It’s more because of what Caryn Tyson doesn’t say that makes her the weaker candidate for the Kansas Senate.
With nary a flinch, Tyson can say all Kansans are better off because of tax cuts enacted by the 2012 Legislature.
“We saved you all money,” she told a small crowd of residents collected at the Townhouse Apartments Tuesday afternoon.
But perhaps the perspiration collected just a bit when an elderly resident told her she could not afford to eat properly every day — that food is too expensive.
If things are bad now — Tyson may have thought — what about next year, when the poor will no longer receive a food sales tax rebate on their food purchases.
Or how about when they’ll no longer be able to deduct expenses for child or elderly care, or be able to receive tax credits for handicap-accessible expenditures, or deduct their expenses for day-care expenditures, and lastly, be able to deduct what they pay in rent.
All of these rebates were directed to help the poor manage their circumstances better.
Yes, they will pay .05 percent less on their income taxes, but overall, survival will be harder.
IT’S IN PART because of those gross omissions, the Register throws its support behind John Coen for the District 12 Senate race.
The bigger reason is because Coen is a stalwart for education.
“I know where to get the money for our schools,” he said Tuesday. “Repeal the tax cuts for the wealthy.”
For this coming year, Iola’s school district 257 is working with $1.3 million less than needed, according to Brian Pekarek, USD 257 superintendent of schools. Statewide, educators, schools and students are doing with $450 million less than what is judged to be adequate.
So when Tyson boasts she worked to add $40 million to help fund education for 2012, those in the know can only sigh, realizing that 8.9 percent of additional funding barely makes a dent.
COEN appears to be honest about putting education first, saying he knows how to fund it and makes no bones over how to get it.
Others believe he’ll stand behind his commitment to education as well. Citizens for Higher Education, a business group that promotes post-secondary education at Kansas community colleges and universities, has pledged its support of Coen over Tyson. (For House of Representatives it has endorsed Judy Brigham over Ed Bideau and Bud Sifers.)
Spending on education comprises about 80 percent of the Kansas budget. So if a candidate seems torn as to where his priorities lie — he has no business in state government.
John Coen knows providing the best education possible for Kansas children is what gives Kansas the best possible future. He deserves the support of all who agree.
— Susan Lynn
