Legislative Update: Put sine die on your calendars! And start thanking legislators for their service
May 8, 2008
Mark it down! Make plans to attend in person, or tune in online – Sine die, the ceremonial end of the 2008 legislative session, is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 29.
We’ll all watch the papers, but it is definitely possible that both chambers could attempt a veto override vote, should the third coal bill, HB 2412, be vetoed by the Governor.
What can you still do? I am getting a lot of these emails – I would say that now is a great, great time to start thanking legislators (see the votes and contact info below).
Thank them. Whatever your position on the issue. And wherever you are from. I know that there are a couple of crowd favorites out there (Rep. Kuether comes to mind. Long may her pig metaphors live on). If that person does not represent you, you can still write them a thank you note for their service.
If you like how they voted on the most recent coal plant legislation (there have been at least eight votes, I think), tell them so. If your opinion differs, mention it in a constructive and positive manner.
Give people the benefit of the doubt. One way or another, this vote was hard for every single legislator out there. These energy issues are incredibly complex, and they all did their best to wrap their heads – and their hearts – around it.
Have you been writing your legislator this whole time, yet you have never heard back? I know of at least two legislators (who shall not be named publicly, because I am nice) who have consistently not responded to their constituents on the issue of the coal plants.
My advice: Send a copy of your correspondence to your local paper, along with a 250-300 word letter to the editor. Mention that you have not heard back from said legislator.
Long road ahead. When it comes putting together an energy economy for the 21st century, Kansans have a long way to go together. TOGETHER. For some of you, the experience may feel a lot like running a three-legged race tied tight to someone you’re not that crazy about.
So it goes. Veto or no veto, issues will still remain. If there is not a veto override, Sunflower Electric will still pursue its air permit in the courts, as is their legal right. If there is an override, then other groups have expressed their willingness to sue to see that the plants do not go forward. Either way, western Kansas will still need a new source of reliable baseload power.
Kansas still needs a comprehensive energy plan. (CEP would like to see that plan involve renewable energy and energy efficiency.)
A lot of people are going to have lots of meetings between now and the 2009 legislative session. They will try to hash out the details, and there will inevitably be times that the discussions will go a whole lot better than others.
CEP will do its best to be there.
We thank you for reading.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
HOW THEY VOTED ON HB 2412, THE THIRD COAL BILL
To find your representative and their contact info, go to www.congress.org and enter your zip code. If you don’t see your rep on the following list, then they either passed or were not present for this most recent coal vote. Which shouldn’t stop you from writing :)
HOUSE VOTES:
NO VOTES on 2412 (the third coal bill): Ballard, Burroughs, Carlin, Colloton, Crow, Davis, Dillmoe, Faust-Goudeau, Flaharty, Flora, Frownfelter, Garcia, Goyle, Hawk, Henderson, Henry, Holland, Horst, Huntingdon, Kuether, Lane, Loganbill, Long, Mah, McCray-Millr, McLchalan, Menghinit, Metsker, Morrison J, Neighbor, Owens, Pottorff, Quigley Rardin, Roth, Ruiz, Sawyer, Spalding, Storm, Svaty, Swencson, Tetze, Treaster, Trimmer, Ward, Winn, Wolf K, Worley
YES VOTES on 2412: Aurand, Beamer, Bethell, Bowers, Brown, Brunk,Burgess, Carlson, Colyer, Craft, Crum, Dahl, Donohoe, Faber, Feuerborn, Fund, Gatewood, George, Goico, Gordon, Grange, Grant Hayzlett, Hill, Hodge, Holmes C, Holmes M, Huebert, Humerickhouse, JOhnson, Kelsey Kiegerl, King, Kinzer, Knox, Landwehr, Light, Lukert, Mast, masterson, McKInney, McLeland, Merrick, Morrison Jim, Moxley, Neuefld, O’Neal, Olson, Otto, Palmer, Patton, Pauls, Peck, Peterson, Phelps, Powell, Powers, Proehl, Rhoades, Ruff, Schroeder, Schwartz, Shutlz, Siegfried, Sloan, Swanson, Tafanelli, Vickrey, Watkins, Wetta, Whitham, Wilk, Williams, Wolf B, Yoder
SENATE VOTES:
NO VOTES ON 2412: Betts, Brungardt, Francisco, Haley, Hensley, Kelly, Schodorf, Vratil, Wysong, Reitz
YES VOTES ON 2412: Allen, Barnett, Barone, Brownlee, Donovan, Gilstrap, Goodwin, Lee, Lynn, Huelskamp, Jordan, Journey, Teichman, Umbarger, Schmidt, Schmidt, Wagle, Wilson, McGinn, Morris, Ostmeyer, Peterson, Pine, Pyle
They did it! They did it. I fell asleep at home while listening online, so I missed it – but according to Sierra Club lobbyist Tom Thompson, the KS legislature adjourned right before 10:00 p.m. last night.
From the climate and energy perspective, what next? Well – we are waiting to see how the Governor reacts when two bills reach her desk - (1) HB 2412, the third coal bill, which she is expected to veto, and (2) SB 586 the bill allowing utilities to begin early in recovering from ratepayers the costs of developing nuclear energy.
The timing could look like this – the Governor has ten days to veto a bill. That ten days starts counting from the moment that bill hits her desk.
Since this is the end of session, both chambers would have to attempt to override the veto at sine die, the official end of session on May 29.
Sampling of the news coverage: My favorite turn of phrase, this from the Wichita Eagle - the new coal bill is basically “veto bait.” The Eagle also tallied the vote switches:
Rep. Benjamin Hodge, R-Overland Park, who had opposed overriding the governor on coal, switched sides Wednesday and voted for HB 2412. But four representatives who had been “yes” votes switched to “no” — Tom Hawk, D-Manhattan; Tim Owens, R-Overland Park; and Deena Horst and Charles Roth, both R-Salina.
Owens, a lawyer who teaches college government classes, said he would have supported all the component parts of HB 2412 individually. But he said he thinks bundling them together violates the one-bill, one-subject rule in the state Constitution.
“Had my students been sitting here, they would have been ashamed of me if I voted any other way, because of what I teach,” said Owens, a former House Rules Committee chairman who carries a copy of the Constitution in his pocket.
Will there be a veto override attempt at sine die? Wait – will there be a veto? Speaker Neufeld thinks there might not be (LJWorld).
House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, said he believes Sebelius will allow the measure to become law without her signature. Asked if he would attempt to override a Sebelius veto on the session’s ceremonial last day May 29, Neufeld said he wouldn’t speculate.
“I’m not going to speculate on an override because I don’t believe we need to go there,” Neufeld said.
This morning, Sebelius said that letting the measure become law without her signature was “off the table” (TCJournal). She also criticized legislative leadership’s handling of energy policy this session.
The governor also said the Legislature’s decision to merge a series of economic development initiatives with the latest coal bill appears to be unconstitutional, creating additional incentive to pick up a veto pen.
“At the end of the day, I think it’s one more bad choice that was made to sacrifice legitimate economic proposals,” she said. “The session had way too much ultimatum and not enough collaboration.”
Regardless of what happens, Kansans on both sides of the issue have a severe case of coal fatigue. Also quoted in the Eagle:
Wichita-area Democrats said it’s time for the House Republican leadership to stop holding vote after vote on coal.
“They’re beating down a dead horse,” said Rep. Delia Garcia, D-Wichita. “Hopefully they’ll get the message and stop acting like adolescents.”
The KCStar editorial board was overall unimpressed with the time (and taxpayer money) that legislators wasted this last week, at least part of it on the third (and last!) coal bill.
EDIT: And I just found another quotable, this from a different article by the TCJournal. (Parental Advisory: Rep. Lane says a bad word. Or what many people might consider an iffy word. But it’s very descriptive.)
Rep. Harold Lane, D-Topeka, said the bundling of bills was an effort to push opponents of the coal bill from Johnson County and Shawnee County to vote for the measure. Lane voted against the bill Wednesday.
“I’m not whoring my vote,” he said.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
