On April 14, 2008 Gov. Sebelius signed HB 2825 into law. Under HB 2825, a court, in most instances, could not close a hearing or allow pleadings to be filed under seal unless it first makes a finding on the record that an identified safety, property or privacy interest predominates the case and outweighs the strong public interest in access to the court record and proceedings. Commenting on his bill Rep. Kinzer noted, “It is an unfortunate reality that many of the most important public policy issues facing our State are being decided by courts. As such it is more important than ever that out judicial process be open and accessible.”

Rep. Kinzer authored HB 2825 in response to concerns regarding the practice of the Kansas Supreme closing proceedings in certain high profile cases. Commenting on his bill Rep. Kinzer noted that, “In recent months I have been troubled by the fact that the Kansas Supreme Court has been conducting at least two important judicial proceedings in complete secrecy. (Planned Parenthood v. Kline & State of Kansas, EX REL., Paul Morrison v. The Honorable Richard Anderson, Judge of the Third Judicial District). As noted by former U.S. Chief Justice Burger, ‘In guaranteeing freedoms such as those of speech and press, the First Amendment can be read as protecting the right of everyone to attend trials so as to give meaning to those explicit guarantees.’ The passage of HB 2825 will go a long way toward seeing to it that those freedoms are respected in courts of law in Kansas.”

HB 2825 was introduced by Rep. Kinzer on February 11, 2008. The bill passed The Kansas House on February 29, 2008 by a vote of 122-0, it passed the Kansas Senate on March 28, 2008 by a vote of 40-0 and was signed into law by the Governor on April 14, 2008.

2) Rep. Kinzer Leads Effort to Reform K-12 School Finance Formula To Protect Olathe Schools.

On April 1, 2008 Rep. Kinzer joined 18 other members of the Johnson County House delegation in voting no on Senate Bill 531. This bill, while adding some state dollars to the bases state aid amount, would have perpetuated and in some ways worsened the current inequitable distribution of K-12 funding in Kansas. Rep. Kinzer joined his Johnson County Colleagues in the following explanation of vote:

“MR. SPEAKER: We vote no on SB 531. This bill does not address the inequities in funding that our schools suffer in Johnson County. A school funding formula that pays some school districts much more than 100% of actual costs while denying adequate funding to others should be amended. We have for so long argued and voted for more money for all Kansas schools although Johnson County continues to be number 269 out of 298 in per pupil funding. We can no long support a flawed funding formula.—Kay Wolf, Sheryl Spalding, Terrie Huntington, Ron Worley, Arlen Siegfreid, Anthony Brown, Kevin Yoder, Jill Quigley, Mike Kiegerl, Lance Kinzer, Pat Colloton, Jeff Colyer, Rob Olson, Thomas Owens, Ben Hodge, Ronnie Metsker, Judy Morrison, Ray Merrick.”

Prior to the final vote on SB 531 Rep. Kinzer offered two floor amendments that would have reformed the current school finance formula to deal more equitably with suburban school districts. In particular Rep. Kinzer offered a proposal to reallocate proposed increases in K-12 funding away from base aid (which disproportionately benefits rural and high density urban districts) and toward high enrollment weighting. Rep. Kinzer further offered an amendment that would have linked enhanced high enrollment weighting to future increases in base state aid. Under current law rural districts receive up to 100% weighting above base state aid, thus creating a windfall when that aid is increased. On the other hand large suburban districts receive no more than 3% weighting under similar circumstances.

In further explaining his opposition to the current school finance formula Rep. Kinzer stated, "While the current formula may satisfy a capricious court, it is wholly unsatisfactory to those who believe in local control, rational distribution of funds, and fiscal responsibility. Under this plan Johnson County will provide 1/3rd of the money, educate 1/5th of the kids and receive less than 1/10th of state dollars. This plan is the unacceptable result of legislative obsequiousness to education policy by judicial fiat. We can and should do better.”

3) Kansas Department of Health and Environment Impedes Enforcement of State Abortion Laws.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has a long history of ignoring and impeding enforcement of existing Kansas laws regulating the abortion industry. This unfortunate history turned a new chapter recently with KDHE’s refusal to comply with a subpoena requesting that the agency authenticate KDHE abortion reporting documents previously turned over to law enforcement by KDHE in furtherance of an ongoing criminal investigation against Planned Parenthood.

Commenting on this situation Rep. Kinzer stated that, “By refusing to honor the subpoena KDHE continues to cement its standing as guardian angel of the abortion industry in Kansas. Simply put, the refusal of a state agency to perform the minimal task of authenticating documents already lawfully produced in a criminal investigation is outrageous.”

Planned Parenthood currently faces 23 felony and 85 misdemeanor counts of allegedly violating Kansas law in the operation of its business as an abortion provider in Kansas. The documents in question are not medical records, but are rather copies of reports containing no patient identifying information, that Kansas law currently requires abortion providers to provide KDHE. The documents in question were initially provided to the Attorney General’s office pursuant to K.S.A. 65-445, upon a reasonable showing that a violation of Kansas abortion laws had occurred. Commenting further on the conduct of KDHE Rep. Kinzer noted, “The recent action of KDHE provides yet another example of why it is so important the Governor sign House Substitute for SB 389, (The Comprehensive Abortion Reform Act) into law. Enactment of CARA would send a strong signal to KDHE and other agencies like the Board of Healing Arts, that they must treat seriously their obligation to protect women from exploitation at the hands of abortion providers.”

CARA was introduced by Rep. Kinzer and over 40 co-sponsors and passed the Kansas House by a vote of 84-40. CARA then passed the Senate 25-13 and currently awaits action by the Governor.