Local lawmakers had one last opportunity to hear from local constituents face to face during the final legislative dialogue of the year Tuesday evening.
17th District Senator Jeff Longbine and 60th District Representative Mark Schreiber both of Emporia were in attendance for the dialogue organized by the Emporia Area Chamber Government Matters Committee and Emporia League of Women Voters. Both Schreiber and Longbine agree that opportunities to hear directly from voters, either in person, over the phone or through email, are invaluable.
Longbine adds hearing and taking the voices of constituents under consideration is crucial to their role at the state level.
Longbine tells KVOE News that throughout the legislative session, he receives hundreds of correspondences from his constituents with the topics varying from person to person and group to group. Schreiber says he too receives a large amount of input from voters, though maybe not as much as most might think at first glance.
Schreiber says when it comes to the content of constituent input, at least in his experience, it tends to focus on “whatever is the hot topic.”
He adds, there are some occasions where the input he receives may not be timely or topical at the moment. That being said, Schreiber tells KVOE News that doesn’t mean it should be dismissed as it could be useful in the future.
In his experience, Longbine says the major concerns of constituents tend to remain constant from year to year.
Tuesday’s wrapup dialogue comes with lawmakers awaiting word from Kansas Governor Laura Kelly on the possible need for a special session regarding tax relief. Also invited but unable to attend Tuesday night were 13th District Representative Duane Droge and 76th District Representative Eric Smith who, along with Senator Longbine, recently announced his retirement from the legislature.
KVOE will be speaking with Longbine Wednesday morning when he joins the 8:20 am newsmaker two slot. Schreiber will join KVOE’s Primetime Newsmaker at 7:20 am Thursday.
