January 3, 2008
My Friends,
I want to report back to you on the response to the questionnaire I mailed to each household in the 75th District, that reported an individual or individuals that voted in the last district wide election (3,900+). Many thanks to the 170 of you that took the time to respond so I would have an accurate understanding of the issues you consider important. I hope you find this information useful. 4% return can be considered by some as significant.
1.) Who do you think should regulate smoking in public places?
State Government- 15, Local Government- 29, Business Owner- 129, No one- 1.
2.) Would you favor legislation to limit the amount the assessment value on your home can be raised?
Yes-151, No-6
3.) Do you believe coal-powered electric generating plants should be allowed to expand in western Kansas?
Yes-97, No-37, Undecided-5
4.) If the state or local government takes civil legal action against you and you win, should the government have to pay your legal expenses?
Yes-138, No-4.
5.) Do you think you will retire in Kansas?
Yes-179, No-17, Undecided- 4, Never Retire-1.
Why or why not?
Yes. “I love Kansas”. “My family, grandkids and home are here”. “We have great climate”. “The people are friendly and considerate”. “We are a God-fearing people who believe in the Bible”. “We have great schools and Colleges”. “Quality of life”. “This is my home and where I was raised”. Centrally located and we can fly anywhere.
No. “Taxes are too high”. Kansas is not senior citizen friendly”. “Personal property taxes on boats, RV’s, vehicles, 4 wheelers,, motorcycles are too high and they keep increasing.” “Senior citizens and retirees on a fixed income have a difficult time making ends meet.” “The weather is terrible”.
The following are written comments and issues that are considered of importance by the respondents, if there were similar comments I annotate the number of like responses, many issues were mentioned only once. They are in no particular order.
Social Issues: Keep up the pressure to bring justice on Dr. Tiller and we are pro-life and want to ban abortion in Kansas. (13). Do not allow the Gay marriage. Make individuals responsible for their own poor choices. Do not force helmet laws, seat belt use, or air bags. Make able-bodied recipients of welfare perform work such as community service to receive benefits.
Judicial: Make all judges and lawyers accountable for their actions, keep all murderers in jail, keep an eye on the parole board, and use the death penalty more often, 1 each. Legalize the use of medical marijuana (4). Government should not regulate morality. Our jails are too nice, they have benefits that I can not afford, such as cable TV and internet.
Education Comments: Make all schools more accountable for the product they produce for the money they receive, start to educate all children before age 5, eliminate “No Child Left Behind” (3), improve our children’s educational opportunities, . Maintain our infrastructure, limit the Regents budget increases, are our schools safe? , No mandates without funding, I want school vouchers (8), No school vouchers (2), consolidate schools (5). Limit school funding (10), increase school funding (4). Police training for in-school terrorism.
Business Community: eliminate franchise tax on small business, punish any “out-sourcing” by Kansas businesses, tax all ‘wind generation”, protect land-owner rights, encourage alternate energy sources (4), expand the use of nuclear fuel (10), build the coal plants but make sure their emissions are as clean as possible (8), gasoline prices are too high, is there really “global warming?”, Get us cell phone service in Whitewater. Tax churches for best use of land values.
Government: The government has more important things to do than worry about smoking, property tax increases should not be automatic each year, senior citizens need property tax relief such as no increases past age 65 (6), property taxes should only be adjusted at the time a property is sold, preserve the 2d amendment right to bear arms we should be able to carry concealed and not concealed, raise taxes on tobacco, our taxes are all too high (31), balance the budget “no deficit”, make all government more accountable and transparent (12), reduce or eliminate or reduce personal income tax, government is too big we need to consolidate departments to eliminate duplication of services, stop spending money we do not have, eliminate all the “wants” spending (3). Make social security and federal pensions tax-free. No raises for government employees unless voted on by the people. Start paying off the debt; fully fund KPERS (4). Increase state park funding (3). Bring back the LAVTR. Provide COLA for retired employees, (2)
Insurance: Health care access for everyone (3), cost of health insurance is too high, cost of auto and home insurance is too high, do something about the uninsured motorists, address the issue of compassionate care in nursing homes, give business owners incentive to pay employees insurance costs, do not mandate insurance coverage without offering funding.
Immigration: get rid of all undocumented illegal aliens (11); make English the official language of the state, do not provide free education, or free medical services to the children of the illegals, make laws to punish companies that hire illegal aliens, enforce the laws already on the books.
As you can see there are many issues that has attracted your interest. I received some cards that were illegible and impossible to read and I consolidated others by editorializing similar comments; therefore you may not see your specific comment.
I always enjoy hearing new angles on issues and the following is a concept you may find interesting. I do not know how many will agree with the writer, however thanks to the individual that sent in the following comment:
“If gambling is such a good source of revenue for the State of Kansas, why shouldn’t gambling be taught in our schools? This is what the government thinks is good, in reality it is a shoddy excuse for poor government!”
I will be sending a similar questionnaire later in this legislative session and I look forward to your response. I take all of your comments seriously and I would offer to discuss in detail any issue you would like. I will be home practically each weekend from January through April and I will make myself available for you or your group when possible.
Sincerely,
John C. Grange
State Representative
75th District
1115 Rim Rock Road
El Dorado, Kansas 67042
316-321-2087
johng@carlisleinc.net
grange@house.state.ks.us
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