TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The top Republican leaders in both the Kansas House and Senate face criticism from their political right.
Senate President Steve Morris is a target of small-government, anti-tax conservatives who’d like to oust him from his seat in the GOP primary in August. The Hugoton Republican faces dissention among GOP senators for creating a special study group on tax issues a move some interpret as trying to stall Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s income tax plan.
House Speaker Mike O’Neal seems an unlikely target of criticism from the right because he’s established conservative credentials.
But after the Hutchinson Republican removed another conservative from the House Appropriations Committee, the lawmaker excoriated him in an email and accused O’Neal of abusing his power by naming himself chairman of the committee redrawing political districts.