2005 Legislative Agenda

Wage Fairness

Kansas’ minimum hourly wage reflects how our state values the work efforts of its citizens. At the rate of $2.65 per hour, it is the lowest state minimum wage in the United States. That bottom of the barrel position vividly tells the nation and state that Kansas does not consider its citizens’ work to be of enough value to provide themselves with food, or clothes, or a place to sleep. Kansas legislators should remove this disgrace from our record and raise the state minimum wage to at least $5.30.

KAN supports the living wage. State and local economic development assistance and privatized government jobs should require living wage standards. Major state contracts should require living wage standards and state employees should be paid a living wage.

KAN opposes any legislative changes that would weaken job or wage protections.

Corporate Accountability

Citizens rely upon elected officials to be fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars. Tax breaks and subsidies should be at least as well scrutinized as line items in the state budget, but they are not. Kansas should apply the same accountability standards to incentives such as sales tax exemptions, tax abatements, tax credits, and industrial revenue bonds.

All elected representatives of Kansas should rally for job standards that promote fiscal responsibility and offer living wages, health care benefits, and full time employment status. These standards should be an essential part of tax incentives for business development. This will help to avoid the phenomenon of taxpayers subsidizing poverty-level jobs, which will in turn, lessen the need for tax-funded social services, such as food stamps and Medicaid. Legislation requiring businesses to account for their tax breaks, abatements, credits, exemptions and subsidies should be passed and should specify financial consequences to any business failing to provide the state with such information.

 

State Budget and Tax Fairness

KAN endorses a fair state budget that protects the most vulnerable Kansans: children, the disabled, the disenfranchised, and the workers of this state. In conjunction with that belief, we strongly oppose any effort to amend the Kansas constitution or pass legislation that would limit the ability of our duly elected legislators to determine the appropriate revenue levels necessary to fund the state government and the services it provides Kansans. We support the authority of our elected representatives to adjust taxes as the state economy and citizens’ services require and expect them to carry out the responsibilities they assume when the voters elect them to office.

We call for corrections to state and local tax systems to more fairly distribute the cost of government across all taxpaying entities. Currently, the effective rate for those taxes fall most heavily on the poorest Kansans; an 11.5% rate for those earning less than $14,000 as compared to 10.4% for middle-income persons, and an 8% effective rate for the wealthiest 1% of Kansans whose incomes average $781,000. This shameful situation must be changed.

 

Affordable Health Care

Achievement of high quality, affordable health care (physical, dental, and mental) is imperative for all Kansans, urban and rural. Kansas should avail itself of appropriate opportunities to reduce the costs of health care services and prescription drugs without sacrificing quality or increasing eligibility requirements.

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