Under Governor Laura Kelly, Kansas Enjoys its Best Economy Ever

 

     Many traditionally conservative states have elected Democratic governors over the past few years: Louisiana, Kentucky, and Kansas being among them. The results have been spectacular in all three states, especially in that lattermost state. In each of these three cases, the state has gone from being part of the journey to a destination for businesses small and large. Under Governor Laura Kelly, Kansas has enjoyed its best economy ever. Here are a few highlights:

1. Cut property taxes for Kansans while also cutting taxes for teachers, farmers, and veterans.
2. Restored full funding for the Kansas Water Plan for the first time in 15 years as well as full funding to the state's evidence-based juvenile justice, prevention, and rehabilitation programs and full funding to the state's schools every year of her administration.
3. Closed KDOT and balanced the state budget.
4. Made a $500 million deposit in Kansas' Rainy Day Fund, the largest in state history, which left its value five times as high as its previous record.
5. Provided hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding to state colleges and workforce development programs for necessary professions like teachers and police officers as well as tax credits for innovation and small business.
6. Saw Kansas' unemployment rate hit a record low of 2.5 percent and companies announce hundreds of historic investments creating tens of thousands of new jobs, more than any governor in state history.
7. Brought $8 billion in capital into Kansas, more than any governor in state history, winning the Governor's Cup for moving the state from 20th in the nation in economic development to first. Saw Kansas ranked among the top 20 states for doing business for the first time ever and won the Area Development Magazine Silver and Gold Shovel Awards for Economic Excellence.
8. Restarted the Kansas Main Street Program ended by the previous administration and launched an affiliate program to help small businesses in dozens of communities.
9. More than tripled the state's investments in infrastructure in nearly every county on top of federal funds coming in, repairing roads and establishing the Office of Broadband Expansion, expanding broadband to hundreds of thousands of Kansans.
10. Expanded postpartum healthcare coverage and signed numerous pieces of legislation lowering healthcare costs and reducing barriers for Kansan families.

     After years of fiscal mismanagement under the Brownback administration and even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, under Governor Laura Kelly, Kansas is enjoying its best economy ever. She has made Kansas a leading state in the nation to do business in, balanced the budget, and lowered taxes, all while increasing government services for Kansan families. Still, she has proposed a $250 tax rebate to address inflation, an end to the state's increasingly outdated food tax, and an expansion of Medicaid, all of which would move Kansas forward even more rapidly and make 2022 the state's best year on record. To the Kansas legislature: let's get it done. To the stars through difficulties.