Letters to the editor on unemployment reform, taxes and gatekeeper training

Unemployment reform

The 2021 Legislature is in the books. From my seat, partisan opponents agreed on very little throughout the session. However, unemployment insurance reforms ultimately garnered unanimous support in both chambers.

With dialogue throughout 2020 regarding concerns of unemployment fraud, identity theft and huge business tax implications, it became apparent just how large the problems truly were once the session kicked off. By early February, the full impact and concerns of earlier discussions seemingly became THE issue of the session as legislators were contacted daily by constituents recounting their personal frustrations and concerns with the broken system. The antiquated and vulnerable Kansas UI system needed immediate attention.

HB 2196 provides common sense and evidence-based UI reforms that will better serve all Kansans and Kansas employers in the short and long term. The reforms will help small businesses get back on their feet, get to the heart of hiring employees back into the workforce, hold employers and employees harmless from fraud and/or COVID-19 related charges, and ultimately ensure Kansas has a modern unemployment insurance IT system to avoid bottlenecks and pain points for everyone during future economic downturns.

A sincere thank you to Rep. Sean Tarwater and Sen. Rob Olson for leading the charge on this huge and important undertaking. Also, special thanks also goes to Reps. Marty Long, Steven Johnson and Stephanie Clayton; Sens. Mark Steffen, Caryn Tyson and Tom Holland; and their colleagues from across the state.

The practice of democracy isn’t easy, with or without a pandemic, and I tip my hat to all of you.

Food tax

Not surprisingly, a front-page article reported that many consumer goods, including food and household products, will be experiencing price increases in the high single digits in the foreseeable future. Clearly, this will most drastically affect lower income citizens who spend all they make on these and other essentials.

At the same time, we read that the Legislature has overridden the governor’s veto of the ill-advised tax reduction. An enlightened legislature would have seen this as the perfect time to act on a long-advocated benefit: reducing or eliminating the sales tax on food. As we know, Kansas is one of the few states that applies the full tax rate on all food items.

It is too late to undo this reckless act on the part of a majority of our legislators, but surely they can see that they now have no rational defense for continuing to penalize all of us, but especially those less able, with the burdensome tax on food.

Flat tax

Everyone is always talking about big corporations paying their fair share of taxes. Lets all go to the flat tax. Kansas tells me to pay 10% in taxes , I will pay that. Federal says pay 20% in taxes, I will pay that. Everyone should pay the same. Very simple, but simple never works.

Gatekeeper training

The prevalence of child sexual abuse in our Kansas communities is hushed and there are minimal effective interventions proposed or implemented. As a state, we should understand that if we do the same action repeatedly then nothing will change. It should matter to us to safeguard children from traumatizing experiences that impact their lives in the present and in their futures. This is why House Bill 2037 should be submitted again for the next Kansas Legislative session.

This bill would provide public school training for teachers to identify children potentially being sexually abused. As gatekeepers, teachers are on the frontlines for our children. Other than the caretakers of the child, school staff interact with children the most hours, days and minutes for a full school year.

While there is controversy surrounding this bill, the benefits of gatekeeper training is evidence-based and positive no matter the history of the individual who proposed the bill. While the situation may not be ideal, our focus should be on the protection of the next generation and recognizing the robustness of teachers as a line of defense.