Let's take a closer look at what I will concentrate my efforts on in Topeka.

My top priority, and the issue I hear most about from voters in the district, is public schools.  The Legislature has failed to fully fund Special Education for the past 15 years, and since federal regulations require districts to provide these services districts have to pull the funds for them from their general budgets or local option funds.  This results in EVERY student being short changed.  Even in relatively well off areas like Blue Valley and Olathe, districts are struggling more each year to add needed teachers, staff and equipment.  And the stress is even greater on rural districts who already have little flexibility.  (I am also firmly opposed to giving public money, your tax dollars, to private schools under any pretense, whether one calls it vouchers, scholarships or some other name.)

This leads directly to my next priority: easing residential property tax burdens.  When school districts need additional funds they have one main choice - increase the property tax mil levy.  It doesn't take an Economics degree to see a direct connection between the legislature's refusal to fully fund Special Education and higher local taxes.   The percentage of total property taxes paid in Kansas by homeowners has skyrocketed. In 1992 taxes on homes made up 38% of all property taxes paid statewide. In 2025 that burden had grown to 58% statewide, and in Johnson County residential property taxes account for a whopping 70%.  We need to consider a constitutional amendment that would reduce the residential property assessment rate, and increase the current $75,000 exemption.  Our seniors are the ones most vulnerable to the rapid rise in taxes on homes. Most younger families pay their tax monthly as part of a mortgage payment, where the increases appear as an aggravating but manageable increase.  For those folks who have worked hard for decades and paid off their home the increases come in big chunks payable in full twice a year.  For seniors on a fixed income, any cost-of-living increases in their retirement benefits haven't come close to matching the increases in the taxes on their home. I am in favor of legislation to defer collection of any increases in the property tax on the home of someone over 68 until the home changes ownership. 

Healthcare availability and affordability will also be on my radar. I will be a strong voice in favor of Medicaid expansion.  Our rural healthcare providers are under a great deal of stress, with dozens of hospitals in danger of closing.  Expanding Medicaid would go a long way towards resolving the immediate crisis.  And if you think Medicaid isn't a Johnson County issue, just know that around 1 in 10 of your neighbors are enrolled. That's over 41,000 people, including almost 10,000 children.

We need to bring the State minimum wage up to match the economic realities of 2026.  We also need to bring back prevailing wage laws to protect and provide for the working men and women of Kansas. The fruits of our labor should end up in our own pockets, not some CEO.