New Members May Play Big Role in Kansas Legislature; Hensley Now Longest Serving

Associated Press - Sun 11:19 AM 12/30/2012

The Kansas Legislature will experience its largest freshman intake in more than four decades and Senator Anthony Hensley is now the longest serving.

The Kansas Legislature will experience its largest freshman intake in more than four decades and Senator Anthony Hensley is now the longest serving.

The influence of the newcomers will be most evident when senators review spending proposals.

The budget-writing Senate Ways and Means Committee will have seven new senators among its 11 members. It will be the first time since 1957 that newcomers are a majority.

The change in the makeup of the Senate committee reflects a shift in power within the GOP majority, away from moderate to conservative leaders.

The 125-member House has 49 members who haven't served in the Legislature previously and the largest freshman class since at least 1970.

Sixteen of the Senate's 40 members will be new, the most since 1993.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley holds the record for the longest tenure in the state Legislature.

Hensley has been a legislator for 36 years, starting in the House from 1977 through 1992. He began serving in the Senate in 1993.

According to the State Library, the next-longest tenure belongs to Concordia Republican Ross Doyen, who served 34 years, starting in the House in 1959 and moving to the Senate in 1969.

Next with 32 years each in the Senate are Democrat Joe Warren of Maple Hill and Republican Joseph Harder of Moundridge. Warren left the Senate in 1988 and Harder, in 1992.

Among legislators who'll return in 2013, the most senior behind Hensley is incoming Senate President and Wichita Republican Susan Wagle, with 22 years.

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