Brief(1)
H.B. 3000 creates the Bipartisan Campaign Commission on Campaign Practices which would be composed of nine persons and charged with studying campaign laws, and rules and regulations and making recommendations to the Legislature.
The nine members would be composed of the following appointed persons:
The bill allows no more than five members to be from one political party. Members would be paid compensation, subsistence allowance, mileage, and other expenses as provided in K.S.A. 75-3223. The bill authorizes the Commission to utilize staff from the office of the Revisor of Statutes, the Legislative Research Department, the Division of Legislative Services, the Legislative Division of Post Audit, and the Kansas Commission on Governmental Standards and Conduct for assistance.
The bill charges the Commission to study and make recommendations on the effects of: money on campaigns; current campaign laws and rules and regulations on candidates running for office; financing campaigns as it relates to the public trust; and campaign rules governing a candidate's access to the media. In addition, the Commission may study other issues concerning campaign practices as it deems necessary.
The bill requires the Commission to submit its findings and recommendations in bill form to the Governor and the Legislature on or before February 2, 1999. The bill would require the House and Senate Committee of the Whole to consider the Commission's recommendations, in bill form, on general orders within ten days after bill introduction. The bill prohibits the House or Senate to amend the Commission's recommendations and requires a constitutional majority vote in the House Committee of the Whole prior for passage of the bill to the Senate Committee of the Whole.
The bill sunsets the Commission on May 8, 1999. The bill is effective upon publication in the Kansas Register.
Background
Representative Kenny Wilk and the House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer testified in support of the bill. Representatives of the Kansas Society of Association Executives, the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Kansas AFL-CIO, and Pete McGill and Associates testified in support of the bill. A representative from the Kansas Bar Association testified that there was not a constitutional problem with suspension of the House and Senate joint rules concerning amendments to bills by statute as proposed in H.B. 3000.
The House Committee amended the bill by clarifying the name of the Kansas Society of Association Executives.
According to the fiscal note, the Kansas Commission on Governmental Standards and Conduct stated that passage of the bill would have no fiscal or administrative effect. However, the fiscal note also stated that members of the Bipartisan Commission on Campaign Practices would be paid compensation, subsistence allowance, mileage, and expenses, but the bill is unclear as to the source of funding for this provision.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext-bill.html.