Human Services – 23% (includes health care, social services and Medicaid)
Public Safety – 6.6%
Government – 4.5%
Transportation and Agriculture – less than 0.8%
Income
Income Tax – 45%
Sales Tax – 39%
Liquor/Cigar Tax – 4.5%
Corporate Tax – 4%
Estate & Franchise Tax – 3%
Insurance Premiums – 2%
Severence Tax – 2 %
Property Tax – 0.5%
The State of Kansas has had 4 years of declining revenue.
The Economy and Jobs
Someone said that our current economic situation was created by “greed meets gullibility”. However it was created, social programs should focus on getting people back to work. If we are helping people, we should be helping them build wealth to support the economy.
Small businesses are the heartbeat of our country and community. The best welfare is a paycheck. I support efforts to create jobs. In the long run it costs more to extend unemployment, and if we can eliminate that by job creation, we can see the communities survive and thrive.
One the other side of the coin, one of the big issues I see is the recession causing people to retire earlier. A national statistic shows that the number of unemployed people aged 55 and up is 331% from 2000 to 2009.
Leavenworth county is fortunate in that from 2000-2009, $140 million has been paid to 111 defense contractors in 834 contracts. In 2009, 144 contracts were awarded for nearly $14 million. We tend to think of defense contractors as Cubic and Northrup-Grummon. But this list includes everything from local contracts for pest control to bus service to moving and storage (figures obtained through public records recorded on the website governmentcontractswon.com). We need to maintain and preserve these relationships in our community.
Taxes
Kansas has a law that says they must stay within their budget. Isn’t that a great idea. Everybody should do that. I purchased homes I could afford, and made extra payments and paid off every house. Having worked for non-profits, I know what it means to be frugal. I want to analyze and tackle waste. We should not bail out big business!
Stupidity and greed have gotten us into this mess. We need to hold the line and tighten our belts if we are going to get out of this.
Education
I’m impressed by women who are able to stay at home to raise their children. When I was a child, most mothers did not work outside the home. I think the reason people weren’t afraid to let children run the neighborhoods was that there were lots of mothers’ eyes watching little ones.
Unfortunately, that is not the case now, and more and more pressures are placed on schools to “raise” children. We can’t turn the clock back, but we need to look closely at how to measure the effectiveness and outcome of programs in the schools. We cannot afford NOT to provide quality education for our children’s futures. Quality education is key to providing well-trained workers for business growth.
Health Care
Insurance companies have a stronghold on our health care. I feel that everybody should have access to and be able to afford health care, but insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies should be held accountable for keeping the prices low enough so that we can access the health care we need.
Currently, the cost of administration represents 31% of health care expenditure. This is partly due to the need of insurance companies to assess individual risk and to negotiate costs with providers. Employers need to manage health care benefits and providers need to negotiate payments from insurers and patients. These costs are passed on to individuals through higher premiums that are unaffordable for a growing percentage of the population.
I am self-employed, and I pay for my own health insurance. I shopped around until I could find one I can ill-afford, and with a huge deductible. If we are going to be required to have health insurance, will I have to pay more? And how much will my taxes increase? And how will it affect retirees? These are questions we need answered. Our young people, the healthiest population should not be paying such high insurance premiums. I will fight for equity on these issues. I want “affordable” health care, but don’t want to be taxed into oblivion.
Safety and Security
A small part of the Kansas budget is devoted to safety. Here in Leavenworth, we can’t afford to lose any more jobs at our prisons, and we definitely can’t afford to compromise our security.
As for our nation’s security, we need to support the military presence that is so vital to our community, as well as our veterans.
Issues
Kansas Budget – Where our money comes and goes?
Expenses
Income
The State of Kansas has had 4 years of declining revenue.
The Economy and Jobs
Someone said that our current economic situation was created by “greed meets gullibility”. However it was created, social programs should focus on getting people back to work. If we are helping people, we should be helping them build wealth to support the economy.
Small businesses are the heartbeat of our country and community. The best welfare is a paycheck. I support efforts to create jobs. In the long run it costs more to extend unemployment, and if we can eliminate that by job creation, we can see the communities survive and thrive.
One the other side of the coin, one of the big issues I see is the recession causing people to retire earlier. A national statistic shows that the number of unemployed people aged 55 and up is 331% from 2000 to 2009.
Leavenworth county is fortunate in that from 2000-2009, $140 million has been paid to 111 defense contractors in 834 contracts. In 2009, 144 contracts were awarded for nearly $14 million. We tend to think of defense contractors as Cubic and Northrup-Grummon. But this list includes everything from local contracts for pest control to bus service to moving and storage (figures obtained through public records recorded on the website governmentcontractswon.com). We need to maintain and preserve these relationships in our community.
Taxes
Kansas has a law that says they must stay within their budget. Isn’t that a great idea. Everybody should do that. I purchased homes I could afford, and made extra payments and paid off every house. Having worked for non-profits, I know what it means to be frugal. I want to analyze and tackle waste. We should not bail out big business!
Stupidity and greed have gotten us into this mess. We need to hold the line and tighten our belts if we are going to get out of this.
Education
I’m impressed by women who are able to stay at home to raise their children. When I was a child, most mothers did not work outside the home. I think the reason people weren’t afraid to let children run the neighborhoods was that there were lots of mothers’ eyes watching little ones.
Unfortunately, that is not the case now, and more and more pressures are placed on schools to “raise” children. We can’t turn the clock back, but we need to look closely at how to measure the effectiveness and outcome of programs in the schools. We cannot afford NOT to provide quality education for our children’s futures. Quality education is key to providing well-trained workers for business growth.
Health Care
Insurance companies have a stronghold on our health care. I feel that everybody should have access to and be able to afford health care, but insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies should be held accountable for keeping the prices low enough so that we can access the health care we need.
Currently, the cost of administration represents 31% of health care expenditure. This is partly due to the need of insurance companies to assess individual risk and to negotiate costs with providers. Employers need to manage health care benefits and providers need to negotiate payments from insurers and patients. These costs are passed on to individuals through higher premiums that are unaffordable for a growing percentage of the population.
I am self-employed, and I pay for my own health insurance. I shopped around until I could find one I can ill-afford, and with a huge deductible. If we are going to be required to have health insurance, will I have to pay more? And how much will my taxes increase? And how will it affect retirees? These are questions we need answered. Our young people, the healthiest population should not be paying such high insurance premiums. I will fight for equity on these issues. I want “affordable” health care, but don’t want to be taxed into oblivion.
Safety and Security
A small part of the Kansas budget is devoted to safety. Here in Leavenworth, we can’t afford to lose any more jobs at our prisons, and we definitely can’t afford to compromise our security.
As for our nation’s security, we need to support the military presence that is so vital to our community, as well as our veterans.