Come on, Kansas lawmakers. Putting your names on bills and amendments should be easy

Kansas state Rep. Stephanie Clayton wants her colleagues to start putting their names on bills sponsored by committee.

“You need to know whose interest is behind legislation,” she says.

Well, yes. That seems pretty fundamental.

Let’s be clear: Kansas must immediately end the practice of introducing measures by committee instead of attaching the name of a specific member of the body. In 2016, more than nine out of 10 bills passed had no named sponsor.

We’d go even further: Kansas must stop the use of anonymous committee amendments to bills under debate on the floor.

This should be a threshold issue for every Kansan. If any lawmaker tells you he or she can’t function without anonymous bills, he or she is endorsing secret government. Period.

Clayton’s approach may be too complicated. She wants to change state law to require the names of sponsors rather than just changing House and Senate rules.

The Overland Park Republican said revising the Legislature’s rules might create a “Pandora’s box” effect, with members rushing to change other rules they don’t like.

But Kansans would see who caused the chaos and how. And lawmakers should have enough self-control to limit themselves to a simple fix requiring names.

Clayton also wants committee legislation to carry the name of the “requester,” not just the sponsor. A requester could be a state department, a lobbyist or “Joe Schmo” as she puts it.

“I’ve seen some really messed-up bills come through here as anonymous committee bills,” she said.

Requiring requester names would be enormously helpful: Imagine a bill sponsored by a senator “at the request of the Tobacco Lobby of America.”

It has little chance of passing.

This can be simple. The Kansas Legislature, by rule, should require an individual sponsor for every bill and every amendment. It should abolish the artificial deadline for submitting individual bills and allow members to make proposals until the end of the session.

Legislative leaders say they must protect a process called “gut and go,” where language in an innocuous bill is removed and replaced with unrelated items. The procedure allows members to consider measures without a new committee hearing or other procedural steps.

We think that’s wrong. But even if Kansas lawmakers keep the practice, they can remove a sponsor’s name from a “gut” and replace it with a specific name for a “go.” It’s just that easy.

Convincing the leadership on this issue has turned out to be difficult. House Speaker Ron Ryckman recently warned us of “unintended consequences” if the rules are changed.

By unintended consequences, he means members would be held accountable for their actions. That seems like a worthy goal.

John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence in a bold hand. No one could mistake his views on the document or his role in creating it.

And no one suggested attributing the Declaration to an anonymous committee. The Hancock spirit needs to drift through the Kansas statehouse, and soon.

This story was originally published January 16, 2018 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Come on, Kansas lawmakers. Putting your names on bills and amendments should be easy."