There has been discussion recently among some state legislators about the need to raise taxes to provide additional funds for maintaining and improving Kansas roads. This discussion and the substance of the proposal has been criticized by a number of individuals and groups who represent many other interests in the state, including education and social services, on the grounds that if conservative members of the Kansas Legislature are unwilling to raise taxes for education, social services and other state agencies, they should not raise taxes to build roads and highways.

It seems immoral to many of the critics that legislators, whose constant cry against new taxes has resulted in drastic cuts to most areas of state government and state-provided services, should be willing to make an exception for roads.

I think, actually, that legislators’ willingness to raise taxes — or at least remove some of the billions of dollars in tax exemptions granted by the Legislature over the last decade — in order to maintain the physical infrastructure of our state is precisely what is needed. Without decent roads and highways, businesses will leave Kansas and individuals will be highly inconvenienced in their daily lives. Further, the longer we allow our highways and roads to deteriorate, the more expensive it will be to bring them back to an adequate state. Every state needs a well-maintained physical infrastructure.

What many legislators fail to understand, however, is that there is more to a state’s economic infrastructure than roads, bridges or technology parks. The most important part of our state infrastructure is people because people form the work force.

When we tolerate the radical degradation of our educational system the result is a less educated, less skilled work force and, often, the loss of the best and brightest of our sons and daughters to other states because they do not want their children to suffer from poor educational institutions. When we cease to provide necessary social services to those who cannot provide for themselves, we send a signal to the population that if they or their friends or loved ones suffer disabilities through no fault of their own, they will be left to suffer without help, then those people will either not come to our state to work or will leave for states who understand the importance of a healthy well-educated population.

Who will want to establish a business in Kansas if our streets are dirty, filled with potholes and unsafe because we don’t have enough law enforcement personnel. Study after study of corporate relocation indicate that quality of life is a very important factor in the relocation decision. Tax rates are only one factor. Quality of education, of social services, of the entire physical and social infrastructure are also key factors.

My suggestion to our legislators is quite simple. If you are truly worried about the infrastructure in Kansas and its impact on economic development, stop thinking that infrastructure is only made up of steel and concrete. If there’s nobody to drive on the roads, nobody to build the bridges, nobody to harvest the crops or work in the factories and laboratories, then our economy and our state will die.