Issue Position: Require Accountable Transparency

Issue Position

Transparency is the new buzzword. I applaud recent efforts to make the business of Kansas government more accessible to Kansans. However, in the search for much needed transparency, accountability has been overlooked. Only accountability will elevate transparency from just a buzzword to meaningful oversight that benefits Kansans.

More than public access to government records, a bigger transparency issue is whether we can trust that our legislature is operating as promised.

The Kansas legislature annually provides billions in tax incentives, abatements and exemptions. When Kansas taxpayers are asked to foot the bill for these incentives, we need to know whether these incentives are really accomplishing the intended goal -- generating a return to the state economy, and improvement in Kansans' lives that would not otherwise be achieved.

The legislature has repeatedly rejected efforts to make this assessment. The lack of audit oversight is made worse because the legislature has shrouded the identities of the entities benefitting from these incentives. We should have an impartial audit of these programs to ensure these dollars are spent wisely. Every dollar that is not is a dollar that could be saved or put toward essential services.

It's not just incentive programs that need greater oversight. State operations are not running smoothly. Contract irregularities at the Department of Commerce came to light last summer. Children missing from the foster care system while under the supervision of the Department of Children and Families have captured headlines. 2018 began with the revelation of $450 million being appropriated at the Kansas Department of Education without statutory authority. Even if the money was well spent on our children, it was funneled there illegally and without authorization under Kansas law.

The legislative audit committee rejected a proposed audit of the contracting problem at the Commerce Department. In both instances, allegations of wrongdoing remain unresolved and no one is held responsible.

I believe there is a better way. Bring back the State Auditor. Kansas had a State Auditor until the early 1970's. Since then there has been no independent oversight of state operations. The legislature did commission one efficiency audit of state operations. The result was more than $2 billion in identified savings ̶ not from cutting programs, but from simply better managing state operations. The legislature failed to enact even one of the identified savings.

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