Bad News Brownback: Hits Keep On Coming

While Sec. of State Kris Kobach had himself a nasty little week of bad press, what with the US Supreme Court rejecting his voter suppression tactics and his decision to compare peaceful protesters to the KKK, his week still paled in comparison to Gov. Sam Brownback’s week.

In a single day, the Topeka Capitol-Journal had three front page, above the fold stories that aptly captured some of the major failings of Gov. Brownback’s sinking administration. Donor kickbacks, secret meetings,and selling out middle-class Kansans all captured in a single news cycle.

– See more at: http://www.ksdp.org/blog/kdp-weekly-wrap-5#sthash.cFcT99o5.dpuf

Cronyism
Discredited supply-side economics isn’t the only thing being revived by Gov. Brownback – the spoils system is apparently back as well.

That would explain why a Mississippi-based company owned by a major Brownback donor was awarded a contract to collect child support payments.

It would also help explain why a former employee of that company was hired to run the Department of Children and Families child support division and why she came to the conclusion that her own division needed to be privatized.

As Brownback and his GOP allies continue their efforts to dismantle Kansas government (see KanCare), don’t be surprised to see more programs being sold off to bidders who just happen to have strong ties to the Brownback machine.

Secret Meetings
It can’t be comfortable to publicly raise water rates over 100% on fellow Kansans which may explain why Brownback’s appointees to the Kansas Corporations Committee made sure to avoid holding a public vote when they more than doubled some Salina residents’ water rates.

Luckily, Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor and the Citizen’s Utility Ratepayer Board acted to stop the secret meetings by filing a lawsuit against KCC and its members for violating the Kansas Open Meetings Act.

Again, this is a recurring pattern under the Brownback administration as this is not the first time DA Taylor has been forced to file a lawuit because of secret meetings involving the governor. As you may recall, Gov. Brownback ushered in the 2012 legislative session by holding dinner meetings with Kansas legislators that violated KOMA and led to a months long investigation.

Sticking It To Middle-Class Kansans
The tuition hikes the KDP warned about ever since Gov. Brownback and GOP legislators cut higher education $66 million are now a reality.

The Kansas Board of Regents approved rate hikes for all six regents institutions in Kansas, with Wichita State seeing the biggest increase of 8.1%. Click here to see how much each school’s tuition is going up.

Since we’ve said enough about how damaging these cuts are, we figured we’d share some other people’s views on Brownback’s attacks on higher education.

The Marysville Advocate: “Gov. Sam Brownback and his sidekicks, conservative Republican legislators, are succeeding in dismantling Kansas with each slash to education they make.”

The Manhattan Mercury: “The [higher ed] cuts will…hurt the education of thousands of present and future students, contribute to the exodus of some of the system’s most qualified faculty, and undermine the long-term prosperity that legislators say is crucial for Kansas.”

The Hutchinson News: “Low- and middle-income Kansans took it on the chin from state government this legislative session in more ways than one. The cost of a college education – probably the most important ticket to financial success – will go higher once more in Kansas, putting it out of reach of more Kansans….Not only have our legislators opted for mediocre universities, they have shortchanged our state’s high school graduates, fewer of whom will have the opportunity to go to college.”