On a mission to flex their super-majority power, Republican legislators overturned a host of Gov. Laura Kelly’s vetoes on Monday.
That morning, Rep. Blaine Finch of Ottawa warned, “We’re going to put this governor back in the box.”
Wow. What century is this?
Despite the lame threats, Republicans were crystal clear on their priorities.
Predictably, tax cuts.
“Our state has more than enough resources to give Kansans tax relief,” said House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., an Olathe Republican.
And in rapid fashion, the conservatives enacted almost $100 million in annual tax cuts.
To be sure, high-earners will welcome the news. More than $60 million in tax breaks go to large corporations, including multinationals that do their business off-shore.
As for the majority of Kansans, well, they’re used to not getting their hopes up.
After all, it’s been seven years and running that Kansas legislators have refused to expand Medicaid, the health insurance program that would benefit 165,000 of our most needy. Kansas is now only one of a dozen states yet to expand the state/federal program. The excuse has always been a tight budget. And now that “we have more than enough resources”? How dare we ask.
Republicans were also in a heat to overturn the Governor’s veto of allowing concealed carry for teenagers as well as ensuring the production of a license plate image with ties to slavery.
AS FOR these latter issues, we say fine.
We’re done with allowing hot-button topics be a smokescreen to the real damage being done by letting our courts, schools and healthcare system fall in disarray.
The Kansas judicial system desperately needs more and better-paid staff to address a growing backlog of cases. Kansas ranks 48th in the nation for salaries for district judges. As a result, those qualified are going elsewhere, diminishing one of our most critical services.
Education is once again at the forefront with legislators considering a “choice” plan, where funds budgeted for public education could be diverted to private households, cutting tens of millions for public schools. In our opinion, any such stipends should be in addition to, not instead of, keeping our public schools as viable as they can be.
INCREASINGLY, the values of our state’s elected officials do not reflect those of their constituents.
As community members, we work to see our marginalized are included. We hold fundraisers for those facing exorbitant medical bills. We deliver Meals-on-Wheels, serve as poll workers come election time and volunteer at schools. We join organizations to help fight drug and alcohol addiction. We volunteer for committees to recruit new businesses. And we serve on school boards and city councils.
In short, we work to lift each other up, because that’s what responsible citizens do.
