By JIM MCLEAN

Lawmakers arrived in Topeka Monday with monumental money problems facing the state and an executive branch stuck in a confusing transition.

It’s the start of a roughly 90-day session in which they, once again, must juggle the state’s checkbook to meet multiple pressing needs. That includes an ultimatum from the Kansas Supreme Court to find more tax dollars for schools.

It’s a tough job made that much harder by unusual political circumstances.

A lame-duck governor made even less relevant by his desire to jump to a job in the Trump administration as soon as the U.S. Senate can muster the votes to confirm him. A lieutenant governor chomping at the bit to take over. And a herd of wannabe governors inside and outside the Statehouse sure to criticize every move.

Thinking his confirmation was imminent last fall, Gov. Sam Brownback started sharing budget preparation duties with Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer. That created confusion over who was calling the shots — the existing governor or the one in waiting. And that forced Brownback to reassert himself.

He, not Colyer, will give the annual State of the State address to a joint session of the legislature on Tuesday. And he, not Colyer, will lay out the administration’s plan for addressing the court ruling that once again declared the state’s funding of public schools unconstitutionally low.

“This is the governor’s response,” Brownback said in an interview last week. “I’m the governor.”

But how much influence the governor commands remains an open question. Multiple polls in the last couple of years consistently ranked him among the nation’s least popular governors. That, coupled with the fact that he is widely seen as having one foot out the door, have eroded his influence, said University of Kansas political scientist Burdett Loomis.

“He’s been a non-factor,” Loomis said.

Brownback’s ebbing power was glaring at the end of the 2017 session, when lawmakers overpowered him to pass a bill that rolled back the income tax cuts he championed in 2012. The revolt was led by a group of Democrats and moderate Republicans elected in 2016 on a promise to fix the budget mess in Topeka.

A lack of leadership at the top makes the job of a part-time legislature harder, said House Minority Leader Jim Ward.

“It makes it much, much more difficult to get to a resolution,” said Ward, a Democratic candidate for governor.

Perhaps nothing looks harder to fix than school financing. The court demands could require another $600 million, even as the state searches for a way to pay back money borrowed from its employee pension fund.

Republican leaders have said their members have no appetite for another tax increase. But heading into an election year makes service cuts — to education, highways and the like — just as unsavory.

Tough choices, made tougher by the leadership questions that loom large as lawmakers begin their work.

Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas state legislator who suggested at a public forum that blacks are predisposed to abusing drugs has resigned from two committee leadership jobs.

Republican state Rep. Steve Alford of the western Kansas town of Ulysses stepped down Tuesday as chairman of the House Children and Seniors Committee and vice chairman of a legislative task force on child welfare.

Alford resigned from those positions a day after apologizing for remarks he made Saturday at a public meeting in Garden City.

During the meeting, Alford discussed his opposition to legalizing any use of marijuana and referenced a time in the 1930s when it was outlawed.

He said marijuana and other drugs were prohibited partly because blacks responded “the worst” to them “because of their character makeup — their genetics and that.”

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4:45 p.m.

A white Kansas state lawmaker has apologized for suggesting that blacks have a genetic predisposition to abusing drugs.

Republican state Rep. Steve Alford, of the western Kansas town of Ulysses, said in a statement that he was wrong and regrets the remarks he made Saturday during public meeting at a hospital.

He said: “I sincerely apologize to anyone whom I have hurt.”

At the meeting, The 75-year-old Alford argued against legalizing any use of marijuana. He suggested it and other drugs were originally outlawed in part because blacks were “basically users” and “responded worst” to the drugs because of their “character makeup — their genetics and that.”

Alford said in his statement that he opposes legalizing any use of marijuana because doing so opens the door to harder drugs.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A white Kansas state lawmaker arguing against the legalization of any use of marijuana suggested that it and other drugs were originally outlawed in part because blacks were “basically users” and “responded worst” to the drugs because of their “character makeup — their genetics and that.”

State Rep. Steve Alford, a 75-year-old Republican from Ulysses, in the west of the state, made the comments Saturday during a public meeting at a hospital in Garden City. The Garden City Telegram first reported on the statement Monday and posted a video of it to YouTube.

Kansas is one of the few remaining states that haven’t legalized some form of medical marijuana, including low-THC marijuana derivatives that can’t get a user high. But the legalization question has been percolating in Kansas in recent years.

At the meeting, Alford referenced a time in the 1930s when marijuana was prohibited.

“What was the reason they did that?” he asked a crowd of about 60 people, none of whom were black. “One of the reasons why — I hate to say it — is the African-Americans, they were basically users and they responded the worst off to those drugs. It’s because of their character makeup — their genetics and that. And so basically what we’re trying to do, is we’re trying to do a complete reverse of the people not remembering what’s happened in the past.”

Asked about his remarks Monday by The Associated Press, Alford said: “I’m not going make any more remarks about that. To me, that’s neutral. Basically, I got called a racist, which I’m really not, and it’s just the way people — the interpretation of people. To me, I’m trying to look at what’s really the best for Kansas.”

Alford said the marijuana issue is very important to him because he believes it’s a gateway drug that introduces user to other drugs.

“I’m really looking for the safety of the people of Kansas, the children of Kansas, the adults of Kansas,” Alford said during a brief interview.

TOPEKA — Kansas legislators heard what Republican Gov. Sam Brownback proposes on funding for public schools in his annual State of the State address.

Brownback gave the annual speech Tuesday evening at 5p.m. Watch a replay here.

This is the term-limited Republican governor’s last address.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security says Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is not advising the agency on election fraud issues.

But Kobach told The Kansas City Star on Monday that the White House has informed him that it wants him to work closely with President Donald Trump and his team.

He said his role is not formal and has not been fleshed out after Trump disbanded a commission on election fraud. Kobach was the commission’s vice chairman.

Acting DHS spokesman Tyler Houlton told The AP in an email last week that Kobach was not advising the department. He told The Star on Monday that Kobach was not advising the agency formally or informally.

The White House said DHS would handle any future election fraud review.

SEDGWICK COUNTY— A 21-year-old man who was wounded after a police chase in which he was accused of shooting at officers has been booked into jail.

The man identified as Elijah Martinez was booked Monday on suspicion of attempted capital murder and other charges.

The chase began Dec. 27 after a witness spotted the man and a woman stealing mail and called 911, according to Wichita police Lt. Todd Ojile.

A police officer went inside a business, where the suspect shot at the officer. Police say the officer got outside and that the man stole a truck.

A chase ensued, and police say the man fired more shots before two officers returned fire. The suspect was struck in his lower jaw and taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Martinez has two previous convictions for burglary, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.