How on Earth we missed this, we cannot say, but here is a broadside against Lynn Jenkins from a conservative blogger over at RedState:
Oh, Lynn!There is a particular tenet in Kansas election law that has, in the past, caught up a number of state elected officials: It's against state law to solicit or accept contributions from registered state lobbyists during the legislative session.
In the 2006 election cycle the law caught three people running statewide- two Republicans and one Democrat. That Democrat, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, recently did it again- though all three said it was an error, and I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Now, it appears yet another statewide elected official in Kansas is rubbing dangerously close to breaking the same law- except she knows exactly what she's doing.
Since announcing her candidacy for Congress, Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins has accepted 17 contributions from 14 registered state lobbyists, with 7 of those donations coming while the state legislature was in session.
How is it, then, that Jenkins isn't violating the same law Sebelius is being raked over the coals for breaking?
It's a game a CPA like Jenkins is particularly good at playing, because it all has to do with where the money gets funneled. If even a single cent of those donations had ended up in her state-level account, Jenkins would be a cooked goose, but since they shoved the contributions over to her federal campaign, she's clean.
Is this why we need an accountant in Congress? Just to make sure we have someone who knows the loopholes inside and out?
So, no, Jenkins isn't breaking the law, but she's violating its spirit. The people of Kansas, through their elected officials, decided long ago it was wrong for sitting state elected officials to take money from state lobbyists, and made it illegal for officials to solicit or receive such funds. It's even illegal for the lobbyists themselves to even try to give state candidates contributions while the legislature is in session. It is all out of an effort to make sure our elected officials were working for us and not for the lobbyists who were lining their pockets.
Jenkins has cunningly squeaked passed the prohibition by funneling the money into a different account, but an important question has to be asked: As she's filling her coffers trying to get a new job representing us in Congress, who has she been working for at her current job as State Treasurer- the people of Kansas who elected her, or the lobbyists stuffing her pockets with cash?
(Research from Open Secrets and the Kansas Secretary of State)
