With the political pendulum swinging hard to the right, 17th District Senator Jeff Longbine of Emporia decided to halt his official leadership role in the Chamber.
Longbine joined KVOE's On-Air Chat on Wednesday to discuss that decision and the potential direction of the Legislature for the 2021 session beginning next month. Longbine says the Senate became more conservative after roughly 30 percent turnover during the election cycle earlier this year.
Longbine was hoping to move from Senate Vice President to President, and he says the Class of 2016 -- which helped to reverse major tax cuts championed by former governor Sam Brownback and pushed hard for Medicare reform -- gave him a lot of support. However, several of them were voted out in the August primary.
For the ongoing pandemic response, Longbine gives the state an A-minus to a B. He says the state's response was hampered by the Emergency Management Act's longtime structure, which had no pandemic response effort at all. He credited Governor Laura Kelly for her initial response through executive order, and he says the state did as well as it could to this point.
Looking ahead to the upcoming session, Longbine says Medicaid expansion is likely "dead on arrival" with the shift towards a more conservative Legislature. He has concerns about a potential push for school vouchers, which he says is detrimental to public schools. Given the direction of the Legislature, Longbine sees some discussion about tax cuts coming but he says the budget doesn't support anything like what the state had under former governor Sam Brownback.
"flow" - Google News
December 10, 2020 at 04:07AM
https://ift.tt/39Wdp7T
"Ebb and flow' of Kansas Senate prompts Longbine to step away from Senate Vice President role - KVOE
"flow" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Sw6Z5O
https://ift.tt/2zNW3tO
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to ""Ebb and flow' of Kansas Senate prompts Longbine to step away from Senate Vice President role - KVOE"
Post a Comment