On February 3rd, the House voted on the bill to change how Supreme Court Justices are appointed in Kansas. The bill had a simple majority which means it went up for final action on February 4th. Between those days, leadership was expected to twist the arms of 15 “no” votes so that they get the 2/3 majority needed to pass it out of the House. This bill is a power grab, a move to make our Supreme Court subject to political will, and a means of retaliation for school funding decisions favoring Kansas public schools. Our courts are not supposed to be democratic. They are supposed to be the one branch of government that is bound by the Constitution instead of the will of the people.

Here are the NO votes on February 3rd. Thank them for their votes: Alcala, Alford, Ballard, Becker, Bollier, Burroughs, Carlin, Carmichael, Clark, Clayton, Colcannon, Curtis, Dierks, Doll, Finch, Finney, Francis, Frownfelter, Gallagher, Helgerson, Henderson, Hubbard, Highberger, Hill, Hineman, Houston, Jennings, Kelly, Kuether, Lewis, Lusk, Lusker, Moxley, Ousley, Patton, Phillips, Proehl, Rooker, Ruiz, Sawyer, Schroeder, Scott, Sloan, Swanson, Thompson, Tietze, Trimmer, Victors, Ward, Whipple, Wilson, Winn, Wolfe Moore.

Here are the YES votes on February 3rd. Were they representing you? Anthimides, Barker, Barton, Billinger, Boldra, Bradford, Bruchman, Campbell, Carpenter, B., Carpenter, W., Claeys, Corbet, Davis, DeGraaf, Dove, Edmonds, Esau, Estes, Ewy, Garber, Goico, Grosserode, Hawkins, Hedke, Hemsley, Henry, Highland, Hildebrand, Hoffman, Houser, Huebert, Hutchins, Hutton, Johnson, Jones, D., Jones, K., Kahrs, Kelley, Kiegerl, Kleeb, Lunn, Macheers, Mason, Mast, McPherson, Merrick, O’Brien, Osterman, Pauls, Peck, Rahjes, Read, Rhoades, Rubin, Ryckman, Jr., Ryckman, Sr., Scapa, Schwab, Schwartz, Smith, Suellentrop, Sutton, Thimesch, Todd, Vickrey, Waymaster, Weber, Whitmer, Williams.
Present: Powell.
Not voted: Gonzalez, Seiwert.

The bill came up for final vote on February 4th. House – Final Action – Not adopted by required 2/3 majority – 02/04/2016
On roll call the vote was:

Nay – (54) (Thank them):
Alcala, Alford, Ballard, Becker, Bollier, Burroughs, Carlin, Carmichael, Clark, Clayton, Concannon, Curtis, Dierks, Doll, Ewy, Finch, Finney, Francis, Frownfelter, Gallagher, Helgerson, Henderson, Hibbard, Highberger, Hill, Hineman, Houston, Jennings, Kelly, Kuether, Lewis, Lusk, Lusker, Moxley, Ousley, F. Patton, Phillips, Proehl, Rooker, Ruiz, Sawyer, Schroeder, Scott, Sloan, S. Swanson, Thompson, Tietze, Trimmer, Victors, Ward, Whipple, Wilson, Winn, Wolfe Moore,

Yea – (68) (Are they representing you?):
Anthimides, Barker, Barton, Billinger, Boldra, Bradford, Bruchman, Campbell, B. Carpenter, W. Carpenter, Claeys, Corbet, E. Davis, DeGraaf, Dove, Edmonds, Esau, Estes, Garber, Goico, Gonzalez, Grosserode, Hawkins, Hedke, Hemsley, Highland, Hildabrand, Hoffman, Houser, Huebert, Hutchins, Hutton, Johnson, D. Jones, K. Jones, Kahrs, Kelley, Kleeb, Lunn, Macheers, Mason, Mast, McPherson, Merrick, O’Brien, Osterman, Pauls, Peck, R. Powell, Rahjes, Read, Rhoades, Rubin, Ryckman, Ryckman Sr., Scapa, Schwab, Schwartz, C. Smith, Suellentrop, Sutton, Thimesch, Todd, Vickrey, Waymaster, Weber, Whitmer, K. Williams,

Absent and Not Voting – (3): Henry, Kiegerl, Seiwert,