Monday, February 6, 2012

Several Kansas legislators say Gov. Sam Brownback raised issues such as tax cuts and water policy in private meetings with them at his official residence.

But their accounts of the meetings differed Monday.

Some Republican legislators who attended one or more of the gatherings with the GOP governor described them as purely social
events.

But several lawmakers interviewed by The Associated Press said Brownback made remarks about substantive issues.

Brownback had seven meetings in January for Republicans on 13 legislative committees. He planned gathering planned Monday evening for a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor, a Democrat, is investigating whether the gatherings violated the Kansas Open
Meetings Act. Brownback spokeswoman Sherriene Jones-Sontag said the administration remains confident that the gatherings did not violate the law.