By Jason Beets, Salina Journal
Four public policy advocates discussed various issues at stake in the upcoming midterm general election during an interfaith forum Monday evening at Salina’s University United Methodist Church.
Rabi Moti Rieber, Executive Director of Kansas Interfaith Action, said his organization seeks to uphold values important to people of faith.
“We still feel the need to reclaim the light of faith for a politics that is celebratory of diversity, compassionate to those in need, and vigorous in the pursuit of justice,” he said.
Advocates discussed policies affecting children and families, voting and criminal justice reform, gun safety, and the environment.
Children and families
Adrienne Olejnik, Government Relations Director for Kansas Action for Children, said tax cuts signed into law by Gov. Sam Brownback in 2012 wreaked havoc on the state.
“We were told there would be more people who would want to move to our state, more people would stay here and open up businesses,” she said. “Instead, what we saw was a self-created years-long crisis, nine consecutive rounds of budget cuts, several credit downgrades and record-high debt.”
Olejnik praised the Kansas Legislature for repealing many of those tax cuts in 2017. She said the legislature will make many important decisions next year related to taxes and spending that will affect programs important to children and families, including childcare assistance, KanCare, and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Election laws
Kansas ACLU Field Director Ellen Glover advocated for Kansas to allow voters to register on election day. She said states that have already adopted this policy have seen an average 11 percent increase in voter turnout. Glover also supported expanding early voting.
“For people that have limited mobility, limited access to transportation, that have more strict work schedules, if they don’t have more flexibility about when to get out to vote — they are not able to vote, and that’s a form of voter suppression,” she said.
Glover advocated for criminal justice reform through improved prisoner reentry programs. She also called for less severe sentences for people convicted of non-violent drug possession. Instead of sending these drug offenders to prison, Glover said they should be sent to substance use treatment programs or other community-based alternatives.
Gun safety
Cori Sherman North, Salina group co-leader for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, advocated for policies that would reduce the number of people killed by guns.
North said Moms Demand Action was created in 2012 after the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Connecticut. The Salina branch of the organization was created this summer.
“We support the second amendment, we always want to make that clear. We just want gun safety and sensible legislation to support that,” she said. “Kansas is one of the worst states for sensible gun laws. We are going to go after our elected officials and demand that our laws change. We have got to do something about all this gun violence, and just the sheer number of weapons in everyday hands.”
Climate Change
Land Institute President Fred Lutzi said current U.S. policy is critically insufficient to address climate change. He said climate change will lead to global warming and other changes in temperature and water availability that could interfere with human activities.
“We have not yet devised, nor do we have any expectation of devising, a way to completely decouple our economic activity from carbon dioxide emissions,” he said. “We can reduce that coupling, but we have no immediate prospects or theoretical prospects of removing it entirely.”
Luti encouraged voters to read a New York Times article with the headline, “Stopping climate change is hopeless. Let’s do it.”