In a press release today, Gov. Mark Parkinson announced his appointment of a 4th Congressional District member to the Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission but was silent on the many labor union and political connections of his appointee.

From the press release:

State Supreme Court Nominating Committee

Governor Parkinson has appointed Paul Babich to serve as the 4th Congressional District public member on the State Supreme Court Nominating Committee. Babich, Wichita, taught in his hometown’s public schools for 30 years. He recently retired as the President of the United Teachers of Wichita, and has served on the Kansas NEA Board of Directors. Babich has received many awards and honors over the years, including USD 259’s Distinguished Classroom Teacher Award and was a Fulbright Scholar to Israel.

The State Supreme Court Nominating Committee is responsible for recommending qualified individuals for appointments to the Kansas Supreme Court and the Kansas Court of Appeals. Babich is one of four public members who serve on the board.

The Governor’s office was asked for more information about this appointment, including these questions: Can you provide me any information about the process used to select Mr. Babich for this position? Who else was considered for this position, and what were Mr. Babich’s qualifications that made him the best choice?

On Sept 14. the Governor’s press secretary, Beth Martino, gave this reply to those questions:

The governor is confident that Paul Babich is well qualified for this position and will serve well in this role.

For your reference, the Supreme Court Nominating Commission requires the Governor appoint four public members. There is one public member per congressional district, and they cannot hold any other public elected or appointed position at the time they are appointed. There is a two term limit. The other members are attorneys who are elected by vote of their local Bar Association. The Chair is an attorney also elected by the Bar Association.

Members of the Supreme Court Nominating Commission file no statements of substantial interest, like many state workers in important positions on various boards, nor do they file Judicial Financial Disclosure statements, which can be viewed in the Office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court.

Since the members of the Supreme Court Nominating Commission are exempt from any sort of conflict of interest statements, other information about these members is not readily available to the public, even though these people play key roles in selecting the Kansas Supreme Court.

Gov. Parkinson’s press release says little about Paul Babich’s involvement in political activities in Kansas. The purpose of this article is to reveal important and significant aspects of Babich’s involvement in Kansas politics, which should be considered as an issue when plays a part in selecting Kansas Supreme Court judges.

United Teachers of Wichita / American Federation of Teachers

The Governor’s press release mentions Babich was a past board member of the Kansas NEA, and served as the president of the United Teachers of Wichita.

The Constitution and Bylaws of the United Teachers of Wichita explain their affiliations:

Section 1. AFFILIATION

United Teachers of Wichita shall be affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, Kansas Association of Public Employees, the Kansas-National Education Association, the AFL-CIO, the Kansas AFL-CIO, and the Wichita/Hutchinson Labor Federation.

As a non-profit, the United Teachers of Wichita file an IRS 990 every year under the name American Federation of Teachers Wichita. The address either way is 150 S Ida, Wichita 67211. AFT is an affiliated international union of the AFL-CIO.

The 2008 IRS 990 filed for the period July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008 shows Paul Babich received an AFT salary of $90,380 as president, and Larry Landwehr received $84,949 as vice president (see below).

In that year AFT-Wichita reported gross receipts of $1.44 million, mostly from membership dues and assessments, and expenditures of $1.29 million. Their net assets at the end of the reporting period were $927,000.

AFT-Wichita reported $405,000 in functional expenses and $886,000 in supporting payments to:

• Kansas Assoc Public Education, $34,000
• National Education Association, $592,000
• Wichita Labor Federation, $14,000
• American Federation of Teachers, $246,000

The NEA’s IRS 8872 forms would explain what they did with the huge $592,000 payment by AFT-Wichita. There is no evidence at this time that any of this money returned to Kansas directly via a payment to KNEA by NEA.

As president of United Teachers of Wichita, Babich served as the chair of their political action committee, the United Teachers of Wichita Committee on Political Education. This PAC received the bulk of its funds from the Kansas NEA. (KNEA collects money on a statewide basis and then sends rebates to its UniServ districts, such as the United Teachers of Wichita UniServ.) In 2007 this PAC was ranked #116 in Kansas out of 228 PACs.

Kansas Association of Public Employees (KAPE)

Babich has been a director of KAPE according to a recent IRS 990, and was their Executive Vice President as recently as 2007.

Kansas State AFL-CIO

The Kansas State AFL-CIO web page shows Paul Babich as an Executive Board Member. While Babich recently retired from the United Teachers of Wichita, a Kansas AFL-CIO spokesperson in Topeka said by phone on Friday that Babich is still a board member and will be on the board until their meeting in November.

The Kansas AFL-CIO takes political stands on a number of issues. For example, the Kansas AFL-CIO, with Babich’s name in the letterhead, took a stand on energy policy in Kansas (see p. 41 in this PDF).

Sedgwick County Democrats

Paul Babich’s name has appeared since 2005 on the list of contributors in The Democratic Voice published by the Sedgwick County Democrats.

Political Contributions by Paul Babich ($2725 total)

Bruce Cooper, D	House	2008	$100
Judith Loganbill, D	House	2004-2008	$350
Terry L McLachlan, D	House	2006-2008	$300
Elizabeth Bishop, D	Senate	2008	$100
David Clark Jr, D	Senate	2004	$150
Henry Helgerson, D	Senate	2000	$75
Douglas Johnston, D	Senate	2000	$50
Jean Schodorf, R	Senate	2003	$50
Daniel Thimesch, D	Senate	2004	$50
Fran Lee, D	Sec. State	1994	$100
Tom Sawyer, D	Governor	1998	$100
Kathleen Sebelius, D	Governor	2001-2006	$250
Jim Slattery, D	Governor	1994	$50
Don Betts, D	U.S. Congress	2008	$300
Hillary Clinton, D	U.S. President	2008	$200
NEA	PAC	2002, 2006	$425
United Teachers of Wichita	PAC	2007	$75

Paul Babich did not return a phone call to obtain his comments for this article.

Should members of the commission, who select Supreme Court judges in Kansas, have this kind of political background?

Related:

• Only 30% turnout in July statewide election? (election of Supreme Court Nominating Commission chair),  Kansas Watchdog, Sept 17, 2009.
• Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission, Judgepedia
• IRS 990 for American Federation of Teachers Wichita for 2008:

IRS 990, American Federation of Teachers Wichita, 2008 –

Related:

• The Bar’s Extraordinary Powerful Role in Selecting the Kansas Supreme Court, Prof. Stephen J. Ware, The Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy, Spring 2009.