Stop bundling bills

Since 2015, the Kansas State Legislature has allowed “the bundling of bills.’’

So what is that? you ask.

Bundling is the practice of tying unpopular bills to “must pass’’ measures like budgetary bills, forcing state legislators to vote for both if they want either to pass.

It’s trickery in its basicform.

The Republican Party, in recent years, promised to stop the practice, but in Kansas, the message seems to have been missed. 

Kansas legislative committee chairs, through bill bundling, routinely hold hostage key state services in exchange for party favors that are often very costly to the state. 

Democrat state leaders in the state use bill bundling to their party’s benefit, also.

Back in 2015, this newspaper railed against bill bundling as the promotion of Washington, D.C.-style politics in the state. Today, we still stand by that sentiment. All Americans are well aware of how poorly bill bundling has been working out for taxpayers over the last several years.

In Kansas, in 2015, the Kansas state senators and representatives agreed to allow up to five different pieces of proposed legislation to be bundled into a single bill.

The tactic of bundling bills is bad for Kansas taxpayers, of course, but good for shifty 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.

Prior to 2015, the state of Kansas 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.

Don’t argue that there isn’t enough time. That’s a lie.

The bundling of bills is one of the main reasons that our state taxes keep going up every year. Where do the ultra-conservatives of the Republican Party stand on the bundling of bills?

Those who claim to be fiscal conservatives need to stand up and be counted regarding the bundling of bills.