In the News: Oversight of the Kansas Department of Commerce
By
| September 12, 2024
News coverage of the Kansas Open Records Act complaint against the Department of Commerce:
Kansas Reflector: Kansas AG asked to investigate commerce department handling of records request
“The APEX program doled out over $1 billion in incentives to favored companies. The public deserves to be able to inspect the quarterly and annual reports the law required Commerce to complete,” she said.
The Sentinel: Americans for Prosperity Foundation-Kansas files another KORA complaint against Commerce Dept.
Just hours after the Americans for Prosperity Foundation-Kansas was again forced to file a Kansas Open Records complaint against the state after the Kansas Department of Commerce (KDOC) has refused to answer records requests, Commerce found the records they had not produced for more than seven months.
According to a release, AFP-Kansas filed the complaint with Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach after the agency failed to provide reports requested by AFPF-KS over seven months ago regarding a KDOC-run corporate welfare scheme called the Attracting Powerful Economic Expansion Act (APEX).
The Topeka Capital-Journal: Is Commerce Department producing APEX reports?
The issue was brought to light by Americans for Prosperity Foundation-Kansas, which has been critical of the APEX economic development program, characterizing it as a “Commerce-run corporate welfare scheme.”
The organization said in a Wednesday news release that it has been waiting seven months with no response to its public records request for the mandatory APEX reports.
“Commerce has not only failed to produce those records, but the agency has not responded to a single inquiry about the status of the request since its original reply,” the organization said in the news release.
The Sentinel: Commerce Department dodges questions about seemingly flawed Panasonic, Integra impact claims
“The economic impact estimates from the Department of Commerce might sound good at face value, but Kansans should know they reflect bad policies,” AFPF-KS State Director Elizabeth Patton. “Hardworking taxpayers should understand these estimates are meant to protect the power and reputation of the Commerce Department and its pet projects.”
