Alva Review-Courier -

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer named a veteran state lawmaker as his new budget director Friday, making another overture to a Legislature that had a rocky relationship with his predecessor while elevating the old budget director to a new job of chief operating officer.

The new Republican governor's chief budget officer is GOP state Rep. Larry Campbell, of Olathe. Campbell is vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and chairman of a special committee on education funding — a background likely to help as Colyer and lawmakers respond to a Kansas Supreme Court mandate to b...