KPA: Gov. dinners may have violated meetings act

The Kansas Press Association says some dinners that Gov. Sam Brownback hosted this month with legislative leaders may have violated the Kansas Open Meetings Act.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the KPA says the issue is whether a majority of legislative committee met and whether they were discussing business.

The dinners generally are restricted to Republicans. Two members of the House Appropriations Committee who attended a Cedar Crest dinner Tuesday said a majority of that committee was present, and topics of discussion included taxes and the state budget.

Brownback's spokeswoman Sherriene Jones-Sontag says dinners are not an open meetings violation. She says the dinners give lawmakers a chance to get to know one another and that all legislators have been invited for dinner last year and this year.