Issue Position: Respect Taxpayers and Job Creators

Issue Position

Too many in Topeka believe that their title "State Representative" means they represent the State, not its people. But to provide a foundation where Kansans can enjoy a strong quality of life, the proper job of government is to maintain a structure and order for its people ̶ meeting important service needs, and enforcing the law through an impartial judicial system.

Kansas has been stuck in a cycle of lurching from one budget crisis to the next. From the Democrat administrations of Sebelius and Parkinson to the Republican Brownback administration, the last 15 years have been like a see-saw, with almost no continuity, other than unaccountable state spending.

The result is that Kansas debt and taxes are high. Despite a recent audit showing more than $2 billion in possible savings ̶ not by cutting services, but by more efficiently running state government ̶ those recommendations were put in a drawer and ignored. Instead, our legislature voted to raise taxes by $1.2 billion dollars - retroactively - to pay for more state spending.

First things, first. We need to prioritize our budget. We need to prioritize education, infrastructure and public safety by funding them at appropriate levels.

A starting point is to work toward a reasonable equilibrium of tax and spending policy. Businesses are similar to families when it comes to budgeting. You don't spend what you can't afford on a house, a car, or a landscaper, and unless you have a predictable income to pay the bills. Likewise, businesses don't move into a state with a high or unpredictable tax burden, nor will they hire new employees without a foreseeable, sustainable economic outlook.

We cannot continue a roller coaster of tax policy. If we want to maintain our Blue Valley quality of life, then we need to begin now with a long term, reasonable vision to build a Kansas economy that respects both families as taxpayers, and businesses as job creators.

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