6A
Thursday, October 31, 1974
University Daily Kansan
Smith, Steineger pledge to recast state government
Vern Miller
By CRAIG STOCK Associate Campus Editor
When Kansas voters enter the voting booths Nov. 5, they will see a change on the ballot. For the first time, the governor and lieutenant governor will run as a team.
The new arrangement, a result of voters' approval of a 1972 amendment of the executive article of the constitution, guarantees the governor a politically compatible lieutenant governor. Thus, for the first time, the lieutenant governor will really be a lieutenant—the governor's helper.
In separate interviews, the candidates for the post, Rep. Shelby Smith, running mate for Robert Bennett, and Sen. Jack Steineger, running mate of Vern Miller, discussed their plans for the office.
Both men said the office would take on new responsibilities and importance.
Both men place emphasis on executive reorganization. For Kansas taxpayers this could result in the realization of longawaited savings that are supposed to accompany reorganization of the executive branch.
Smith and Steineger have experience and (presumably) connections in the Kansas
Four highest offices have doubled terms
By PAT WATKINS
Kansans should be doubly careful in voting for executive officers Nov. 5, because of an amendment to the Kansas Constitution that will go into effect in January.
The amendment, a departure from the idea that state legislatures should be dominant in state governments, calls for four-year terms for the governor, the lieutenant governor, the secretary of state and the attorney general.
Many of the early states' constitutions included provisions that were designed to subordinate the executive branch to the legislative branch. The memory of the colonial governors, who had been appointed by the king, prompted the designers of the Constitution not to trust any one man with much power. All the original states' executive officers, except for the officers in New York and in two New England states, were appointed by the legislatures.
When Kansans ratified their constitution in 1859, the fear of centralized power was still influential. The constitution said the executive officers were to be elected by the people but only for two-year terms. The governor was more a figurehead than the administrator the state has today.
The governor's powers were severely limited. He had a responsibility to see that the laws were enforced. To help him enforce the laws, he could appoint only the officers of the state militia and the members of six part-time boards. Until 1904 he didn't even have the power to veto single items in bills.
The powers of the executive branch have grown as the legislature delegated it more responsibilities. Now the governor makes 237 appointments without legislative approval in addition to the 86 that are subject to legislative approval. He also fills vacancies that occur in all state and local offices, in the judiciary system and in any empty Kansas seats in the U.S. Senate, with the approval of the state legislature.
The legislature's reason for submitting the amendment to the voters was that the added responsibilities of executive department officials made two-year terms too short for them to be effective. Another reason it gave was that four-year terms would make the administration more effective by allowing officials more time to initiate programs.
The "Report of the Citizens' Committee on Constitutional Revision," which was
submitted to the Kansas Legislature and governor in 1969, gave two reasons why two year terms were undesirable. First, it said, executive officers had to start campaigning for re-election as soon as they were elected. Second, the frequency of elections made the officers less likely to support controversial programs, no matter how promising the programs looked for the long run.
James W. Drury, professor of political science and director of the Legislative Research Department in Topeka, said recently that the four-year terms would give the executive officers "a longer and more realistic time to get to know Kansas government and to develop programs to suit it."
A bill was introduced in the legislature last session to lengthen those terms, but because of a lack of time it wasn't acted upon.
Because of the benefits he expects from the longer terms, Drury said, "I would be surprised if the state legislature doesn't change the terms of the insurance commissioner and state treasurer to coincide with the longer terms."
One benefit of the amendment is expected to be the fact that a governor won't have many people in his administration who were appointed by the previous governor. Under the shorter term, the governor appointed 295 people to offices with terms that lasted longer than his own. But with the longer term he will make only 15 appointments to terms longer than his.
Polling...
The timing of the amendment was such that Kansans will vote for their executive officers in every off-presidential-election year. The reason for having the executive elections in off years is to segregate national issues from state issues and to prevent state officials from riding into the statehouse on the coattails of national candidates.
From Preceding Page
potential supporters, determine the campaign strategy of candidates, affect voter turnout and set off a bandwagon effect, increasing the support of candidates favored in the polls.
The most frequently quoted example of lost candidacies is that of Nelson A. Rockefeller's withdrawal from the Republican race in 1960 after the polls showed him trailing Richard M. Nixon.
One political observer has suggested that the Democratic party's hegemony in national politics during the past 30 years has caused a rise in the Democratic party in Kansas, which traditionally has been a solidly Republican state. His theory is that the new amendment might keep Kansas predominantly Republican longer than it would have been under the old system.
A new animal, dubbed the poll-itician, exists now. The poll-itician uses polls to decide where to "play" his campaign or which issues to discuss or how he should change his opinions to gain voter popularity.
People question the wisdom of having this type of man in public office, but blame the polls rather than the candidate.
The possibility of polls affecting voter turnout is large, many people agree, when the polls show the election is "in the bag" and few people take the time to vote.
The fact that a candidate has a lead in the polls might persuade some undecided voters that the leader must be the right man for the job. Why would everyone else want to vote for him? Everyone wants to be associated with a winner.
Coor, concluded that all his charges were conjecture.
Coor said, "There is no solid evidence now (1964) that polls influence the outcome of elections. Polls are here to stay, however, and if past experience is any guide, they will continue to play an important part in presidential elections."
Polls are criticized for how they are conducted and how they are used. All a poll really shows is a reasonable tendency of how the people would have voted at that time.
A normal random sample of 1,500 to 3,000 people should have results within three percentage points of being right 59 per cent of the time, according to one equation.
Legislature that should help them to convince legislators to assent to reorganization proposals.
But polls offer no guarantees. They leave guaratees to the poll-ticians.
Smith said executive reorganization would be his first area of responsibility if elected.
"First we'd monitor the changes already made toward reorganization to see how effective they've been," he said.
With knowledge from the monitoring, the second step would be to work on specific areas within the executive, Smith said. He mentioned transportation and education as prime areas for study and reorganization.
Steineger said work on executive reorganization would be a major part of his work as a legislative liaison for the governor.
Vern Miller has had little experience dealing with the legislature, and if he and Steineger are elected, Steineger is expected to be an important aid in dealing with lawmakers.
Steineger said executive reorganization was a two-step procedure involving a collection process and then an internal reorganization program.
The state's approximately 140 agencies, boards and departments have to be consolidated into 10 to 12 departments, Steineger said.
"Secondly and more important is reorganization within each department—that's where the real economies and efficiencies are to be gained," he said.
Steineger said the lieutenant governor should "take a leading position in coordinating long-range state planning." Steineger said state government had been weak in planning for administrative needs, highways and land-use planning, environmental protection and economic development.
Steineger predicted that the state would have to plan for comprehensive computer systems and other technological tools for more efficient government.
He said economic development should center on attracting modern "research and technology" industries to the state. He said such industries could use personnel and services of the state universities and help keep students in the state.
Smith said he would take a supervisory role on the governor's Commission on Criminal Administration. Smith said he would help to administer funds from federal programs such as the Safe Streets Act and the Law Enforcement Administration Agency.
Smith's previous experience with the Federal Bureau of Investigation probably would be valuable in such a role. His FBI experience also might be calculated to show the Republican ticket's concern with law enforcement, which is a major point of Democratic candidate Atty. Gen. Miller's campaign.
Smith said he also would serve as a liaison between the federal government and local units of government.
"State government really has a peculiar role," he said in reference to the "man in the middle" aspect of state government's role in administering federal funds.
Steineger said he too, would be active in a liaison role between local units and the federal government.
With the anticipated increase in duties of the lieutenant governor, the value of the post as a stepping stone to the governor's mansion may increase.
"Presumably the lieutenant governor will become more important," said James Drury, professor of political science at KU and director of the Legislative Research Department for the legislature.
Drury said the role of the lieutenant governor in government hadn't changed much in its 110-year history. He noted that lieutenant governors rarely had used the post as a stepping stone to further political office.
Only two men have been elected governor after serving as lieutenant governor. The last to do so was Ben S. Paulen, who was lieutenant governor in 1923-25 and governor in 1925-29.
Steineger and Smith are both young
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