A Libertarian candidate, Jason Conley, is challenging state Sen. Pat Pettey, D-6th Dist., for the state Senate, 6th District seat.
They are on the Tuesday, Nov. 8, general election ballot. The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Sen. Pettey is a retired teacher in the Turner Public Schools who has served in the state Senate since 2013. Before that, she was a state representative from Wyandotte County, and is also a former Unified Government commissioner.
Sen. Pettey said the state is facing a lot of challenges, and must be realistic about what is ahead.
“Unfortunately, since 2012 there have been dramatic cuts made in our taxing system in Kansas,” she said at a Wyandotte County candidate forum on Oct. 17 at Kansas City Kansas Community College. These cuts have shown a lack of fiscal responsibility in the state, led by the governor, she said.
Everyone wants good schools, good highways, safety, and good care for the elderly, and the only way to pay for those is to bring in the revenues to do that, she said.
Conley grew up in Hoyt, Kan., which is north of Topeka. He attended Wichita State University where he participated in track. He has lived in Wyandotte County for five years.
Conley, who works in the information technology field, said he is running on a platform of equality and opportunity. The government shouldn’t guarantee equality, but it should apply equally to every individual, he said.
The current education system and drug policies do not reflect equality, he said.
Conley favored school choice, allowing parents to send their children to the school they choose. He said it would fix funding disputes.
Drug laws unfairly target minority communities and create broken homes, he said.
“I decided to run, as I watched our state go broke,” he said. He said he is good at balancing a checkbook.
Sen. Pettey it appears Kansas is moving toward a more moderate Legislature this year that will actually talk about the tax and budget issues. Repealing the LLC tax exemptions is not enough, she said.
“We know we have a very unbalanced system,” she said. “We did have a balanced system prior to 2012.” Kansas needs to be looking at that again, she added.
Conley said he is in favor of cutting taxes, although the current policy didn’t work. If Kansas changed its drug policy and let nonviolent offenders go, it could save $50 million, he said. He said cuts could be made and he would like to see a few million dollars review of making Kansas more lean, he added. He would rather cut expenses before he raises taxes, he said.
On the question of legalizing medical marijuana, Conley said he was in favor of legalizing marijuana for both medical and recreational use. Colorado is bringing in more than $100 million every year from this, and that could help, he said. He said government shouldn’t be taxing things that are personal choices.
Sen. Pettey said she sat on a committee that had hearings on legalizing medical marijuana. It’s not such a simple answer, she said. There are questions about what sorts of illnesses would be covered.
“I am open to discussions about medical marijuana,” Sen. Pettey said. She doesn’t see the state anywhere interested in legalizing recreational marijuana at this time, though.
On the topic of increasing funding for public schools, Sen. Pettey said she believes the Kansas Supreme Court probably would rule that funding is inadequate and it would be in favor of increasing funding for the schools.
School funding has been decreasing, she said.
“We need to be providing quality education for all students across the whole state of Kansas, a fair quality education,” she said. It will come to the Legislature as to how much to fund it, and the state could be required to fund as much as $400 million, she added.
On higher education, if Kansas wants to grow jobs in the state and have a well-educated workforce, it has to provide better support to higher education, she said.
Conley said Kansas schools had hundreds of millions in reserves. He said he believed that schools would spend less if school choice was implemented.
“If we allocate per student, it makes things fair. There’s no disputing that a student getting the same amount as another student is fair,” Conley said.
On higher education, Conley said he doesn’t believe Kansas should be in the game, and advocated slowly moving back funding for that. “I believe the high prices are due moreso to the federal student loan program than they are to reflect fair market values,” he said.
Sen. Pettey, who served on the Education Committee, responded the amount of funding per pupil included state and federal funding, and if only state aid is included it would be about $8,300 per person. She said figures being discussed this year have changed to include other costs, making them look higher than when they were discussed several years ago.
Conley said the cost of private education is less than $8,000 a year. “I don’t think we should do it immediately, but when we open school choice and leave the funding exactly where it is, we’re going to find out ways to cut,” he said.
Sen. Pettey said the Kansas Constitution requires that the Legislature shall provide for education by establishing and maintaining public schools. “That is in the Kansas Constitution and that’s what we need to remember,” she said.
Conley said if the parents are allowed the option to choose where to send their students to school, it would reduce the effect and lower class sizes in public schools.
On guns in public buildings, Conley said it was absurd that anyone would want to restrict someone from protecting themselves in any situation. The laws are not standard, he added.
Sen. Pettey said she would be working to repeal legislation that would allow concealed carry on campuses starting July 2017. Legislators are already hearing from professors and students concerned about safety on campuses, she added. She also can’t understand why anyone would want concealed carry in the dorms, she said.
To view more of the candidates’ opinions on the issues, watch the candidate forum, televised on the KCKCC cable channel at 9 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7. The forum is being shown on the college’s channel on Time Warner, Channel 17; and on Google TV, Channel 146.
Voters may check their polling place at Voter View, https://myvoteinfo.voteks.org/VoterView/.
For more information on polling places and election hours, visit www.WycoVotes.org or call the election office at 913-573-8500.