Sen. Mike Thompson clarifies 'Constitutional Conflict'

Kansas Sen. Mike Thompson (R-Johnson County) took to social media to clear up “confusion” and “false impressions” regarding a recent federal lawsuit he filed with Rep. Michael Murphy (R-Kingman, Reno, and Rice Counties) which will see Speaker of the House Dan Hawkins (R-Sedgwick County) and Senate President Ty Masterson (R-Butler and Sedgwick Counties) as defendants.

“This suit is merely to settle a question of law regarding the State Legislature’s ability to apply for an Article V Convention. This would not affect any other type of constitutional amendment that may come before the legislature,” Sen. Thompson wrote in his post on Wednesday.

According to his post the lawsuit is to “resolve a conflict that exists between the Kansas Constitution and the U.S. Constitution” and that it is not “some personal squabble” with Senate President Masterson or Speaker Hawkins. 

“I respect and work well with both men all the time, and they fully understand why this lawsuit was filed,” Sen. Thompson wrote. “They have both known this lawsuit was coming for almost a year. As part of their jobs in leadership, they must make rulings on whether a bill passes or fails based on the definitions provided in the Kansas Constitution, and they did nothing wrong at all. The problem lies with a small change to the Kansas Constitution that was made in November 1974 which created a mess we are trying to fix.”

He also stated that when it comes to the discussion of an Article V Convention, the debate turns to confusion over the number of necessary votes required to pass the legislation.

He ends his statement by clarifying that the lawsuit would not change the Kansas or the Federal Constitution, but rather clarify the rules so leadership would not be “bound by an unconstitutional clause in our state constitution.”