Chairperson Humphries opened the Hearing on HB2593.

Jason Thompson, Office of Revisor of Statutes, presented the Bill Brief.  (Attachment 1)

Mr. Thompson stood for questions.

Proponents:

Robert Hutchinson, Deputy Attorney General, on behalf of Office of the Attorney General, testified that this bill protects Kansans' open access to their local government's activities and protect the State's sovereign authority from usurpation.  (Attachment 2)

Eric Stafford, Vice President, Government Affairs, Kansas Chamber of Commerce, supports this bill which establishes guidelines for when it is deemed appropriate for local governments to enter into contingency fee agreements with law firms, along with approval from the Attorney General.   (Attachment 3)

Proponents stood for questions.

The Chairperson drew attention to the Proponent Written Only testimony:

Roger Gibboni, Counsel, United States Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform  (Attachment 4)

Opponents:

John Goodyear, General Counsel, League of Kansas Municipalities, testified that this bill would require cities to submit certain contingent fee contracts for legal services to the Attorney General for review and approval. The League is concerned that this requirement represents an unnecessary intrusion into local decision-making and a limitation on a city's long-standing authority to contract for professional services. The League stands ready to work with the Proponents to strike a compromise.  (Attachment 5)

Michael Koss, City Attorney, City of Overland Park, testified that the City opposes the current version of the bill because it provides the Attorney General's Office with unlimited discretion to veto a municipality's contingency fee contract for legal services. They do support amendments to the bill, as presented during testimony.  (Attachment 6)

Erik Houghton, Deputy City Attorney, City of Wichita, testified that the City opposes the bill because it would infringe on local control, violate the Kansas Constitution, and prevent all cities from advancing the interests of their citizens.  (Attachment 7)

Jay Hall, Deputy Director and General Counsel, Kansas Association of Counties (KAC), pointed out that Section 1 may be unnecessary because contracts must already be approved in a public meeting. The Association has concerns about legal and ethical questions for which the text does not provide answers. Recommended wording was provided concerning local governments pursuing contingent fee contracts. KAC is open to working with interested parties to solve the issues they have articulated.  (Attachment 8)

Ruth Ann French, Attorney, Sharp Law, testified that this bill is a dangerous overreach into matters of local control to effectively silence legitimate litigation necessary to ensure Kansas cities and counties can hold corporations accountable when their wrongful conduct has cost citizens thousands or even millions of dollars.   (Attachment 9)

Brandon Henry, Attorney, Wagstaff & Cartmell, LLP, testified that their firm has a long history of representing schools in mass tort litigation and shared related statistics. The firm is concerned about the constitutionality of this bill. They feel that contingency fee contracts protect their clients and should be the continued protocol.  (Attachment 10)

Shannon Kimball, Government Relations Specialist, Kansas Association of School Boards, testified that this bill undermines the authority of the locally elected school boards of education regarding how best to meet a district's legal services needs and instead grants veto power over those decisions to the state Attorney General.  It would impair boards' ability to fulfill their fiduciary duties and force disclosure of privileged legal communications in the process.  (Attachment 11)

The Opponents stood for questions.

The Chairperson drew attention to the Opponents Written Only testimony:

Joe Molina, Kansas Bar Association  (Attachment 12)

Callie J. Denton, Executive Director, Kansas Trial Lawyers Association  (Attachment 13)

Paul Kramer, City Manager, City of Shawnee  (Attachment 14)

David Dillner, City Manager, City of El Dorado  (Attachment 15)

Blake Shuart, Attorney, Hutton & Hutton, LLC  (Attachment 16)

Michael J. Fleming, Attorney, Kapke & Willerth  (Attachment 17)

Chairperson Humphries closed the Hearing on HB2593.