Saturday was a good news/bad news day. BOTH legislators were urged to take up the expansion of Medicaid. In Allen County, it’s estimated 2,000 residents will go without health insurance because of the state’s refusal to expand the Medicaid guidelines.
It was heartening to see the camaraderie between State Sen. Caryn Tyson and Rep. Kent Thompson at the legislative forum. The Republicans say their friendship is representative of the Kansas Legislature as a whole.
The dearth of Democrats, of course, helps create that cohesiveness. There’s little need for compromise when of 40 Senators, eight are Democrats, and of Representatives, 92 are Republicans and 33 Democrats.
Still, the legislators said, they occasionally reach “across the aisle,” if their consciences dictate. Thompson admitted it’s done with caution. If party leaders deem you an “outlier,” he said, your voice quickly loses a hearing.
As a former Allen County commissioner, Thompson brings valuable experience to the Statehouse. He understands the funding needs of the county and its many responsibilities.
Senate Bill 293, for example, would restrict county and municipal landfills from accepting trash from outside county lines.
Private companies want to direct the business more their way. Thompson is aware that for Allen County it would mean a loss of about $365,000 in annual income if the county could no longer accept trash from Anderson, Bourbon, Neosho and Wilson counties.
His 12-year stint as a county commissioner, however, does not necessarily translate to other domains. Thompson is fond of saying that when the county lost its local ad valorem tax relief in 2008, he didn’t consider as a county commissioner to sue the state in retribution.
“We lost about $720,000,” he said. “Did we file a lawsuit? No, we tightened our belts.”
Thompson uses this same logic with school districts, implying their lawsuit against the state was inappropriate.
The analogy misses the mark for two reasons:
1. By state constitution, legislators are obligated to fund schools at the level that they provide a suitable education. After six years of falling test scores, deteriorating facilities and inadequate supplies, the school districts were left no choice but to pursue legal means to impress upon legislators their responsibility to state schools.
2. Counties have the ability to raise property taxes to fund their needs. School districts are statutorily limited as to how much they can raise property taxes; and even then it can be for only capital needs, but not salaries.
“I have patients who die because of this,” said an impassioned Dr. Brian Wolfe.
Neither legislator indicated they were gung-ho to take up the cause.
When Bill Shirley, former Iola mayor, said he wasn’t hearing any response from the two about helping the county’s underserved, Sen. Tyson’s non sequitur response was the state’s new Rural Opportunity Zone program is working to bring young professionals to rural parts of the state.
Still, the morning was an exercise in democracy. Not a bad way to start the day.
— Susan Lynn
Tyson & Thompson on common ground
