Letters on county cuts, Pompeo’s GMO bill, state spending, Westar rate increase, Young Professionals of Wichita

Don’t defund health assessment

Data collection, analysis and measurement are the unromantic but critical components for making progress in improving community health. If we don’t know where we stand on particular health indicators, we can’t establish priorities for our work, and if we don’t measure change, we can’t gauge improvement.

The budget cuts announced by the Sedgwick County Commission will dismantle the community health assessment program that many local organizations rely on to focus their efforts and support requests for outside funding. The county’s Community Health Improvement Plan currently establishes a framework for local health improvement, provides a call to action for countywide efforts, and supplies the supporting data that enables other health-related organizations to get funding for work on diabetes and obesity, oral health, mental health, health disparities and access to health care.

No other entity has the global perspective and scope of the Sedgwick County Health Department, or is capable of taking on this important work.

The defunding in the area of assessment will have a huge long-term impact on our county, and it will be very difficult to fill the gap and pick up the pieces at some point in the future. I urge the commission to reconsider this aspect of the cuts.

Heartless cuts

If they only had a heart….

That variation of a line from the iconic “Wizard of Oz” seems especially appropriate when applied to the new majority on the Sedgwick County Commission. The proposed 2016 budget, if passed, will remove a significant portion of the safety net for medical services to uninsured, low-income citizens.

Project Access coordinates the efforts of area physicians, hospitals and other medical professionals to provide services to those citizens. They are very often the working poor, without health coverage through their employer. Project Access, a partnership with Sedgwick County physicians, will lose 25 percent of its budget.

It’s shortsighted, penny-wise and pound-foolish, to eliminate something that has been working since 1999. Added to the other burdens on low-income Wichitans (such as the regressive sales tax), it’s no wonder I woke up singing “if they only had a heart.”

Critical bill

A bill critical to our agricultural community in Kansas has been shepherded through the U.S. House thanks to the strong leadership of our Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita. In March, he introduced H.R. 1599, the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act, to ensure a patchwork of state food labeling laws does not impede agricultural production.

This is great for Kansas, because some states have been trying to enact their own state labeling mandates, requiring mandatory labeling for food that has been in any way genetically engineered. If states have different labeling requirements, farmers would have to segment crops, buy new equipment, and alter harvesting and storage techniques to ensure compliance with the various regulations.

Fortunately, Pompeo, Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., and 106 co-sponsors came up with a better solution. I thank Pompeo for his leadership on this issue, and look forward to this act eventually becoming law.

Other options

Duane Goossen’s claim that “lawmakers had no real choice during the 2015 legislative session but to raise taxes somewhere” is demonstrably false (“State’s ‘pay-fors’ are coming due,” July 19 Opinion). Hundreds of millions of unnecessary cash reserves could have been used, and government continues to operate inefficiently. Politicians of both parties simply preferred to raise taxes.

Some school districts have announced various cuts to classrooms, instead of choosing to operate more efficiently, reduce administration or use previously unspent taxpayer money. It is unconscionable to see students, teachers and parents used as pawns.

Goossen begrudgingly acknowledged that the Kansas economy is improving, but he repeated the tired claim about trailing the national average – even though his tenure as budget director to former Govs. Kathleen Sebelius and Mark Parkinson was also marked by lagging performance. Private-sector jobs increased a mere 1.3 percent between 2002 and 2006, while the nation saw growth of 4.8 percent. Kansas was only at 26 percent of the national average. Kansas performed at just 61 percent of its income-taxing peers’ job growth between 1998 and 2012, but improved to 86 percent of its income-taxing peers for 2013 and 2014. Though still trailing the national average, Kansas is increasingly competitive post-tax reform.

Deny rate hike

I thank the writer of “Censure Westar” (July 24 Letters to the Editor) for the succinct evaluation of Westar Energy’s latest rate increase request. One would think that, after utilizing “environmental upgrades” as a rationale so many times, the company could put forth a rebranded request.

In a time of continued depressed economic conditions in the Wichita area, one cannot help but wonder about the inability of Westar to live within its means, as utility customers must. The ink barely dries on one rate increase request before another request is drafted.

I would strongly encourage the members of the Kansas Corporation Commission to not only deny Westar’s latest rate increase request but put a moratorium on future increases.

The five C’s

In the heat of battle on the bench or in a chamber, elected officials frequently get caught up in a firestorm of debate and hardened stances. Effective governing takes on many forms in the eyes of both the officeholder and the electorate. Former Sen. Bob Dole’s ability to seek the “middle ground” in shaping policy and forging bills seems to be a forgotten art.

I offer these five behaviors that are obvious but often ignored in the political process: compromise, communication, collaboration, compassion, consultation.

Vital organization

The 10-year anniversary of the Young Professionals of Wichita is an appropriate time to thank all those visionaries involved with creating and nurturing this vital organization. Though every generation is important to our workforce, local business leaders helped establish this Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce affiliate a decade ago to ensure that Wichita’s best and brightest young talent would stay here to work and continue to contribute their innovative ideas and creative energy to our region.

YPW’s staff, members and volunteers should also be credited for the successful launch and evolution of the organization’s programs and events. A very active YPW board and a dedicated staff have produced record participation and membership growth in the past few years, with the group currently consisting of more than 2,600 members.

The investments made in YPW have produced multiple benefits for the community. Some YPW members serve on area nonprofit boards. Many have participated in the annual Enhance Wichita project, making more than $200,000 in improvements in seven different Wichita neighborhoods. YPW mentoring programs and leadership training have provided individual growth and positive results for Wichita.

Congratulations to YPW on its first decade of building professional and social connections. It will be celebrating with a number of special events that will take place this week. I hope you’ll encourage the young professionals you’re associated with to participate in YPW leadership training and mentoring activities.

This story was originally published July 25, 2015 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Letters on county cuts, Pompeo’s GMO bill, state spending, Westar rate increase, Young Professionals of Wichita."