Let's get this out of the way. Taxes are the cost of living in a modern civilization, one that wants its children to succeed, its seniors to live a full life, its families to be more than one medical disaster away from homelessness.

Here are the 115 Kansas state legislators, Democrats and Republicans both, who voted to override Governor Brownback's veto of Senate Bill 30, which rolled back his disastrous tax policies. These courageous legislators stood up for Kansas, stood up for families hurt by tax policies that cut services, raised food taxes, and lined the pockets of the wealthiest without leaving anything for improved health care, educating our kids, or taking care of our seniors.

As you know, there's an election coming up on November 7th. And you know it's a local election, where we elect representatives to our city governments, to our local school boards, to county positions, community college trustee boards, water boards, and so on. You also know it's not going to garner a lot of headlines, a lot of turnout, or a lot of interest.

But it should.

Labor Day was established in 1894 as a Federal holiday, but only after thirty states had already instituted it on their own. A day to commemorate the nation's workers and their contributions to the country, it began with the states. Today, the government of Kansas is doing its best to reverse that.

It's getting crowded. As we get closer to 2018, with the vacant seat in the Governor's mansion, U.S. Congressional seats up for re-election, and every seat in the Kansas House of Representatives open, candidates are starting to knock elbows. We thought it would be helpful to take a look at how those races are shaping up, with less than a year until Kansas' annual primary election day on Aug 7, 2018.

On last Thursday, MainStream released our 2017 Vote Count scorecard, rating Kansas state lawmakers on key votes they took in the 2017 legislative session, and how they compare to MainStream's legislative priorities. You can find the 2017 scorecard here, with our past scorecards. You can also look up your own state legislators with our ksleglookup.org tool, and see their lifetime score. We'll wait. It's important for you to know how your legislators stack up.

Last summer, we organized our first intern program, attracting a dozen amazing people to walk, call, and work for MainStream in our election year activities. Many of our members in the Johnson County area saw them either at their doors, or on street corners urging people to vote. This summer, we also had interns, another dozen bright, eager people, but instead, we put them to work on longer term projects to help set us up for the coming election season, when our work to educate voters will be more important than ever.

Last week we told you that every vote counts. In local primary elections, like we had on Tuesday, sometimes there are less than a thousand total votes for all the candidates in one race. If you get to cast a ballot in one of those races you are powerful. Your voice is amplified and your priorities get more attention. When you vote in primaries and then again in November, it’s like getting a bonus round of political leverage.

The message is simple. Vote.

Kansas now holds primary elections every year on the first Tuesday in August, and every year on the first Tuesday in November after the second Monday (don't ask, this is how it has been forever). Your annual Primary Election Day is August 1st, 2017, and it is time to get out and vote.