To the editor:

I am appalled by the actions of the 2011 Kansas Legislature. A majority of those elected campaigned on the promise to create jobs and turn the state’s economy around, but the efforts of this Legislature do not create one single job. At a time when the Legislature should be working on finding ways to increase revenue, they are doing the opposite by giving unnecessary tax breaks to corporations and wealthy individuals in the state.

For example, defunding public schools to the levels of the 1990s not only cheats our children of a great education and weakens our communities, but these cuts result in eliminating thousands of jobs across the state. Another example is the closing of the Kansas Neurological Institute. The residents of KNI are the most vulnerable citizens of our state and in the greatest need of care. Closing the facility not only leaves the residents and their families in a crisis, but again, there goes a few hundred more jobs.

The legislature needs to wake up and stop giving away money through tax breaks to those who do not need them; stop taking from those in the state who are most in need and from the children who are the leaders of tomorrow, and find ways to generate more revenue. This is what we elected them to do, and “We The People” chose them to represent us, contrary to one legislator’s recent claims from the House floor.