By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Joe Newland, running mate for gubernatorial candidate Vicki Schmidt, said Wednesday they are the best team to represent rural Kansas during a visit to Hays.
Newland is a Wilson County farmer, former legislator and president of Kansas Farm Bureau.
Newland said he and his running mate are supporters of the three-legged stool, with the tax burden being spread equally between sales, income and property tax.
He said the Kansas Legislature had a good plan for property tax relief during the spring session, but the plan was pulled at the last minute.
Agricultural land is valued on an eight-year rolling average. Newland said he favors a similar system for commercial and residential property. He said this system would at least help families and businesses prepare and budget.
“It may not reduce the total tax, but it's going to level it out,” he said.
Newland said the state also has a revenue issue.
“I think we need to set some guardrails on how we appraise property, make it more consistent from county to county, because you can go to one county here and the next county will be quite a bit different,” he said.
Newland was asked what he thought about property taxes for residents 65 and older.
He said Kansas has an aging population. If it dropped property taxes for residents older than 65, then the state would lose significant revenue.
Newland said he favored bringing data centers into the state to generate revenue.
He said guardrails need to be put in place, and the centers need to be good neighbors.
He said data centers need to be in places where they have access to energy and cooling systems. He said new technology is becoming available to cool the centers using gel or recycled water, reducing the amount of fresh water needed.
He said he thought areas in the state with unused agricultural land could be good sites for the centers.
“We know that we can really generate a revenue that could certainly possibly help reduce our property taxes, especially right now on commercial and residential,” Newland said.
Newland was asked about water regulations.
He served on the water task force while he was in the Legislature.
He said the needs of western and eastern Kansas are very different.
Voluntary efforts in Local Enhanced Management Areas (LEMAs) have helped reduce water consumption. He said he supports voluntary efforts and the vacation or transfer of historical water rights.
Kansas State University has created its own water task force. It and other groups have been working to raise awareness of the need for water conservation in Kansas.
Newland also served on his local school board.
He and Schmidt are both public school graduates, and Newland said they support public education.
Newland said he does not support school vouchers.
“I think it would be absolutely detrimental to our public school system,” he said.
He added, “I've had incredible opportunities [because of] public education, and so we will do everything we can to fund education, to fund special ed, and higher ed.”
He said he and Schmidt also support technical education, but thought some of the community colleges in the state could consolidate their administrations with local universities.
Newland also noted Schmidt's experience in health care and her work as Kansas Insurance Commissioner.
He said she's cut $96 million during eight years through efficiencies and made sure every person in the agency is at their office and answering their phones.
He said Schmidt has also saved Kansas insurance customers $200 million.
“I think that's incredible. If we can do that for one agency, we can do that for all agencies, and for the state of Kansas,” Newland said.
Traditionally, the lieutenant governor in Kansas also serves on the cabinet as an agency director.
Because of Newland’s experience as a producer and with farm policy, Schmidt said he would likely serve as the Secretary of Agriculture.
He said this appointment would position him to work for rural Kansas.
“I know that the coalitions that I can form to really work hard on issues that affect rural Kansas are extremely important,” Newland said.
“I don't know if we've had that opportunity for a long time, and so I truly look forward to having that opportunity to work directly with the legislators and directly with the department.
“I think that's so critical for all rural Kansas right now.”