought, negotiated, etc., even as I type. Dear me.
Interesting twist. Three pro-coal plant votes – Owen, Kelly, and Schultz – are “E” (excused) up on the vote board today.
