Democrats call for special committee to vet KanCare contracting

By Andy Marso
KHI News Service

TOPEKA, KAN. — The top Democrats on the KanCare Oversight Committee on Monday called for a separate committee to be appointed to study whether any legal or ethical boundaries were crossed when Gov. Sam Brownback's administration contracted with three managed care organizations to privatize Medicaid.

Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, and Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, said the request was spurred by the months-old news of FBI agents interviewing Capitol denizens for information on allegations of corruption within the administration. The FBI has not confirmed the investigation, per agency policy, but some of those interviewed have told news outlets that the $3 billion KanCare contracts are at the center of the questions.

Ward, a former prosecutor, said that the FBI would only seek out criminal activity, while a special legislative committee also could search for ethics violations.

“When there are instances when the integrity of the legislative process, the integrity of the executive and the taxpayers’ money is at risk, a special committee is not only appropriate, it’s needed,” Ward said.

Brianna Landon, deputy communications director for the governor's office, said the governor supported the formation of the KanCare Oversight Committee on which Kelly and Ward sit, and questioned why neither raised their concerns at a meeting of that committee last month. Legislators and the general public can view the KanCare contract documents online, she noted.

"Five companies submitted bids in response to the KanCare request for proposal," Landon said. "Dozens of subject matter experts, including many career state employees, selected the three winning companies. These experts selected the three lowest bidders with the three strongest proposals. Even the losing bidders have stated the process was open and fair."

When asked why they waited until a month before the general election to request the special committee, Kelly noted that she had made a similar request for legislative inquiry when the story of the FBI interviews broke in April.

Democrats, GOP argue over who cut more school funding

By SCOTT ROTHSCHILD, The Lawrence Journal-World

With the Nov. 6 election approaching, Kansas politicians are fighting over public school finance.

On the campaign trail, Democrats are pounding Gov. Sam Brownback and his conservative Republican followers for making what the Democrats say are the largest cuts to public schools in Kansas history.

And the Democrats are accusing Brownback of enacting those cuts in order to shore up revenue to pay for the massive tax cut that Brownback signed into law, which will eliminate state income taxes for the owners of 191,000 businesses.

“That is the largest (school) cut that has ever been put before the Legislature at any one time,” said House Minority Leader Paul Davis, D-Lawrence. “The people who voted for that budget clearly decided that putting money away for a big tax (cut) was more important than getting money into the classroom.”

But Republicans are crying foul, saying that there were larger school cuts during the administration of Brownback’s Democratic predecessor Mark Parkinson.

The clashing viewpoints are being hashed out in legislative candidate forums across the state.

House Appropriations Chairman Marc Rhoades, R-Newton, said Parkinson cut $388 from base state aid per pupil.