Editor’s note: The Journal-World has invited members of the Kansas House and Senate to share their thoughts about their hopes for Kansas and major issues facing the state. This is the first of what we hope will be a series of responses from state legislators.

Probably the most difficult issue for any legislator is how to do what the voters want done for the amount of money the voters are willing to invest.

A case in point is the state prison system. Voters demanded and got the Sexual Predators Law that mandates long prison sentences for anyone who rapes men and women or molests boys and girls. This is part of the public’s impatience with the lack of success too often seen in our probation and parole system. What voters do not seem to realize is that these mandatory sentences mean a larger prison population at any given time. If nothing else in our system changes, we will need to build at least one new prison, if not two. But voters are unwilling to accept the tax increase that goes along with that.

So, if we are to keep our system of punishment and rehabilitation functioning without more prison beds, we have to find more, innovative methods of helping offenders learn a new way of dealing with the outside world. Right now, the Legislature, with the help of the Department of Corrections, is working to improve the oversight given to offenders so they don’t wind up in prison, whether for the first or second or third time. We are also trying to improve the attention given to youngsters who have come to the notice of the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services before they come to the notice of the police. Again, it takes money to hire extra caseworkers and police officers. Where is the money to come from?

Prison overpopulation is only one of many issues facing the Legislature this session. I have always paid special attention to corrections as well as the plight of youths and the elderly, so I have focused on it this year. Other issues we will see this year include regulating pay day and car title lenders, whether KPERS should divest from the Sudan, making it illegal to sell drug paraphernalia, and increasing the cap on the homestead property tax rebate.

But we mustn’t forget the perennial issues such as expanded gaming, education, reproductive choice, the death penalty and health care. Those will be worked on as well.

I believe that each of us should strive to leave the world a little better place. That can be done in a myriad of ways. Some of those ways have a high visibility index, like the celebrity who backs a national effort to help others. Some run below the radar, like a parent guiding a child to lead a more productive life. I have chosen public service. It’s hard work, but I love it.