The Hays Post contacted the candidates running in the Republican primary on Tuesday, Aug. 4 for representative in the Kansas House for the 110 District seat. This seat includes parts of Ellis County, excluding Hays and Victoria, as well as Graham, Norton, Phillips and Rooks counties.
Max Dibble
1. What would you do to ease the tax burden on Kansans? Please specifically address how you would address property taxes.
Property tax in Kansas will be my top priority when I get elected to the Kansas House of Representatives. I have talked with so many constituents that say they are being taxed right out of their homes. I have researched the options that have been presented in the past that will not work and will work diligently to find a solution to get the property tax problem under control.
2. What should the Legislature do about special education funding and teacher recruitment, especially in rural districts?
I have discussed with several of the school district superintendents in District 110 about the concerns they have with funding special education.
I have committed to meet with them when I get elected to the Kansas House of Representative, and I will actively participate in meetings and discussion with them to get their recommendations for funding special education and teacher recruitment.
I worked for 12 years in a rural school teaching high school mathematics and computer science. I believe I have a good background of the issues and will work with the school districts to find solutions.
3. What should Kansas do to address long-term water supply challenges, including aquifer decline and aging water infrastructure in western Kansas?
I have been involved with Kansas water issues since Governor Brownback was in office and worked on his 50-year water plan. However there was no funding made available so not much was accomplished.
Since then I have stayed involved in water issues with KDHE, attended water meeting in Colby that assisted with collecting data on water issues across the state of Kansas, and just last year I attended Governor Kelly’s water conference.
This was a good conference, and the Legislature has now formed a House Committee on Water and allocated funding to assist with finding solutions for Kansas water issues. Without water we have nothing.
4. How would you help rural hospitals and clinics remain financially stable while maintaining access to care close to home?
I believe that having health care close to home is essential for rural communities. I will work with other legislators when elected to the Kansas House of Representative to develop strategies and plans to assist our rural hospital and clinics.
5. How would you address housing shortages and child care availability, particularly in your district?
Housing shortages are a problem for the entire state of Kansas. In our local community I have assisted getting a $1.6 million dollar grant from Department of Commerce to fund the infrastructure and utilities for a housing development area.
We also applied for and received tax credits to assist with part of the funding for new houses. Currently we are building five new houses in the development area which is a good start in our local community. I plan to assist with obtaining grant money and tax credits for the entire state of Kansas to develop affordable housing
6. What local issues in this district deserve more attention in Topeka?
We are working on retaining young people to come back to our area to work and raise a family. We have a declining population in rural Kansas and are doing our best to reverse this trend.
7. Is there any legislation that you would specifically consider authoring or co-sponsoring in the spring 2027 session?
I want to be a voice for District 110 but also work with other legislators on making Kansas the best state in America. We have many hidden gems in Kansas that we need to promote and draw people to move to Kansas. This includes people that are able to work from home and enjoy the lifestyle of Kansas due to excellent internet connectivity.
Dibble is running against Cody Ward and Marvin Matchett in the Republican primary. Matchett did not return the Hays Post questionnaire. The winner of the primary will face Democrat Mark Schaukowitch in the General Election in November.