Kansas state government Archives - Page 154 of 160 Voice For Liberty

Mar

Eminent domain testimony

Thank you to John Todd for this testimony on this threat to liberty, and for traveling to Topeka to deliver it. To: Members of the House Federal and State Committee, March 6, 2006 hearing. Subject: Testimony in Support for the passage of House Concurrent Resolution No. 5025; conditional Support for the passage of House Concurrent Resolution No. 5040; and unconditional Support for the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 1616; all involving Eminent Domain reform. I am a real estate broker and land developer in Sedgwick County, and a Volunteer Coordinator for Americans For Prosperity, and a member of the…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

The “Free” Kansas Lottery Proceeds

An article titled "Nothing's Free" by Russell Roberts, published in The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=4419 explains that even though we might be accustomed to thinking that the state's proceeds from taxes like those on the Kansas Lottery are "free," this is not at all the case. As Mr. Roberts explains: About 55 percent of the receipts go to prizes, 10 percent to expenses, and 35 percent to education or some similar unimpeachable cause. Because 35 percent goes to neither winners nor losers, the real cost of the lottery is that you win less often and the prizes are smaller…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

Kansas Families United for Public Education (KFUPE) on state aid to schools

As of today (February 2, 2006), the website for Kansas Families United for Public Education (KFUPE) (located at http://fundourpublicschools.com) states, under the heading "The Crisis": "State aid has failed to keep pace with inflation." I was puzzled by this statement, as I thought we were spending more and more on education each year. So I decided to investigate. The Kansas State Department of Education has a table of recent education expenditures in Kansas. The data is located at http://www.ksde.org/leaf/data_warehouse/total_expenditures/d0Stateexp.pdf. Here is the table of spending data: Spending in Nominal Dollars Total Spending Per Student School FTE* State Federal Local Total…

Jan

By Bob Weeks

John Todd on Eminent Domain in Kansas

To: The Kansas House/Senate Joint Committee on Economic Development. Subject: Testimony Regarding Eminent Domain at the October 11, 2005 hearing. My name is John Todd. I am a real estate broker and land developer from Wichita. I support the proposition to amend article 15 of the constitution of the state of Kansas by adding a new section thereto, concerning eminent domain as follows: "Private property shall not be taken except for public use, and private property shall not be taken without just compensation. The taking of private property with the intent to or in anticipation of selling, leasing or otherwise…

Jan

The Kansas Productivity Puzzle

The Kansas Productivity Puzzle Lance Kinzer Kansas State Representative, Dist. 14 http://www.lancekinzer.com Among the many interesting things that occurred during the first week of the legislative session perhaps the most compelling involved a presentation to the House Tax Committee by Professor Arthur Hall of the Center for Applied Economics at The University of Kansas. Dr. Hall's presentation was focused on something he calls The Kansas Productivity Puzzle. Simply put, Kansas lags behind both the national average and other states in our region in the crucial economic category of productivity growth. In economic terms productivity is the value of goods and…

Jan

By Bob Weeks

The decline In Kansas continues

The Decline In Kansas Continues By Karl Peterjohn, Executive Director Kansas Taxpayers Network January 17, 2006 The relative decline of Kansas continues. This decline is vividly demonstrated when state and federal revenue growth is examined. Total federal revenues grew 13.9 percent last year to total $2.142 trillion dollars. This was an increase in federal revenues of $262 billion. This increase was almost twice the percentage rate of growth of Kansas state revenues that grew only 7.1 percent or $322 million in fiscal year 2005 that ended June 30, 2005. The federal revenue figures are for the fiscal year that ended…

Dec

Kansas Media Spin on Moderates and Conservatives

Here's a very good piece on Kansas politics written by Karl Peterjohn of the Kansas Taxpayers Network. Karl has amazing knowledge of Kansas politics and politicians of the past two decades. I wish he would write a book about it. Kansas Media Spin on Moderates and Conservatives Karl Peterjohn, Executive Director Kansas Taxpayers Network The liberal Republican Steve Rose has taken a break from advocating tax hikes to editorialize in the Johnson County Sun newspapers contrasting the difference between GOP "moderates" and "conservatives." He does this without mentioning fiscal, property rights and other issues. I'm copying Rose's commentary at the…

Dec

By Bob Weeks

More Under Reported Kansas News

More Under Reported Kansas News By Karl Peterjohn, Executive Director Kansas Taxpayers Network There are at least two stories that have not received the mainstream news media attention that they deserve in Kansas. Kansans need more information than they have received and the readers should decide whether the following is unreported or just under reported in their daily, mainstream newspaper coverage. It was headlines across Kansas when Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison announced his candidacy for Attorney General. Morrison, a liberal Johnson County Republican prior to his announcement, bailed out of the GOP said he was going to run…

Nov

By Bob Weeks

Kansas Income Growth Lags

By Karl Peterjohn You will earn more if you do not work in Kansas. That is nothing new but the size and scope of the economic problem facing Kansans has become more vivid. National data has regularly shown that Kansans' incomes are lower than the national average and this is impacting the economic climate in this state. In September, Wichita State University's Center for Economic Development and Business Research issued a report showing how badly Kansas lagged with the fastest and slowest growing parts of the United States. In this report Kansas vividly contrasted with fast growing Colorado in all…

Nov

By Bob Weeks

Taxpayer Bill Of Rights (TABOR) eviscerated

By Karl Peterjohn Governor Bill Owens won a Pyrrhic victory in his campaign to eliminate the Taxpayers Bill Of Rights (TABOR) limits on government growth in Colorado. Owens' short lived Proposition C victory will lead to a host of long term consequences that are mainly negative for Coloradans looking for a better economic future for themselves and their families. Passage of Proposition C is huge defeat for economic freedom across the country and a setback for fiscal responsibility. The passage of Proposition C will mark a key political and public policy turning point that ends Owens' career as a fiscally…