Statehouse renovations: Did your Senator sign a blank check?

As previously noted, there were two attempts to limit spending on statehouse renovations in the Senate.

The first attempt was by was by Senator Peggy Palmer (R-Augusta). She moved to amend SB 359 to cut off funding of any and all renovations of the statehouse after June 30, 2007 and also halt any work on that date until:

1) The Dept. of Administration had renegotiated the contract with the architectural firm for their services.
2) The Dept. of Administration had renegotiated the contract with the general contractor to include a “specific final cost” of the renovation and required that the contract include a “specific date of completion.”

The amendment also provided that both contracts must be approved by a separate act of the legislature and enacted into law.

Quite unbelievably, the amendment was defeated, 18 to 21.

So, did you your Senator sign a blank check? You’d better find out before you head to the polls, because for some of you, this will be the last chance to vote for a candidate that won’t give your money away willy nilly.

On roll call, these Senators voted yea to include this language and put a stop to the project until renegotiated:

Barnett, Barone, Brownlee, Bruce, Gilstrap, Haley, Huelskamp, Jordan, Journey, Lynn, Ostmeyer, Palmer, Petersen, Pyle, Steineger, Taddiken, Wagle, Wilson.

These Senators voted nea, against including this language in the bill and to continue statehouse renovations without any checks by the state.

Allen, Apple, Betts, Brungardt, Donovan, Emler, Goodwin, Hensley, Kelly, Lee, McGinn, Morris, Pine, Reitz, Schmidt D, Schmidt V, Schodorf, Teichman, Umbarger, Vratil, Wysong.

Present and Passing: Francisco.

Another attempt was made later in the 2007 session by Senator Tim Huelskamp to at the very least bring some accountability to the contractor and to get a handle on the costs, even if it didn’t put a stop to construction.

Huelskamp’s amendment to Senate sub for HB 2542 would have required the Dept. of Administration to “prepare and submit a report containing a full accounting of capitol renovation funding including information concerning initial cost estimates, an estimate of the cost to complete all capitol renovations projects and reasons for any cost overruns.”

Again, unbelievably, the amendment failed, 18 to 19. By voting nea, there are many Senators who signaled that they have no intention of making contractors working for the citizens of Kansas to have to answer to anyone. Certainly, they have no plan to call into question the massive overrun of costs.

Those voting yea to at least get some idea of continued costs for the project were:

Apple, Barnett, Barone, Brownlee, Bruce, Gilstrap, Haley, Huelskamp, Jordan, Journey, Lynn, Ostmeyer, Petersen, Pyle, Steineger, Taddiken, Wagle, Wilson.

These Senators voted nea for any accountability what-so-ever.

Allen, Betts, Brungardt, Emler, Francisco, Goodwin, Hensley, Kelly, McGinn, Morris, Pine, Reitz, Schmidt D, Schmidt V, Schodorf, Teichman, Umbarger, Vratil, Wysong.

Present and Passing: Donovan, Lee.

As you head to the polls August 5th, beware; there are a lot of people on the ballot that would rather pillage your pocketbook than stand up and ask a few questions about where your money is being spent.