Kansas hearing considers bill to let wildlife commissioners submit proposed rules

Senators on the Kansas Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources heard testimony on Senate Bill 211 on whether individual members of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Commission should be able to submit proposed rules and regulations to the commission.

Supporters said the change would restore commissioners’ ability to put items on the commission agenda and make the process more representative. "This bill is just a small fix to what is actually a pretty big problem," Attorney General Kris Kobach told the committee, arguing that allowing commissioners to propose rules would prevent a single agency official from blocking issues from being considered.

The bill would amend KSA 32-805, which currently requires the secretary of Wildlife and Parks to submit proposed rules and regulations to the commission; the commission then may approve, modify and approve, or reject them. Tamara Lawrence of the Revisor's office explained the current statutory baseline and told the committee the statute and its notice requirements predate recent practice: "This particular statute was enacted in 1987 and the requirement that…