Issues

I am unabashedly pro-life; every life is a soul made in God’s image with innate value. I also believe that our culture doesn’t properly recognize and celebrate the value and sanctity of motherhood the way that it should. We can be proactive in the way that we structure and support young families.

I believe that society functions best when underpinned by the family unit and too often our culture ignores this.

Almost everyone I’ve spoken to has felt the pinch year-over-year of our increasing tax burden, specifically property taxes. This pain isn’t limited to a single demographic either; seniors on fixed incomes as well as young families entering adulthood are all asking for better accountability. I counted 11 separate taxing authorities on my property tax statement! There are too many entities stripping our wallets clean without sufficient pushback or accountability on those budgets. I will support standardized auditing and legislation requiring greater transparency for how our tax dollars are being spent at every level of government. I will also support legislation that empowers the voice of taxpayers to have greater authority.

American history is intertwined with entrepreneurship and it is important for our state to maintain policies that facilitate growth and innovation in the private sector. It is important for our government leaders (at all levels) to remember their diminished role in a free market, while also considering that we do not operate in a vacuum. We as Kansans are competing against our neighboring states for economic opportunity and investment. Ultimately the government does not exist to pick winners and losers, but to maintain reasonable, minimal regulation.

Our Law Enforcement Officers are absolutely vital to our quality of life. They preserve our safety, our property and our communities. I stand with our local law enforcement entities and will fight to see that they have access to the resources they need.

On the flip side, we are living out the unintended consequences of a judicial system that has chosen too often to side with criminals over victims. I’ve co-sponsored legislation to keep repeat offenders specifically behind bars if there is a consistent pattern of behavior that they have no interest in being a functional member of society.

As a foster and adoptive parent, I’ve witnessed firsthand the need for good foster families in Kansas, as well as the need for a flexible, adaptive foster care system to meet the needs of a variety of children and cases. I’ve worked to establish better outcomes for our foster children and achieve permanency in a more timely manner.

I’ve supported legislation in the Child Welfare Reform Committee that would remove obstacles for foster families to care for our teenagers in the system specifically.