Topeka Capital-Journal. August 4, 2023.
Editorial: Kansas senator’s quick action to address conflict-of-interest bids will make state better
In a recent committee hearing, Republican Sen. Caryn Tyson, R-Parker, asked the revisors to draft a bill in response to a Topeka Capital-Journal story about former Kansas Department of Commerce deputy secretary of business development Paul Hughes.
In the story, Jason Alatidd reports Hughes was awarded a $180,000 a year contract to consult for the agency. Additionally, Commerce officials maintain there was no conflict of interest in awarding the consulting contract to Hughes, whose contract went into effect two and a half weeks before he left his government job.
Tyson said this has also been an issue with IT (the subject of the committee hearing), and wants the bill to be in line with federal conflict of interest and revolving door rules. The bill is supposed to be ready by the committee’s next meeting in three weeks.
Thank you, Sen. Tyson, for taking action.
Alatidd reports Hughes was involved with the efforts to bring the Panasonic megaproject to Kansas. While Hughes was still employed by the state, he formed his own company, Catapult Kansas LLC. He then bid on and was awarded a contract to consult for the Commerce Department on megaprojects.
It’s also worth noting he was the only bidder.
Strangely, this is all legal. Alatidd reports the facts of the situation don’t appear to violate the law, especially because the contract was publicly bid and officials say Hughes as deputy secretary wasn’t involved in preparing the contract.
Legislators are making the right move to close this opportunity for cronyism, however.
While the Commerce Department and Hughes appear to have gone to lengths to make sure they were operating within state guidelines, the decision just doesn’t pass the smell test.
Handing a high-dollar government contract to the deputy commerce secretary? It screams conflict of interest.
And while it may be legal, it’s certainly icky. We don’t support it. We expected better and deserve a department that does business dealings above board.
We’re not saying Hughes isn’t qualified to do the work. He clearly knows something about megaprojects. If Hughes wanted that contract, however, he should have immediately resigned before bidding. That’s the only way this looks above board in our eyes.
Taking the lead from federal rules is the way to go — although those may need strengthening as well.
Tyson’s effort to rid government agencies of any appearance of unfair bidding practices will show the Kansas government is against cronyism and nepotism — and put Kansas on the path for additional success.
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