TOPEKA – An attempt to have the Senate confirm future lieutenant governor appointees failed on a tie vote in the chamber on Wednesday.
The amendment, proposed by Sen. Dennis Pyle, R-Hiawatha, was an attempt to provide more oversight to the state’s second-in-command, he said.
“The new governor can make his appointment. We should be able to look under the rock and check the qualifications,” Pyle said.
The effort is particularly timely. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, is undergoing confirmation hearings to be head of Health and Human Services with President Barack Obama’s administration.
If she is confirmed, Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson would become governor and then nominate his successor. When that might happen is uncertain, as is who Parkinson might pick to fill his seat.
A similar bill, Senate Bill 186, had been introduced earlier in the session but never came out of committee.
Sen. Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka, who chairs the committee the bill had been routed through, said she opposed the amendment because she thought it had legal problems. She didn’t say what those problems were.
While the amendment’s supporters pushed for more oversight of those holding some of the state’s highest offices, opponents argued the move infringed on the governor’s powers.
“I’m comfortable with the person we elected as the chief executive having appointment powers and not be subject to the political wrangling that goes on in this chamber,” said Salina Republican Sen. Pete Brungardt.