Brief ⁽¹⁾

Sub. for HB 2532 amends KSA 75-2701, as amended by section 377 of 2001 SB 15, as follows.

• The bill clarifies the distinction between the State Historical Society, the state agency, and the Kansas State Historical Society, Inc., the private organization. The bill clarifies that references to the executive director of the society or secretary of the society in statute refer to the executive director of the state organization and all references to the State Historical Society in statute refer to the state agency and not the private society, unless specifically referred to by statute.
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• A new subsection is added giving the Governor the authority to appoint the executive director of the state agency. The appointment may be made from a list of three candidates provided by the executive committee of the private organization. The Governor may reject a list of nominees and request another list of nominees. The executive director of the society is a state office within the unclassified service with a salary set by the Governor.
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• A new section is added making the Executive Director subject to removal by the Governor.
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Background

The bill was introduced at the request of the Kansas State Historical Society and Kansas State Historical Society, Inc., in response to the lawsuit filed by the Attorney General's Office regarding the constitutionality of the agency's organization and selection process for the executive director.

Proponents made no objections to the Committee amendments.

The House Committee of the Whole amended the bill to exempt the current executive director from the provisions of subsection (f) which gives the Governor the authority to appoint the executive director, provides an evaluation process for the executive director by the Executive Committee of the Kansas State Historical Society, Inc., and allows removal of the executive director by the Governor for cause.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee removed language in the bill providing for evaluation of the executive director. The Committee also removed language that required the Governor's removal of the executive director to be "for cause."

The Senate Committee of the Whole removed language added by the House Committee of the Whole which exempted the current executive director from the provisions of subsection (f).

According to the Division of the Budget, this bill will have no fiscal impact on the state.

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.cgi