Kansas Rep. Bill Otto called himself “sick” over portions of the Kansas legislative session that wrapped up Sunday night with a $14.3 billion budget on the governor’s desk, but with several unanswered issues.
“It’s not a time for arm-patting and back-slapping when we can’t even get redistricting done,” Otto told the Register in a telephone interview.
Otto, R-Le Roy, represents most of Allen County in the Kansas House of Representatives.
Indeed, Kansas is the only state in the country that failed to produce a redistricting bill, a once-every-10-years maneuver to reshape Senate and House districts so each has equal representation in office. The redistricting is based on Census figures from 2010.
Otto laid the blame at leadership of both the House and Senate, particularly between factions of conservative and moderate lawmakers who failed to agree on how the new districts should be shaped.
The matter is headed to federal court where a panel of three judges will hear testimony May 29 and 30.
If the issue is not settled by early June, the Aug. 7 primary election most certainly will be pushed back until the end of August, Otto said.
“It’s not a difficult issue, and both sides are wrong,” he said. “Usually we say let the state make our own decisions instead of the feds, but now we’re asking the feds to fix this.
“How can this happen, when we have two-thirds (Republican) majorities in both the House and Senate and the governorship?” he asked. “We are essentially in uncharted territory. We’ve never done this before.”
Meanwhile, Otto and other legislators planning to file for re-election must cool their heels until their districts are determined.
Regardless, Otto plans to file. “I just won’t put my district number, because it may change.”
THERE WILL BE plenty to greet lawmakers when they return in 2013.
Otto’s primary concern is the effects of a series of tax cuts on the state’s budget.
“To me, the definition of being a conservative is you pay your bills,” Otto said. “Democrats have always been for ‘spend, spend, spend,’ but to me it’s just as bad to cut taxes like that.”
