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News is breaking today from the Lawrence Journal-World that Republican legislative leaders gave some hefty bonuses to their staff while at the same time seeking cuts to state employee salaries.
That's not to say the article wasn't a hit piece. Only House leadership was mentioned and I'm sure Senate leaders were involved as well. Plus it doesn't mention what Democrats were doing with their pay scale, so I'm going to guess the paper never checked. And after all the nice things I had to say about them.
In the end leadership should have known how this would look, especially when trying to cut state employee salaries (which should be done.) As much as everyone likes to blame the media, this fiasco falls squarely on those handing out the checks. Honestly, who couldn't have seen this one coming?
The compromise struck yesterday between Gov. Mark Parkinson and Sunflower Electric was a beautiful compromise to bring jobs and economic development to western Kansas. For once Topeka put the interests of working Kansans first rather than their political point.
But like everything today the Holcomb Power Plants were a political decision. Of course they never should have been a political decision, but former Gov. Sebelius and KDHE Sec. Bremby made sure it was a political issue. Next time you get tired of non-political things being made political, you can thank Queen Kathleen.
Republicans cleaned up in this battle for the ages, lets face it. Yes, only one plant will be built and yes, green provisions will have to be complied with that will significantly raise electric rates for all Kansans. But let's look at what the other side had to give up to get a little green. The plant that is going to be build is much larger than the original 700MW proposal from Sebelius. Plus it includes the latest technology which Sunflower would have included anyway.
Most importantly, KDHE Sec. Bremby has been stripped of his "authority" to stop any future permits based solely on CO2. In other words, should Sunflower decide another plant is necessary in the future and meets all federal and state requirements (as it did before!) then KDHE will have to issue the permit. And remember this will most likely be done under a Governor Brownback. Perhaps this wasn't what was in mind when the deal was struck, but it's certainly a possibility that's crossed my mind.
Further, one has to ask why Parkinson was so eager to strike a compromise. Was his control of Democrats at risk? Did he see the writing on the wall and decided one plant was better than two? I don't think that will ever come out, but clearly Kansas Democrats and environmental wackos lost yesterday and Kansas Republicans cleaned up.
Shocking news out of Topeka today; Gov. Mark Parkinson and Sunflower Electric have reached an agreement to build one 895 megawatt coal plant in western Kansas instead of the previous two 700 megawatt plants. The deal also calls for utilities to generate 20% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020.
What a victory for Sunflower and Republicans. With Queen Kathleen out of the picture, true bipartisan solutions could be made. Or perhaps Parkinson was already loosing his grip on Democrats in the Legislature? No one may ever know.
The biggest victory for Republicans was stopping a state carbon tax that would have devastated our economy for decades to come. Republicans can also claim victory for a REAL stimulus package for Kansas; jobs created in the private sector at no cost to taxpayers.
Sen. Huelskamp also noted the defeat of a carbon tax in the agreement.
“One of the original proposals to deal with this KDHE decision was the implementation of a carbon tax. That would have been a horrible precedent for Kansas and the nation. So I am thrilled that no such requirements are part of this agreement.”
The deal still requires a bill to be passed by both the House and Senate, but with Sunflower's blessing passage is all but assured.What a great day for a Republican led Legislature working on real solutions. More importantly, what a victory for Kansans getting the jobs and private economic development they need.
News is breaking today from the Lawrence Journal-World that Republican legislative leaders gave some hefty bonuses to their staff while at the same time seeking cuts to state employee salaries.
