Work suspended on coal plant bill

By Mike Shields, KHI News Service

TOPEKA, Feb. 8 - Progress on a bill that would allow construction of two, coal-fired electric generators in western Kansas came to an abrupt halt Friday morning when House Energy Chairman Carl Holmes told committee members he had been ordered not to work the legislation.

Holmes, R-Liberal, refused to comment about the reasons his earlier plan to work the bill today were aborted. Though he wouldn't talk about it, sources close to him said the order came down from House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls.

"I appreciate the leadership Chairman Holmes has demonstrated," Neufeld said in a prepared response. "However, it became apparent after talking with members of our caucus that the bill in the present form would not make it out of committee. We will be meeting with interested parties to work on solutions to improve the bill. With an issue of this statewide importance, we must take our time, do this right and not rush it."

House Bill 2711, was the subject of informal meetings held Thursday night by House members following four days of hearings in Holmes' Energy and Utilities Committee. The Senate this week also held hearings on an identical measure, Senate Bill 515.

It wasn't immediately clear what will happen next with the bills, which drew opposition from environmentalists and anti-tax conservatives for a variety of reasons.

"In light of the House's action, I'm not sure what the plan is," said Patti Van Slyke, a spokesperson for Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, a supporter of the coal plants the permits for which were denied in October by Roderick Bremby, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. "The last I heard the intention was to work (the Senate versions) sometime next week."

Most House committee members followed Holmes' lead and wouldn't comment about why their work on HB 2711 was halted. But committee members said there dozens of possible amendments they had been prepared to offer.

Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, said he had as many as 24 amendments, depending on how the bill evolved during mark up.

Most members seemed as puzzled by the developments as the lobbyists and other observers.

Rep. Vaughn Flora, D-Topeka, said Holmes had said nothing to prepare members before quickly adjourning the meeting.

"I don't think staff even had time to work up all the amendments. That might have been part of the problem, too," Flora said.

There were rumors that the bill would now be referred to the House Select Committee on Energy and Environment for the Future, which Neufeld named Wednesday, appointing Rep. Don Myers, R-Derby, as the chairman.

But Flora, a member of the select committee, said no one had informed him the panel would be assigned the bill.

"I'm on the special committee," he said, "and I've not heard that."

One Republican member of the committee said the Thursday night meetings made it clear that the bill had little support among members and that the general agreement was that a slower, more studied approach to the legislation was preferred.

The House and Senate bills had been fast tracked by leadership in both chambers eager to resolve early in the session the controversy unleashed by Bremby's denial of the plants, which Holmes, Neufeld and Morris have insisted were critical for economic development and the future power needs of western Kansas. Bremby denied the permits, saying they would produce too much carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas linked to global climate changes expected to have dire consequences for human health and the environment.

Thursday, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, testified against the bills saying they would create the nation's first "carbon tax."

Some members speculated that Norquist's influence among House conservatives had helped stop progress on the bill and that a new version would be crafted without the "carbon tax," which actually was a penalty to be paid by energy producers who failed to adequately "offset" carbon dioxide emissions in a variety of ways.

Environmentalists said the bill's offset provisions were so weak that they would actually encourage more C02 emissions. And Sunflower Electric Corp. spokesmen said they had no objection to those parts of the bill.

The bills also were criticized by others for stripping powers from the KDHE secretary and for short circuiting the legal process. Sunflower Electric Corp. has appealed the KDHE decision to the state supreme court, which has yet to schedule the case.

-Mike Shields is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. He can be reached at mshields@khi.org  or at 785-233-5443, ext. 123.