A Kansas lawmaker wants to limit elected officials' outside jobs, targeting 'conflicts of...

A Kansas bill seeks to reduce the potential for conflicts of interest among elected state officials by limiting their ability to simultaneously hold second jobs in the state’s executive branch.

The bill was prefiled by Democratic Sen. Tom Holland of Baldwin City for introduction when the legislative session begins next week. It would prevent the state’s lieutenant governor from serving as the secretary or a department head of a state agency. It would also bar legislators from any sort of employment in the executive branch, except at educational institutions under the control of the Kansas Board of Regents.

If passed, that would impact officials on both sides of the aisle. Lt. Gov. David Toland, a Democrat, currently serves as secretary of commerce. Sen. J.R. Claeys, a Republican from Salina, is a senior adviser to Attorney General Kris Kobach.

Holland said both instances create the appearance of conflicts of interest. If a lieutenant governor is the secretary of commerce, he said, it throws into question the motivations behind the agency’s economic development deals.

“Is it good policy,” he said, “or is there also the appearance of a conflict of interest by, maybe, those deals being crafted to benefit the governor politically?”