The rising cost of health insurance is one critical issue the Legislature is trying to address, Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, said Monday during a chat on the Journal-World’s Web site.

“There is no greater crisis facing state employees and the people of Kansas than the issue of health care,” Hensley said. “I stand with the governor in her initiative to make sure that the thousands of Kansans who currently are uninsured will be covered.”

Hensley will be the Democrats’ Senate representative on the governor’s Health Care Cost Containment Commission, which will make recommendations for cutting health care and prescription drug costs.

Also, Hensley criticized House Speaker Doug Mays for saying last week that Mays had a lot of ideas on school finance but that those ideas “may be painful.”

“I believe the people of Kansas deserve to know what painful ideas he is calling for in what is thus far a secret school finance plan,” Hensley said. The full transcript of the chat is available at www.ljworld.com.