Where they stand: 17th District, Kansas Senate
League of Women Voters
Monday, October 13, 2008
This is the first in a series of area candidates’ responses to questionnaires prepared by the League of Women Voters of Emporia. Today, the answers of the two candidates for the 17th District of the Kansas Senate. Their questions are:
1. What else should legislators do to improve economic development in the State of Kansas? (100 words)
2. How should the state address the problem of the medically uninsured and under insured? (100 words)
3. What ideas do you have regarding energy resources and how will these affect our air quality? Specifically address your position on wind farms for Kansas. (100 words)
Jim Barnett, Republican incumbent
1. (Economic Development) Legislators should continue to support and provide funding for quality of life issues in our state that promote economic development. That support should include education from pre-Kindergarten through post-secondary education including Flint Hills Technical College and Emporia State University. Clean air and water are vital to our future. We should support work force development, training and re-training to sustain our work force. Our state should maintain affordable education for all citizens. Kansas must maintain competitive taxation levels. I support a 10 percent investment tax credit for all businesses. We must maintain affordable energy, while balancing environmental issues.
2. (Medical Insurance) Much has been done and much more must be done. We should continue to support safety-net clinics to provide care for the uninsured. That alone is not adequate. I support premium assistance in the private market to provide insurance for those who cannot currently afford healthcare coverage, especially targeting small businesses that struggle to maintain healthcare benefits. All Kansans should have access to affordable and quality healthcare. We should focus on prevention and wellness, realizing that long-term savings and better health for Kansans will be realized. Prevention of youth smoking and childhood obesity need greater attention. Â 3. (Air Quality and Energy) We need both short and long-term answers to energy resources, with attention to not only air quality but water quality and quantity. Our current base load of energy that is provided by gas, coal and nuclear should utilize the cleanest technology possible. Longer-term plans should include wind, solar, hydrogen, and other technologies that will undoubtedly be developed. Conservation is one of the most critical and missing elements of both state and federal energy policy. I support wind energy for Kansas. I would like to see our State further explore net metering and community wind ...
Kitty Frank, Democratic challenger
1. (Economic Development) As your senator, I will fight to assure state economic development funds are directed toward projects that allow us to improve the quality of our lives over time. Our goal is to provide jobs that pay more than the living wage with companies that enact family friendly policies and use resources wisely. The health of our communities depends on small business growth and sustainability. I am excited about new strategies for growing our own entrepreneurs. There is no reason to feel we must sell ourselves short in order to beat out competition for jobs that do not meet our standards.
2. (Medical Insurance) I will immediately support the Premium Assistance Program. It was recommended by the Kansas Health Policy Authority in 2008 to provide health insurance to 24,000 needy Kansans over the next three years at very little cost. In the long run, we must disconnect health insurance from employment. Very small businesses, the same businesses that sustain and grow our Kansas communities, cannot offer health insurance in an efficient and competitive manner. This practice no longer meets the needs of a nimble and dynamic Kansas culture.
3. (Air Quality and Energy) I will provide leadership to end reliance on scarce traditional energy resources; the same resources that are the root cause of many of our environmental and health challenges. Conservation will be top priority. Kansas must invest in sustainable resource technologies, such as wind, while we have time to develop them through their trial and error phases. The bottom line is to be able to look our grandchildren in the eyes in twenty years and tell them we did everything we could to anticipate and ease their transition into the new energy economy.