Greetings from Agra! The 2016 session is all but over with sine die scheduled for June 1st.

Since last we visited, a lot of activity has gone on.

During the month of April, I visited 10 school districts and talked with students and administrators to learn firsthand the challenges they are facing, but also see some of the amazing things students are doing in the classroom and on the fields of competition in preparation for their future. I also talked with several civic groups, organizations and individuals about concerns on the state budget, education, national politics and possible future legislation.

The state budget has been the biggest issue of discussion over the last few days, so let’s talk about it.

It is not a perfect document, in fact there are many things if not most I do not agree are good for the long term future of the state, but because of the pending court case regarding school finance, I did vote for the budget, as a way of protecting what is in place and not give the governor the possibility to cut K-12 education.

There were other provisions that I thought were positives, like not being able to demolish the Docking State Office Building, or selling the State Hospitals in Larned and Osawatomie. At first glance these may look like good things, but in the long run it would not put the state in a good financial position.

I consider myself a conservative and as such, do not believe we can bond our way to prosperity, I hope with the provisions in the budget bill, this will be severely limited and we can get back to using more money in KDOT to do the scheduled projects in a timely manner, not put it off another year because someone in Topeka deems our roads are “in good shape” for another year.

One of the budget “options” the governor offered legislators was to monetize the money Kansas receives as part of the mammoth tobacco settlement. Which would have meant selling of remaining payments for pennies on the dollar and using that money in the state general fund. This was a nonstarter for many of us as it would have meant the demise of most of The Children’s Cabinet programs and again would not have many good fiscal sense. In the budget, the money received will go to fund the programs and any funds over the budget will go as payment to KPERS.

We will talk more about this past legislative session in the next Rahjes Report.

Watch your mailbox, soon, I will be sending out a survey for you to voice your opinions on a number of issues.

Here are a few ways to reach me: Email: [email protected] or [email protected] ; Write me at 1798 E 900 Rd, Agra, KS 67621; Phone: (785) 302-8416

Thank you for the honor of serving you as your State Representative in Topeka.