TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A government transparency group says the Kansas attorney generals office has dismissed part of a formal complaint, while continuing to investigate whether the public was denied the right under the Open Meetings Act to observe Senate business after the visitor gallery was closed during a protest.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the Kansas Sunshine Coalition for Open Government sought intervention by Attorney General Derek Schmidt after the May 29 Senate session was interrupted by supporters of Medicaid expansion.
Reporters were removed from the chamber during the protest. Senators, legislative staff, employees of the governor and others were allowed to remain.
Sunshine Coalition President Ron Keefover says the attorney generals office notified the organization that allegations the Senate violated its own rules and operated contrary to the First Amendment went beyond its authority.
In addition, the letter said the attorney generals office would consider, in an abundance of caution, whether any business of the Senate occurred while the chamber was in recess, the Capital-Journal reported.
Lisa Mendoza, an assistant attorney general for Kansas, informed the Sunshine Coalition the Senate was arbiter of its own rules. Alleged constitutional violations cannot be resolved through the complaint process established by the state open meetings act, she said.
We decline to take any further action or express any opinion concerning the merits of these allegations, Mendoza said.
Keefover told the newspaper he was encouraged the attorney general was examining conduct of the Senate but disappointed that key elements of the complaint were dismissed.
We still think the Senate actions in closing its doors to the public and news media are outrageous and cannot be tolerated, he said.
Potential expansion of eligibility for Medicaid to about 130,000 working adults and children was a point of contention during the 2019 session. A bill broadening access was passed by the House, but Wagle and Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning collaborated to block Senate consideration of the bill.
Denning said the issue would be considered by the 2020 Legislature. Expansion of Medicaid remains a central policy objective of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
