6b
Wednesdav, October 31, 1990 / University Daily Kansan
State Representatives
Martha Parker
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Martha Parker (B)
Education: B.A. in elementary education from K-State
Background: Ran against Solbach in 1984 and 1986. Member of the Clinton Township Committee.
Parker: Education is vital
By Carol Krekeler
Kansan staff writer
The 45th District in Lawrence needs a conservative viewpoint in the Legislature, said Martha Cohen, an election candidate for the 45th District.
45th District
“‘Business is what makes the world go around,’ Parker said. ‘I want my children and my grandchildren to stay here. If we don't have good jobs in Dallas, in Douglas County, they're going to go somewhere else to get it.”
"The Legislature did not have the money," she said. "Don't blame Mike Hayden. They had to stay within a budget."
Parker said financing for the third year of the Margin of Excellence should not be blamed on Gov. Mike Havden.
The Margin was the Board of Regents three-year plan to bring the total financing of its seven institutions to 95 percent of their peer schools and to bring faculty salaries to 100 percent of their peers. The Legislature financed the first two
Parker said she supported financing the third year of the Margin.
"I fully support the Margin of Excellence and education," she said. "But when we have to be paying for all of the social problems, it takes away from education — which is the goal of going to solve all these problems."
Parker said she thought education at primary and secondary levels was most important.
"I want a Margin of Excellence in the elementary and secondary school," Parker said. "We just have to change the whole social structure that we can start raising a generation of children that are more responsible."
Parker said she was concerned about where the money was coming from to finance state social service programs
"The state budget has doubled in
eight years," Parker said. "At some point, we're going to have to say, 'We can'r afford this. What are we going to do about this?' "
The rural area outside Lawrence, which is much of the 45th District, has been particularly hard hit by the budget crunch, she said.
"A lot of neighbors that I know have filed for bankruptcy in the last few years in the rural area." Parker said.
Parker, who is pro-choice, said she thought women should have a right to choose whether to have an abortion.
"I abhor abortion," she said. "But I would never tell a woman she couldn't have an abortion."
Parker said she was in favor of parental notification or some kind of counseling for a woman before she had an abortion.
"I've heard too many psychologists talk about how traumatic this is years later," she said. "It's some sort of torture, but get all the counseling they can get."
Williams: Attract business
By Carol Krekeler
Kansan staff writer
Promoting new businesses in Kansas will generate the revenue the Legislature needs to finance state programs, said Sean Williams, Republican candidate for the 46th District in Lawrence.
"We should be looking at long-range solutions instead of short-term ways to spend money," he said.
Attracting new businesses to Kansas would allow for the state government to prevent future budget crunches, he said.
Williams also said that students needed to take an active role in government.
"I'm perplexed as to how to get students to recognize what an important part of the community they represent education and our future."
Williams said that one of his objectives was to stop student apathy in state government.
"I hear quite a bit, 'Well, I don't know much about politics,'" he said. "Well, you know what it's like to have a TA instead of a full professor. You know what it's like to face the annoyance of the administration. There's a lot that affect somebody's life that can be controlled by government."
The Margin was the Board of Regents three-year plan to bring the total financing of its seven institutions to 95 percent of their peer schools and to bring faculty salaries to 100 percent of their peers. The Legislature financed the first two years but not the third.
Williams said that he was in favor of the Martin of Excellence.
"We've had to tighten our belts, and I think the long-term solution to financing education is some more accessible," he said. "The state of Kansas," he said.
Williams said that he also supported vocational colleges because they prepared students for special
Sean Williams
Sean Williams (R)
Age: 34 Hometown: Lawrence
Education: B.S. in journalism from KU
Background: Board of Directors, Lawrence Memorial Hospital Endowment Association. Vice president of the Douglas County Chapter of the Kansas Affiliate of the American Heart Association.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
ized business positions
"Companies who come into the state in lieu of Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado or Oklahoma will know that an educated work force," he said.
Williams said that he would support qualified admissions to the seven Board of Regents universities if it would benefit taxayers.
Open admissions allows all Kansas high school graduates to automatically enter any of the seven Regents institutions.
Qualified admissions would limit the number of students accepted based on academic stipulations.
"Part of sex education is that abstinence is a fabulous way of birth control," he said. "It's a magnificent method of avoiding sexually transmitted diseases. It's a very rational choice."
Williams, who is pro-choice, said that women needed to consider all their options, including abstinence
John Solbach
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John Solbach (D)
Age: 43 Hometown: Clay Center
Education: B.A. in animal husbandry from K-State
Background: Ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee. Serves on Agriculture and Small Business Committee.
and Small Business Committee
Solbach: Use general fund
By Carol Krekeler
Kansan staff writer
The principal work of a good legislator is to protect the state's general fund, said Rep. John Soblach, D-Lawrence.
The Legislative general fund is money in the state budget that is not earmarked for a specific use
Solbach, incumbent for the 45th District, said that the Legislature needed to create more financing for the general fund because state education and property tax relief could not be covered with the general fund.
Both gubernatorial candidates, Gov. Mike Hayden and State Treasurer Joan Finney, have proposed setting aside money to finance their education and tax proposals instead of looking to the general fund.
"Neither candidate will be specific about their plan because they know it is not their decision to make," Solbaoh said.
Solbach said the governor's power was limited to signing or vetoing proposals that the Legislature put together when it was in session.
He said he thought the Legislature would not enact either of the candidates' property tax or education proposals.
Hayden proposes to roll back property taxes to a 1989 level by raising the state sales tax from 4.25 to 5.25 percent. Finney proposes to relieve property tax by placing a 1-percent sales tax on a group of items exempt from sales tax.
Hayden proposes to finance the third year of the Margin with a 10-cent cigarette tax. Finney proposes to finance it with state gaming funds. Hayden also proposes to finance the Margin should be financed through the general fund, Solbach said.
"I have always supported financing for all three years of the Margin," Solbach said. "Earmarking education is a very dangerous, short-sighted thing to do. That is a formula for defeat."
The Margin of Excellence was the Board of Regents three-year plan to bring the total financing of its seven institutions to 95 percent of their peer schools and to bring faculty salaries to 100 percent of their peers. The Legislature financed the first two years but not the third.
Sobach said he was in favor of qualified admissions instead of open admissions as long as legislators did not believe the Board of Roberts schools.
The seven Regents universities might become known as elitist if
they are not open to all Kansas residents, Solbach said. The Legislature then might cut financing if the state had an adequate number of having only wealthy students.
"For selective admissions to work, we've got to have cooperation from the Board of Education, the Regents and the Leislature," he said.
Solbach said the Legislature should concentrate on generating money for the general fund.
“If we go back in January and the fund is as short as we think it may be, we're going to have to lay a lot of things on the table,” he said.
Placing a higher tax on people in the upper-income bracket is one way to create revenue for the general fund, he said.
Solbach said he favored placing a higher tax on every dollar made after the first $100,000.
"It is good public policy to look at a tax increase in the upper-income bracket," he said.
Solbach, who is pro-choice, said it was the legislator's role to support pro-choice legislation.
"We impose rules on people when they're based on objective evidence," Solbach said. "And they are the good public police for everyone."
Bv Carol Krekeler
Charlton: Tax for Margin
There is enough wealth in the state to finance higher education at the University of Kansas, said Betty Jo Charlton, D-Lawrence.
Kansan staff writer
Charlton, who is running for re-election for the 46th District in Lawrence, said taxes would have to be lower than before the reliance the Margin of Excellence.
"While we missed the third year of the Margin, our peer institutions were not standing still," Charlton said. "Just financing the third year of the Margin is not going to catch us up."
46th District
Betty Jo Charlton
The Margin was the Board of Regents three-year plan to bring the total financing of its seven institutions to 95 percent of their peer schools and to bring faculty salaries to 100 percent of their peers. The Legislature financed the first two years but not the third.
Charlton said that she would promote extra financing so that the University could catch up with its peer institutions.
She said she did not think that enough money was in the state's budget to finance the Margin.
Betty Jo Charlton (D)
Hometown: Reno County
"There's not enough there, anyhow," she said. "And where it's going, it is doing good."
Age:
Education: B.A. and M.A. in political Science from KU
Background: 46th District Rep. since 1980. Serves on the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulators and House Committee on Taxation.
Charlton said that she favored a higher income tax for those in upper-income brackets to refinance the Margin.
She said that legislators, teachers and students should not lobby for refinancing of the Margin in the case they lobby for qualified admissions.
"Let us not tie the Margin in with any controversial issues," she said. "We should concentrate on getting them right and think about qualified admissions."
Charlton said that she would not
support an increase in sales taxes to
receive property taxes because it would have an adverse effect on the rest of the state budget.
Charlton, who is pro-choice, said that her personal opinion on the subject had nothing to do with how would vote on abortion legislation
"I said that my personal feelings are irrelevant," she said. "We are in a public office to represent all the people."
Charlton said that she was not in
favor of parental notification because it could backfire on some women.
Some women's parents may force them into having an abortion they may not want, she said.
Charlton also said that because most unwanted pregnancies occurred in the teens, young women are more likely to their parents for financial reasons.
"Parental notification is useless because the parents already know," Charlton said.