Web posted
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
House passes bill on coal plants but veto looms
By JOHN HANNA
Associated Press Writer
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Supporters of two coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas failed again Wednesday to muster the support they'd need in the House to override a veto of a bill to make sure they get built.
Legislative leaders tied the plants to economic development projects in other parts of the state in hopes of attracting enough votes. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has vetoed two bills to clear the way for the plants and restrict the power of the regulator who's been blocking them.
The House approved the latest measure, 76-48. Because the Senate had approved it Tuesday night, 24-10, the bill went to the governor.
But supporters were eight votes short in the House of the two-thirds majority they'd need to override a veto. The margin in the Senate was three votes short, but six senators, including five supporters of the coal plants, were absent when the vote was taken.
Backers of the plants have tried throughout the legislative session to attract votes by linking their construction to other proposals, including ''green'' provisions. But the strategy hasn't overcome concerns about the plants' potential carbon dioxide emissions and global warming.
''I told you earlier that the lipstick is on the pig,'' said Rep. Annie Kuether, a Topeka Democrat who opposed the latest bill. ''Now the tiara -- the crown -- is on the pig.''
Bipartisan majorities in both chambers have supported the plants because many legislators view them as economic development.
Supporters said it makes sense to link the plants to legislation encouraging other projects, such as a proposed transportation hub in Johnson County. They called the entire bundle the ''Economic Stimulus Act of 2008.''
''This is about jobs,'' said Rep. Bill Otto, a LeRoy Republican who supported the bill. ''I am concerned about keeping our children in Kansas and having good-paying jobs. This is all about economic development.''
Sunflower Electric Power Corp. wants to build the two plants outside Holcomb, in Finney County, and sell 86 percent of the power to two out-of-state utility partners.
In October, Rod Bremby, the governor's secretary of health and environment, denied an air quality permit for Sunflower because the plants could produce up to 11 million tons of CO2 a year. Many scientists link such man-made greenhouse gases to climate change.
Supporters have had as many as 33 of 40 votes in the Senate for proposals to overturn Bremby's decision, when they've needed 27 for a two-thirds majority. But they've always been short in the House.
Sebelius said Tuesday night that she continues to oppose proposals to allow the two coal plants and limit the secretary of health and environment's power.
And spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran said Wednesday: ''We find ourselves in familiar territory once again.''
Sebelius and other critics also argued that the latest measure violates the Kansas Constitution's prohibition on a bill having more than one subject. Rep. Paul Davis, a Lawrence Democrat and an attorney, predicted the courts would strike it down if it became law.
''The stakes are pretty high in this case,'' Davis said. ''A lot of bundled bills do not rise to the interest to where someone will bring them to the court system, but this one will be.''
But House Judiciary Chairman Mike O'Neal, a Hutchinson Republican and an attorney, said the bill's title is broad enough to cover its contents under a single subject. He said more than 300 challenges have been brought to the courts in the state's history and only a handful have succeeded.
And House Taxation Committee Chairman Kenny Wilk, a Lansing Republican who helped draft the latest measure, said: ''I have all the confidence in the world that this will stand up.''
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Coal plants measure is Conference Committee Report for HB 2412.
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