76th District Representative Eri Smith of Burlington is not pleased with how the Kansas Department of Labor has handled certain aspects of the coronavirus pandemic.
As part of KVOE’s legislative session previews on the Morning Show this week, Smith graded the state’s response to the personal impact as a “C” at best — in part due to ongoing issues in the Labor Department.
Smith believes the antiquated equipment mentioned by Labor Department officials for most of last year can be replaced, but other improvements like more staffing are also needed.
Smith also says there is “no happy answer” for moving through and out of the coronavirus pandemic, so the goal should be to minimize the impact. He credited emergency management officials for working through the pandemic, given the fact the Kansas Emergency Management Act did not account for pandemic response when COVID-19 came to Kansas last year.
Smith is grateful the budget didn’t see as big an impact as was expected from coronavirus. One budget item he addressed was higher education funding, including dollars to Emporia State University and Flint Hills Technical College.
Smith also said this is not the time for increased taxes on state residents. He says federal stimulus dollars may have helped people in the short term, but they also add to the federal debt so he encouraged people to spend those dollars wisely and locally.
Smith will be vice chair of the House Agriculture Committee this year. He’ll also serve on Federal and State Affairs as well as Corrections and Juvenile Justice.
Legislative previews continue on KVOE’s Morning Show this week. 51st District Representative Ron Highland of Wamego will join us at 8:10 am Thursday and 17th District Senator Jeff Longbine of Emporia will be on at 8:10 am Friday. All interviews will be in the KVOE.com Audio Vault after their completion.
