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The Emporia Gazette
Editor ’ s Note : The Emporia Gazette sent a questionnaire to all candidates involved in a primary race runoff for both the national and state races in this area . These are the responses of Republicans Steve Pearson , Matthew Shepherd and Mark Schreiber , all of Emporia , who are running for the House Seat 60 being vacated by Don Hill . The winner of the primary Aug . 2 will face Democrat William Ballard of Burlington .
Responses from the candidates for House Seat 76 were published Tuesday . Responses from the candidates for the U . S . Senate will be published Thursday and for the U . S . House of Representatives , Friday . There is no primary for Kansas House Seat 51 or Senate District 17 .
Advance voting at county courthouses is open until noon Aug . 1 . The polls are open 7 a . m . to 7 p . m . Aug . 2 .
VOL . 125 , NO . 22
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Matthew Shepherd State House of Representatives , Seat 60
Q When thinking about the future of the state , what concerns you the most ? I have two major
A concerns : First is the immediate crisis of the state budget and the ever-increasing deficit . The second is preparing Kansas for the inevitable collapse of its farming and ranching economic base , and the associated decline of small towns . I don ’ t have space here to describe completely , but the long-term implications for new existing technologies are clear . Driverless cars equals driverless tractors and combines . Huge agribusiness corporations equals whole counties in Kansas being farmed by a handful of people ( farmindustrynews . com / precisionguidance / new-driver- less-tractor-grain-cart- systems-coming-year ). The ability to grow human organs equals ability to grow meat . Cultured Meat Manufacturing equals End of Cattle Ranching equals Loss of use for Flint Hill Gazing Lands ( en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Cultured _ meat ). These changes are inevitable . However , if we act in a positive and planned way now we can take advantage of these pending changes
Please see Shepherd , Page 5
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Mark Schreiber State House of Representatives , Seat 60
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Q When thinkingabout the future of the state , what con- you the most ? Acerns The state ’ s financial condition worries me . The legislature continues to borrow to pay its bills , continues to delay payments to KPERS and our school districts and continues to sweep fees paid by local businesses just to fill its budget holes . To top it off , reserves are practically non-existent as the state lives paycheck to paycheck , with no safety net to weather difficult times . We need a fair and balanced tax code , which can provide lower rates for everyone rather than just select groups . In my career , when programs aren ’ t working as expected , we stop and evaluate what is happening . More times than not , the common sense and back to basics approach is the best remedy . I ’ ll bring that experience to Topeka , working with my colleagues to develop a better plan for all Kansas taxpayers — not just a select few .
Do you feel funding
Q for education is adequate and equitable ? the legisla-A With
tion passed during the special session , I believe funding for K-12 education is now equitable . The Kansas
Please see Schreiber , Page 5
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Steve Pearson State House of Representatives , Seat 60
When thinking
Q about the future of the state , what concerns you the most ? That people areA getting depressed about our great state . We have problems but we will fix them and I will work tirelessly to make a brighter future and better Kansas than ever . Do you feel funding
Q for education is adequate and equitable ? studentA Every deserves a great education in Kansas and we can get it when we get the money down to the teachers in the trenches who love teaching but are hampered by lack of funds where it ’ s really needed .
Do you feel funding for the state ’ s Q economic plan is working ?A What do you think ? Our unemployment rate is a mere 3.9 percent and we are seeing new businesses that pay good wages every year . We need to help the home grown companies , like Fanestil .
Small companies employ 96.5 percent of all workers in the state and we need to continue to seek new companies that will bring more good jobs and people to Kansas .
Please see Pearson , Page 5
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