Election 2018: This is the third of a series of articles on the five candidates for Kansas governor.
Topekan Rick Kloos admits he is a frustrated Republicans running as an Independent for Kansas governor.
Decisions for Kansas should be made by the residents, not the agenda of the two parties, he said. I want to represent the people and not just a party.
I will work between the parties to unite us rather than divide Kansas. I believe the state will run healthiest when we work together and find common ground solutions.
Kloos is a graduate of Trinity College in North Dakota with a bachelors degree in theology and ministerial studies. He served as clergy for 30 years.
He continued his studies in substance abuse counseling at Washburn University and has certification from the American Council for Pharmacy Education, which allows him to serve as a police and hospice chaplain in correctional facilities and clinical settings.
While he is an advocate of lower taxes, he believes in achieving reform in a responsible way.
As of right now, I support the three-legged stool approach: income tax, sales tax and property tax, he said. But I think taking our income tax out is partly why we see our high sales tax and property tax. When you take one away, it puts pressure on the others.
Right now, we are in a position where we need to sit tight and adjust our taxes when we know we have sufficient funds to carry out our services.
School funding, a perennial concern in Kansas, has his attention as well.
Education, Kloos said, consumes about 50 percent of the states budget.
Because of that, he said, people sometimes view education as only a liability. I believe we need to change our way of thinking and view it as one of our greatest assets. I want to restore value and respect back to our education system.
How would he fund the growing budget needs of public education?
I believe we can fund both higher and K-12 education with the new online tax and also with sports betting, Kloos. I think those are two good ways we can help fund education without raising our sales, income and property taxes.
He said another concern is that Kansas ranks fifth in the percentage of residents moving out of state.
