TOPEKA — Kansas Democrats vowed on the second day of the legislative session Tuesday to concentrate on reforms that addressed the rising cost of housing, health care, groceries, child care and fuel.
The news conference at the Capitol attended by Democrats from the House and Senate followed Monday’s messaging effort by Republican leaders in both legislative chambers and preceded Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s State of the State speech Wednesday night. The Democratic legislators didn’t release a set of specific bills that could advance their cost-of-living agenda.
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes repeated a prominent GOP talking point during the 2024 election cycle that many Kansans were struggling to keep up financially as escalating prices made nearly every aspect of their lives more challenging.
“They don’t believe the economy is working for them,” said Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat. “While Kansans are working hard, often that hard work benefits shareholders and corporations — leaving workers and their families behind. That is wrong. Everything we do this session should be focused on making life more affordable.”
She said legislation put forward by GOP lawmakers should be scrutinized according to a fundamental question. The litmus test: Would it make life more affordable for Kansans?
Under that metric, Sykes said the renewed push by Republicans to divert state tax dollars from K-12 public schools to private schools would fail. She said the same answer would apply to rehashed legislative proposals to repeal voting rights, including use of ballot drop boxes and the three-day grace period for mail ballots to be counted after Election Day.
House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, also a Lenexa Democrat, said the minority party would strive to raise the state’s minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. He didn’t, however, identify a target for elevating the compensation rate.
“Raising the minimum wage is the first step to addressing income inequality throughout the state,” Woodard said. “At a time when the entire country is feeling the impact of inflation, Kansas must appropriately compensate workers who need it most.”
In three nearby states, the minimum wage is about double the rate in Kansas. Examples: Colorado, $14.81 per hour; Missouri, $13.75; and Nebraska, $13.50. Oklahoma at $7.25 is the equal of Kansas.
Democratic legislators would also encourage passage of measures that expanded quality health care, including broadband access for use in telehealth programs. The state should invest in better access to mental health services, Woodard said.
Woodard said the Legislature should continue to grapple with a 30-year trend that shifted more of the property-tax burden onto residential owners. High property taxes disproportionately burden middle-class homeowners and the elderly on fixed incomes, he said.
He said restoration of a homestead property tax rebate program for renters — it was discontinued more than a decade ago — would be helpful to Kansans who didn’t own a residence.
In terms of property tax relief, Sykes said the Democratic caucus didn’t have a fixed position but wanted results of the upcoming debate to be financially sustainable and offer relief to all Kansans rather than certain economic classes.
Sykes asserted GOP legislative leadership was “misrepresenting what actually happened” on property taxes during closed-door discussions in the June special session. Sykes said the governor set a financial maximum on the total value of reductions that would be acceptable to her in terms of sales, income and property taxes.
“Republican leadership reduced the property tax portion in order to get income taxes,” Sykes said. “They chose to have a lesser amount on property tax in order … to change the income tax structure.”
