Post by Logan on Feb 23, 2016 9:17:33 GMT -6
Intense bipartisan pressure from the Kansas Legislature led the administration of Gov. Sam Brownback to cancel a $20 million contract for construction of a utility center to replace units in the marked-for-demolition Docking State Office Building, officials said Monday.
Sens. Laura Kelly and Anthony Hensley, Topeka Democrats, confirmed the decision to break a contract signed in December by the Kansas Department of Administration. State officials pushed back hard against agitated lawmakers, but eventually relented before the House and Senate could produce a bill that would withhold money from the project.
“I am pleased,” Kelly said. “I’m sorry we ever got this far. I hope it’s a first step to saving some or all of the Docking building.”
Republican and Democratic legislators objected to the deal because they viewed it as intentionally designed to skirt oversight by the Legislature. The energy center was to cost about $16 million, but financing through Bank of America would have pushed the total to $20 million.
Read more: cjonline.com/news/2016-02-22/brownback-officials-pull-plug-20-million-capitol-energy-center
Sens. Laura Kelly and Anthony Hensley, Topeka Democrats, confirmed the decision to break a contract signed in December by the Kansas Department of Administration. State officials pushed back hard against agitated lawmakers, but eventually relented before the House and Senate could produce a bill that would withhold money from the project.
“I am pleased,” Kelly said. “I’m sorry we ever got this far. I hope it’s a first step to saving some or all of the Docking building.”
Republican and Democratic legislators objected to the deal because they viewed it as intentionally designed to skirt oversight by the Legislature. The energy center was to cost about $16 million, but financing through Bank of America would have pushed the total to $20 million.
Read more: cjonline.com/news/2016-02-22/brownback-officials-pull-plug-20-million-capitol-energy-center