WHAT I'M RUNNING ON

Making Kansas Affordable

YOUR PAY

Wage Reform

At $7.25 an hour, Kansas' minimum wage is unrealistic in many parts of the state and a glaring example of how out of touch our legislators are. As your representative, I will fight to allow Kansas cities and counties to set their own local minimum wages higher than the state minimum, a practice currently banned. If the voters of WYCO believe that $7.25 is not enough for our community, we should have the right to set our own minimum. I will continually advocate for pro-worker policies such as banning companies from mandating employees attend anti-union seminars, increasing workplace safety, mandating employers list pay on job listings, increased public investment into job training programs and protecting employees right to organize and freely discuss pay. All of which empower workers to seek better higher paying jobs.

YOUR ELECTRIC BILL

Lowering your bill

Kansas Electric monopolies have been given free rein for too long. For the privilege of having monopolies over the homes of millions of Kansans, energy companies should be held accountable for their prices. Right now they have little incentive to lower costs for their customers and in some cases may be incentivized to increase costs for the taxpayers. Kansas has some of the highest rates regionally. Kansas should implement performance based regulations for our energy companies which would financially incentivize them to lower the end costs for taxpaying Kansans. We must also work to educate ratepayers.

YOUR PROPERTY TAXES

Keeping your Home

Many communities in Kansas are growing which is wonderful. However, with growth comes increased property taxes. We should be protecting the people who are building these communities by expanding existing refund programs and creating new ones for rapidly growing communities. No one should be pushed out of their primary residence, their homes, due to the growth of their communities, speculative investing, and a tight housing market. We must also fund the Local Ad Volorem Tax Reduction Fund, which by statute, will provide direct property tax relief if the legislature opts to fully fund it. This is fund is composed of tax revenue levied from communities which should be returned to property taxpayers. Unfortunately, the legislature has opted to retain that revenue for years.

YOUR RENT

Empowering Renters

Due to the ongoing housing crisis we desperately need state level renters' legislation. This includes renewed enforcement of existing laws but also the enshrining of tenant rights into state law. This includes ensuring that all properties are safe and livable, limiting deposits, ensuring landlords may only access properties with tenant consent, the right of tenants to collectively organize, and allowing Kansas cities and counties to implement rent controls.

YOUR STATE TAX BILL

Ending the Race to the Bottom

For decades Kansas politicians have competed with Missouri and other neighboring states for who can offer the most corporate handouts in a desperate and ineffectual bid to grow the Kansas economy. This race to the bottom has led to corporations eating many a free meal, not paying their fair share, Kansas taxpayers footing a larger bill than necessary, and small businesses being pushed out. These corporations must pay their fair share to operate in our state and we shouldn't be footing the bill for them crushing our small businesses and draining our state budgets while the good ol' boys and corporate fat cats make out like bandits. I will push for tougher legislation which will force corporate incentives to be voted on directly by the taxpayers of Kansas.

THE KANSAS PERMANENT FUND

For a Better Future

Kansas receives almost half of our energy needs from wind energy, almost all of which has been developed in just the past twenty years. We have some of the largest wind potential in the nation and most of it is still untapped. Kansas is well on track to be a major electricity exporter to other states. This must mean lower energy bills for Kansas. This new income should also be shared directly with the residents of Kansas. Since 1982 Alaska's Permanent Fund has used revenue from the oil industry to pay checks directly to all residents each year. I will push for the creation of a similar fund in Kansas which will be based on taxation of the wind industry. Additionally, the Kansas legislature will be able to contribute budget surpluses to this fund.

YOUR CHILDREN'S SCHOOLS

Protecting Educators

The pandemic has hopefully reminded every family how critical well staffed functional schools are. Our teachers and other educators are underpaid and don't feel like the state has their backs. I will advocate for increased teacher pay, increased teacher protections, and make sure no school and no educator fears intrusive state intervention. Every teacher in Kansas should feel like the state government has their backs. I will also oppose the use of public tax funds being directed towards private institutions. Private schools do not have the same level of accountability and oversight as our public schools and can discriminate against students. Public money should only go to public schools which are available to all of our children.

YOUR HEALTH CARE

Building up our healthcare workers

Kansas is currently rejecting $1.3 billion in federal funds by not expanding medicare and leaving over 100k Kansans with increased medical bills directly. This cost doesn't just fall on those on Medicaid or those who would qualify under the expansion but affects all of us in increased costs throughout the health care system.
Our healthcare system, and state, cannot function without nurses. Nursing staff in this state are underpaid, forgotten, and overworked. Nursing is some of the hardest work in this state and unless nursing is seen as a secure well paying job we will lose a generation of future nurses. I will fight for legislation which increases the pay of nursing staff, protects nursing staff, and levels the playing field with their employers. This will increase the level of care for Kansans and decrease healthcare costs in the long run.

CANNABIS LEGALIZATION

Breaking the Ball and Chain

Cannabis Prohibition has been a ball and chain on Kansas. It has needlessly tied up funds into policing and detaining non violent offenders and robbed our state taxpayers of millions in revenue neighboring states like Oklahoma, Colorado, and Missouri have received. It's time for Kansas to break our ball and chain and move forward; reuniting our neighborhoods, growing our economy, and stopping a costly futile war on cannabis.