ShawneeDispatch.com

Mary Pilcher Cook

Sue Gamble

The race for the Republican nomination to the District 10 Kansas Senate seat will be a battle of two well-known Shawnee politicians.

Former 18th District Rep. Mary Pilcher Cook and current District 2 Kansas School Board member Sue Gamble have each won their share of elections in the past, and some see their current race as the typical battle of conservative vs. moderate.

Gamble said she decided to leave the State School Board for the State Senate because she thought her 25 years of small-business experience and educational policy experience were needed in the Legislature.

“Historically, Johnson County provides the economic fuel for the entire state because of its strong business atmosphere coupled with strong schools and communities,” she said. “I am part of that history. I know what it means to balance a budget both personally and publicly … make the hard choices.”

Cook said she wanted to run because of her concern about the economy and excess spending in the state government, and said her voting record proved she, too, had the backbone to make tough decisions for fiscal responsibility.

“When government makes arbitrary decisions as to what private business can locate in Kansas, even though all laws and written criteria are met, it creates a hostile environment to business in Kansas,” Cook said. “Gas prices at the pump could have been reduced in Kansas, except that a private $10 billion dollar oil refinery plant decided not to locate here, likely due to the fear our government would change the rules in the middle of the game.”

That’s why Cook said she would have supported construction of two power plants in western Kansas, saying they would have provided hundreds of jobs and would have given an opportunity for lower energy prices to all Kansans. She said she supported development of a comprehensive energy plan.

“Energy companies will not want to do business with Kansas until we have a stable environment they can trust,” she said.

Gamble said she, too, would have voted to build the plants, but the state should also be developing a comprehensive energy plan.

“Our state is uniquely situated to produce energy from a wide spectrum of alternatives,” she said. “Oil, gas, cellulous products for bio fuels, wind and sunshine all are found here in abundance. I will support legislation and policies to help government and private industry develop primary and alternative fuel sources that respects our statewide economic development needs, as well as our environment.”

As far as reducing gasoline prices, Gamble said Kansas has avoided raising gasoline taxes in the past few years by using bonding authority for road improvements rather than putting all the pressure on gasoline taxes. “I will work to explore ways to expand that authority,” she said. “There has been talk of having a ‘Gas Tax Holiday;’ I don’t support that because it simply puts pressure on other parts of the budget rather than cure the problem.”

Both candidates said they wouldn’t support an increase in the cigarette tax, Gamble saying it is not the time to be raising any taxes, and Cook saying that a measure using that tax to pay for health care would implode on itself.

But the candidates didn’t agree on a statewide ban on smoking in indoor, public places. Cook said private businesses should determine their own rules.

“Individuals can decide to do business elsewhere if they disagree with the rules of an organization,” she said.

Gamble said since cities within District 10 have already adopted smoking bans, she would support a statewide ban with exemptions similar to those adopted in Shawnee.

Concerning the state budget, Gamble said the Legislature should take a harder look at reducing its budget.

“This area of the budget has been off limits for several years and has not experienced the same scrutiny as other agencies,” she said. “Currently, the governor has asked all agencies except Legislative to reduce their budget by 1 to 2 percent; I support that and would look for additional savings.”

Cook said the Legislature should stop pet-project earmarks and pushing projects “to help legislators win popularity contests within their districts.”

When it comes to funding education, Cook said she thinks the state should increase transparency for education dollars.

“Not for the bureaucrats, but for parents and teachers so they know where money is being spent within their own schools,” Cook said. “Parents and teachers should have more say on how education dollars are being used, as those closest to the problem know best how to solve the problem – and can usually determine the most efficient use of resources.”

Gamble said the state shouldn’t put a lid on the budget for public schools and higher education, but their budgets should be scrutinized.

Illegal immigrants should not have in-state tuition or drivers’ licenses, Cook said. She also said she would vote for tough penalties if an employer knowingly hired an illegal immigrant.

“Allowing the rule of law to be violated is morally corrupting to the individual and also to society, forming a second-class citizenship within our country,” she said. “It is a threat to everyone’s human dignity when we allow human beings to be exploited and used as a working underclass, violating our own country’s founding principles.”

Gamble said she would like to see more done about illegal immigration at the state level. “This is basically a failure of leadership at the federal level of long standing,” she said. “The states are limited in what they can do effectively both in use of scarce local resources and use of manpower such as police. I don’t want to spread our local resources so thin that we put our public safety at risk.”

She said she would like local organizations to educate businesses about how to use the Federal E-verify program and make effective hiring decisions, but she doesn’t think any of this would require a state level law.

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