Three Republicans vie for Kansas House District 39 seat in August primary

The Republican primary for Kansas House District 39 comes with a back story. In 2012, Owen Donohoe was the six-year veteran and incumbent. But that summer, he withdrew from the race shortly before the filing deadline for candidates. Charles Macheers promptly filed and ended up winning that election.

Four years later, Donohoe is back. On his website, he criticizes Macheers, blaming him and his fellow lawmakers for approving the biggest tax increase in Kansas history. That is his reason for returning, he said. “I’d like to be at the beach with my family. But this is too important.”

Macheers responds that Donohoe did not stop the growth of spending, leaving the state facing default and the current governing body to pick up the pieces.

This summer Donohoe, Macheers and political newcomer Shelee Brim, all three of Shawnee, will face off for the right to be on the November ballot against Angelina Lawson, a Shawnee Democrat.

Brim, a former schoolteacher, puts education at the top of her to-do list if elected. She said state lawmakers need to find a way to fund schools that is equitable without dipping into other state accounts. “Education is not a political issue, it’s a kid issue,” she said on her website.

She is also concerned that the problems in the education budget could affect the ability to hire good teachers and staff. “Teachers and administrators are getting to the point of retiring in the next five years. Who’s going to replace those people?”

Brim said she would get rid of the tax “loophole” that exempts limited liability corporations from state income tax. “I’ve talked to several business owners and they said it’s saved them a little bit of money but they would be willing to pay extra to go back and fund education,” she said.

The next Legislature should be willing to look at everything to insure long-range revenue stability, she said. “We don’t want to tax, tax, tax people, but we do want to make sure everyone pays their fair share.”

Donohoe supported Gov. Sam Brownback’s “race to zero” on income tax. “I’m for getting everybody off income tax,” he said, adding that sales tax is a more efficient way to tax because it doesn’t tax capital. He faulted Macheers for supporting the 2015 budget, which included the largest tax increase in Kansas history, and for taking the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System payments, in which pensions for lawmakers’ roughly four months of work grow as if they were working year-round.

“I think it’s wrong, extremely unfair and basically fraudulent to get benefits above and beyond what they actually get paid,” he said. Donohoe said he didn’t take KPERS when he was in the statehouse.

Instead of dipping into the transportation and public retirement funds to balance the budget, Donohoe said, lawmakers should make adjustments to cut spending.

The Kansas Supreme Court overstepped its bounds with its recent rulings on equivalency in the state’s public schools, he said. Although the state spending per pupil is among the most in the country, test scores have not improved. “We need to establish who is responsible for determining what the cost is to educate a child,” he said. He also supported standards for effective teachers such as Race to the Top 2010.

Macheers countered that “short-sighted” actions by Donohoe and his colleagues resulted in unchecked spending and left budget problems for Macheers and the current lawmakers to fix.

“Mr. Donohoe left the state facing default or draconian cuts to vital state services like education and public safety. I worked with my colleagues to find better solutions, including reducing spending growth to less than 3 percent,” he said in emailed answers to questions.

But he would not roll back the exemption for LLCs, he said, because that would mean a 30 percent tax increase on Kansas families.

As to KPERS, Macheers said the option for lawmakers has been in place since 1982 and that Donohoe did not make any effort to change it. “Like many politicians, Mr. Donohoe only feigns exception to an issue when he finds personal political gain attached to it. This is an attempt to distract from the fact that before he left office, he failed to make the tough budget decisions that would keep our books in balance,” he said.

The tax policy changes have been working and have resulted in low unemployment and an improving state economy, he said. Future legislatures should look at spending adjustments to absorb fluctuations in the economic outlook.

On education, he noted that administrative positions have increased at a faster rate than student enrollment since 1993. Lawmakers should look for a more “student-centric” funding formula, he said.

This story was originally published July 20, 2016 at 10:26 AM with the headline "Three Republicans vie for Kansas House District 39 seat in August primary."