Kansas Lawmakers Get Plum Committee Roles For Switching From Republican To Democrat

Two Kansas state senators who earlier this week jumped from Republican to Democratic ranks have been rewarded with choice committee assignments.

The assignments given to the former moderate Republicans, Sen. Barbara Bollier of Mission Hills and Sen. Dinah Sykes of Lenxa, make them key players on two of the most contentious issues awaiting the Legislature — school spending and Medicaid expansion.

Bollier is now the top Democrat on the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee. Before her party switch, she was the panel’s vice-chair. But Republican leaders stripped her of that rank last summer for endorsing a Democratic candidate for Congress.

“This isn’t about me, it’s about Kansans,” Bollier said. “I just want to get to work.”

Sykes is trading up on the Senate Education Committee. She’ll go from being a rank-and-file GOP member to the senior Democrat on the panel. That puts her in the thick of negotiations over how to end years of litigation over school funding.

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