Gov. Kelly and the voters want a normal Kansas. Topeka Republicans want to pick fights | Opinion

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly will deliver the annual State of the State address this week, a precursor to 2024 session of the Kansas Legislature. She’ll pitch her priorities, such as expanding Medicaid and supporting public schools, and it’s a fair bet she’ll use the phrase “middle of the road” once or twice to remind Kansans that she’s a nice, normal politician with a nice, normal agenda.

GOP leaders will then spend the next few months doing everything they can to make sure she doesn’t get her way.

Even — and this is the important, aggravating part — when they agree with her.

How do we know this? You can find the answer in Attorney General Kris Kobach’s emails.

Last month, the Topeka Capital-Journal published the results of its open records request for Kobach’s government-related correspondence. The data dump included interesting new information about the Kansas Legislature’s struggle in 2023 to pass a bill to reduce fentanyl overdoses in the state.

The bill — which decriminalized fentanyl testing strips used by drug users as safety precautions — seemed to have bipartisan support. Except it didn’t. During a state Senate committee hearing, Republicans gutted the bill and instead inserted new, unrelated language to restrict the authority of local health officials.

It seemed inexplicable.

Now we have the explanation. Danedri Herbert, Kobach’s communications director, investigated why her boss’s fellow Republicans had derailed the bill.

“I also asked a handful of Republican legislators about opposition to fentanyl testing strips,” Herbert emailed Kobach. “It kind of seems like they object simply because Laura Kelly is pushing it.”

Let’s take a minute here.

The bill was literally a matter of life and death. Overdose deaths in Kansas nearly doubled between 2011 and 2020, thanks largely to the rise of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. But a few Republicans in the Legislature decided — temporarily at least — to do nothing about the problem because they didn’t want the Democratic governor to get a win.

Ghastly. Utterly ghastly.

The good news is that the bill eventually passed. Overwhelmingly. Kansans are a little bit safer today as a result. But the story tells you a little something about the mindset of legislative Republicans as we head into the 2024 session.

It’s not always about serving the best interest of Kansans.

“The Republican supermajority in the House and Senate will do all they can to deny anything on Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s agenda,” Kansas Rep. Jason Probst, a Hutchinson Democrat, wrote in a pre-session newsletter.

He honestly sounded a bit weary. “I know that we’re all just trying to live our lives and get by as best we can,” Probst wrote, “but always remember that the modern world of politics is a game that people are playing and the prize is power.”

Who can say he’s wrong?

Listen: It’s not the job of Republicans to do everything Laura Kelly wants them to do. They have their own agenda and their own constituents to answer to.

That’s politics. And it’s life in a split government where the GOP controls the legislative branch and Democrats hold the governor’s office. It’s always going to be messy and contentious.

Sometimes, though, Democrats and Republicans really do agree on an issue.

And when that happens, shouldn’t they be able to actually agree instead of throwing up roadblocks? Especially if it makes life in Kansas a little better, a bit less deadly?

Shouldn’t we demand that?

It’s tough to pay close attention to the Legislature. Lawmakers pack a year’s worth of business into 90 days crammed with debates, committee hearings, arcane rules and dealmaking. It’s exhausting for everybody involved.

This year, try — if you can — to pay attention anyway. Applaud your legislators when they do something you like. Demand an explanation when they don’t.

And if they’re digging in their heels for the mere sake of digging in their heels, tell them to move on and do the people’s work. That 90 days starts now.

This story was originally published January 7, 2024 at 5:06 AM.