Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a candidate for Kansas Governor, and best known for excoriating others on personal responsibility and their own fault if they don’t vote using his method, is now demanding that State House Republicans reverse themselves, and turn the spigot back on, and pay his court fines for him — saying the refusal to do so is “unfair”.
www.kansascity.com/…
“(The) proviso is illegal and would require the State to expend significant resources in any futile attempt to defend it,” the letter says.
The budget move was offered by Rep. Russ Jennings, R-Lakin. He said last week the stipulation would prohibit using any state money for defense or penalties involved in a finding of a contempt of court by statewide elected officials. That would include the governor and the secretary of state.
The resolution, which passed 103-16, crossed all party lines in the state house, with Republicans citing the need for personal responsibility and Democratic members citing the ridiculous nature of allowing people to get fined by the courts and have no consequences.
Kobach has prior cited the needs of personal responsibility and the limits of goverment, saying that the state cannot afford to continue to hand out dollars.
www.kansas.com/...
“It’s a big, big burden,” Kobach responded.
Oh, wait, he was talking about immigrants.
“It’s a big, big burden,” Kobach responded. “If we’re spending so much money on this consequence of illegal immigration, that’s a problem.”
Kobach seemingly cares a great deal about government spending on welfare, but not so much about the will of the court, which he intends to keep fighting.
Judge Jennings, a state house representative and Kansas judge, responded this way:
www.kansascity.com/...
"I'm sick of reading about our state level, statewide elected official being in court for contempt," Jennings said on Friday. "...We're not paying the bill for him."
Democratic Representative Brett Parker sees a silver lining, however:
In the end, Kobach’s tantrum worked — and Republicans dropped their effort to force him to take responsibility for his own actions, as reported by the Eagle: www.kansas.com/...