Gov. Sam Brownback appears to have been eager to sign a bill declaring that the federal government has no authority to regulate prairie chickens in Kansas.
Brownback spokeswoman Eileen Hawley said Saturday that the governor signed the measure late Friday after returning to Topeka from an Urban League of Kansas dinner in Wichita.
The measure protests the federal government’s listing the lesser prairie chicken as threatened.
Legislators passed the bill last week but proofreading kept them from delivering it to the governor’s office until Friday. The governor had 10 days to act on the bill.
But Hawley said Brownback directed his staff to have the prairie chicken measure ready for him when he returned to Topeka. She said he wanted to sign it on the day he received it.
