Kansas Meadowlark

First-term, Democratic State Rep Gene Rardin continues the use of tax-payer funded mailings for his re-election campaign. In the last seven weeks, FOUR franked mailings have been used to put Rardin’s picture in front of potential voters. While Rardin was directly responsible for Mailing 3 (see below), which is common for all state legislators, the House Minority leader mailed the other three on Rardin’s behalf. All four mailings have been at taxpayer expense, and none of the mailings have a “paid for” notice. (more…)

The Hill is reporting that Rep. Dennis Moore’s chief of staff may have violated House rules last week by circulating a campaign-related job posting from his House E-mail account:

Howard Bauleke circulated a posting for jobs with the Kansas Coordinated Campaign, an election-year organization initiative run by the Kansas Democratic Party. Rules prohibit the use of House resources for campaign purposes. …

Moore spokeswoman Rebecca Black said the e-mail was probably an oversight.

(more…)

A recent Meadowlark article gave preliminary information about franking abuse by both Democratic House Minority Leader, Dennis McKinney, and Kansas Senate Minority Leader, Anthony Hensley. Additional information about McKinney’s mailings is not yet available, but details from the Legislative Administrative Services show how much was spent by Senator Hensley on joint mailings on behalf of other Senators. The joint mailings consisted of a postcard and newsletter. (more…)

Recently both the Kansas House Minority Leader, Dennis McKinney, and Kansas Senate Minority Leader, Anthony Hensley, abused their generous budget to mail items to Kansas voters. These mailings had less to do with helping inform constituents about what is going on in the Kansas legislature, and more to do with getting certain Democrats re-elected this year.

A reliable source tells the Meadowlark that House Minority Leader Mckinney will reimburse the State for postage for his recent mailings.

Update (Apr 27) : At least TWO senate districts and two house districts are known to be involved in this franking abuse. Why is the media ignoring this waste of tax dollars? Read the rest of this entry…