Wichita, Kansas - One of the issues taking front and center in the Kansas race for Governor is the Office of Repealer.
An Office of Repealer does not exist -- yet.
Senator Sam Brownback wants to create the office if he becomes Governor. Brownback says the office would help Kansas businesses thrive by doing away with what he calls excessive legal issues.
"Because everything is always additive," says Brownback. "It's always, you've got a problem, add a statute. You've got a problem, add a regulation."
Brownback says the Office of Repealer would be a clearinghouse for ideas, which would do away with bad legislative decisions or antiquated laws that no longer have practical use today.
Brownback's opponent in the Governor's race calls the Office of Repealer a bad idea.
"Why we need to add an additional shadowy layer of bureaucracy is beyond me," says Candidate Tom Holland. "I personally find it troubling. What does Mr. Brownback want to repeal? He doesn't say."
Brownback says there are many issues that need to be addressed. One example of what Brownback calls a success in repealing laws is the Holcomb power plant. The Holcomb plant was a controversial issue of jobs vs. the environment. The state held power over the plant, initially putting the brakes on the plant moving forward.
"Regulation that was put in place that blocked the Holcomb power plant from gonig forward -- I don't think that was a correct call in the first place," said Brownback.
But Holland says as a lawmaker since 2003, he saw more than 1,700 statutes repealed. Holland says lawmakers already do that job. Holland points to the transportation of wind turbine blades. An old law only allowed one single wind turbine blade to be transported on the highway at a time, costing businesses a lot of extra money in transportation costs.
"We have a legislature --125 House representatives and 40 state senators," explains Holland. "That is one of the things we do in the legislature -- we repeal outdated statutes."
Brownback calls the Office of Repealer an effective way to help lawmakers get the job done.
