"A Better Way" agenda from the Republican leadership team
Article/Politics - 2 minute read
On Tuesday, January 10, 2023, Kansas House and Senate Republican leadership teams released a legislative agenda called, “A Better Way: Our Commitment to Kansas”. In a Facebook post by Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives Dan Hawkins (R), he states that they asked people all over the state what was important to them and that the plan “reflects” what they heard.
“We’re committed to those concerns- taxes and the economy, law and order, education, healthcare, and individual liberties,” Hawkins post read. “A Better Way is our commitment to Kansans that we’re listening and we have a path forward.”
At the A Better Way press conference Speaker Hawkins opened the conference before handing over the floor to Senate President Ty Masterson (R).
“A Better Way has had its genesis quite a while ago—actually, the Senate President and I started talking four months ago,” Speaker Hawkins said. “And the one thing that we wanted to do, is we wanted to have a legislative session that was keyed in on what was important to our members.”
Senate President Masterson started off with a joke before going into a short speech.
“I’m excited about this relationship with Dan and the House—I have been House trained, myself,” Senate President Masterson said. “I understand the importance of those relationships and there’s nobody in this room behind us that’s standing here that doesn’t want to leave a mark that’s bigger than themselves on Kansas.”
Speaker Hawkins and Senate President Masterson went back and forth on the floor to speak about certain parts of the agenda including but not limited to lower taxes, free-market healthcare, school choice, prohibit ESG investments, make starting businesses easier for Kansans, and commitment to public safety and Constitutional freedoms.
Kansas Economist Michael Austin stated in a Facebook post that he was pleased to see it had “many freedom policies that gives opportunities and resources back to you.” Austin also provided a quick summary of seven things the agenda would do including:
A Flat Tax
A BALANCED BUDGET that pays down debt and grows emergency savings
EDUCATION FREEDOM
Stopping Laura Kelly’s Medicaid Expansion
Stopping ESG
Encouraging work and a healthy labor force
Public Safety and Constitutional Protections
The “A Better Way” agenda is issue oriented, not bill oriented, as Speaker Hawkins explained at the press conference, so there are no bills to be seen in the agenda. However, below, bullet points are provided for the agenda to get a fuller picture of what this “commitment to Kansas” looks like.
