Recent editorials from Kansas newspapers

New process needed for political redistricting:

Ever wonder what would happen if state lawmakers weren’t in charge of redistricting? Kansans got their first glimpse last week as a three-judge panel drew new boundaries for congressional seats, state House and Senate districts, as well as the state Board of Education.

The first difference noted is the amount of time spent creating districts. Free from political considerations, the judges were able to accomplish in less than two weeks what the Legislature couldn’t do in more than a year’s time.

Second, and equally noteworthy, is the new boundaries were set without regard for incumbency, seniority or party. Legislative or congressional deals already made or in the works did not affect the judges’ work. Instead, population shifts were accounted for as were communities of interest.

In short, the new districts reflect what happens when politics are removed from the decision-making: Upheaval.

“This thing is nothing less than a major restructuring of Kansas politics,” said Rep. Don Hineman, R-Dighton.

Four sitting state senators are guaranteed to lose their jobs. So are 21 state representatives and one state board of education member. In each of those cases, districts were redrawn to include multiple incumbents.

Similarly, there are four Senate and 25 House districts with no incumbents.

Looking at Congress, all four U.S. representatives have slightly different districts but at least they all reside within them. How Manhattan’s inclusion in the First District will play out regarding the planned National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in that city is a wild card. But at least the Big First doesn’t stretch all the way to Missouri.

Two of the more interesting combined state districts are here in northwest Kansas. The 36th Senate District has moved to the east, leaving incumbent Sen. Allen Schmidt, D-Hays, residing in the 40th District. That’s currently Sen. Ralph Ostmeyer’s district, which now picks up Hays. Likewise, the 120th House District now includes both Rep. Ward Cassidy, R-St. Francis, as well as Rep. Rick Billinger, R-Goodland.

Similar situations now exist throughout the state.

“Bottom line, we got what we asked for,” Cassidy said.

We’d have to agree. Kansans everywhere will have to live with the ramifications of a state Legislature that couldn’t complete its work. We have nobody to blame but ourselves.

So we have to ensure the same abdication of duty doesn’t take place in 10 years, when redistricting next occurs. If ever proof was lacking Kansas needs an independent panel drawing its political boundaries, we now have it. State legislators cannot be counted on to fulfill a constitutional requirement. It is time to take the responsibility out of their hands.

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The Iola Register, June 11

Legislative researchers’ budget math:

Gov. Sam Brownback backs reductions in the state income and sales taxes. A new study by the Kansas Legislature’s Research Department estimates his tax cuts would cause a budget shortfall of more than $700 million by July 2018.

The administration protested mightily. No, its spokesman said, the growth caused by tax cuts would produce a surplus of $138 million by mid-2018.

Legislative Research acting director Raney Gilliland said his department had used the same methods to calculate the consequence of the tax cuts that it had always used.

Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan said projecting future budgets is always chancy and commented, “There’s a lot of time for growth. There’s a lot of time for budget adjustments,” between now and 2018.

The safe, conservative approach for the lawmakers to take is to go with Legislative Research. It bases its research on past patterns — which are the only actual facts available. It assumes a certain amount of budget growth because budget growth to cover inflation, the aging population, infrastructure demands and other known factors occurs predictably. It also calculates how much revenue the new, lower tax rates will produce, using conservative economic growth numbers.

Legislative Research calculates lowering tax rates will result in lower state revenue, all other factors being equal. Isn’t this a bit like saying that 2 plus 2 equals 4?

But the administration has persuaded itself that lowering tax rates will result in enough additional economic growth in the Kansas economy that the state will collect more even though it charges taxpayers less.

Now, the administration may be right. But it would not be a good idea to bet the farm on it. This approach is called betting on the come. It is a reckless throw of the dice.

Kansas is not, and never has been, a high tax state. We sit in the middle of the 50. None of the taxes Kansas imposes is onerous. There is, in fact, nothing in Kansas history that lends credence to the theory that cutting income and sales taxes will produce a greater rate of economic growth than the slow, but steady, recovery now under way.

Kansas is, however, a low-spending state. The Legislature and the state’s governor cut spending for its public schools, its universities and its highways and has a huge waiting list of disabled citizens now without critically needed services.

Those reductions were made to keep the budget balanced in the recession. That funding should be restored before tax cuts are made for reasons too obvious to require listing.

When those highest priority needs have been met, then Kansas can experiment with some short-term, limited impact tax reductions to see if supply-side, trickle-down economics truly creates a magic wand that makes more from less.

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The Manhattan Mercury, June 10

Manhattan’s role in redrawn 1st Congressional District:

The three-judge federal panel has decided to move the Manhattan area, including Riley and Pottawatomie Counties, from the Second Congressional District into the First District. This decision, which flows from the legislature’s inability to meet its statutory responsibility to draw new boundaries, was not entirely unexpected. While this newspaper championed in a heartfelt way the local desire to remain in the Second, it was not surprising that a judicial panel would opt for a map that was more geographically concise if, in our judgment less satisfactory in other aspects.

If the area is to be moved into the First, it should jump in with both feet. This means, among other things, an extensive effort to persuade the representative of the First Congressional District, presently Republican Tim Huelskamp of Fowler, to site a district office here.

District offices are a matter of prestige but also a matter of convenience.

They serve the needs of district residences, and their presence is especially vital in wide-ranging districts, which the new First — stretching more than 300 miles east to west — plainly will be.

The existing First District has three such offices: One in Dodge City, a second in Hutchinson — heretofore the district’s largest city — and a third in Salina. That constituted a logical geographic spread in the old district, but it is far less satisfactory in a district containing almost as many people living east of U.S. 81 as west of it. That shift in numbers, if nothing else, argues for replacement of one of the existing offices with one in the Manhattan-Emporia nexus.

Chamber and business officials also want to make sure that their annual lobbying trip to Washington, which takes place later this month, is an impressive one. That means extensive and pointed meetings with Huelskamp and his staff at which the importance of the Manhattan area’s agenda to the representative of the “Big First” is put front and center. There have been too many rumors that the incumbent is not an effective liaison with his own party’s leadership to take for granted his ability to carry the area’s freight on matters such as the care and feeding of Fort Riley, and whatever shepherding is necessary to make the NBAF happen.

When Manhattan enters the First District, we hope and expect it to do so as a full and participating partner.

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The Topeka Capital-Journal, June 9

Deterring copper thieves:

Fans of spy movies and novels know all about “humint” — human intelligence.

The argument goes that information gathered from human beings often is better than that provided by electronic surveillance, satellite imagery and other technology.

That appears to be the reasoning behind Westar Energy’s appeal for human beings to report suspicious activities around its power substations.

The company does employ some technology to guard the security of the substations, including locks, barbed wire, alarms, danger signs, yard lighting and security cameras. Understandably, Westar is reluctant to go into great detail about its security measures, but it’s apparent some brazen thieves have found ways to get around them. It’s a risky way to make money, considering the high voltages flowing through such substations, but the thieves so far have been either smart or lucky.

An arrest has been made in a theft in May in Topeka, but not because the thief came in contact with the electricity. He was outed by a scrap metal dealer.

We all have a stake in this rash of copper thefts, so it’s appropriate that Westar is asking all of us to report any suspicious activity we see there.

First, the thefts are costing the company a lot of money, and we know where that money will have to come from — the customers.

One high-profile theft in Topeka in May resulted in the theft of $50,000 worth of copper, plus $450,000 in damage to the facility.

Secondly, the thefts sometimes cause power outages that affect hundreds or thousands of customers until Westar crews can repair the damage.

So those of you living near power substations are an important line of defense for the rest of us. Do your best.