Issues
As your state senator, I’ll work tirelessly to accomplish the following:
K-12 Education
In 2019, our state finally restored school funding to adequate and equitable levels after nearly a decade of starving our schools of needed resources. But we must go further. To prepare our students to compete in a global economy, Kansas schools must be much more than merely adequate. Every student in Kansas must have access to a world-class public school education. This means increasing teacher pay, restoring due process protections for teachers, and making sure that Gov. Kelly achieves her goal of establishing the best and most robust early childhood education system in the country.
Higher Education
We must invest in our public colleges and universities so they are strong and affordable for Kansas residents. Kansas should continue the tuition freeze for resident undergraduate students and make sure our institutes of higher education have the resources they need to educate students, remain leading research institutions, and recruit and retain incredible faculty.
Equality
Kansas must update our anti-discrimination statutes to include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Currently, LGBTQ+ Kansans can be fired from their job, denied housing or business, or bullied because of who they are. This is wrong. All means all, and we must make it clear that we value and respect everyone.
Health Care
Medicaid Expansion is long overdue. Kansas should expand Medicaid to cover an additional 130,000 Kansans, including 40,000 children. We have already forfeited an estimated $3 billion in federal funds that could have helped save rural hospitals and provided healthcare to working Kansans and their families.
Jobs
The Legislature, in partnership with the Department of Commerce, needs to be forward thinking about how Kansas can attract high-growth companies that provide good paying jobs, support entrepreneurship, and capitalize on our competitive advantages in areas like wind power.
Taxes & Budget
The Legislature should embrace Gov. Kelly’s vision of a tax policy that is fiscally responsible, fair, and sustainable. This means never going back to reckless policies like the Brownback Experiment that so badly damaged our state. Instead, we should return to the three-legged stool approach that sensibly balances income, sales, and property tax revenue. As revenues continue to stabilize, we should reduce or eliminate the sales tax on food as part of comprehensive tax reform.
Voting Rights
The era of voter suppression in Kansas must end. We must make our elections the most accessible and secure of any state in the country. This means enacting same day voter registration, expanding opportunities for in-person early voting and advance voting, and increasing voter education efforts.
Contact
- Mailing Address
Ethan for Kansas
PO Box 8296
Prairie Village, KS 66208