Transparency in the Kansas House of Representatives: Some success

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Last week the Kansas House of Representatives took votes on several amendments to its rules regarding transparency and understandability of the legislative process. Of the three most important amendments, two passed. The amendment that failed, however, was much more important than the other two.

The important amendment — the record all votes amendment — failed 51 to 67. This would have required that every non-trivial vote be recorded. Currently many important votes are by voice only, and no recording is made of who voted which way.

The limiting hours amendment passed 69 to 49. This would prevent the late-night sessions, where procrastination by the legislature has resulted in important business being conducted in the early morning hours.

The bundling amendment passed 82 to 35. This would prevent many unrelated bills being presented together for a single vote.

I’ve prepared a list of legislators and their votes on these amendments. I’ve also assigned weights to these votes, as one — the recording all votes amendment — is much more important than the others. So each member has a computed score, with higher numbers meaning the legislator is more concerned about operating transparently as opposed to the current ways. 42 Members voted in favor of transparency on all three amendments. But 34 voted against all three. The latter group includes the Speaker of the House, the Speaker Pro Tem, and the Majority Leader.

Looking forward: Will the Kansas Senate consider any of these reforms?

[gview file=”http://wichitaliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Kansas-House-of-Representatives-Reform-Votes-January-2015.pdf”]

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