Marshall also comments on ICE shock gloves, Iran, security issue with town halls
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, was in Hays Tuesday to visit Bright Minds Academy day care center.
Marshall visited the location in the Bob and Pat Schmidt Community Center.
Owners Nick and Andrea Felder also operate locations on the HaysMed campus and on Wheatland Drive in Hays.
The Felders were recognized as 2026 Kansas Rural Small Business Persons of the Year.
The day care at the community center cares for children from infants through pre-school.
This center is the only one of the three that has a room that is dual licensed for infants and toddlers.
Regulations state children can’t be enrolled in a toddler room until they are at least 12 months old and walking.
Nick Felder said the dual license allows the center to move children that are older but not quite walking into a room with children closer to their age.
He said this can help the child developmentally make the gains he or she needs.
Andrea Felder said this also frees up slots in the infant room, which are in high demand.
She said the couple is working to get similar certifications for the other two centers they operate in Hays.
Marshall said he favored more self-regulation.
“We should give professionals guardrails like this. You know better than anybody in Topeka where those kids should go,” he said.
The Felders said staffing remains a challenge. Early childhood lead teachers must have at least six months of classroom experience. Babysitting used to count, but the state removed that provision.
Andrea Felder said they wanted to hire a former kindergarten teacher as a lead teacher, and the state would not accept her kindergarten teaching experience as the required training.
“That makes it really hard though when you're in rural America, and your town pool’s limited,” she said.
The three centers employ about 90 workers. Nick Felder said the centers draw on college students to fill part-time positions and work as substitutes.
Andrea Felder said all three centers’ enrollments are usually full.
Marshall asked if the center qualifies for any grants.
Andrea Felder said the centers usually do not because they are for-profit.
However, they do receive funds for staff longevity bonuses.
Nick Felder said the child care centers compete with the local school districts, which can offer insurance. They can’t
He said they would like to offer higher pay and benefits, but that would significantly increase what the centers would have to charge parents.
He said the local market can’t bear that.
Marshall said Congress is trying to put more money back into the hands of families so they can pay for child care.
He noted an increase in the child tax credit in 2019, and the Working Family Tax Cuts bill, which increased the amount families could put into health savings account-type programs for child care.
A recently passed bill would allow an employer to receive a tax credit for up to $600,000 if it contributed to employees’ child care.
“My belief is rather than throwing money at it, is let parents keep more of their own money, and then they figure out the best place to spend it,” Marshall said.
He said he is also working to change regulations so United States Department of Agriculture funds can be used to pay for the construction of child care facilities.
National issues
Marshall also answered several questions about national issues.
The Hays Post asked Marshall about ICE tactics, specifically the agency’s plans to use shock gloves.
“I'm reading the headlines. I'm not quite familiar with any more details than that,” he said. “I think that they have a really tough job. I know the ICE officers are often threatened and in violent situations. I try my best to support law enforcement, so I'm just not as familiar with it exactly, with how they're using those.”
The Hays Post also asked him about peace talks with Iran.
“I've always said that I hate war, and President Eisenhower said something like that. President Eisenhower said, ‘I hate war.’ Only a soldier who lived it can. As a person who served myself, my dad served, my brother served, my son is serving. I hate war,” Marshall said.
He said he hopes the war comes to a quick end.
“And at the same time, we can't tolerate Iran having nuclear weapons. You know, they've killed 1000s of Americans over the last 47 years. I wish we could end it sooner and easier. My red line is no boots on the ground. So I would like the president to do everything he can to end this war as quickly as he can.”
Congress is in recess, and Marshall touted the 120-stop tour he is taking in Kansas, including multiple other stops in northwest Kansas this week.
However, he still has not attended an in-person public town hall meeting since he walked out on an Oakley town hall more than a year ago.
“The town halls just became non-productive and dangerous, not just dangerous for myself, but dangerous for my staff and dangerous for the people in the audience as well, so I just don't think that they're safe to do,” Marshall said.
He said he has planned telephone town halls instead.