"Bundling" would be bad policy for Kansas

A proposal at the Kansas State Legislature would promote Washington, D.C.-style politics in the state.

And all Americans are well aware of how poorly that has been working for the U.S. Congress.

Kansas state senators and representatives reportedly are considering the bad government policy of "bundling,'' which would allow up to five different pieces of proposed legislation to be bundled into a single bill.

The tactic of bundling bills would be bad for Kansas, of course, but good for state senators and representatives who want to sneak in approval for their pet projects that they know would have no chance of otherwise gaining approval.

Tampering with the joint rules that govern the State Legislature should be seen for what it is - bad government.

The state of Kansas has long held the correct view that all legislative proposals should be considered on their own merit. Why? Because there is no earthly reason not to consider each proposal, or bill, as it is proposed.

A legislative conference committee at the State Legislature also wants the House Taxation and Appropriations committees and the Senate Ways and Means Committee - where the Legislature's power and authority is concentrated - to all be exempt from the bundling limit, meaning those already powerful committees could bundle together more than five different pieces of legislation under one bill.

Rep. Amanda Grosserode, R-Lenexa, has been a voice of reason and common sense in an otherwise crowd of power-hungry state legislators who believe they should be above the rules of the State Legislature.

"There is no practice in this building that I find more problematic than bundling of bills,'' Rep. Grosserode has said.

The bundling plan now will be heard by both the Kansas Senate and the Kansas House.

Help make it clear to our state legislators that the Washington, D.C.-style practice of bundling has no place in good government and certainly has no place in the great state of Kansas.