Kansas gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018 (August 7 Democratic primary)

Healthcare
Overhaul Medicaid so we can extend care to additional needy Kansan’s without raising taxes Incorporate the “Direct Primary Care” model to make healthcare affordable to middle-income Kansan’s Target fraud and abuse that leads to wasteful public spending Negotiate provider education trade for placement in underserved areas Ensure rural and inner-city healthcare availability including mental healthcare.

Education
Form regional teacher advisory councils to determine school finding needs assessment formulas Replace “assembly-line” education with customization per student needs approach Bring up teacher salaries to regional norms and fully fund classroom paraprofessionals Revitalize urban and rural education starting with school lunch/food overhaul.

Education is the foundation of a free and prosperous society. Education directly relates to health status, job employability, social responsibility, cultural appreciation and societal contribution. Education level correlates to earnings potential and taxes paid back to society. We must revitalize Kansas public education through appropriate funding, classroom equipping, staff maintenance, and program goal setting. One way or the other, we will pay; either by way of more crime, more jails and policing costs, lower employability and higher health care costs or by appropriate finding of education. Pay me now or pay me later.

Agriculture
Create greater crop yields, higher nutritional value crops, reduced erosion, reduced wed, disease and insect present through better scientific technologies Improve water use efficiency resulting in reduced water utilization while increasing crop/animal yields Implement real farm sustainability and diversification including greater farm profits.

Economy and Jobs
Education is the foundation to stimulating the economy by providing better employability and better skills for people to start their own businesses if they desire. Small businesses are the primary employers, not large corporate behemoths, and our legislative policies must make it easiest for small businesses to start and succeed in Kansas. Every employer knows that employee training and education are key to the success of the employee and consequently the employer. Every employer knows that such education and training will and do cost money. But all the tax breaks in the world aren’t going to help if there aren’t educated workers to hire.

Environment
A prosperous economy does not need to compromise the environment. It is not a matter of having either a prosperous economy or a pristine environment. It is a matter of simple math and chemistry. Both sides of the equation must be balanced for the process to work properly. Edison fought Tesla tooth and nail to prevent alternating current electricity from becoming standard which it eventually did. Edison had a financial interest in this matter, his own personal profitability. We have the technology to operate a much cleaner society, but the standard industrial complex, like Edison, lacks social responsibility to implement much of the required technology, some that has existed for decades. Appropriate technology leads to higher paying jobs, cleaner businesses, a more healthful environment and lower healthcare costs and ultimately a more prosperous society.

Social Issues
Pregnancy Termination – As a physician, I took an oath to first do no harm and sometimes in emergency or combat situations that means choosing between one life or another. I am both pro-life and pro-choice depending upon the circumstances.

Marriage
It is easy for people to invoke religious beliefs and prejudicial biases into the discussion. Though our founding fathers based many of their decision on judo-christian thought, they specifically exclude religious law from the Constitution. Marriage in every state of the US requires a license to be recognized by the State for purposes of ownership, responsibilities, taxes, inheritance and government adjudication. Likewise, to get out of a “marriage contract” one must have the “contract” adjudicated and terminated by a court of law, not a church or religious court. This is a matter of “contract law.” The Constitution guarantees EVERY person the right of contract. As such marriage by the State is an issue of contract law, NOT religious law. What one does in his/her church is his/her business. What one does with the State is an issue of the Constitution, specifically right of contract Article I, Section 10. Everyone is to be equal under the law.

Taxes and budget
There is only so much money to go around; we first have to overhaul some of our public programs as they are terribly wasteful, starting with Medicaid. Our two biggest state budget items are education and healthcare. Though the national economy went up, Kansas state revenue went down under the current administration/legislature. We must both overhaul the public waste and restore sufficient state revenue to the budget. This starts first with mending party antagonism, negotiation, finding common ground, and engaging all Kansans.

Child Health
One important issue not addressed by any other candidate in Kansas, democrat, independent or republican, is the endemic crisis of developmental delay diagnoses in our children. 26% of all children today are classified a developmentally delayed ranging from autism to ADD all of which require by Federal law, special needs learning programs. This is an issue that threatenes to collapse our society as we know it. 27% of developmental delayed persons from 24-65 are unemployed, many unemployable. Of those not classified as developmentally delayed, per Lt. General Mark Hartling (see TED talk) only 25% of 18-24 year-olds qualify to join the military; 60% of new recruits cannot pass the PT test day one. If we continue the current trend, by 2030 we potentially have 50% of all school aged children classified as developmentally delayed, which more than doubles the current state education financing budget per student!^[17]

Minimum Wage
It is imperative that Kansas catches up to many other states that have already raised the minimum wage above the federal standard of $7.25. We would strive to raise the minimum wage to at least $12 per hour, though $15 per hour would be ideal. This wage increase would not only help those families and individuals struggling to make ends meet on the current minimum wage, it will also help local businesses as people in the communities will have more disposable income. All around, a higher minimum wage means a happier people and a healthier economy.

Health Care
This is an issue that affects most Kansas, yet Topeka has not seriously addressed this issue in many years. One of the first acts of a Bergeson/Cline executive administration would be the overhaul of the Health Care system in Kansas. An attractive and reasonable option is the so called "Medicaid Buy-In" that was vetoed by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval earlier this year, despite it's passage in the Nevada Legislature. This program, if adopted in Kansas, would have the state operate a low cost insurer alongside the Medicaid system, thus substantially lowering premiums for a majority of Kansans.

Though this is a viable short term solution, ultimately, a universal healthcare system will be necessary to ensure every US citizen has access to quality health care at little to no cost. We would be open to the possibility of a Kansas-run Single Payer system, but our conclusion is that it would be far more reasonable and efficient if such a program were run by the Federal Government.

Marijuana
Though many people may find Marijuana taboo, we believe legalizing it could be beneficial in several ways. Most importantly are thousands of people within the state that could benefit from its legalization for medical use. With conditions such as multiple sclerosis, certain cancers, Crohn's disease and seizure disorders, marijuana is known to help relieve pain more effectively (or with fewer side effects) than prescription pain medication. This is the primary reason the Bergeson/Cline campaign supports legalizing medical marijuana.

Though our administration's focus would be the legalization of medical marijuana, we also support legalization for recreational use. If taxed and regulated appropriately, legal recreational marijuana could help fill some of the budget shortfalls, as it has shown to bring in millions in tax revenue per year in states where it is currently legal.

Safety and Security
While I understand and support the 2nd Amendment, assault rifles are a threat to the safety of citizens. They have been used time and time again for mass casualty shootings, and there are alternatives for hunting and self defense that do not offer as big of a threat to the safety and security of the public. I support open carry, as well as a ban on semi-automatic weapons. I also believe that an emphasis must be placed on strong, strict, and no-exception background checks.

Taxes
We are making this commitment to the working families of Kansas that income taxes will be kept the same or lowered slightly for families making under $60,000 per year (individuals under $40,000). Significant tax raises on those families making over $250,000 (individuals over $175,000) will be necessary, likely to pre-Brownback levels.

I support ending the sales tax on food and replacing it with a luxury goods tax, so that those who can barely afford to keep the lights on or pay rent are not strangled with taxes on something so essential, and those that can afford to buy a new boat or luxury car are not going to be effected nearly as much, in terms of percentage, even if the money raised from the tax was the same or increased.

Education
Education is one of the most important issues facing our state. With many districts facing school closure or cutbacks, we must fight back. We are proposing a 7.5% increase in teacher pay across the state, with an additional 5% increase in particularly struggling schools or districts to attract quality teachers and administrators. This pay increase will be achieved by subsidizing the local districts. As well as pay increases, our administration will make sure every district once again receives the same level of funding they did before the Brownback cuts. The most realistic way to pay for this is through a special marijuana tax in tandem with legalization or an increase in sales tax.

Transportation
In Kansas, public transportation is hard to come by and practically non-existent outside of the Kansas City and Wichita metro areas. To help remedy this, our administration will lobby the federal and local governments to help re-establish intercity rail service on Amtrak. The first proposal is re-establishing train service between Wichita to Oklahoma City and Kansas City. Additionally, to aid commuters in the Northeast section of the state, a line serving Manhattan-Topeka-Lawrence-Kansas City. This could relieve many commuters of traffic jams and provide jobs constructing, operating and maintaining the line. Rehabilitation of many of the dilapidated tracks would precede new construction. These proposals, more than providing a boost to the economy and adding jobs as previously mentioned, would also help the environment by taking many cars off of the highway.

Campaign Finance/Corruption
We believe in the principle of clean and fair elections. If politicians are elected without the influence of large donations from organizations or individuals, the officials will be beholden to only one thing- the people that put them in office. To demonstrate these principals, our campaign will not accept donations over five hundred dollars from any one person or organization, and we will not take any donations from any organization whose principals oppose our core campaign planks. We believe that with a governor truly elected by the people, not the corporate interests, Kansas can get back on track.^[17]

Education Funding
Public funding of education is the top issue for people across the state. School funding should return to the constitutional formula embraced in the 1992 school finance law. The school finance formula must be a dynamic tool that ensures adequate and fair funding for all districts, regardless of their respective wealth. We cannot continue to gamble with our state’s economic and social future by undermining funding for public education.

The Economy
Two key elements are the cornerstone of a successful state strategy to grow the Kansas economy. First is a workforce that is the envy of the nation. Supported by a quality education system that is responsive to a changing economy, our workforce is fundamental to any successful strategy.

Second is the global marketplace. More than 90 percent of the world’s consumers live outside the United States. Kansas needs to claim its rightful share of those dollars, bringing them home to provide the basis for a thriving domestic economy. Kansas agriculture, energy and manufacturing all must interact with a global marketplace.

Public Safety
The safety of our families, loved ones and our community is essential. Adequate staffing of our prisons is essential to the effectiveness of our criminal justice system. Our courts must have the resources to dispense justice in a fair and timely manner. Our Highway Patrol must be properly staffed to meet the expectations of our traveling public. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation needs critical resources to support local law enforcement in criminal investigations.

Current state fiscal policy has placed an unfair burden on local governments as they provide policing, correctional services and a responsive judicial system.

Social Services
We have a humanitarian duty to assist and protect our most vulnerable citizens, whether they are disabled, impoverished, homeless, elderly or otherwise at the mercy of society. We need a basic foundation of support that protects the daily lives of these citizens, and not have them continue as victims of a failed tax policy that stripped the necessary funding from these programs.

Immigration
​I support a compassionate immigration policy that protects families and recognizes the positive contributions of the immigrant community to our society. As Wichita mayor, I led the effort to submit a letter to the Congressional delegation, signed by 32 Kansas mayors, urging responsible federal action to resolve the immigration issue.

Health Care Access
I believe health care access is crucial to building and maintaining a productive and healthy Kansas. Health care must be affordable, accessible and comprehensive. It must include access to necessary specialists, prescription drugs and preventative care, and should not be contingent upon a person’s income or employment status. I will find new solutions that will help ensure physicians and hospitals stay in Kansas, and especially in rural areas.

Furthermore, I promise to protect and expand women and children’s health care access. This must include access to the full spectrum of women’s reproductive health care needs. We must reduce the teen pregnancy rate and tackle the extraordinary economic consequences of babies having babies. I will increase access to prenatal care and infant access to primary care, and prioritize reducing Kansas’ high infant mortality rate.

Equal Rights
I do not believe it is up to me to judge another’s morality or to enact laws to limit or deny another’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Quite the contrary, it is my duty as your next Governor to work aggressively for the repeal of laws already limiting our civil rights, and to pass new laws to safeguard those rights. This includes the rights of Kansas women, minorities, the LGBT community and other historically-oppressed communities.^[17]

Ethics, transparency reforms (excerpt from press release, February 5, 2018)
Executive Branch Reforms: In a Kelly Administration, Governor’s Cabinet members and staff of the Governor’s Office will be required to sign an ethical code of conduct that ensures the highest standards of integrity within the administration. This will include:

• An agreement not to work as a registered lobbyist in Kansas for two years after employment in the Governor’s office ends, or when that governor’s term ends.
• A ban on conflicts of interest and personal enrichment within the administration.
• Regarding agencies and contracting, Kelly would require in-depth financial analysis of the ultimate taxpayer benefit from privatization.
• In order to increase accountability in state facilities and the foster care system, Kelly proposes requiring an expedited, independent investigation of all deaths in state facilities (prisons or hospitals) or in the foster care system. Results of the investigation will be presented to the appropriate legislative committee and be open to public scrutiny.

Lobbyist Reform:

• Require that every person who lobbies the executive branch be registered as a lobbyist. Currently, people must only be registered if they are lobbying the Legislature or agencies regarding rules and regulations. Bill requested by Sen. Anthony Hensley.
• Kelly supports a 2-year prohibition on legislators becoming lobbyists once their term is over or when they resign their legislative seat. Bill introduced in 2017/2018 by Sen. Hensley.

Increase Transparency of Legislative Proceedings: Kelly supports efforts to make the legislative process more transparent to the public at every stage. For example, requiring the author of legislation be identified when the bill is introduced and expanding live streaming of legislative hearings. Bills have been introduced by Rep. Stephanie Clayton.

Kansas Open Records Cost Containment: Cost is a major obstacle preventing many Kansans from obtaining public records. In many cases, government entities will charge a significant amount of money simply to prevent the release of public documents. This should change to increase transparency and accountability of government entities. Government entities should charge a reasonable price for documents requested by the public or media (not companies) in which there is significant public interest or importance. As governor, Kelly will work with open government partners to draft legislation to address this problem.

“We must change the culture of closure in Topeka and that starts at the top with the governor,” Kelly said. “State government – from our prisons to our healthcare facilities to our foster care system – needs to be held accountable to the people. It’s time we make this a top priority and restore the public’s confidence in our state.”

Kelly also signed in 2016 and 2017 the Open Kansas Transparency Pledge and supported the Open Kansas policy proposals which included closing the loophole that allowed state leaders to use private email to conduct state business, established live streaming of committee hearings, prevented the use of legal action to stifle free speech and public participation, and more.^[20]

Real solutions for our schools (column, February 14, 2018)
In 2005, I began my very first legislative session. That year, our schools were in crisis and we were headed to a special session. In the end, Democrats and moderate Republicans came together to forge a path towards stronger schools. We passed a multi-year plan that invested in our kids and made great schools a top priority.

Unfortunately, in 2009 the Great Recession hit, hindering our state’s ability to keep the promises made to our schools. Then, in 2011, the Brownback/Colyer Administration cut schools even more to fund their ill-conceived tax experiment. We must correct these years of neglect and once again invest in our schools.

Kansas faces many challenges, but our schools are the most urgent.

First, we face a deadline in April to address the fundamental inequality of our school funding formula. To remedy the problems outlined by the Kansas Supreme Court, I would encourage support of House Bill 2445 sponsored by Rep. Melissa Rooker (R-Fairway). This bill changes distribution of at-risk funding, eliminates the expanded use of Capital Outlay Funds, and updates the way we calculate the Local Option Budget. These are all important changes needed to address the Court’s ruling.

Also, a cost of living index should be built into the formula requiring the state to adjust spending annually. This will help us meet our constitutional responsibility to adequately fund public schools as the economy and other factors change.

Next, the Kansas Department of Education has requested that we hire 150 school counselors, social workers, or psychologists every year for five years. These positions are of the utmost importance to our students. I would recommend that these positions be hired by community mental health centers or other local behavioral health partners so that they would be available year-round, even when school is not in session. We would ask that the Court recognize this as a good faith effort to target the 25% of children at the highest risk.

Kansas must also make sure all schools – no matter their size or location – receive the support they need. We are currently conducting a survey to determine how individual schools would spend additional dollars. The results will help the Legislature tailor spending to our unique communities.

The Legislature already appropriated an additional $293 million for Fiscal Year 2018 and 2019. I supported that measure last session. With the changes to the formula above, this additional money will be more fairly distributed. I will also support a multi-year plan that increases funding significantly over the next three years.

With state revenue currently exceeding estimates, I’m confident we can add the additional funding through 2020. I would recommend using money from the ending balance in 2018 and 2019 and then establishing a “trust fund” for 2020.

Thanks to bi-partisan cooperation last year, the Legislature was able to reverse the Brownback tax plan. Kansas is now on a path to recovery. Before we alter the tax code further, we should let the dust settle on the 2017 changes, as well as changes made at the federal level. Lastly, it is critical that the Court retain jurisdiction of this case to ensure that the Legislature follows through on these promises to our schools. During the past 8 years, Kansas children have been short-changed. As governor, I will make our schools my top priority. And I will use my budget expertise to ensure Kansas can continue to meet the needs of our students in the years to come.^[21]

We must do more (campaign website post, February 21, 2018)
On Monday, parents in the Lawrence school district were notified that a threat of violence was made – through social media – towards a local high school. That situation is being handled by local law enforcement, but this threat comes as our hearts remain broken for the families impacted by the horrific shootings in Parkland, Florida.

Whether in Lawrence or Parkland, or anywhere else, our children shouldn’t be afraid to go to school. Parents shouldn’t fear dropping their kids off in the morning. And teachers shouldn’t feel threatened while in the classroom.

It’s times like this when we must reflect on what more we can do to ensure our children and teachers are safe at school and in our communities.

I’ve always been a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment and my voting record backs that up. I believe Kansans have the right to purchase firearms to keep their families safe and hunt. I’ll continue to fight to defend those rights – it’s part of our rural heritage. But we must balance that with the safety of our children.

Clearly, we can respect and defend the rights of Kansas gun owners, while also taking effective steps to keep our children and families safe.

In recent years, the issue has changed. It’s not only a discussion of conceal carry and hunting rights, it is about school shootings and assault weapons. That’s why I voted to keep guns out of places we all know they shouldn’t be –public hospitals, mental health centers and college campuses. We must also take more aggressive steps to make sure guns don’t get into the wrong hands. And, that’s why this legislative session, I plan to vote for a bill that makes it illegal for anyone convicted of domestic violence to possess a gun.

I believe it’s especially important for those of us who support gun rights to lead this fight to find common sense ways to keep our kids and teachers safe from gun violence. I will work to implement gun safety standards – like requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning bump stocks, and limiting access to the types of assault weapons that were designed for combat zones.

We must move beyond the same partisan divides on this issue. As Governor, I will do that. I’ll bring everyone together – law enforcement officials, school officials, mental health experts, parents – to find common ground and meaningful solutions to this problem.

Right now, we simply must do more. We can’t simply continue to do nothing and expect the violence to stop.^[22][17]

Access health care for ourselves and our loved ones
One of my first actions as Governor will be to accelerate the overhaul of KanCare.

The current program is not working and must be replaced. Kansas families and providers of medical care and long-term services must regain their rightful role as advisers to our government. Out-of-state insurance companies may continue to play a role, but they will no longer be allowed to control $9 billion of our resources. It is the duty of your elected representatives to wisely and effectively manage the tax resources provided by our citizens and ensure that every Kansan — in every corner of the state — has access to the care they need.

We must expand Medicaid now.

I have a core philosophy: Work with others to get things done, regardless of party. I do not believe in standing against something because the policy emanated from the other party. If it improves the lives of Kansans, then I am for it. Today, our federal tax dollars are being spent in other states for no other reason than ideology. Our children and seniors would receive 87% of Medicaid expansion dollars in this state, but we have refused to accept our own tax dollars for no other reason than blind party politics. How much have we lost? Two billion dollars and counting, meant for our neediest, as well as the hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes and other providers who go unpaid. This must stop.

Kansas must be proactive in helping those left behind by our current health care system.

The Affordable Care Act was a step in the right direction for health care in this country because it got so many of our working people health coverage. But small business owners and self-insurers who do not qualify for federal subsidies (many of them farmers) have seen their choices reduced and their premiums skyrocket to absurd, unsustainable levels. As your Governor, I would explore creating a risk pool for everyone caught in the middle — business owners who don’t have enough employees to have buying power, but want to provide a health benefit to employees. Those business owners currently have no leverage against their insurance company so rates continue to rise rapidly and plan choices have dwindled to nearly no choice at all. Health insurance should not be the largest part of a monthly budget for families or small businesses.

The divisive politics around women's reproductive rights helps no one.

This issue of reproductive rights has divided Kansans for nearly two generations. As a state representative, I cast votes that were considered “pro-life” consistent with the district I represented. As Governor, I represent a broader constituency, and I would veto any legislation that further restricts women’s rights to make their own reproductive health care choices. Kansas should not be spending millions of dollars legally defending abortion-related bills that are unconstitutional. Furthermore, I will support laws that ensure general health care services are available for all women and men in Kansas. This includes access to contraception and informed sex education. I believe all women in Kansas should have easy access to mammograms, HPV vaccines, anemia testing and HIV testing to name a few. Both sides of this difficult issue need to find common ground and cease talking past each other. While opinions on other social issues have changed with time, both sides of this issue seem more divided than ever. Kansans deserve a Governor that can respect and appreciate multiple viewpoints while trying to find a common way forward.

Kansans in chronic pain or who are terminally ill should be allowed access to marijuana.

The debate over marijuana is moving fast and will largely be played out at the federal level. Though there are many questions regarding how to appropriately administer marijuana for medicinal purposes, as your Governor, I will not stand in the way of Kansans who are looking for this option in their health care. I will not continue to fill our prisons with largely non-violent individuals caught up in minor drug offenses associated with this plant.

Excellent education
We must restore funding to our schools — for our children and for our future.

Why? Because businesses look for good schools when they make decisions to do business in our state. Parents look for good schools when they decide where to live. Young professionals look at school quality when making decisions about their careers. And our children deserve a quality education that will empower them to explore and achieve their dreams. The decisions made over the past seven years are slowly being reversed, but there is much work to do. As Governor, I will work every day to make sure our Kansas schools receive the funding they need.

We must pay, protect and respect our teachers if we want to attract and retain the very best.

Great teachers are the foundation of a great school. At the beginning of the 2017 school year, there were 1,500 teacher vacancies in Kansas. The pipeline of young people willing to dedicate their lives to teaching the next generation has dwindled, and Kansas must demonstrate that teaching is a profession we value and respect. As your Governor, I would increase pay to teachers, work with the Legislature to reinstate due process, and build a long-term, stable school finance plan so that districts can offer teachers a position with confidence and teachers can make career decisions knowing there is a brighter future ahead.

I will put the energy and faith of the state behind our exciting classroom redesign.

Innovation has continued in this state despite record underfunding of our schools. Our current Department of Education is in the midst of exploring what the classroom of the future will look like, and as your Governor, I will stand ready to assist and fund the bold future when the Gemini and Mercury schools complete their exploration. Our world is always changing, and our classrooms must rise to change with it.

We must restore our funding and commitment to our institutions of higher education.

Our higher education system — from our Regents institutions to our community colleges to our technical colleges — offer Kansans the surest path toward rebuilding a strong middle class while attracting research investment from outside the state, drawing new young people to Kansas, inspiring entrepreneurial activity, and improving the quality of life for all Kansans. If we make a commitment to fund these institutions, we must keep it. As your Governor, I would appropriately fund Senate Bill 155 for our technical colleges and restore the cuts made to the Regents institutions. We cannot play one Regent against the other, and we must champion our research institutions — not play politics with their future academic standing.

An environment that is clean and water resources that are available
I believe that responsible stewardship of our air, water and land builds resilience into our economy.

No other candidate in this race — Republican, Democratic or Independent — has dedicated more of her or his career to our natural resources than I have. Responsible stewardship means that our future generations will know that they can have economic options similar to ours. We are also only beginning to understand the societal and public health costs of our environmental consequences, and as Governor, I would respect that data and move appropriately.

As your Governor, I will continue to develop alternative energy.

As a state with abundant natural resources, renewable energies fit well within our economic plan for growth. Like so much else associated with the ingenuity of Kansas businesses, we have seen some of the best growth in renewable energy when government has simply gotten out of the way and let it happen. Innovations have led to renewables being some of the most cost competitive energies in the marketplace, and Kansas will continue to see investment as long as we have a leader that will champion those innovations and create an environment in the state that is open and inviting for the industry. This is real investment of real dollars to Kansas landowners, workers, and financial institutions.

We can and must do more than plan for our future water needs.

A water plan fund does little to address future water needs if it is not funded. I would seek a dedicated revenue source, similar to Missouri’s, to fund protection of our natural resources. This investment would include investing in soil management practices, better technology to be smarter about how we use water for irrigation, and research into less thirsty crops. We must also convene a serious conversation about the long-term managed decline in the Ogallala Aquifer.

As Governor, I will not shy away from discussing climate change.

John Wesley Powell’s “dry line” separating the wet eastern half of the United States with the semi-arid west runs through Kansas. Kansas is a productive agricultural state, but we are not Iowa or southern Minnesota. Our rainfall is less predictable, our summers are hotter, and our margin for error more narrow. Small changes in climate elsewhere are magnified on our landscape. We must live within our ecological means.

Infrastructure and information technology investment
As Governor, I will create and fund a comprehensive infrastructure plan.

We are a productive state, and whether it is our fuel, our manufactured goods, or our hundreds of millions of bushels of grain, productive economies like Kansas depend on being able to move our commodities outside of our borders. Infrastructure spending is critical — it improves the competitive edge for our goods, makes transportation around the state safer, and encourages economic development. On top of that, our infrastructure contractors — from engineers to asphalt companies — are some of Kansas’ largest employers. Robbing transportation funds to patch the state budget creates neglect within the system, and that neglect of our roads, rails, airports, bridges, water infrastructure, and wastewater treatment plants will only get more expensive the longer we look the other way.

I will work with your elected representatives in the Legislature to make sure our transportation funds are not raided to make up for shortfalls in our general fund.

If we hope to have strong economic development in Kansas, the current business community and companies looking to move to our state need to know we have consistent funding of all our infrastructure needs. Good Kansas employers have moved hundreds of employees to other states just to keep them working. These workers live in Kansas, have families in Kansas, and want to work in Kansas.

The recent Federal abandonment of "net neutrality" damages our ability to provide vital health and educational services across our state.

Technology can help make us a healthier and better-educated Kansas. Educational offerings over the internet can make our state one enormous classroom where every student can access every course of study.

At the same time, health care services can be made available across Kansas by connecting us to specialized providers, and by connecting providers for critical and life-saving collaboration.

The Internet must remain widely available to us all — and we must advance the ways that it connects us for our common good.

Kansas continues to have regions where broadband internet is not available, and this reality must cease.

Broadband internet, and in many cases fiberoptics to the door, are available in some of the most rural parts of the state. However, there are still rural areas around some of the more populated cities in the state that do not have a reliable broadband provider. As a tool of medicine, education, business, and connectivity, broadband internet is no longer a luxury for only those who happen to live in the right place. This problem must cease to be a perennial talking point and become an issue we have solved as Kansans working with private providers.

Realize the American dream
Kansas was built on immigrants’ dreams — and today’s immigrant families are a part of the great Kansas tradition of working together for a better Kansas.

Tens of thousands of Kansas families — and our state’s agriculture industry — are rightly concerned by the reckless talk about drastic changes in our immigration policies in the U.S. Our state was built on immigrants' dreams, such as those of my Czech and Italian ancestors. Our early farmers and miners who settled here built our state, and early immigrant communities helped create the greatest wheat industry in the world.

I believe we can all contribute to our communities, whether it’s by starting a business or working the land to feed our fellow Kansans or people across the country and around the world.

As a 5th generation Kansan and farmer, I will be a Governor who works every day to ensure the voice of one of our most important economic drivers — agriculture — is heard in Washington on the issue of immigration.

Discrimination, masked as policy, must be defeated if we want our economy and agriculture industry to grow.

Even as we uphold our laws, we must never allow discrimination to divide us or distract us from who we are as Kansans. Thousands of sons and daughters of immigrants, whether Irish, Swedish, Mexican or Chinese, have helped defeat anti-immigrant poison through their contributions to Kansas. Many people of faith, be they Christian, Jewish or Muslim, that settled here have helped defeat hatred.

I'm proud to live in a state that is growing more diverse by the day.

Diversity not only is good for the Kansas economy, it enriches our lives and our culture as well. As a legislator, I voted to extend the dreams of our immigrant ancestors by supporting in-state tuition for the Dreamers of our state. And, because I believe in accountability, I voted for laws requiring that those who drive on Kansas roads are required to be licensed drivers like everyone else.

We must restore civil protections for our LGBTQ state employees.

These protections were removed early in the Brownback Administration. I was one of the early Kansas legislators that fought against the so-called “marriage amendment” that defined marriage as only between one man and one woman, which was passed in 2005. The courts have now affirmed my position and society has moved considerably in the last decade, but equality still does not exist for everyone.

Though much of Kansas’ recent trouble is fiscal in nature, we also fight the stigma that we have gone back in time. Restoring civil protections sends an important message to everyone watching Kansas, both within and outside the state. It tells people that the state that fought to be a “free state” is back. The state that gave women the right to vote long before the rest of the country is back. The state that was a part of Brown v. Board of Education is back. And we can send that message with this executive order on day one.

Earn a living with our own hard work
Kansas must improve our credit ratings and project the measured stability of a well-governed state focused on the future in order to attract businesses and create a strong job market.

We must send a signal to employers and families around the country that Kansas is once again a stable, reliable place to do business. Businesses value stability and the confidence that they will not become the next source of the state’s tax needs when the train goes off the tracks. Young families need to know that the good schools and teachers they find in Kansas now will be here every year their children are in our classrooms. We must once again be a state pointed toward the future.

Kansas was settled because of our plentiful natural resources. Our economic future lies in understanding, respecting and innovating around those same resources.

During my time as a legislator and Secretary of Agriculture, I developed a philosophy of economic development: We should play to our strengths. We may not always win against other wealthier states for the newest industries. However, and I have seen this many times over as I have toured the state, we cannot only compete but lead the world in and around the industries that have been a part of Kansas for generations. Our agriculture, food, oil and gas, and manufacturing are rapidly changing and adjusting to new technology, and Kansas has been and should continue to be a leader in those sectors. When agriculture innovates, companies are created in some of our most rural areas without any state incentives at all. As your Governor, I bring an unmatched sense of our natural resources and how they can be leveraged to position Kansas to have an incredibly strong economy in the future.

We must connect working Kansans with the employers who need them.

Workforce development is critical to current and prospective employer’s ability to capture new business opportunities. I have heard too many times that a good Kansas business could have had an even better year but was simply not able to hire enough workers. Workforce development relies on several elements: Appropriate and affordable housing so that communities can compete for new growth, leveraging our technical schools and labor unions to make sure we have a properly trained labor force for the future, and a robust Regents system that can attract investment and incubate new entrepreneurs.

Kansas workers have a right to be compensated appropriately for the contribution they make to their employer.

Kansas businesses need to be allowed to grow and prosper largely without the state telling them what to do. However, everyone that is working hard ought to be appropriately compensated for their work. As your Governor, I will work with business and labor to ensure that everyone contributing to a growing economy can feel the benefits of that growth. Kansas is a diverse state, and if local areas like Wyandotte County want their own local control to set wages, they should be allowed to do so.

Our working people are the backbone of the Kansas economy. Too often, their interests have been ignored. This indifference must end.

We must push harder — and legislate if we must — for a higher standard of living for our working friends and neighbors. The term “working poor” must be eliminated in Kansas. Wages for workers must be sufficient for them to feed their families and pay their bills.

Laws that establish compensation for injured workers must be seen as a way to protect the injured. We must support our people so they can return to work, support their families and strengthen the pool of qualified workers for all our employers.

Kansas should reduce or eliminate the sales tax on food.

We have all heard from our elected officials: “Now is not a good time because of the financial crunch.” However, it seems that it is never a good time to give real tax relief to all Kansans, especially the neediest among us. Kansas has one of the highest sales tax rates on food in the nation. We can and must lower this rate, and as your Governor, I will work for tax reform that makes sense for Kansas.

Labor and management disagreements must be resolved in mutual terms to support our people AND strengthen our economy.

Organizations, which represent labor and professional groups — from the Kansas Medical Society to KNEA to the AFL-CIO — help us to better understand our Kansas economy. These groups elevate the standards of the workforce, speak up for the interests of their members, and have a right to exist with the encouragement of government. Politicians that demonize organized workers' groups are demonizing our history and our future.

Public employees represent thousands of Kansans, many of whom have spent their entire professional lives serving us. Police and firefighters, teachers and principals, highway safety workers and hospital staff, and those in state agencies who help us navigate the complex laws and rules promoted by every political generation of politicians. These public servants should never be used as punching bags by politicians looking to score cheap political points.

A government that runs well at every level — and that makes serving Kansans its top priority
We must cherish the right to vote, and two challenges in this regard will receive my immediate attention: First, declining participation, and second, political influence that discourages voting.

First, we must make all Kansas citizens feel that their vote matters and that they have a stake in the future of our state. We should be innovative leaders in new ways for people to vote and technology that lets them know their vote is secure.

Second, we should pay particular attention to minority voters and groups of voters that are often marginalized. Availability of voting days and places should be expanding for these groups, not contracting for political reasons.

We continue to have one of the greatest networks of election reliability — our county clerks. They are the first line of defense and their offices work every day to maintain safe and secure voting across Kansas. We should respect them and the work that they do and our next Secretary of State needs to rebuild the steadiness of that office that has been lost in the last two terms.

Kansans deserve openness, transparency and accountability. As Governor, this will be the foundation of my administration.​ In my first year as Governor, I will support the creation of an independent State Auditor who will provide an added safeguard to our citizens.

A state auditor will provide an unbiased leader for all Kansans to turn to with their concerns about their government. I believe an open and accessible government begins with leaders who are willing to listen to each other and all Kansans to find solutions that work for everyone. Now is the time to take action so we can reclaim our state and restore credibility and civility to Kansas.

Kansas doesn't lack good public servants. What we’ve lacked is good public leadership.

We need leaders who honor our public servants by creating a transparent culture, by honoring civil discourse, by promoting new ideas without the threat of Washington-style partisanship and game playing.

In the closing months of 2017, we all learned of the steady surrender to secrecy in our state government. Our civil servants and legislators are honorable Kansans. They go to work in the Statehouse and in their respective state offices across Kansas to tackle difficult problems, trying to accomplish good things for all of us.

Too often our state government has failed to communicate and coordinate with our federal or local partners.

If a federal program works for Kansans, we need a Governor who will adopt that program regardless of the party ideology dividing the Governor and President. If the state implements new tax policy, we cannot put it in place without considering the impact on local units of government. Our cities and counties are the front door for most Kansans’ interaction with government, and much of the state tax policy enacted over the last seven years has left cities and counties with far less money to handle greater demands on their services. For example, Meals on Wheels is an important program that gives warm meals and human contact to elderly across the state, and has been on life support because of the substantial drop in finances statewide. Cities and counties need to know they have a partner at the statehouse that will not silently shift burdens to the local level in an effort to balance the state budget. For Kansans, the end result is often higher property taxes which is a burden on everyone.

Thousands of Kansans who are forgotten or abandoned deserve to know the state cares about their lives.

Poverty that crushes dreams falls most heavily on our youngest children. We must make a renewed commitment to a compassionate response that addresses economic inequality.

The unique needs of persons with disabilities require our careful consideration in every program and policy that we as a state adopt. Their voices must be included, along with the voices of their families, in the public discussion of their needs.

Older Kansans too often become isolated as their families leave their neighborhoods and rural communities behind searching for jobs. We must renew our efforts to ensure older Kansans are not forgotten.

Critical health problems which fall most heavily on poor and minority communities most be resolved to support every qualified Kansan.

Together we must see our own future in the eyes of our disenfranchised neighbors. We need to serve them with care and hold ourselves accountable for the quality of our responses.

Children assigned by the courts to the care of the state should not be forgotten. We must establish a moral compact so that every child receives the best we can provide to mend their troubled lives.

Be safe and secure in your community
We need to establish laws to end the plague of gun violence.

So far in 2018, there has been more than one report each week of shots fired in our schools. The most recent horror in Florida has finally awakened us to demand that action must replace the indifference of our political system. As the father of young children, a former elected official and as a candidate for Governor, I am tired of walking on eggshells around the special interest groups for whom inaction has been the preferred course. It is long past time we have a serious conversation about gun policy in this country.

We need universal background checks. We need to ban 30-round clips, and any devices that convert rifles into weapons of mass killing.

I recognize the constitutional right to own and collect guns, and it is generally accepted that some choose to own guns for sporting purposes or for personal protection. But when we begin to see guns as a solution to our problems or think the proliferation of guns can somehow make us safer, we defy what we know to be true.

Our faith community needs to lead in their venues to remind us all that we should beat our swords into plowshares; that we should practice and strive to find ways to live in peace together, and that we should treat our neighbors as ourselves.

The vast majority of our people are peace loving and non-violent. Our political leaders need to finally, and for all times, establish laws to end the plague of gun violence in our state and our nation.^[17]