We've spent a lot of time talking about state level races, as all the KS State Representatives are up for re-election is year. And the Legislative session over which they presided was a lopsided, grasping, regulatory mess. See our review here.

But there are other important races down the ticket, and even off the ticket (did you vote in municipal elections this Spring?), which moderates should be watching.

This article includes a correction to the information sent out originally. The primary opponents in District 19 are Stephanie Clayton (R) and Jennifer Flood (R).

The first deadline in the election season is rapidly approaching. June 30 (a week from this Monday) is the last day to change your party affiliation before the primaries on August 5.

While each party excludes the other from voting in their primary contests, both are required by law to allow Unaffiliated voters (the third party affiliation option in KS) to declare a party and vote at the primaries on election day. This allows the Unaffiliated voter to vote in either primary contest, and preserves that voter's right to be represented by their elected officials.

When Governor Brownback first proposed his "glide path to zero" income tax, he said it would be a shot of adrenaline to the Kansas economy.

This is a re-posting of our weekly email for June 6, 2014.

On June 2, the deadline for candidates to file for the 2014 elections passed. We now know who will run for what seat in Kansas, where moderates are safe, and where they face stiff challenges from well-backed extremists. Look up your district at openkansas.org, then look at the candidate list. There are a number of races where MainStream and our members can make a difference.

Sine Die is a Latin term meaning without day. 
A legislative body adjourns sine die when it recesses without appointing a day
on which to appear or assemble again within the year.

The 2014 Kansas legislative body has left the Capitol building for the year and many have returned home from Topeka to gear up for the coming campaign season. This gives Kansans a window of time to better understand the impact of recent laws passed and how elected officials voted on key bills.

These 2014 elections will be a historical marker for the state of Kansas. If election results return the current leadership back to Topeka, 2015 is likely to send our state so far beyond the fork in the road, to a place called Really-Limited-Government, that we will spend decades rebuilding the Main Road which offers all Kansans a route to Prosperity.

The wrap up and highlights…

Our last Legislative Forum of the season was held on May 29, and 120 people came to hear our panelists speak about the past legislative season, what happened, and where we go from here. 

In the 2013 legislative session in Kansas, a two-year budget cycle was adopted, a first in our state’s history.  The state budget, considerably the most important working document of the legislature, sets the boundaries from which the objectives of our state can be met. The budget is where we begin this update and its impact on the objectives of our state.

When reviewing legislative activity and the state budget, the nagging question should be, how small is too small?  Or as Michael Leachman, director of state fiscal research at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently said, "Some states are choosing to make reduced services the new normal”.

The Kansas legislative veto session wrapped up last week, Saturday May 4 in the wee hours of the morning.  Sleep deprivation and lack of time for review or discourse appear to be legislative leadership’s preferred mode of doing business in Topeka.

We've covered what ALEC is, and how much influence they have in the Kansas Legislature. But what are the effects of that influence? The effects have been striking. This session saw ALEC-modeled legislation that gutted public education, environmental protections, teacher rights, and more.

With the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) promoting extremist, cookie-cutter legislation across the country, much of it making an appearance in the Kansas Legislature, we wondered just how many of our most important state politicians are members of the organization. So, with help from volunteers and interested moderates, we set out to find out.