“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you get what you need”
Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones 1969.
The 2010 Session of the Kansas Legislature has come to an end with the final gavel fall on Friday the 28th of May. The session was very difficult in some ways and as we all know the hard part will be to stay as efficient as possible and try to make the most of what we do have.
The recent headlines indicate the Regent Schools are in the process of proposing a tuition rate hike. I think this probably will be accepted with mixed feelings. Many believe that the state has the responsibility to provide all the money the Regents believe they can spend. While others believe the tuition cost is a user fee that should be paid by the student.
Think about it; if your child goes to a Kansas Regent School and the cost of attendance including room, board, tuition, fees, automobile expense, books, computers, labs, clothing, toiletries, entertainment and other related schools supplies is $20,000.00 which is not unrealistic by the way. The cost of a five-year education program could run to $100,000. Do it in four years, for $80,000? Good for you!
When your student completed his or her education that expense stops doesn’t it? It is like giving you a pay raise. Your family made the conscience decision that your child should attend a post secondary school; in this case you chose one of our fine state universities. You should bear the majority of the cost for that education and experience. Now if the State of Kansas raises everyone’s taxes to fund these fine institutions so you can have a lower tuition rate, that payment will never stop or go away, will it?
Pick up a school alumni magazine and look at what the graduates are doing and more importantly look at where they live. Do they live and work in Kansas? If they do, it is a good thing we provided them the tools necessary to gain employment here. If they live in another state because of better job opportunities maybe we are not doing such a good thing after all.
The Alumni Magazines I have seen recently proudly state that so and so (Graduate 89) is the chief executive of a manufacturing company in Atlanta Georgia, or is the HR director at a medical facility in Tucson and etc. Great jobs no doubt; my question is how do those jobs benefit the Kansas Taxpayer that is asked to pony up money so we can keep tuition low? Let me know what you think.
I spoke before the Susan B Allen Hospital Auxillary this past week and what a great experience it was. Here is a very large volunteer force that the hospital has at their disposal to greet clients, run records, deliver flowers, and just be great ambassadors for our hospital and community. My hat is off to them for their willingness to offer their support to our community.
They had provided me questions from which I was able to base my discussion. The budget, immigration law, health care, highway plan, fuel taxes and eminent domain for procuring transmission power line right-of-way were just a few of the topics we discussed.
The total Kansas debt service at the end of FY 2010 is $3.7 Billion, after this past legislative session that figure will grow to $4 billion. With increases in the highway plan, Regent school improvements, KPERS requirements and other state agency spending increases we should be braced for debt for a long time.
Not all debt is bad; it is how you manage that debt that causes the problems. Each year we pay over $350 million in principal and interest. 40 % of our debt is for the highway programs, 15% Regent Schools, 30% KPERS and the rest is spread across the various State of Kansas Agencies.
The debt load in Kansas is $2,042 for every man, woman and child. The national average is $3,100 per person. Kansas ranks about 35th in the country.
I hope you all had a great Memorial Day and had a great time with your friends and family, keep the faith we will all recover from this recession. We just have to make sure we remember it and that it was not much fun.
My Topeka office and email is shut down until next January, you can reach me at my home by mail or email and I would like to hear from you. My mail will be forwarded through the post office.
I consider it an honor and privilege to serve as your Representative in Topeka and I do want to know what you think.
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