Ellsworth County, like the rest of the State of Kansas, may be dominantly Republican but the Ellsworth County Democrat leadership hope that will change. Saturday, the first spring meeting of the Ellsworth County Democrats brought Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita, to the Ellsworth Steakhouse. Sawyer serves District 95, is the House of Representatives Minority Leader and serves as the vicechairman of the Rules and Journal Committee and a member of the Legislative Coordinating Council.

According to Sawyer, the state government is doing a good job. He considers passing the education bill a big success of this year’s session, however, the Medicaid expansion debate continues. The House passed HB 2066 by a vote of 69 to 54 and has been sent to the Senate. It was the first time since 1988 that a bill was passed in the House without committee chairmen voting. There is worry there would be repercussions of chairmen losing their chair seats if they voted in favor of the expansion so they simply left the room and did not vote.

In terms of the budget, Gov. Laura Kelly’s budget has strong support on the House side. It did not get passed before the spring break because of the impasse with Medicaid expansion. The governor and the legislature are working to restore funds to agencies that received cuts during former Gov. Sam Brownback’s failed tax experiment. The legislature reconvenes May 1 and will then tackle the budget.

Included in the budget talks is the state working to resolve the low pay for state workers, especially those in the Department of Corrections field. Kansas is becoming a training state for corrections officers. Once an officer is trained, they may stay in that position for a short while and then move out of state where they can do the same job for more money.

With a number of houses on the market in Ellsworth, the question was raised if anyone is looking into housing at the state level — is an upcoming housing crisis looming? Sawyer said Lieutenant Gov. Lynn Rogers is focusing on housing within the scope of his position.

Sawyer was asked if the legislatures realize there is a real deterioration past Johnson County in rural Kansas. At issue is how to get people to move back to rural Kansas when childcare, jobs and housing are concerns. According to Sawyer, ideology and partisanship seem the most important to those from the eastern part of the state.

Other topics discussed centered around the schools spending money on active shooter training and gun control, the opiod crisis and the need for legislatures to talk with local health providers and find out what is really happening in the rural areas.

Ellsworth resident Jerry Marsh stressed voters must let their legislative representative know how they feel on the issues.