Gov. Sam Brownback, Paul Davis spar at debate in Johnson County

Gov. Sam Brownback and Democrat Paul Davis continued to spar over education funding Friday before a ballroom filled with business leaders in the state’s wealthiest county.

Brownback warned the audience not to be swayed by Davis’ calls to increase base funding for public schools.

“He’s not talking about your schools. He is talking about your money,” Brownback repeatedly told the audience at the debate hosted by the Johnson County Public Policy Council at the Ritz Charles in Overland Park.

“The truth is he’s going to come to Johnson County to pay for it.”

The governor also criticized Davis for voting against a court-ordered school finance bill that put $129 million toward schools and property tax relief.

Davis countered that he had introduced the first bill to meet the Kansas Supreme Court’s order for more equitable education funding and that he voted in favor of a bipartisan House bill. He said he opposed the final bill because it coupled the funding with policy changes, including an elimination of a job protection for public school teachers.

Davis accused Brownback and conservatives in the Legislature of taking a cheap shot at teachers, and said that the state’s educators feel beaten down.

The Lawrence Democrat told the crowd that he could do a better job growing the state’s economy than Brownback.

“I’ve come to believe that government and business don’t have to be adversaries. We can be partners,” Davis said.

He criticized Brownback for cutting funding for the state’s transportation infrastructure, which he said was key to business growth.

Libertarian in debate

The two major party candidates shared the stage with Libertarian Keen Umbehr, who had been left out of the Kansas State Fair Debate earlier this month. Umbehr began the debate by noting that he, Davis and Brownback are all lawyers.

“If you feel dumber, that means we didn’t answer the question,” he said. Umbehr repeatedly accused Brownback and Davis of ducking questions.

Brownback remarked that the debate felt like it was “two against one” as Umbehr picked apart his answers.

Umbehr replied by telling Brownback that it was actually 1.4 million against one, referring to the number of wage earners in the state.

Umbehr repeatedly pushed his plan to pass fair tax legislation, which would eliminate the state’s income tax and replace it with a consumption tax on goods and services.

He called this “trickle-up capitalism” and contended that increased spending from wage earners would spur growth.

After the debate, Umbehr felt pretty good about his rookie debate performance.

“Well, I think I did well. I’m more plain-spoken and I answered the questions,” he said.

Repeat performance

The candidates often fell into repetition. Davis professed his love of public schools and warned that Brownback’s tax policies threatened school funding long term. Brownback said that income tax cuts were spurring growth in Johnson County and Umbehr said the governor’s cuts had not gone far enough.

Brownback said Davis was being disingenuous when he talked about cuts to base education funding, contending that total spending is at an all-time high. State spending on education is at an all-time high if spending on KPERS, the pension system for state employees and teachers, is included.

Davis said that Brownback is unwilling to admit the long-term impact that his policies would have on the state’s budget, contending that the state would need to cut $1.3 billion over the next five years to get to zero under its current policies.

Rep. Erin Davis, R-Olathe, a conservative, said she thought the governor won the debate.

“I thought the governor did excellent today. Hammered in the things that are important to Johnson Countians, which is obviously our public education. We’re funding it more than we ever had before,” Davis said. “I’m a mom with two kids in the Olathe school district. We have great schools in Johnson County.”

Devin Wilson, a Republican who supports Davis, was less impressed with the governor.

“I think Brownback is reusing the same talking points and a lot of those points have been debunked,” Wilson said.

“I don’t see record funding our schools. I don’t believe that because I don’t see the restoration of the programs that have been cut,” said Wilson, whose children attend Mill Creek Elementary in Lenexa.

Sen. Jim Denning, R-Overland Park, a conservative, said he thought Davis struggled in front of the Johnson County audience, which was mostly made up of business leaders.

Rep. Stephanie Clayton, R-Overland Park, praised the Johnson County Public Policy Council for putting on a business-centered debate. She would not say how she felt Brownback fared against Davis.

“I can say as a moderate I won’t be supporting Keen Umbehr. And that’s where I close,” she said.

Health care

Davis criticized the governor for his evolving position on wind energy. Brownback said earlier this month that he was open to phasing out the state’s renewable energy standard, which requires that utility companies get 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. Brownback said at Friday’s debate that he would only support a plan that all parties, including the wind industry, could get behind.

Brownback went after Davis for his support of Medicaid expansion, which is possible through the Affordable Care Act, contending it would cost the state $1 billion to implement.

This figure is taken from a study by Aon, a risk management firm, that showed the state’s Medicaid cost would expand by $551 million without expansion and $1.3 billion with expansion over 10 years.

Davis agreed that the health care law has had problems, but went after Brownback’s own signature health care policy, the privatization of Medicaid under the KanCare umbrella. He pointed to health care activist Finn Bullers in the audience.

Bullers, who suffers from muscular dystrophy, was initially informed that his service hours would be reduced under KanCare. He was able to maintain 24-hour care after a very public battle.

“He’s made lab rats out of 380,000 Kansans,” Bullers said about Brownback’s KanCare policy. “After an entire year of fighting, lobbying and appealing to the court of public opinion, they finally came on New Year’s Eve day and said that they were giving me a gift, and that was the ability to continue to breathe and raise my two children.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2014 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Gov. Sam Brownback, Paul Davis spar at debate in Johnson County."