Sen. Ty Masterson told a fiery Senate GOP caucus meeting Monday he advised Gov. Sam Brownback to conceal warnings that legislation designed to preserve the Docking State Office Building could harm the state’s credit rating.

The administration only made the claims public after senators debated last week overriding Brownback’s veto of the bill, which passed the Legislature nearly unanimously.

At the lengthy conclave, administration officials attempted to persuade senators to not override Brownback’s veto of Senate Bill 250, which bars demolition of Docking for two years. Some senators were incredulous, with Sen. Michael O’Donnell, R-Wichita, calling the controversy "insane."

But after O’Donnell upbraided the administration officials present, Masterson, R-Andover, told the caucus he had told Brownback to not make public the worries over a potential downgrade. He offered to take the blame and indicated his intention had been to avoid a public fight about the measure.

The meeting provided an unusually open display of anger and frustration from Republicans with their governor of the same party. The meeting ended with no apparent conclusion — at least publicly — as to whether the Senate will pursue override of the veto.

The meeting also proved extraordinary because reporters in attendance were asked to leave toward the end of the proceedings — a rare decision and the first time a caucus has been closed in more than a year. A Topeka Capital-Journal reporter in attendance vocally objected.

Whatever discussions may have occurred after the doors were shut, the meeting beforehand proved eventful.

The Senate held an impromptu debate on overriding Brownback’s veto last Thursday. Lawmakers originally passed Senate Bill 250 after the administration disclosed it had backed out of a $20 million contract to build a new Capitol complex energy center that had drawn the fury of lawmakers who say the administration bypassed the Legislature when it moved forward on the contract.

When the bill was passed, it was sold as a way to boost the state’s negotiating position when it canceled the deal. Lawmakers also were told the legislation paused any future action on Docking, including demolition. The current power plant sits under Docking, and building a new one is necessary before the building can be imploded.

The bill passed the House 121-1, and the Senate 40-0 on Feb. 23. The state has since canceled the contract, at a cost of more than $2 million.

During the override debate, the governor and his staff responded with a flurry of statements — including on Twitter — raising the prospect of a credit rating downgrade as the discussion was ongoing.

Claims of a potential downgrade weren’t included in the governor’s earlier veto message. That veto message only referred to the bill as unnecessary.

The omission drew the ire of O’Donnell during the caucus meeting. He pressed the administration officials present — which included Department of Administration Secretary Sarah Shipman and Rebecca Floyd, the Kansas Development Finance Authority’s general counsel — about the lack of disclosure.

"Did the governor not do it on Twitter?" O’Donnell asked. "So how, if we are trying to not publicly announce this if this is an issue, do we as a Legislature get advised via Twitter from our chief executive that there’s a problem?"

He finished: "This is insane."

Floyd indicated the administration hadn’t wanted to open a "Pandora’s box" and suggested open discussion in the press could have caused concern in the markets. Masterson, apparently catching O’Donnell off guard, said that he had advised the governor to avoid disclosure.

"I heard that there was a potential of a bond rating problem. I suggested that that not be public knowledge because just it being out there — and here we are, having our little fist fight in front of press, doing exactly what I had hoped — I would take responsibility for that," Masterson said.

Dennis Lloyd, with Columbia Capital Management, told senators markets become hyper-concerned whenever a state’s ability or willingness to pay is brought into question. While he said he personally believed lawmakers don’t want to be seen as repudiating the state’s debt, he said investors could interpret the situation that way.

Lloyd said that while he believes it isn’t likely that overriding the veto would result in a credit downgrade, there is a chance. Several senators appeared skeptical. Senate Vice President Jeff King, R-Independence, asked how the state could possibly receive a credit downgrade if it has no debt related to the project to default on.

Floyd said the bill passed while the contract was still alive. The KDFA counsel said Kansas is creating uncertainty in the market. Floyd said four law firms had examined the legislation and all reached the same conclusion, that the bill could be interpreted as an act of non-appropriation.

"The legislation was passed and vetoed before all of those events took place," Floyd said, referring to the contract cancellation.

After more than an hour and a half of discussion on Docking, as well as a provision in budget legislation on STAR bonds that also was vetoed by the governor, Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, announced her desire to close the meeting to all but senators, saying the caucus needed time for a "family" discussion.

The Senate GOP caucus typically meets multiple times a week and the gatherings are almost universally open to press. Many meetings can be mundane, but some offer insight into how the super-majority caucus plans to proceed.

The Capital-Journal reporter who objected to Wagle’s decision to close the caucus — where public business is discussed — noted that caucus meetings are attended by a majority of the Senate.

GOP senators then met for another 15-20 minutes before adjourning. After the meeting, Wagle said closed caucuses are a common practice in all states.

"We were able to vent a little more with the press not in the room," Wagle said.