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Former Member, Judiciary Committee, Kansas State House of Representatives
Member, Insurance
Member, Local Government
Hobbies or Special Talents:
In my spare time I am an avid gardener. I also enjoy hiking and camping with family, reading,
Reason for Seeking Public Office:
When I was a girl growing up in America, we moved often keeping up with my father's career in the Air Force. Once, I sat down and tallied up all the moves and discovered that in 12 years of schooling I had attended 14 separate schools.
A benefit of these frequent moves was the opportunity to explore the diversity of America and our people. For instance I started school in southern California, where my classmates were, Filipino, Japanese, Hispanic, Black and Mennonite.
Then with moves to Texas, New Mexico, Washington state, Missouri, and Virginia I was exposed to many versions of American history and culture. As I studied the foundations of our government, two key elements stood out to me. One is that the founders exhibited genius in creating such a solid, resilient, profound and unique structure for self-government. The other element that did not escape my attention is that there--at least at first--did not appear to be any place for my gender. Minority races and women were not included in full citizenship. But, again, the genius of our government is the provision for making needed changes. Not speedy by any means. Many of the women who worked so hard for women's suffrage did not live long enough to exercise their rights to participate fully in our self-governing processes.
One main value I learned is that the success of this wonderful democratic approach is a reliance on the willingness of citizens to engage and participate. I decided at an early age that I would never miss a vote, and would participate fully in the public discourse that leads to public policy.
Accordingly, I have paid close attention to public policy established by our current Kansas Legislature and have concluded it is the worst in Kansas history. Under the leadership of Governor Brownback the Kansas legislature has taken us down the path of discredited "trickle-down" economics and left the state in the worst condition in generations.
The current legislature has proved itself hostile to public education, to important policy protecting and sustaining our environment and to treating all Kansans fairly. Current legislators have bowed to the dictates of extreme rightwing organizations like ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council). They have lost touch with the citizens they purport to represent.
1. Abortions should always be illegal.
- No Answer
2. Abortions should always be legal.
- X
3. Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy.
- No Answer
4. Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape.
- No Answer
5. Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
- No Answer
6. Abortions should be subject to a mandatory waiting period.
- No Answer
7. Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors.
- X
8. Allow relatives of a woman who is planning or has had a late-term abortion to file suit against the provider if they believe the abortion violates the law.
- No Answer
9. Require abortion providers to offer the woman an opportunity to view an ultrasound before the abortion is performed.
- No Answer
10. Allow Kansas prosecutors to investigate a suspected violation of late-term abortion laws in the county where the abortion was performed or in the county in which the woman resides.
- No Answer
11. Other or expanded principles
- Current law should be strictly enforced. The constitutional provisions to protect the life and health of the woman should be preserved.
1. Education (Higher)
- Maintain Status
2. Education (K-12)
- Maintain Status
3. Emergency preparedness
- Maintain Status
4. Environment
- Maintain Status
5. Health care
- Slightly Increase
6. Law enforcement
- Maintain Status
7. Transportation and Highway infrastructure
- Maintain Status
8. Welfare
- Maintain Status
9. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer
1. Alcohol taxes
- Maintain Status
2. Cigarette taxes
- Maintain Status
3. Corporate taxes
- Maintain Status
4. Gasoline taxes
- Maintain Status
5. Income taxes (incomes below $75,000)
- Maintain Status
6. Income taxes (incomes above $75,000)
- Maintain Status
7. Property taxes
- Maintain Status
8. Sales taxes
- Maintain Status
9. Vehicle taxes
- Maintain Status
10. Other or expanded categories
- Our state budget will be challenged in the coming months. My approach would be to work for a balance of revenue sources.
11. Should state sales taxes be extended to Internet sales?
- Undecided
12. Should accounts such as a "rainy day" fund be used to balance the state budget?
- Undecided
13. Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget?
- Undecided
14. Other or expanded principles
- I would be cautious about reveune solutions that help balance the state budget but cause a shift in costs to local government. I favor a balance between revenue sources. I would work to maintain a prudent funding reserve in state balances.
1. Do you support the current limit of terms for Kansas governors?
- Yes
2. Do you support limiting the number of terms for Kansas state senators and representatives?
- No
1. Individual
- Yes
2. PAC
- Yes
3. Corporate
- Yes
4. Political Parties
- Yes
5. Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
- Yes
6. Do you support imposing spending limits on state-level political campaigns?
- Undecided
7. Should Kansas participate in the federal REAL ID program?
- Undecided
8. Should voters be required to show photo identification before voting beginning in 2010?
- No
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff.
- No Answer
2. Support the death penalty in Kansas.
- No Answer
3. Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
- X
4. Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
- X
5. Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
- No Answer
6. Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
- No Answer
7. Support state and local law enforcement officials enforcing federal immigration laws.
- X
8. Support hate crime legislation.
- X
9. Other or expanded principles
- A state prison system that does not accept parole violators and others in a timely manner causes extra expense at the local level (county jails). Jails should be primarily short-term and for those criminals awaiting trial or those serving short jail sentences.
1. Support state funding of universal pre-K programs.
- No Answer
2. Support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind).
- No Answer
3. Support state education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students.
- X
4. Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams.
- No Answer
5. Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any public school.
- No Answer
6. Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
- No Answer
7. Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.
- X
8. Support using a merit pay system for teachers.
- X
9. Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable.
- X
10. Support allowing illegal immigrant high school graduates of Kansas to pay in-state tuition at public universities.
- X
11. Other or expanded principles
- We will soon be challenged by a large number of teacher retirements. We will need solutions to help us recruit and retain quality teachers to replace these retirees.
1. Increase funding for state job-training programs that re-train displaced workers and teach skills needed in today's job market.
- No Answer
2. Reduce state government regulations on the private sector.
- X
3. Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses.
- X
4. Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for children in low-income working families.
- X
5. Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families.
- X
6. Include sexual orientation in Kansas' anti-discrimination laws.
- No Answer
7. Include gender identity in Kansas' anti-discrimination laws.
- No Answer
8. Increase the state minimum wage.
- X
9. Support laws that prevent employers from dismissing employees at will.
- No Answer
10. Support financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
- X
11. Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients.
- X
12. Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients.
- X
13. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology.
- X
2. Support increased production of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil, etc).
- No Answer
3. Support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops.
- No Answer
4. Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned.
- No Answer
5. Support funding for improvements to Kansas' power generating and transmission facilities.
- X
6. Support funding for open space preservation.
- X
7. Limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming.
- X
8. Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law.
- X
9. Support the construction of two new coal-fired power plants in South West Kansas built and operated by Sunflower Electric Power Corp.
- No Answer
10. Other or expanded principles
- I would prefer biofuel technology that increasingly utilizes non-food sources, such as switchgrass, celulosic agricultural waste products, algae, or other such sources. Dryland production of grain sorghum used for ethanol is a positive development. Biofuels are an important element in the Kansas economy.
1. Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows?
- No
2. Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns?
- Yes
3. Should a license be required for gun possession?
- No
4. Do you support current levels of enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- Yes
5. Do you support current state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- Yes
6. Other or expanded principles
- For gun show sales, background checks would be desirable, but appear to be unworkable at this time.
1. Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state-funded care where necessary.
- X
2. Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government.
- No Answer
3. Limit the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
- No Answer
4. Allow patients to sue their HMOs.
- No Answer
5. Require hospitals and labs to release reports on infections that are a risk to public health, while not compromising patient confidentiality.
- No Answer
6. Legalize physician assisted suicide in Kansas.
- No Answer
7. Support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes.
- No Answer
8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Should Kansas recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
- Undecided
2. Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry?
- No
3. Should Kansas provide state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples?
- Undecided
4. Do you support a moment of silence in public schools?
- Yes
5. Do you support voluntary prayer in public schools?
- Yes
6. Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods?
- Yes
7. Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs?
- No
8. Should the state government consider race and gender in state government contracting and hiring decisions?
- Undecided
9. Do you support affirmative action in public college admissions?
- Yes
10. Should Kansas continue affirmative action programs?
- Yes
11. Do you support state funding of stem cell research?
- Yes
12. Do you support state funding of embryonic stem cell research?
- Yes
13. Do you support allowing pharmacists who conscientiously object to emergency contraception to refuse to dispense it?
- Undecided
14. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.
- 1) 1) Education: we should maintain our progress and prepare for the coming teacher retirement boom. 2) Healthcare: we must find ways to help uninsured Kansans acquire coverage. Costs are reduced when people receive regular and preventive healthcare services. Affordability for businesses and individuals is also a serious issue. 3) Public infrastructure: especially maintenance of roads and bridges. Kansas should maximize federal transportation funding, including expanding bike lanes and pedestrian pathways. We must also address the need for transmission lines to make our energy grid more workable.
Type: resolution Chamber: lower
Type: bill Chamber: lower
Type: resolution Chamber: lower
