Capitol Bully

"Yeah, I just printed it," she says.

"Let's see it," Barone says. He grabs the statement, places it on a table near the door and signs it.

The statement was prepared before Barone knew what the reporter wanted to discuss. When asked about the incident with the intern, he says, "You know, I ain't got nothing to say about that." He looks at the ceiling of his office in disbelief. "That wasn't true," he adds somberly. "Have you talked to the lady?"

Barone storms off to his committee meeting.

The statement isn't on Senate letterhead. "From the Office of Jim Barone" reads the top of the white page.

"I have always made it a practice not to respond to rumors, gossip, or innuendos and I do not intend to change my position now," it reads. "It has always been my long standing personal belief that my personal family life and the personal lives of my family members are just that, personal and private family matters.

"My job as a citizen legislator is to represent the folks back home to the best of my ability and my conservative democratic district doesn't always think exactly like my state party. I am proud to be a lifelong Kansas democrat but my number one concern is taking care of business for the people who elected me.

"The folks in my district are like family and family comes first."

A week later, Barone invites a Pitch reporter back to his office to discuss his work as a senator. Barone has only a few minutes before he has to leave to take pictures with legislative pages. He promises a Pitch reporter that he'll finish the interview later if he has to skip out.

Barone spends much of the interview dodging questions. Asked about his demotion on Ways and Means and the Buildings Committee, Barone pauses and says, "Ask the senator who did that." Then he dismisses the question by saying, "That laundry has been washed. I don't see any value in re-plowing that field." Barone adds, "I'm an optimist. You can't unfry an egg. That egg's been fried."

Barone says the demotions haven't hurt his standing in the Democratic Party. "My sense is I still enjoy the same amount of respect that I've always had," Barone says.

Barone runs through his legislative agenda. He clicks his pen. He bites his fingernails. He jingles the change in his pocket. He unbuckles the watch that has been jangling on his wrist. Barone reclines in his chair with his hands on his head, as if he were doing situps.

Barone opens a manila folder on his desk and runs through the Senate bills he's working on. He wants to set up a riverfront authority for Fort Scott and Bourbon counties. The bill made it out of committee and was headed for floor debate. He's pushing a scholarship fund for students who graduate from Frontenac High School; every student would get a scholarship, $800 maximum, toward any postsecondary education. He also wants to create sinkhole insurance.

From the shelf behind him, Barone grabs a copy of Newt Gingrich's Winning the Future. He reads the inscription inside: "To Senator Jim Barone, your friend Newt Gingrich. Good luck on your price posting bill."

The former Republican speaker of the house visited Topeka last year.

"He heard about my bill," Barone says proudly. He's referring to a bill he introduced that would require hospitals to post the costs of 25 common outpatient procedures, such as chest X-rays, mammograms and blood tests. "He very aggressively supports it."

As Barone departs for his photo-op, he says he will discuss only some aspects of the gambling bill. "Remember the ground rules," Barone warns. "I'm not going to talk about [family], but I'll talk about my work up here.

"The bill didn't make it. I supported the bill, voted for it, but it didn't make it. Check the record."

Ten minutes later, returning from the photo-op, Barone tells his secretary to fetch a transcript of the testimony he delivered before the Federal and State Affairs Committee last year.

Asked about corruption in gambling, Barone says, "Is there corruption in gaming? What evidence do you have of that? There's a history of corruption in every facet of our lives: state government, highway contracting, schools, newspapers — fair?"

The secretary returns with his testimony. "I can exert very little financial control in my own household," Barone's testimony, dated March 10, 2006, reads. "Most of you know that Donita runs it, and I guarantee you that very few, if any of us, can exert strict financial control over adult family members not residing in our households. How are we to know what their business activities are?"

Satisfied with his answer, Barone changes the subject and calls himself "an old man ... on Social Security." A Pitch reporter says Barone isn't hurting for money with his legislative salary.

"You a gambling man?" Barone asks. "I bet you a Coke, a lunch, a steak that you make more than I do up here."

The reporter declines to take the bet.

Barone digs in his bag.

"I just happen to have something here, and I'll gladly give it to you to do away with any misconceptions of what we make," Barone says. He takes out his W2 tax form, passes it to the reporter and reads the numbers with satisfaction: $15,084.21.

"Publish it," he says.