76th District Representative Eric Smith offered his thoughts on the upcoming legislative session during KVOE’s Newsmaker 2 segment Wednesday.
Smith followed 17th District Senator Jeff Longbine and 60th District Representative Mark Schreiber as KVOE’s legislative previews have continued this week, and Smith does not share the same optimism about the end result of Medicaid expansion that Longbine and Schreiber have expressed. He believes Medicaid expansion is part of a system that creates debt for the country, and he’s not convinced the state will use a “parachute” provision to leave the expansion effort behind if the federal government either adjusts the criteria or stops funding it altogether.
Smith says lawmakers have not fully researched other options for helping anywhere from 150,000 to 170,000 state residents get health insurance. A news conference is coming Thursday morning in Topeka to formally announce an expansion plan that Smith expects will pass and become law this session.
Smith’s also worried about a possible change for the state’s pension plan. Governor Laura Kelly has proposed a reduction in payments to the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System, or KPERS, which would extend the deadline for closing a $9 billion long-term funding gap and also possibly add over $4 billion to the overall price tag.
Referencing two other topics that figure to get a lot of media attention the next few months, Smith says he does not support medical marijuana. He also does not support the enacting of so-called “red flag” laws, which could take guns away from people considered as harmful to themselves or others.
On other budget priorities, Smith says he supports a new transportation plan and restoring some money to higher education after cuts over the past decade. He cautions that recent revenue trends of higher tax receipts than expected won’t last, so the state has to be careful in how it spends money and also in how it promises allocations to different departments and agencies.
KVOE will conclude its annual series of legislative previews with 51st District Representative Ron Highland of Wamego. That interview takes place as part of KVOE’s newsmaker 2 segment at 8:40 am Thursday, following the ESU Buzz with President Allison Garrett at 8:20 am.
