Chat with Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley

Welcome to our online chat with Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley.

The chat took place on Thursday, March 11, at 1:30 PM and is now closed, but you can read the full transcript on this page.

Moderator: We’ll begin our chat with Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley in just a few moments. Thanks for joining us. Remember, you can submit a question at any time during the chat.

Judy, Lawrence: Several states are considering proposals that would cap the percent universities can increase tuition each year. Would you support such a proposal in Kansas? Do you see recent large tuition increases as a problem?

Sen. Hensley: The proposal that I have supported in the past would say that for every percentage increase in tuition, you would have to have a percentage increase in student financial aid. In concept, I would support a cap, but I believe by doing it the way this proposal envisions, that would have almost the practical effect of a cap. And I do believe that recent tuition increases will have an adverse impact on many of our current and future students. So the Legislature needs to adequately fund higher education as a way to avoid tuition increases.

Mark, Lawrence: I am opposed to the Constitutional amendment being dicussed in the Senate that would permanently make gays and lesbian second-class citizens of Kansas. I know Democrats do not have enough seats to block this amendment by themselves, so you will need help from moderate Republicans. Do you think it will be possible to defeat this amendment in the Senate?

Sen. Hensley: The first issue is whether this amendment will even come out of the Judiciary Committee. That’s where it is. They will have hearings next week and then they will debate and vote on the amendment. I’m not certain that it will even come out of committee. If it does, obviously it can be amended and one of the amendments I know has been talked about is whether or not we just codify within the Constitution our current state law. Kansas’ current state law defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

Judy, Wichita: We recently heard that the Wichita Area Technical College will lose $3 million in funding from USD 259 but we’ve heard nothing about replacement funding. This happening because of the transfer to overseeing by Kansas Board of Regents. I understand WATC is unique in this as the others in this category receive funding from other sources. With funding shortages at the state level, it seems unlikely any help can come from that direction and as many as 1/3rd of the programs are scheduled to be cancelled at a time Wichita desperately needs the retraining ability. Can you comment on this situation please?

Sen. Hensley: I’m not totally familiar with this particular issue, but I do believe that the questioner makes a very valid point that at a time when the Wichita economy is being hit hard with layoffs, it would be ill-advised to cut the programs at that school by that much. I’ll need to look into this further before I could completely answer the question.

Max, Lawrence: Senator Hensley, as a young graduate interested in running for legislative office someday, what is some advice you would give on how I can prepare myself for this role?

Sen. Hensley: I first ran for the Legislature my first year out of college. I was elected to the Kansas House when I was 23 years old in the 1976 election, so I can very well relate to how important it is that young people become involved in the political process first by voting and, in time, running for public office. There is no special training or background necessary to be a candidate for public office. It takes the willingness to work hard, in particular knock on a lot of doors and meet people face-to-face and ask for their vote. I prepared myself to run for office by helping other campaigns and, in fact, the four years prior to my successful race for the House, I was the campaign manager for a friend of mine who also ran for the House. So I believe you prepare yourself if you become actively involved in a local campaign.

Tony, Lawrence: My question is how can we guarentee money generated will not be used to pad salaries of administrators or wasted on expensive & unecessary new buildings?

Sen. Hensley: An important part of how we fund higher education has to do with legislative intent, and I believe that the regents’ institutions should pay more attention to the intentions of policy makers, who want increased funding to go where it really counts, whether it’s higher education or K through 12 education. Where increased funding really counts is by going into the classroom and making sure our professors, our teachers and our support staff are adequately compensated for the job they do. In addition, putting the money where it really counts is being able to hold the line on tuition increases and increasing student financial aid. The Legislature can only express its intent and let the regents make the funding decisions. But if the regents do not follow legislative intent, then the Legislature may have to mandate that the increased funding be spent in the areas that I have discussed.

Jim, Salina: Do you plan to go the Democratic Party caucuses this weekend? Isn’t it kind of a waste of time because Kerry has already won the nomination? Can’t you legislators bring back the presidential primary in Kansas so I feel like I have a voice?

Sen. Hensley: I plan to attend the local caucus that will be held in the Senate district that I represent. The Democratic Party on Saturday will have 50 caucuses, most of which will be held within the 40 state senatorial districts. Where a district overlaps into a different congressional district, then we have the additional 10 caucuses. I plan to attend the caucus because I don’t believe it is a waste of my time and it’s an important part of being a member of the Democratic Party. And I would encourage all other Democrats to attend their local caucus. It wouldn’t have mattered if we had the caucus system or a statewide primary at this particular time because as the questioner points out, Sen. Kerry has won the nomination. But I still believe that even then, Democrats should participate and show the Republicans that we are excited about and supportive of our nominee. The reason that the Legislature has been reluctant to have a statewide primary is because of the cost involved. At at time when our general fund budget is being stretched to the limit, most legislators do not believe we can afford to spend general fund money on a presidential primary.

Stan, Liberal: What’s your feeling about the state getting involved in screening Internet use at public libraries so people won’t use it to look at pornography?

Sen. Hensley: I don’t believe it’s an issue or that there’s a problem that requires state involvement.

Charles, Lawrence: What do you want to see happen with school finance during the Legislative session? What’s your experience tell you is likely to happen?

Sen. Hensley: I support Gov. Sebelius’ Education First plan because it targets money to those areas of our public school system that need the most help. Those areas would include funding for at-risk and bilingual students and for early education programs that will help close our state’s achievement gap and keep our students from failing or dropping out of school. I also believe that the governor’s plan is a good-faith offer to the district court judge’s order, which said that our method of funding public education is in blatant violation of the Kansas and U.S. constitutions. In the year we commemorate the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. The Topeka Board of Education, our state’s public school system is far from being adequately funded or fair. The governor is challenging the Legislature to fulfill our responsibility to the children of Kansas not because a judge tells us we must, but because it’s the right thing to do. And in any event, the last thing we should do is to let the courts tell us how to fund schools. We are the ones who were elected to make the tough choices, and how we fund schools and improve the quality of our schools. I find it ironic that 50 years later, we’re back in court in Topeka arguing whether all children have a right to go to a school where they can actually learn enough to become productive members of our society.

Moderator: That wraps up our chat with Sen. Hensley. Our next chat is at 2 p.m. next Thursday with Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline.