Olathe Republican Erin Davis is changing jobs at Cerner, staying in Legislature

Olathe Republican Rep. Erin Davis, who courted controversy by taking a job as a “government strategist” with the Cerner Corp. while still in the Legislature, is moving to a different role in the company.

“I have been moved from the government team due to family issues and needs of my family,” Davis said, “and have moved on to a different team and (I am) currently on unpaid leave.”

“I do not work in the government space,” Davis added.

Her unpaid leave began Jan. 8, a Cerner spokesman said, which was the first day of the 2018 legislative session. Cerner, based in North Kansas City, is a health care information technology company.

Since The Star first reported on her job last October, Davis has seen her stature in the Legislature change.

She was removed as vice chair of the influential House budget committee, a position she held during the 2017 session. She subsequently replaced Rep. Steve Alford, a Ulysses Republican, as chair of the House Children and Seniors committee after he made racist comments about African-Americans and marijuana earlier this month.

“You know, I serve at the pleasure of the speaker,” Davis said. “And I’m happy to serve my state and my constituents however best.”

Every seat in the House is on the ballot this year. Davis said “absolutely” when asked whether she planned to stay in office through the 2018 session.

House Speaker Ron Ryckman, an Olathe Republican, said he was comfortable having Davis in the Legislature.

“Decisions (about committee leadership) were made prior to the changes in her employment,” Ryckman said. “But we made the decisions with the information we had at the time and since then, obviously things have changed, but we (had) already made the decisions.”

At the time The Star first reported on her job, Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen, which advocates for greater ethics and transparency in government, said he saw a potential conflict for Davis.

“It’s certainly less of a worrisome matter by the fact that she’s left the lobbying arena for the company,” Holman said this week. “But she still has that direct association with the company. She should recuse herself from official actions that directly benefit the company.”

Holman said Davis’ situation still poses a conflict. Davis’ most recent campaign finance report does not show any donations from Cerner in 2017. But campaign finance records show she received $1,000 in contributions from the Cerner Corporation PAC during the 2016 election cycle.

“It’s not as bad as being a lobbyist wearing one hat as a lobbyist and the other hat as a legislator dealing with the lobbyists,” Holman said this week about Davis’ new position. “But it still poses a conflict of interest.”

When The Star reported on her position in October, Davis said she did not see her Cerner job as a conflict of interest.

“My territory is (the) Northwest United States,” Davis said at the time. “... Kansas is not part of my territory.”

Under Kansas law, “employment of legislator as a lobbyist (is) prohibited.”

Cerner spokesman Dan Smith said Davis’ new position is program manager, a non-governmental role.

After The Star’s October story, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach wrote in a Star op-ed that Davis’ situation was an example of a “culture of corruption” in Topeka.

Kobach, a Republican who is running for governor, was less critical about Davis’ job situation when asked about it this week.

“That’s definitely an improvement,” Kobach said about Davis’ recent changes. “It’s really important that legislators not be actively working for a corporation in a government affairs capacity, so it’s a definitely an improvement.”

House Minority Leader Jim Ward said he still has concerns.

“I think they hired Erin Davis because of her political and policy skills,” said Ward, a Wichita Democrat running for governor. “And that whatever her title is, those are the skills they’re gonna draw on for the money they’re paying her. That creates the conflict.”

After talking with The Star about her job status this week, Davis texted a statement saying that “having a citizen legislature depends on employers that are civic-minded and able to offer employees the flexibility to serve.”

“I’m grateful to my employer for that flexibility,” Davis said. “They have granted me a role as project manager outside the government space that requires less travel, which allows me to fulfill my responsibilities as both a legislator and a single mom.”