Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Two weeks ago, if someone wanted to read the casino-and-slots bill that
would pass the Legislature and make perhaps the biggest social and political
change in Kansas in the past 20 years, its sponsors didn't have a copy to
share. Even some supporters didn't see the text of the 98-page gambling
proposal until the House began debating it March 22. Six days and 10 hours
later, it was on its way to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who'll sign it and make
Kansas the only state to operate its own casino resorts. Opponents were
angered that such a big bill could fly through the Legislature so quickly.
Supporters took advantage of long-term changes in how the Legislature
operates, accomplishing something that would have seemed inconceivable two
decades ago. That process - looser, far less predictable and less controlled
from the top - has flaws that gambling opponents were quick to note, such as
the ability to pass such a big proposal with a minimum of fly-specking. But
there's an advantage, too: It's far more difficult for one person or a small
group to thwart the will of legislative majorities, if those majorities are
determined and spend some time on strategy. "That's not unique to Kansas.
That's a national trend that's true at the federal level as well," said
Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, who voted for the
bill. "It's the democratization of the legislative process." Passage of the
gambling bill turned a session known mostly for low productivity into one
likely to be memorable. The textbook process for passing legislation is
lengthy and repetitive, and in that process, committee chairmen and leaders
are powerful. If they don't like bills, they can refuse to hold hearings or
refuse to take votes. But the power of leaders and chairmen has diminished
over time. Bills are so often rewritten radically that there's a well-worn
term for it - "gut and go." If a chairman refuses to take a vote, a bill's
supporters often amend it during House and Senate debate into something
else. This year, gambling supporters concentrated on finding exactly what
would pass and getting it into print. They were confident the House Federal
and State Affairs Committee, whose members Neufeld appointed, would not be
sympathetic, so they wanted to get around it. And they did.

"We had no other choice," said Rep. L. Candy Ruff, D-Leavenworth, a
supporter.

Schmidt said such determination can be driven by groups building pressure on
legislators back home. Constituents, he said, are less likely than they used
to be to accept the notion that a bill couldn't pass simply because it got
stuck in the legislative process.

Furthermore, many Kansans have been voting on gambling with their cars and
wallets, traveling to Indian casinos in northeast Kansas and Oklahoma, or
casinos in Missouri.

"Everywhere I go - the gas station, grocery store, even the church - little
old ladies are coming up to me, 'When are we going to get a casino?' " said
Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita, who supported the bill.

In January, the Senate passed a bill extending the Kansas Lottery, something
necessary to keep ticket sales going past June 30. After a threat from
supporters to force a debate on casinos and slots, the House Federal and
State Affairs Committee endorsed the lottery bill on March 21.

Legislators on both sides of the debate knew the lottery bill was a vehicle,
something that could become a casino-and-slots bill. There was a link, with
the new gambling owned and operated by the lottery.

The House amended the bill on March 22 and gave it first-round approval
before dawn on March 23, a Friday. The following Monday, the House passed
the bill and returned it to the Senate.

Though it was radically different, senators didn't have to send it through
committee. They could demand negotiations or take the even quicker step of
voting to accept the House's changes and send the bill to the governor. They
did the latter Thursday, just after midnight.

And gambling supporters made a point, whether they intended to or not. They
showed that the Legislature's rules are flexible enough to allow a group to
move a bill around key leaders and to the governor's desk - and to do it
with stunning speed.