TOPEKA – A fledgling association of building contractors led by two political lobbyists is devising a plan to induce the Kansas Legislature to make an unprecedented seven-year investment of $ 315 million to clear the backlog in the repair of academic buildings on the six public universities in the state to decrease.
Without official approval of the campaign by the Kansas Board of Regents, lobbyists Ed McKechnie and David Kensinger worked behind the scenes to attract commercial contractors and a number of subcontractors to christen the University Contractors Association of Kansas. This newly formed association would fund lobbying partners at the Capitol as they push through the $ 45 million-a-year plan to remove the antiquated, mis-sized academic buildings on campuses in Manhattan, Lawrence, Wichita, Hays To tackle Emporia and Pittsburg.
The state Board of Regents stands by its request that lawmakers provide an additional $ 25 million annually in 2022 to support building maintenance, remediation, and demolition projects at the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, Wichita State University, Fort Hays State University, Pittsburg State, Track University, and Emporia State University.
The proposal, which is under consideration by the emerging association of contractors, according to an internal memo from the association, would culminate in a $ 1.2 billion investment in upgrading campus facilities. The plan provides for the costs to be met through additional government funding, an increase in university contributions, and an increase in an existing statewide property tax for building needs.
The memorandum states that the association’s strategy is to secure new government funding of $ 45 million annually for seven consecutive years for the legislative period that begins in January. The six universities are expected to provide $ 45 million a year from either tuition or endowment funds together for seven years.
That sum would be combined with a minimum of $ 45 million per year from the Educational Building Fund (EBF), which has supported the maintenance of university buildings through a million property tax. The EBF is expected to grow to $ 53 million within 10 years. In years eight, nine and ten of the program, universities would increase their self-funded building maintenance budgets to match EBF production.
Conclusion of the association’s draft: 1.28 billion US dollars for the modernization of university buildings by 2032.
“If you’re going to get something done, this is probably the year you get it done,” said McKechnie, a Pittsburg-area lobbyist who served as a Democrat at the Kansas House and a member of the State Board of Regents. “We’re looking for some lawmakers to start this conversation.”
His penchant for action during the 2022 session was based on an awareness that the state government has approximately $ 1 billion in federal economic and coronavirus supplies. At the same time, the Kansas tax rises have exceeded expectations in that Republicans and Democrats prepared for the tax cut debate.
Two lobbyists create a new construction industry association to urge lawmakers to increase government spending on deferred maintenance of university buildings by $ 45 million a year in 2022, while the Kansas Board of Regents increase government funding by $ 25 million US dollars per year applied for. (Tim Carpenter / Kansas Reflector)
Lukewarm answer
McKechnie formed the bipartisan university lobbying partnership with Kensinger, who served as campaign manager and chief of staff to Sam Brownback when the GOP legislature went for and won the governor and US Senator election. Both run lobby companies.
A brief profile from McKechnie said one of his accomplishments was helping the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association secure $ 3,500 annually in tax credits for every mile of railroad track maintained by his former employer Watco. In 2008, US Senator Pat Roberts won re-election and declared Kensinger the “pit bull without lipstick of the Kansas GOP, whose expertise is unrivaled in this new and completely different world of political campaigning”.
In an interview, McKechnie said that about 10 contractors with a legitimate interest in multimillion-dollar commercial projects at state universities had been approached to join the association’s single offer for land finance for university building maintenance. He didn’t identify these companies, but the list appeared to include heating, ventilation, and air conditioning company Trane Technologies. Documents outlining the association’s agenda included the Trane name and logo on the pages.
This association’s memo states that six subcontractors have joined the university’s lobbying approach modeled on Economic Lifelines, a coalition of companies and organizations that support extensive government spending on transportation programs.
Some of the companies recruited by the lobby duo have been reluctant to join, including JE Dunn Construction, McCownGordon Construction and Hutton Construction.
“Some people aren’t sure they want to join,” McKechnie said. “They hope that maybe they can make it without help. Maybe it can. Maybe things happen magically. “
Hutton Construction, with offices in Wichita and three other cities, has shaken off lobbying over concerns about the look of construction companies setting the policy framework for attracting large-scale contracts from universities. Company founder Mark Hutton, a former state lawmaker, is a member of the State Board of Regents. His company has worked in Wichita State and K-State.
“We were approached and said, ‘No.’ For obvious reasons. We don’t want to be associated with lobbying for something that is believed to benefit a regent. That would be incredible, ”said Hutton.
It is illegal to direct construction or renovation contracts from universities to companies in order to finance the lobbying work of the association. There is too much government oversight of lobbying organizations in Kansas to get away with pay-to-play efforts, he said.
Kansas State University President Richard Myers said the backlog of deferred building maintenance at the Kansas Board of Regents universities requires the infusion of new government funds and universities may need to raise funds through donations or tuition adjustments. (Sherman Smith / Kansas reflector)
Expansion of the backlog
The six state universities maintain 28,000 acres with 1,130 facilities spanning 38 million square feet. Half of these buildings are classified as “business critical”, with half of these properties being over 50 years old. The Board of Regents commissioned a study that concluded the cost of clearing the deferred maintenance backlog was $ 1.26 billion. Over time, costs increase.
“If nothing is done in 20 years it will be over $ 4 billion,” said Blake Flanders, president of the State Board of Regents. “There has to be an approach that mitigates the delayed maintenance.”
The challenge of fastening campus buildings goes beyond aesthetics. Getting the can off the ground would eventually lead to higher repair bills, more building system failures, additional health and safety risks, and an inability to meet the functional requirements of academic programs.
Flanders said the Council of Regents believed that state buildings need to be looked after with the help of taxpayers. That prompted the recent $ 25 million per year state aid request from the 2022 Legislature and the governor, he said.
“We also know there might be some really good ideas out there,” he said. “If the demands of the board of directors are not met, we will of course continue to advocate the priorities of the board of directors.”
The board of directors took the initiative to instruct each university to gradually expand the budget for building maintenance over the next six years.
Appropriate challenge
According to McKechnie and Kensinger’s reform plan for university building maintenance, the new state dollars would provide $ 315 million, or 25% of a $ 1.2 billion program. The property tax funded EBF would provide $ 492 million over the next 10 years, which is 38% of the total. Universities would be responsible for revenue of $ 473 million for the reporting period, a 37% share.
Doug Girod, Chancellor of the University of Kansas, said the need for government support for campus property repurposing or upgrading is overwhelming. However, financial commitments by the universities, as envisaged by the building association’s lobbyists, are not practicable.
“There is a common expectation that I am very concerned about,” said Girod. “There is no way we can do that. There are many things that we can raise money for, but operation and delayed maintenance are not two of them. “
Richard Myers, the outgoing president of Kansas State University, said he had fewer objections to a plan that relied on universities to spend more money on building maintenance.
“Partnerships have worked in the past. That would be attractive, I would say, ”he said.
Myers said the legislature should accept that the EBF is insufficient to reasonably maintain a portfolio of university buildings in Kansas with replacement costs of nearly $ 7 billion. The approximately $ 45 million that the EBF allocates to universities each year is far too short, he said.
Investing taxpayer money in universities should be viewed as a form of academic enrichment and economic development, Myers said.
“We cannot nibble at it very effectively with the current resources we have,” said the president.