Kansas has a long and rich tradition of entrepreneurship. Our state’s fertile soil produces the finest agricultural products in the world — and Kansans produce the finest goods and services, too. Our state must invest in its most important asset — its people. Kansans need to work. Kansans want to work. And the only way to get Kansans working is to partner with business leaders and working people to create policies that foster growth, sustain critical infrastructure, and reduce the burden on entrepreneurship.

Generations of Kansans have understood the imperative of educating our children. During difficult economic times, schools often take the brunt strained state budgets — especially schools in rural Kansas. But we know that reducing investment in our children is a perilous path. Defunding our schools is shortsighted and dangerous. Moreover, it jeopardizes the state’s long-term economic health and its ability to produce an educated, adaptable workforce for businesses and communities.

Kansans demand safe roads. For generations, we have invested heavily in our infrastructure because it carries our most precious cargo — our families. Our roads form a tapestry that connects rural to urban and goods to markets. Our transportation system is the core of our economic engine and we must protect this investment. If we fail to invest in safe roads, we risk dismantling that economic engine — hurting businesses, stranding communities, and forcing more Kansans out of work.

Kansans expect fiscally responsible and limited government — but also fair government. It’s important that our government be accountable to the people. It’s also important that we fund the priorities that matter to all Kansans and that everyone pays their fair share. And we need tax policies that foster growth and benefit everyone — not just the wealthy and well-connected.

The law preserves our freedom. And the courts preserve our laws. Fair and impartial courts are fundamental to our democracy. For decades, Kansans have chosen judges based on their qualifications, not partisan politics but there are those in Topeka who disagree. We must remain vigilant against efforts to weaken the courts, to make judges vulnerable to political pressure, and to starve the judicial system of the funds it needs to preserve the rights of all Kansans.