Kansas Policy Institute wraps up the last of four Candidate Policy Briefings in the Kansas City area in September. These events took place at four different locations across the state and were designed to inform candidates running for public office, as well as the general public, on the policy issues that State leaders will face as we head into a busy political season. The Candidate Policy Briefings focused on the following areas, offering policy solutions that can get our economy on the right track as well as find solutions to the success of Kansas’ K-12 students: 

• Government efficiency ideas that can be implemented in areas across the state.
• The high cost and effect of property taxes in Kansas and the drivers making things difficult for taxpayers.
•  K-12 reform in Kansas—learning how local Board of Educations can make decisions that can bolster individual student success.
•  The correlation to spending in Kansas and how it has impacted student achievement and where we are headed.

In the last 30 days, Kansas Policy Institute has had over 40 state media hits on issues that heavily impact taxpayers in Kansas. One example is a recent column co-authored by The National Taxpayers Union Foundation on the Kansas online sales tax rule which was unilaterally implemented by Governor Laura Kelly and not passed by the Legislature. This new rule is harmful to small businesses and threatens to embroil the state in expensive litigation.

Governor Laura Kelly has also recently vetoed ‘windfall’ legislation that would have prevented a tax increase on roughly 90,000 Kansans. KPI currently leads the way to help Kansas Taxpayers make sense of this decision, as well as tell the truth about the false narrative being purported by state media sources.

Another remedy that KPI has induced to keep media accountable is The Sentinel. This news source provides Kansans with important news stories that Kansans wouldn’t have access to otherwise. This news source prints weekly stories, garnering thousands of social media hits on a wide range of issues ranging from lack of transparency in local development projects to Medicaid expansion in Kansas and its hinderance of federal efforts to improve healthcare.