(Syndicated to Kansas newspapers Sept. 12, 2016)
In the last month or so, we’ve seen a subtle but major change in the way a governor—who is not very popular with many Kansans in recent polls and is facing a Legislature for the last two years of his term that is going to be less conservative than he would like—makes policy for the state.
The way you do it isn’t by introducing bills that even Gov. Sam Brownback’s fellow Republicans might not want to or be able to pass into law.
You do it through rules and regulations that are little-known, don’t get much publicity and which can have the force of law without requiring Republican legislators to put their votes for it on public display.
Well, Brownback is well on the way to doing just that. The most noticeable example was last week’s proposal to take a shot at the already weakened civil service protection for employment of state workers.