Rep. Fred Gardner, a Republican from Garnett who represents the 9th District, is returning for just his second year in the Kansas House of Represenatives.
He feels a bit more comfortable in his role, having learned more about the inner workings of government during his first year. In the last session, he successfully introduced legislation to add Iola’s Lehigh Portland lake and trails to the state park system.
He serves on the agriculture and natural resources committee, health and human services and local government.
“After you’ve been through the process, you have a better idea of how everything works and you have a little more input,” Gardner said. “I think that will make for faster progress right out of the gate.”
The next legislative session starts at 2 p.m. Monday and lasts 90 days.
It’s not a lot of time, Gardner notes.
“There were over 800 bills introduced last session and in 90 days, that’s a lot of work,” he said. “A lot of those bills are still alive. Some of them were worked in committee and passed out of committee but didn’t get on the floor. Some passed the House but didn’t get through the Senate, and the Senate passed things we didn’t work on. So I think those things will get some action and it won’t be like starting from scratch.”
Because time is limited, it’s common for several bills to be bundled together. That happened quite a bit in the last session, resulting in numerous vetoes from Gov. Laura Kelly. Lawmakers voted to override some, while other attempts failed by just a few votes. Kansas does not allow a line-item veto so the entire package either passes or fails, even when it includes bills with broad support or opposition.
“I don’t think that (bundling bills) is as bad a deal as we’re led to believe,” Gardner said. “All those bills go through committee, and we try to help each other understand what’s in the bill and why it’s important. It would be nice to individually consider each item but sometimes it’s necessary to package things together.”
Gardner said he’s looking forward to returning to Topeka.
“I take that responsibility very seriously,” he said. “I’ve talked to quite a number of people who have brought forward concerns about things they want to see happen, and I’ll be working on those things.”
Gardner, a veterinarian, reviewed the areas he expects to address, particularly regarding taxes and education. 
Taxes
“There will be a lot of attention right away on taxes,” Gardner said, particularly as Kansas has accumulated a budget surplus through higher-than-expected sales and income tax returns in recent years.
“It’s a nice problem to have, although it creates a significant amount of debate. There are a lot of opinions about how that money should be spent.”
He supports using the money to reduce taxation in all three areas: property tax, sales tax and income tax.
