Candidate selector: Kansas House, District 38 / LJWorld.com

2008 race for Kansas House, District 38

Candidate selector Kansas House, District 38

Welcome to our candidate selector for Kansas House, District 38. It's a fun and educational tool that can help you decide which candidate(s) you agree with the most.

Here's how it works. Below, we've listed a set of issues and the candidates' positions on these issues. Check the box next to a candidate's response if you agree with it. After you're done, we'll tell you which candidate(s) you agreed with the most.

Please note that this is meant to be fun and educational - but shouldn't necessarily be used as the de facto way of making such an important decision. We encourage you to learn as much as you can about each candidate.

Should there be a statewide ban on smoking in indoor public places, such as restaurants and bars?

Twenty-four states currently have smoke free laws that identify certain areas as "off-limits" to smokers. In each case, there was contentious debate over the pros and cons as well as the exceptions to be made. Given the health risks associated with second-hand smoke, I could possibly support the Kansas Health Policy Authority's recommendation for certain smoke-free zones. I do believe there should be exceptions, for example: cigar bars; tobacco shops; private clubs at which the officers vote to allow it; taverns where food accounts for only a small percent of sales; and private residences that don't provide child care.

No. I believe that should best decided by cities and their chambers of commerce and not the state of Kansas. If there is a statewide ban, it should include all businesses, including casinos. There is no reason these entertainment businesses should be treated any differently than our current tax paying businesses that we already have.

Would you support an increase in the cigarette tax to help pay for health coverage for low-income Kansans?

No. The tax bill that addressed this last session would only have raised the taxes on a pack of cigarettes to about $4 a pack and to fully pay and offset the cost of smoking in health care it was estimated the tax would have to be $7 a pack. So this was just another way to increase taxes and not address the problem of health care in Kansas. I favor free market solutions as opposed to government solutions in health care. For example, health savings accounts and more choices in insurance coverage would help lessen the number of Kansans not covered by insurance. Also this tax is very regressive. In other words, it taxes the people who can least afford it. The money that would have been raised in last session's bill, would have went straight to the general fund and not set aside for health coverage for low income families.

As part of an attempt to reform our health care system, the Kansas Health Policy Authority recommends an increase in the state cigarette tax. I would not support this as a stand-alone policy, but I do believe that we need to do something to get a handle on our expensive, bureaucratic health care system. In my view, we need to do this on a multitude of fronts. Our schools should make sure children understand the importance of physical activity and ensure that they are engaged in regular cardio-respiratory activities. We should emphasize the benefits of healthy eating and the dangers of using alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs. We need good communication between doctors and patients to ensure that children receive the necessary immunizations and seniors and at-risk adults are vaccinated annually against influenza. Finally, we should work to ensure that small businesses wanting to offer health insurance are able to "buy in bulk" so they qualify for more affordable plans. I could possibly support a tobacco tax increase as part of a larger comprehensive health care reform effort.

Where do you think the state budget can be cut?

The state faces a projected budget shortfall in FY 2009, and the Legislature will have to make tough choices in the coming years. The demands of a global economy require an educated workforce, and our most vulnerable citizens over 340,000 uninsured Kansans cannot be denied emergency room care. While the state has little discretionary freedom when it comes to these types of expenditures, there are things the state can do to reduce spending. We can attack the rising energy costs that are exacting a huge toll on state budgets, and we can pass meaningful health care reform It will continue to be a challenge to keep government spending down unless we elect legislators who are willing to take meaningful action to lower health care costs and move us toward a more sustainable energy policy.

I would first cut the legislative budget and the governor's budget and then start to look into the Kansas Department of Labor and start downsizing the Kansas Department of Revenue. The Kansas Department of Wild Life and Parks owns a great deal of property, and I would like to see this property returned to the tax rolls and therefore reducing its obligations to maintain the property.

Would you support an increase in the age for Kansans to get a driver's license?

No. Even though our local community is becoming more suburban/urban, Kansas is still a predominately rural state. A lot of young people play an important role in the transportation of goods from the farm to market. I do not want to in anyway inhibit this practice and create a hardship on our already struggling family farms.

We all want to protect our children and make our roads safer. I believe that a more rigorous driver education program would probably be more beneficial than a simple tweaking of the age limit or the curfew. We should ensure that young drivers get the practice they need before they take their first summer job or head off to college.

Should Lawrence be allowed to keep its same-sex registry without interference from the state?

No. After hearing both sides of this argument in committee, it is clear that this is a direct attempt to challenge the recently passed Kansas Constitutional Amendment on Marriage. Douglas County was the only county in the state that did not pass the marriage amendment and should not be allowed decide marriage law that is a state issue.

While I would not vote to extend the registry on a state-wide basis, I would be reluctant to micro-manage the affairs of any of our local communities.

Do you support Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' opposition to the two coal-fired plants in western Kansas?

Yes. I strongly believe that we can (and must) take steps to develop a stable, comprehensive energy policy in Kansas. Right now, Kansas relies on coal to meet 75 percent of its energy needs and 100 percent of that coal must be transported by rail from Wyoming to Kansas. As voters know, Kansas lawmakers recently voted three times to expand our dependence on out-of-state coal As an economist, I viewed this as a dangerous policy move. I understand that diversification is the key to reducing the risk of investment And I believe that we are vulnerable because our energy portfolio is not well-diversified.

No. With energy prices in Kansas raising near 30 percent in the last couple of years, it is time for Kansas to focus on a broad based energy policy, which includes wind, solar, clean coal and even nuclear. The Holcomb Plant in western Kansas would have created more than 2,000 jobs and brought in $2.2 billion in investments to the state of Kansas. One of the arguments was that the energy was going to be exported, and we were left with the carbon emissions here, but we say nothing to the airplane industry or all the agricultural products we produce here and export. Furthermore, I can step out my back door and see the stacks of one of the dirtiest coal plants in Kansas located in Lawrence and again nothing is mentioned when we continue to renew its permits. I would have rather seen Kansas build cutting-edge clean coal generation plants and phase out some of our older coal plants.