As YOUR State Representative, I would like to thank the great people of the 27^th District for the opportunity to serve in the 27th House District. It is a tremendous privilege to represent you in the legislature. I am committed to making Kansas a great place for our children and families to live, learn, work, and play. Thank you for entrusting me with the opportunity to help shape the future for Kansans.

“Keeping Promises”

I listened to your concerns.  I went to Topeka and did EXACTLY what I said I would do. I Stood firm.  I made the tough, hard choices that I Promised. I said all along that when I got back to Topeka, I would roll my sleeves up and go to work just as I have in all my other ventures in life. Together, we would fix Kansas!

I went to work on your behalf, and I am very proud to say we have turned the ship.   We made tremendous progress again this session:

TAX REDUCTIONS:

•  Eliminated state income tax on Social Security, increased the property tax exemption, ended automatic property tax increases, allowed real estate appraisals to be used to fight valuations, allowed itemized deductions, raised the standard deduction, and eliminated the state food sales tax.

SUPPORTING EDUCATION

• Fully funded k-12 schools, including special Ed, created a tax credit for teachers, doubled teacher scholarships, enacted “Learn Everywhere,” the “Promise Scholarship” for skilled trades, the “Adult Learner Act,” and eliminated overcrowding in schools by supporting local control over class capacity.

• I voted for the original school funding bill that fixed the system, and I have consistently voted for our public school funding formula, each and every year.

• With Blue Valley now budgeting over $20,000 per pupil, my efforts remain focused on directing those dollars to teachers and children in the classroom, with an emphasis on academic achievement, special education and parent involvement/transparency.

• Our urban schools (Wichita, Kansas City, and Topeka) are struggling with less than 7% of their students testing at grade level in English and math, and our students can not learn in that environment.  The private schools in the same neighborhoods are testing much higher.  This is why I always support the voucher program.  We need to give these students a chance to succeed.

SUPPORTING THE DISABLED:

• Passed Kathy’s Law that gave hiring preference to persons with disabilities for state jobs, created the Disability Employment Act with tax credits for companies purchasing from nonprofits that employ persons with disabilities, and fought to end sub-minimum wage workshops.

REDUCEING DEBT, SAVING TAX DOLLARS

• Passed balanced budgets with huge surpluses, paid off billions in debt, and strengthened the state retirement fund, saving on interest and lowering future budgets.

FIXING THE UNEMPLOYMENT SYSTEM

• As chairman of the Commerce Committee, I rewrote Kansas unemployment laws and created the Unemployment Modernization Council that has oversight of the Kansas Department of Labor. We helped thousands of Kansans cut through red tape and finally receive their benefits. We also ensured that Kansans will have a new unemployment platform and never again have to suffer through months of waiting for much needed assistance.

MEDICAID IMPROVEMENTS

• Increased reimbursement rates for hospitals, and reduced the HCBS waiting list by 500 individuals with disabilities.

EXPANDING ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE

• Expanded healthcare options bay allow less expensive association health plans and short term policies.

• Expanded the authority of nurse practitioners to work in Kansas. Kansas became the 25th state to give these highly trained medical professionals more flexibility in treating patients so citizens have additional healthcare provider options suited to their unique needs.

REFORMING WELFARE

• Hard work supports families, builds communities, and contributes to human dignity. That’s why it is important  for us to help those in need step out of public assistance and back into the workforce. With our welfare reform efforts this session, able-bodied adults on public assistance who do not have dependents and who are not working full time will now be required to participate in employment training programs to help them on their journey back to gainful employment. This is good for individuals and good for the economy.

INVESTING IN RURAL KANSAS

• We are taking bold action to boost rural communities that don’t have enough housing to support the workforce needed for agriculture and other important industries. For years this housing crunch has limited our ability to grow the rural economy, so we are strategically kick-starting a solution by providing about $120 million in tax credits for new rural housing and $65 million for rural home construction.

We are on the right track… Let’s not go back!