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The Adults are Talking, The Strokes

Table of Contents

• Foreword: Some Thoughts About Power

• SB 5 –The “Biden Bucks” Ban

• New BillBee Feature: Data Exports 🏆

Foreword: Some Thoughts About Power

I’ve had some air travel the past couple of weeks, which always provides opportunities for catching up on reading and podcasts. I spent some time with¹ the Ezra Klein Show—I highly recommend two recent episodes, The Emergency Is Here and The Very American Roots of Trumpism—and was left thinking about the nature of power.

We often don’t like to think about power in an affirmative way; power, after all, is a thing used by dominant groups to subjugate segments of society that don’t align with their views. But the real world often disagrees with idealism, and we currently face the challenge of brazen, raw power.

Power has a way of shaping the world to its own reflection. It doesn’t wait for consensus or concern. It doesn’t ask if the changes it makes are just, or sustainable, or popular. Power simply moves—deliberate, relentless, impervious to the noise around it. Power imagines reality, and then creates it.

This can feel disorienting. We like to imagine a politics built on persuasion and shared values; we prefer consensus over conquest; systems, not strongmen. But the reality is, while we’re negotiating the terms of the conversation, someone else is writing the rules.

There’s a lesson in that, even if it’s uncomfortable. If we’re going to respond to the challenges ahead—challenges rooted not in misunderstanding, but in intent—we have to reckon with power as it actually functions, not just how we wish it would. That means seeing it clearly. Naming it. Understanding that sometimes, the struggle isn’t over who has the better argument, but who has the numbers.

I value your participation here, as a reader and actor and subscriber. Because our numbers matter, and it’s through our numbers that we can express our own power.

SB 5 –The “Biden Bucks” Ban

SB 5 prohibits local election officials from using any funds from the federal government (or other external sources) for running elections or voter education unless the Kansas Legislature explicitly approves. In short, even if Congress or a federal agency offers grants to enhance election security or voter access, Kansas officials can’t accept or spend that money without permission from the Statehouse. The bill was driven by conservative suspicions of “outside influence” in elections (sometimes dubbed the “Ban on Zuck Bucks/Biden Bucks” referring to the idea that federal grants or private donations might sway election administration).

Gov. Kelly vetoed SB 5, criticizing it as needless micromanagement that ties officials’ hands, wrote:

She argued that election administrators need flexibility and resources to improve voting security and access. Rejecting federal funds on principle makes no sense, especially when those resources could help protect elections from cyber threats or expand voter registration. Implicit in her stance is trust in local officials to use funds appropriately and a belief that fears of “nefarious” election grants are overblown.

Legislative leaders blasted Kelly’s veto as undermining “election integrity” and promptly overrode it on April 10 (Senate 31–9, House 87–37). Republicans portrayed SB 5 as a safeguard against partisan meddling. Citing a 2021 Biden executive order encouraging voter registration efforts, proponents like the Opportunity Solutions Project warned that federal election aid could bankroll partisan get-out-the-vote drives. In overriding the veto, GOP leaders claimed they were “ensuring the integrity of elections” and preventing “nefarious actors” from tipping the scales.

I see a more cynical motive: sowing mistrust in election administration and choking off resources. The new law means Kansas might turn away federal help even for broadly popular improvements like upgraded voting machines, election cybersecurity, or voter outreach in underserved communities. Everything must run through the partisan gauntlet of the Legislature, which will almost certainly delay or deny funding. This fits a broader conservative strategy to tighten control over election processes, both who can vote (as in SB 4) and how elections are run (SB 5).

New BillBee Feature: Data Exports 🏆

This one’s for the “power users” out there trying to do their own reporting and analysis. Premium accounts can now export the results of an individual vote to an Excel or CSV file! Or, if you want to study the vote history of a legislator, simply find that legislator and use the Export Data button—you’ll get every vote they cast, along with their profile and contact information in one convenient file.

1  By “with” I mean “listening to,” you will not find my voice on any podcasts. Exception: if enough of you send me a letter, with LetterSwarm, I will do it.