Earlier this month, we asked readers what issues they wanted to hear the candidates running for the Kansas Third Congressional District seat address. Based on input from dozens of you, we’ve developed a five-item questionnaire that we’ve sent to the campaigns of the six Democrats and three Republicans whose names will be on primary ballots.
Here are the questions:
- Question 1: The costs of college, child care and health care have all risen much faster than wages over the past decades, a trend that has strained the budgets of middle class families. What policies would you advocate for in Congress to help middle class families here afford the costs needed to raise children?
- Question 2: The shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas and Santa Fe High Schools this year have renewed the debate over gun control and school safety in the United States. What is the best way to prevent school shootings? Should additional gun control laws be part of the approach?
- Question 3: The separation of children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border has drawn criticism from policymakers across the country. How should U.S. officials handle families attempting to enter the country? What specific points should comprehensive immigration reform legislation include?
- Question 4: The tax cut bill signed into law by President Trump has reduced businesses’ and individuals’ tax liabilities by hundreds of millions of dollars. But the Congressional Budget Office projects the policy will add around $1 trillion to the federal deficit. Do you support the legislation? Are you comfortable with the increase in the federal deficit?
- Question 5: The Affordable Care Act remains on the books, but the “individual mandate” requiring people to have health insurance is set to go away in 2019 under the 2017 tax bill. Some proponents of the ACA say this will further destabilize the Health Insurance Marketplace. Some opponents of the ACA say the entire law needs to be repealed. What health care coverage policies should the federal government be pursuing?
We’ll be running the candidates’ responses to one question a day for five days starting Monday, July 16.
The campaigns that have been sent the questionnaires are:
- Republicans: Incumbent Rep. Kevin Yoder, Trevor Keegan and Joe Myers.
- Democrats: Sharice Davids, Mike McCamon, Tom Niermann, Jay Sidie, Brent Welder and Sylvia Williams.
Election Day is Tuesday, August 7. Advance voting in person begins July 23.
We’ll be releasing our candidate questionnaires for the Prairie Village mayoral race, statehouse races, and the local Kansas State Board of Education race in the coming days.
