Hello from Topeka.

You know we are heading into the final days of the legislative session, as the pace picks up and many meetings are held to try to get enough support or votes to get a particular bill out of committee and on to the floor for debate and passage.

With this being an election year, many of the bills to make it for a vote have not been controversial, but have included clean-up language or something that a majority agree to.

Things like amending the state banking code, modernizing the Kansas mortgage business act do not get the headlines, but are important non the less. Those were a couple of the things we moved out of the house this past week.

Some veteran lawmakers and legislative watchers say this session has brought more challenges than they remember, but many times with families when we are backed up against a wall, we defend and lash out to protect ourselves. The process is not pretty, nor should it be, because laws have consequences, sometimes unintended and changes need to be made. Other times the pure politics of governing has us put forth bad legislation just to score a “gotcha” rather than working together to find a true solution.

That being said, one of the good things that passed out of the House this past week was a bill on transparency, which if passed by the Senate and signed by the Governor would have many committee meetings broadcast via a live audio stream. This gives everyone an opportunity to hear what really happens in a committee, rather than hear about it second hand. I hope these moves forward.

I will be traveling the district in April, listening to you, visiting schools and businesses, hope I see you along the way.

Please reach out to me if you have concerns, questions or issues that need to be addressed. You can keep up on things by following and liking Ken for Kansas on Facebook. During the session I can be reached: Ken Rahjes, Kansas State Capitol, 168-W, Topeka, KS 66612; Phone: (785) 296-7676; Email: [email protected]; or 1798 E 900 Rd, Agra, KS 67621; Cell: (785) 302-8416 or [email protected].

You can also track bills and get specific information by going to kslegislature.org.