Kansas GOP senators rebuke their leader for promoting Medicaid expansion with governor

Kansas Senate Republicans lashed out at their own leader, Sen. Jim Denning, on Thursday for campaigning in favor of Medicaid expansion with Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly earlier this week.

A group of senators, including Senate President Susan Wagle, confronted Denning at the end of their regular caucus meeting, with one telling him his actions were “incompatible” with the title of majority leader. But they stopped short trying to remove him from his post.

“What you did and the title of majority leader do not go together,” Sen. Gene Suellentrop, a Wichita Republican who chairs the Senate’s health committee, told Denning.

Denning, an Overland Park Republican and senator since 2013, did not back away. “My job is to pass Medicaid expansion this year,” he said, referring to the compromise proposal he reached with Kelly.

The confrontation came after Denning and Kelly addressed hospital administrators and clergy in Wichita on Monday and asked them to urge their lawmakers to support expansion. Their efforts have been stymied by Wagle, of Wichita, who has vowed to block the proposal until an anti-abortion amendment to the state constitution passes the Legislature.

During the joint appearances, Denning sat next to Kelly as she called Wagle’s position “immoral.” He called on the Legislature to pass expansion and then turn its attention to the amendment.

Lawmakers remain at an impasse over expansion and the amendment, with little sign of progress as the rhetoric intensifies. Anti-abortion activists are pressing for an amendment which asserts that the state constitution doesn’t guarantee a right to an abortion.

House Republican leaders have been hunting for more votes for the amendment ever since it failed in the chamber in early February. At the same time, expansion supporters have been evaluating whether they can muster enough votes to bypass Wagle’s blockade.

Frustration with Denning among some Republicans had been simmering ever since he and Kelly unveiled their plan in early January. Those tensions spilled into public view Thursday with the rare public rebuke.

Wagle, a candidate for U.S. Senate, accused Denning of “carrying the governor’s water” and placing Republicans in a “very bad situation.”

“It puts us all in a bind when you’re carrying the governor’s bill and I believe the majority of our caucus is not for that bill,” Wagle said.

She told Denning “our biggest voting bloc in a primary is the pro-life community and we cannot be asked to step on that community and get re-elected. So you’re putting us in a very difficult spot. Very, very difficult.”

Sen. Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, told Denning he considers him a friend but added the “actions of campaigning along with the governor are incompatible with the title.”

Suellentrop asked Denning to promise not to participate in similar events in the future.

“I’m not mad at you because you can’t do anything to me or my committee. But we have other senators here who are in districts that it could matter,” Suellentrop said. “So what I really am is very, very disappointed in you in doing that.”

Denning refused to budge.

“No, I’m not going to make that commitment,” he responded.

As the meeting broke up, Suellentrop, who had initiated the confrontation, told reporters “we’re not at that position yet” when asked if Denning should leave as leader.

Denning had previously voted against Medicaid expansion, but last spring said he would advance a bill in 2020. He faces a tough re-election campaign in Overland Park, where he will likely face Democratic Rep. Cindy Holscher this fall.

A majority of the Legislature supports expanding Medicaid to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, a move that could add more than 130,000 residents to the program. Kansas is one of 14 states that hasn’t expanded.

The House passed expansion last year. In the Senate, 22 senators have signed on as co-sponsors of the Kelly-Denning compromise – one more than the 21 needed to pass a bill.

“If the caucus does decide that Jim Denning is not the leader for them anymore, we know we’re on the right side of this issue, not only for our district but for the state and what the people want and what the masses want,” said Ethan Patterson, Denning’s chief of staff. “So we’re going to sleep easy – easy tonight and moving forward.”

Patterson later said he was referring to the Truth Caucus, a group of conservative legislators at the Capitol.

Patterson said there’s a “small group” uncomfortable that Denning and Kelly were promoting expansion together but said most of the public believes lawmakers should work in a bipartisan fashion.

“We’ve had 10 years in this building where bipartisanship did not exist,” Patterson said. “And Jim Denning and Gov. Laura Kelly do not agree on everything. We all know this. They do not agree on every aspect of that Medicaid bill. But they put their differences aside for bipartisanship.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 6:08 PM with the headline "Kansas GOP senators rebuke their leader for promoting Medicaid expansion with governor."