INTERVIEW: Kansas State Sen. Jim Barnett

Published: Friday, October 27, 2006 11:36 PM CDT
E-mail this story | Print this page

Jim Barnett
Kansan Staff Report

Gubernatorial candidate and Kansas State Sen. Jim Barnett visited with members of the Kansas City Kansan’s editorial staff earlier this week to discuss his accomplishments in the Senate, state gambling and a host of other issues.

Barnett, a Republican, is running for governror against Democratic incumbent Kathleen Sebelius. Last week, Sebelius sat down for a visit with the Kansan’s staff.

Here now is a complete transcript from Barnett’s interview with the Kansan.

Kansas City Kansan: What do you think has been the highlight of your term in the Kansas State Senate


Jim Barnett: Just my brief bio, I am a farm kid and practicing physician, past school board president and senator for the past six years. In the legislature I focused a great deal on education and health, and if we were to look at major accomplishments, certainly establishing the Kansas Health Policy Authority. For the first time in decades, it represents the true reorganization of government and providing a stage for the broad discussion on health care policy. Not only policy, but how to have healthier Kansans. I think that would be my most important thing.

KCK: What is the most important issue in this campaign that your opponent, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, is not talking about?

JB: I would dissect that down a little bit. In the broad sense, it’s leadership, and as a physician, people come to me with broken parts and expect me to fix them. As governor, I think voters expect the governor to offer solutions and fix the problems facing the state. So when it comes to the issue of how we’ll pay for school finance and establish an actual school finance plan, the governor’s last plan three years ago was property tax, sales tax and income tax increases. Regarding the economy, I have yet to see a true plan from the governor on how to help the Kansas economy catch up with the rest of nation and grow into one that can pay for schools and highways and tuition support. So I offer a credible economic plan. The issue of health care is another example. The governor’s plan in the past is the expansion of entitlements, Medicaid and tax increases, and that’s not health care reform. I’ve offered specific a five-point health care reform package that will truly reduce the number of uninsured and will provide quality health care to Kansans.

KCK: What is the most important issue in this campaign that you think voters don’t know enough about?



JB: I would say what voters don’t have a common knowledge of is the true fiscal condition of our state. We have become a debtor state in the last four years. Going from a very low debt state to one of the leading debt states, what people think is a billion dollars saved in paper clips is really a billion dollars taken from the highway program and bonded and turned into credit card debt with our children. I don’t think people have a long-term understanding on what’s going on with the highway program that needs to be renewed in 2009. You can list out a long litany of fiscal problems for the state, and yet we are 42nd in job growth since 2003. We are first or second in government job growth, that’s why our unemployment rate is down, but we’re 50th in private sector job growth. I don’t think people have a clear understanding of what faces this state and why we need somebody that actually can lead Kansas to better job growth.

KCK: Let’s switch to education. What are your thoughts on the school-funding bill passed this summer after the Kansas Supreme Court ruling?

JB: First of all, I do not think the court should appropriate money. Their role is to determine if laws are constitutional. So, I disagree with their decision to set an actual dollar amount. The power of the purse was given to the legislature so that people could hold accountable those who spend their tax dollars. I don’t direct these comments toward an individual process. I think it reflects the process of how we select court justices. It’s a process problem.



KCK: Here in Kansas City, Kan., the city’s urban school districts were disappointed with the ruling. What do you think can be done to help urban school districts in the state?

JB: Kansans are broadly disappointed with the school finance bill, from Wyandotte County to Johnson County. I voted against the $800 million plan over three years and the governor signed that bill knowing it drove the state to unconstitutional debt. So that is why legislators should make the decision, not the Kansas Supreme Court. It’s terribly complex and people who represent various areas in the state should sit at the table and make the decision, not the Supreme Court.

KCK: Gov. Sebelius says she’s looking into ways to change the structure of the Kansas Board of Education. What are your thoughts on the State Board, and do you think it should be restructured?



JB: I’ve found it quite hypocritical that the governor criticized my proposal to change the selection of Supreme Court justices, and because she’s unhappy with one decision, that’s no reason to change the process. Yet, she has compared our state school board to Fred Phelps and has called them an embarrassment, and because of that, she wants to change the selection process of the Board of Education. She just made those comments again in Wichita. Voters from Kansas are disenfranchised enough with the voting process. To take a right to vote away is wrong. We should change it from a 10 member board to a nine-member or 11-member board. If you’ve ever served on a city commission or county commission you know an even number is gridlock, so I support that change. The system is working, the voters come to the ballot box and I do not want to take that away from the voters. It’s more of a power grab. The governor is quite happy with the Supreme Court, which I don’t think gives the people a voice in the process.

KCK: A major issue facing the state, and Wyandotte County in particular, is gambling. What is your stance on state-operated gaming?

JB: I have spent 24 years practicing medicine, and I have taken care of patients with addictions and (who are) incarcerated with children. It is very difficult for me to support the proposed expansion of that type of behavior. I also have a great deal of concern about corruption. To make the State of Kansas the only state in the union to offer gambling opens the door widely to corruption. That reason alone is why I said no to that. I am a practical person.



KCK: On a similar note, do you support the addition of slot machines at The Woodlands in Kansas City, Kan.?

JB: That would involve state owned (gambling), as I understand it. Maybe I don’t understand the question. It would be state owned, and I would not support that.

KCK: Would you support it if it was not state-owned?



JB: Only if the constitution was changed. So that would require a constitutional change for me to support that.

KCK: We are facing a critical workforce issue in Wyandotte County. We have available jobs in the western part of the county, and available workers in the east. What’s lacking is the transportation to get the workers to the jobs, and also the training to prepare them for the jobs available. Is there anything the state can do to help?

JB: Well, they are separate issues, of course. We have one of the strongest work forces in the nation. That is one of the biggest attractions for businesses. I’m sure it is not low taxes. That certainly needs to be improved, and I think that needs to be improved on a case-by-case basis, so we need to address those issues for Wyandotte County and certainly the governor would have that as a priority. As far as transportation, I would have to look at the exact programs and make sure on the economic sense for the taxpayers and the geography of the land. The highway program is one of our shining stars in the state, but it has been robbed. Everyone thinks $2 is enough for a gallon, let a lone three. You know what we have done to many of our border businesses on the border of Oklahoma and Missouri? We’ve killed them. There is a tax differential between the two states already.



KCK: Let’s switch to the issue of immigration. How do you think illegal immigration has changed the State of Kansas?

JB: Dramatically. When you take me back to my days as a school board president, I was helping our community deal with the change in cultural makeup in Emporia as far as the impact on education, health care, housing, law enforcement, and the faith community. I was the chair of a task force to help us deal with those issues and make them work. That is what we all have to figure out, a way to make it work. So it has been a dramatic change and ongoing. Now we have thousands every day coming on our highways, people who are drug traffickers, felons. Meth is a huge concern. Mostly meth is manufactured in Mexico, it is not manufactured in this state. So there are huge issues, homeland security.

KCK: What should be done to address the problem?



JB: First of all, I’ll say this all up front. I do not support driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, I do not support in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. There are too many neighbors and friends who can’t afford to send their children to college. I don’t think we should treat someone here illegally better than a citizen. That is fundamentally wrong. I know it is controversial, but I think we should protect the integrity of our voting system, so that those who are actually voting to spend your tax dollars and write your laws are contributing to the system. In a constitutional way, I support photo IDs. Take a photo ID to buy a plane ticket. Make sure there is no poll tax. Some courts have upheld that, some have not. I think we should have a common language. This is not to be harsh, but I was in Garden City last night, and we had to have a common way to discuss the issues, and it should be English. That is not to be harsh. Law enforcement. In 1996, Congress passed legislation so law enforcement could enter a memorandum of understanding to deal with immigration. Four of the individual who flew planes into buildings had been pulled over by the Highway Patrol. I think we should enter into that. Illegal immigration does not end on the border. Any employer that knowingly hires someone illegal should be held very accountable. There are many issues that involve illegal immigration the government can be involved with.

KCK: What is the role of the State of Kansas, and the governor’s office in particular, in the United States’ alternative energy plan?

JB: We lag in the nation for biofuels, for corn to fuel, soybeans to diesel. We badly lag in the development of wind energy. We are relying on coal in the short term. The prevailing winds in this state. Mercury. The greatest cause of mercury is coal-generated electric plants. Most of the bodies of water in Kansas are so contaminated, pregnant women shouldn’t eat fish from them. There are neurotoxins in them. Kansas should become an exporter of clean renewable energy. Long term, all the major automobile manufactures are looking at hydrogen. We have the infrastructure there. If you take hydrogen and burn it… and take a glass and place it at the end of the exhaust, hydrogen and oxygen make water.



KCK: Do you support the use of embryonic stem cells in medical research?

JB: I have three patients alive today because of stem cell therapy. I strongly support stem cell therapy and research, but let me talk about your question specifically about embryonic, and just not embryonic we’re talking about in this area, but the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer. When you go through the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer, you are experimenting with cloning, and that gave us Dolly the Sheep. When you alter something of the human genome. As a physician, I do not support human cloning or experimentation of human cloning. We need to take a deep breath and slow down.

KCK: Eminent domain is a topic of great debate throughout the country. How can the state make sure eminent domain is being used wisely?

JB: This is an important issue to your history and the state of Kansas. There are two very different opinions, from the Chamber of Commerce members who say, “Decide it locally,” to members of the Kansas Farm Bureau and Kansas Livestock Association that say there needs to be a constitutional amendment to protect (their property). I think what the legislature did was something in the middle. If there are issues with private property, it is taken to the legislature. I’m sure blight’s going to be one of the issues we’ll have to define. Now, I think that’s going to change overtime. This is a process of evolution. This is a changing process.

KCK: How can Kansas encourage economic growth in the future?

JB: First of all, the state needs to control of the growth of government. Otherwise, we’re driven to do what drives business away, and that’s increasing taxes. That’s why when they make the decision to leave the state or not coming here, it’s high taxation. Number one, we should eliminate the estate tax, and I’ll do that in my first year in office. Many Kansans do their estate claims by leaving the state. Number two, and this is huge for Kansas City, we need to start phasing down the income tax rates. We have a half-full bucket that’s leaking with Kansans leaving the state for other states with lower income taxes. I’m not talking about the wealthy… retired teachers do simple math and know they’re better off with lower taxes. Number three, for younger families I want to increase the dependency income tax exemption to $500. It will go in their pockets and it goes back into the economy. Number four, very important to your business, is a ten percent investment tax credit. You spend $20,000, you get $2,000 of the bottom line and invest that back into your business. I’ve worked with economists and asked what would get the job done. We should hear a sucking sound of businesses coming into Kansas, not businesses going out of Kansas. My policy I just described will work in the entire state of Kansas.

KCK: If you could look beyond the Statehouse, what do you see as your plans and goals in life after this election?

JB: If I’m elected governor, it would be my hope to serve eight years because I want to get this state turned around. One of the things I very much want to lead on is health care. We spend 16 percent of our GDP on health care, and 47 million are uninsured… We have to fight the hard fight. I know how hard it is, but it can be turned around by a leader with passion on the issue.

KCK: How do you think being a physician helps prepare you to be governor?

JB: My wife tells me I’m too honest to be a politician. Let’s hope that doesn’t disqualify me. I think it comes down to what we talked about earlier, about fixing problems in the state. I’m very happy to do that. and I try to talk others into doing that. But I’m offering leadership on the issues and solutions to the problems.

http://www.kansascitykansan.com/article ... /news5.txt