Remember those anonymous texts before Kansas abortion vote? They could become illegal

File photo by Bo Rader/The Wichita Eagle

Former Kansas Congressman Tim Huelskamp was the elephant not in the room.

Even though he’s been out of office for six years, the former Republican representative and staunch abortion opponent looms over a new effort to require “paid for” disclosures in text messages sent to influence Kansas elections on state constitutional amendments.

The Kansas House Elections Committee held a hearing Thursday on the proposal, which would make not including the disclosures a class C misdemeanor, punishable by up to a month in jail and $500 fine.

Just as voters were preparing to cast ballots last summer on an amendment that would have allowed the Legislature to ban abortion, misleading text messages about the measure appeared on an untold number of phones. The texts, urging “yes” votes to protect choice, didn’t say who had sent them. Voters overwhelmingly rejected the amendment, ensuring abortion access would be preserved in Kansas.

As it turned out, Alliance Forge, a Republican-linked tech firm that leased the phone numbers used to send the texts, was paid thousands of dollars before and after the election by a political action committee, Do Right PAC, chaired by Huelskamp. Every other major anti-abortion group involved in campaigning for the amendment also denied any involvement.

Campaign finance reports by Do Right PAC show the organization spent $32,092 on Alliance Forge between July 22, 2022 and December 31, 2022. The former congressman has never said whether his group sent the texts — he abruptly hung up on a reporter at one point last year — and didn’t respond to a call on Thursday.

Huelskamp was nowhere to be seen during the hearing, either.

But the text messages caused widespread consternation when they were sent in late July, sparking a backlash — and now legislation.

State Rep. Pat Proctor, a Fort Leavenworth Republican who chairs the committee, said he had worked with Kansas Ethics Commission director Mark Skoglund to draft the bill, though no one mentioned Huelskamp during the hearing.

“There was all the ‘vote no, vote yes’ nonsense going on with trying to confuse voters as to what a yes meant or what a no meant,” Proctor told The Star afterward, referring to what helped spark the idea for legislation.

State Rep. Stephanie Clayton, an Overland Park Democrat who has offered a similar bill, was more blunt. Asked if her proposal was a response to Huelskamp, she said “yes.”

“And the people who support them,” Clayton said.

Proctor also expressed exasperation at a text sent out on Election Day intended to undermine him that claimed he would ban abortion. He said he still doesn’t know what was behind the messages. Proctor said the committee will work on the bill next week – a process likely to end with lawmakers sending it to the full House.

The legislation would bring “paid for” requirements for constitutional amendments in line with state-level candidates, which are already required to include the disclosures. Skoglund said he believed the law hadn’t been updated since 2007. In addition to texts, the bill would extend the disclosure rules to robocalls and other forms of online communication.

“This is an area that I think is certainly in need of an update and we’ve been working on this issue for a while,” Skoglund said.

Still, Skoglund emphasized that the Kansas Ethics Commission wouldn’t have the power to police violations of the disclosure rules in constitutional amendment campaigns because they aren’t generally governed by the state’s campaign finance law.

Investigating violations would be up to local law enforcement and prosecutors, who would decide whether to bring what are low-level charges.

“The average county attorney is probably going to be busier than wanting to deal with this unless it’s a pretty significant violation,” Mike Heim, senior assistant revisor of statutes, told lawmakers.

The Star’s Katie Bernard contributed reporting

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