In Kansas our super-majority Legislature is doing all they can to facilitate Trump’s “Agenda.” In disbelief we are discovering that destroying democracy and dismantling our government IS his Agenda, and our elected Congress is unable or unwilling to stop either Acting Pres. Musk or barely-elected President D.J. Trump. It is apparent that the goal in Washington D.C. is to establish an autocracy (king or dictator) as well as an oligarchy (rich, white men who own everything), like Putin has in Russia.
How are we doing this in Kansas? First, by controlling and limiting what we are allowed to know. Similar to the Associated Press being dismissed from the White House, this year many of the discussions and deliberations of our KS Legislature are happening behind closed doors, away from nosey reporters. This explains why suddenly certain bills show up for a vote, before we barely have time to hear about it or to contact our representatives, whose decisions are already made. They don’t want to consider our concerns.
Another example is the attack on our voting rights by making voting more complicated and less convenient. Not counting mail-in ballots that don’t arrive by Election Day is the latest. Earlier measures were reducing polling places, and drop boxes. This just adds the hassle factor, discouraging voter participation. Nationally, the new SAVE ACT would require us to PROVE we are citizens with birth certificates, or passports every time we register, which is a hardship for military, married women, tribal, and rural voters as well as survivors of disasters. The goal is to prevent or discourage certain people from voting with time or financial cost.
In a divided-power government, the Judiciary decides when something is lawful or Constitutional. In Kansas our Legislature does not care that their constituents (us) decisively voted in August 2022 for Women’s Health Care, so they continue passing bills to undermine the voters’ will. They have decided that we must change the way the Kansas Supreme Court is determined. Here is a prime example of “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it!” The current merit-based system was established 70 years ago to correct corruption at that time. It has a nominating committee of about nine people. This committee seeks and vets qualified, non-partisan justice candidates, and offers three for the Governor to choose one from. We vote to retain or reject them about every six years. This system has worked very well. About 34 other states use the same system.
This year our Legislature wants to change the way Kansas chooses its Supreme Court to a direct election, where anyone can campaign for judge. What can possibly go wrong with this terrible idea? Imagine the campaign donations and advertisements from anyone or anywhere. In Wisconsin on April 1, there is a campaign between two Supreme Court judge candidates, and Elon Musk has donated millions to elect one of them. Shamefully, our KS Legislature has put a direct election of SC Justices Amendment to the Kansas Constitution on the Primary election ballot in August 2025! I asked one of our representatives about this. Because of past decisions he did not like, he thinks our current judges are too “liberal.” Judges are supposed to be non-political and fair in their judgments. Otherwise, we will have judges who are bought by their campaign contributors. This is not the government that I voted for. I don’t believe that most people want democracy to disappear in the USA or in Kansas, but that is what is happening.
Dee Anne Grummon
Great Bend
