Dave Ranney & Mike Shields: "Privatization Initiative Offers Window On Kansas Government" @ Kansas Heath Institute

A private meeting held in the old State Treasurer's vault on the second floor of the Kansas Statehouse soon after Gov. Sam Brownback was inaugurated in 2011 may have proved pivotal in the state's subsequent move to further privatize child support enforcement functions.  Photo by Mike Shields

[Excerpt] TOPEKA — Soon after Gov. Sam Brownback’s

inauguration, his then-chief of staff David Kensinger sat down for a private meeting with his recent lobbying firm partner, Matt Hickam; a Cabinet secretary, Rob Siedlecki; and a Brownback campaign contributor seeking to expand his company’s business in Kansas.

The brief meeting of political insiders was held in a refurbished Kansas Statehouse vault where state bonds once were safeguarded and - in one historic episode during the tenure of Gov. Alf Landon - were looted by the notorious Ronald Finney, a key perpetrator of the state’s greatest known political scandal.

The two-story vault now serves as a small conference room for the Capitol’s second-floor governor’s suites in the west wing.

The purpose of the meeting, held soon after Brownback was inaugurated in 2011, was to introduce the players and give the government contractor an opportunity to talk about his multi-state operations and the virtues of privatization as applied to child support enforcement. ... [End of Excerpt] 

To read more of the investigation into influence peddling go to the Kansas Health Institute.