Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius talked with The Emporia Gazette earlier this week about this year’s legislative session. The Legislature adjourned on Wednesday.
Q How do you think the session went this year?
A Generally, I think it has been a very positive session. An enormous amount of work has been done around some important issues and I am hoping that this is the way it will end up when the final budget is passed.
Q Was there good teamwork during the session, or was it filled with petty partisan politics?
A There has certainly been teamwork on the Senate side. The Republicans and Democrats have come together early on and figured out a tax strategy and budget strategy. They also had agreements around top priorities and had a good dialogue with me. So that chamber has worked extremely well together and I think you can see it in the voting numbers.
On the House side it was a little rockier. The house can be a bit more partisan in how they break things out. But kind of a governing coalition has come together, but not really with the support of the leadership of the committee chairs. It took a little longer to get its legs.
There is no question the election helped a bit. Since I was voted in with broad support across Kansas, I think there are some people who feel that I have a mandate from the citizens that they like the direction the state is moving and they want that to continue.
Q What were some of the important issues that got worked on during the session?
A The session continued our commitment to excellent education. K-12 education funding is secure and moved ahead early. I also made a very significant investment in higher education, feeling that this is the next piece of the puzzle that we absolutely have to address to make sure our kids are competitive in the future. And again, that was responded to very positively by the Legislature and we will have most of the funding that we requested for the regents schools, as well as community colleges and vocational schools. That is really a positive step.
The other piece of the puzzle that I put in the budget, and I am hopeful we are both in agreement on, is early childhood education. I know we will have an increase in Head Start money aimed at the most at-risk children, 3- and 4-year-olds. But also we have a number of pilot projects that were funded for the first time this year that have been enormously successful. This year, we sought to triple the number of classroom projects we have. So really a major investment in both early childhood development and higher education are part of the framework this year.
I am a huge believer that those are the best economic development dollars and the best pathway to remain prosperous in the future.
We have also made some significant business-tax reductions. This tags along with our work from last year, like eliminating the tax on business machinery and equipment. This will allow this prosperity that we have been seeing to continue. We are in a kind of boom. It’s not just one or two communities, but statewide. We have one of the lowest unemployment rates in a long time and we are seeing job growth continuing. I am concerned about the total phase-out of the franchise tax, so that is something that I may ask the Legislature to revisit as we move down the line.
We made a major step in recognizing our rural communities are in need of some additional help, so this budget contained a office of rural opportunity and some targeted tax incentives for investors to put some money on the table for start up capital in rural communities in Kansas. That framework has been accepted and we are moving forward.
Q When the session is done, what will your focus be on?
A I really see the session as the end of a chapter, but immediately opens a new chapter. So, this year, there is a huge new chapter opening on two fronts. The bill that has been passed overwhelmingly and is on the way to my desk on health care really makes some small steps in providing access to every Kansas family and citizens for affordable health insurance. We have a framework to do that with Senate Bill 11. We need to come up with a master plan and that work really needs to get under way. I am planning to be very involved with that.
I am disappointed that the proposal to insure every Kansas child up to the age of 5 failed narrowly in both the house and senate. I think we could have made that very significant step this year. Kansas overwhelmingly supports this issue because I hear about it every place I go across the state. It does not cost a lot of money and that is really an example of petty partisan politics. I think really that since I proposed it there are people who are really determined for it not to happen, and that is really unfortunate and huge disservice to the children of this state. The health policy authority endorsed it and we will keep working on it.
The other framework that we need to get under way is the acceleration of our alternative energy options. There are proposals for incentives for investment for wind energy. We put a million dollars in the budget to develop additional transmission lines. We are looking at the continuation of ethanol and biodiesel expansion. The lieutenant governor has spent a lot of time working on energy.
Q As you look at the national races for president, who do you like?
A This year I am the chairman for the Democratic Governors Association and in that position I am committed to remain neutral. But I am very impressed that we have a deep bench. We not only have two or three candidates but six or seven with a lot of substance and great resumes. I like that there is early engaged dialogue about the future of this country and I am feeling optimistic that we will have a wonderful ticket in 2008.
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