Thompson views role with realism

“I have an open mind and plan on listening,” Rep. Kent Thompson said of his role for the upcoming legislative session which debuts Jan. 13.
Thompson was appointed Sept. 30 to fill Ed Bideau’s unexpired term in the Kansas House of Representatives, after the Chanute attorney died less than a year into his first term. The Iola real estate agent, farmer, auctioneer and liquor store owner said he “fully planned” to seek election to a full two-year term in November 2014.
“It’s been quite a learning curve, there’s a phenomenal amount of information to consume,” he said, and noted it was helpful to have been an Allen County commissioner for 12 years, up through 2008. Commissioners often have to cope with what flows from the Legislature.
Thompson said he realized the state budget has two sides, expenditures and finding revenue to meet them.
“We have to work to fully fund state responsibilities,” he said, including education, which at all levels consumes about two-thirds of money spent by the state.
Revenue in amounts of any consequence comes from three taxing sources, income, property and sales, and finding a balance among the three is the role of legislators.
Asked about the pending lawsuit concerning school finance that the Supreme Court is expected to rule on before long, Thompson answered with a question.
“What is adequate?” he asked, in reference to both education and its outcome, as well as revenue directed to support it.
In the previous lawsuit, which led to increased funding, the Supreme Court ruled the Legislature wasn’t adequately directing dollars to public education, and relied on a study the Legislature had authorized.
The Legislature responded, but then fell back — which prompted the current lawsuit — when the recession struck.
This past year, when tax receipts showed a hint of a rebound, legislators voted for a round of income tax cuts, rather than direct the extra funds to education.
State aid of $4,492 per student was deemed adequate at the time. Today’s funding is $3,838 and is projected to be $3,812 in fiscal year 2014.
Thompson said he didn’t know what level of funding is needed, suggesting that politics are likely to play a large role, and that leadership in both houses would resist if state aid proposals fall beyond what they think appropriate.
One of the first things Sam Brownback did after being elected governor in 2012 was propose cutting the income tax rate, an issue that found favor in the largely conservative Legislature.
While characterizing himself as a fiscal conservative, Thompson said he also had no illusions about the role of taxes in paying the state’s bills.
“No one wants to pay taxes, but we have to pay our bills,” he said.
Looking back on his days in county government, Thompson recalled when state coffers were depressed by a flagging stream of tax revenue, and local ad valorem tax relief (LAVTR) distributions were cut off seven years ago.
“We (Allen County) lost about $720,000, as I remember, after we already had put together our budget,” leaving commissioners with a tough nut to crack. “We tightened our belts” and got through the fiscal dilemma, albeit with some angst.
The Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) fund is about $10.2 billion short of ensuring long-term solvency.
“We have to work in the direction of fully funding KPERS,” Thompson said. “It’s a state responsibility” that the Legislature can’t abrogate.
Without pursuing the thought too much, Thompson said the state had yet to fully recover from the recession, but that times weren’t as difficult for agriculture this time around, which was an advantage locally.
Leaning on his experience in the field, Thompson said housing sales remain depressed, and that “restrictions in the finance market continue to make it difficult” for would-be homebuyers, particularly younger ones, to make a purchase.
“They don’t have the money for a down payment and they don’t have (established housing) credit,” he said, which results in them not being “in the game and being able to trade up.”
Thompson said he couldn’t answer why Kansas has not participated in expanding its Medicaid rolls and accepted the money to do so from the federal government. The decision would allow those making up to 138 percent of federal poverty guidelines to receive Medicaid benefits, including health insurance. Currently, the cutoff for aid is 32 percent of the federal poverty level. A household of three cannot make more than $630 a month and receive relief.
 The offer, seized by a majority of states, is for the feds to pay 100 percent of Medicaid expenditures for three years and then assume 90 percent funding from there on out. Enrolling in the expansion would net Kansas an estimated $1.2 billion over the next nine years.
The plight of the poor is not lost on Thompson.
He has visited with numerous groups in his Ninth District — Allen and much of Neosho counties — including school districts, and noted about 59 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, an indicator of low family income.
Consolidation of school districts is an oft-mentioned topic when legislators discuss school finance.
Thompson pointed out that some legislators had alluded to “starving schools financially” to force consolidation, a draconian measure.
However, the new legislator said he found it interesting that one administrative team could function for all schools in Wichita, while Allen County had three for a vastly smaller number of students and staff.

“I’M LOOKING forward to trying to do a good job for the district,” he concluded, and noted that among his first chores when the session starts would be “to build relationships” with others in the House.
At this point he has no signature legislation in mind.