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Colyer to Give Address to Kansas Lawmakers

Jeff Colyer speaking last year. (Photo by Stephen Koranda)
Jeff Colyer speaking last year. (Photo by Stephen Koranda)

After he takes over the governorship, Lieutenant Governor Jeff Colyer will, in essence, redo the Kansas State of the State address.

Governor Sam Brownback delivered the official annual address earlier this month. The speech Colyer will give to lawmakers won't technically be the State of the State speech, but it will give him an opportunity to share with legislators the path he’ll take as the state’s top executive. ​

Colyer, who was visiting Hays in advance of his sweaing in, confirmed to a Kansas News Service reporter that he would give the speech. A date and time for the address have not been set.

“The speaker has been very kind to offer us an opportunity to address the Legislature, and I’m very honored to accept it,” Colyer said.

Colyer will be sworn-in as governor Wednesday afternoon, although his staff have said that speech will be light on policy specifics.

There have been few details from Colyer when it comes to what he’ll propose when he’s governor. He’s mainly stuck to broad strokes, saying that he is listening to Kansans and planning to bring a new tone to the governor’s office.

In an interview last week, Colyer said he would be working with lawmakers in the coming weeks to develop strategies for tackling the major issue in the session, K-12 funding. Lawmakers need to respond to a Supreme Court ruling that says funding levels are inadequate.

“We’re going to be making some proposals and laying those out over the next few weeks. I think there’s a variety of solutions and I want to explore all of them,” Colyer said.

Sam Brownback is resigning as Kansas governor to serve as ambassador for international religious freedom in the Trump administration.

Stephen Koranda is KPR's Statehouse reporter.