CALIFORNIA:Lobbyists have spent more than $500,000 treating Kansas lawmakers to dinner, drinks, KU basketball games and other entertainment since January.During the longest legislative session in the state’s history, lawmakers faced pressure from lobbyists representing a host of industries as they struggled to craft a tax plan that could fix a budget deficit.
The 114-day session was filled with fiery rhetoric, late nights, rejected bills and lots of free food.Kansas law prohibits lobbyists from making campaign donations during the session and limits them to spending $100 on gifts for a lawmaker. But unlike some other states, Kansas has no limit on the amount of food and drink a lobbyist can buy a lawmaker.
Advocates for transparency say these meals and cocktails can help sway lawmakers when it’s time to vote and should be tightly regulated.But lawmakers say free food does not sway them to vote a particular way.“If a $25 meal buys me, then I’m too damn cheap,” said Rep. Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, who chairs the House Health and Human Services Committee.Hawkins received $4,178 in hospitality from lobbyists about $3,900 as food and beverage the second highest amount among lawmakers.
Lobbyists must report their spending to the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, which is tasked with tracking political spending. Commission data gives a partial picture of which organizations were most active in lobbying and which lawmakers they focused on during the session. But more than half the spending is not itemized, meaning it is not linked to a specific lawmaker.Hawkins chairs the House Health and Human Services Committee, which weighed Medicaid expansion this session.
