WATCH: The Post’s forum for 2 Kansas House seats in Olathe, Shawnee

Candidates vying for two Kansas House districts covering portions of Olathe and Shawnee participated in a forum hosted by the Johnson County Post Tuesday night.

The Post has hosted more than a dozen separate forums for Kansas Statehouse districts in Johnson County ahead of the Nov. 5 general election.

Tuesday’s forum was hosted at Lenexa City Center Library in Lenexa.

The two districts covered in this forum were:

• House District 14, covering a portion of northern Olathe
• and House District 30, covering portions of Olathe and Shawnee in central Johnson County.

Who is running?

House District 14

• Democratic incumbent Rep. Dennis Miller
• Former Republican state representative Charlotte Esau (did not participate due to an illness) 

House District 30

• Incumbent Republican Rep. Laura Williams
• Attorney and former teacher Betsey Lasister, a Democrat

How to watch the Post’s forum

The Post livestreamed Tuesday’s event on our Facebook page, and a recording of the forum is embedded below.

Following the embedded video are the questions each candidate answered during the forum.

Timestamps are included in bold at the end of each question to help you navigate through the forum video if you’d like to jump around.

Questions and timestamps

1.  Opening statements [1:25]
2. Biggest priority for your district: We are holding forums for dozens of statehouse districts this fall. What do you see as the biggest priority or need from residents in your district? [6:00]
3. Property taxes: What can the state do to offer local property tax relief? Any policies you would advocate for? [10:26]

   

4. Spending (from the audience): If you advocate lower taxes, what would you cut in the budget to make up for lower revenues? Or would you merely raise taxes in another area to make up for it? [15:31]
5. School vouchers: In recent years, Kansas lawmakers have debated measures that would, in some way or another, allow taxpayer funds to go to students and families NOT enrolled in public schools, including a proposed voucher program and tax credits for families in private and parochial schools. Such measures could come up again next year. If elected, would you support measures that would allow the use of taxpayers dollars to go to individuals enrolled in private or religious schools? Why or why not? [19:47]
6. Guns in schools (from the audience): Do you support the NRA’s “Eddie the Eagle” curriculum being in schools? [Laura Williams’ response to the previous question blends into this question starting around 21:30]

   

7. Abortion: Two years ago, Kansas voters rejected a proposed amendment that would have explicitly stripped the right to abortion from the state constitution. It was seen as a major victory for abortion rights supporters. But debate about abortion has not stopped. In the two years since, Kansas lawmakers have debated dozens of bills seeking in some way to limit or impact abortion procedures in Kansas, and it’s widely expected that such measures will continue to come up next year. Do you support any new restrictions on abortion or laws in any way governing the procedure? Why or why not? [26:47]
8. Helping poor Kansans (from the audience): As a legislator, you will have to make decisions that impact all Kansans. With that in mind, what will you do to help the poorest, least fortunate Kansans? [36:44]

   

9. Endorsements (from the audience): An audience member says, “I like to follow endorsements. Which individuals or groups have endorsed you?” [42:26]