Bourbon County Republican Voter Guide

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting starts Oct. 19.

Paid for by Bourbon County Republican Party, Kevin Wagner, Chairman.

Owning your home isn’t income. So why are you taxed every year on what it might be worth?

I’ve been a Realtor for 14 years. A house is only worth what a buyer will actually pay and close on. Anything else is guesswork.

Yet every year your property tax is figured from an estimate of that value. When the estimate goes up, your bill can go up, even though you haven’t sold anything or made a dime. When your stocks go up, you generally aren’t taxed on the gain until you sell.

Meanwhile we’re pushing seniors out of houses they’ve lived in for decades.

The property tax system is broken. I want to abolish it, not just cap it. And you’d better have a plan behind it, starting with a fairer way to pay for schools.

Stop taxing Kansans out of their homes. Rob Hodgkinson for Kansas House, District 4.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. In Bourbon County, early voting at the Courthouse runs Oct. 19 through noon Nov. 2.

Paid for by Hodgkinson for Kansas, Ric Koehn treasurer.

Learn more: rob4ks.com

Bourbon County Republican Voter Guide

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting starts Oct. 19.

Paid for by Bourbon County Republican Party, Kevin Wagner, Chairman.

I served my country for 30 years. I want to keep serving you.

I’m Rick James. A few days after high school I joined the Marines, and I served for 30 years:

• Desert Storm, Haiti, and Operation Iraqi Freedom
• Marine Corps Drill Instructor and embassy duty
• Retired as a Sergeant Major, awarded the Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit

When I retired in 2011, I didn’t stop serving. I started two local businesses, served as your neighbor on the county commission, and now I’m your voice in Topeka.

Still serving. Semper Fi. Re-elect Rick James, State Representative, District 4.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting at the Bourbon County Courthouse starts Oct. 19.

Paid for by Rick James for Kansas State Representative.

Learn more: Rick James on Facebook | rickjamesks.com

District 4 deserves an election, not a coronation.

For too long, this seat has felt more like a coronation than an election. No elected office should be treated as automatic. Your representative should have to earn your vote.

That means answering questions, explaining where you stand and listening. I’ve been doing that at my booth at the Linn County Fair and at the state fair, and I’ll keep doing it.

At the state fair, I had Republicans come to my booth looking for another option. I’m offering one.

You deserve a real choice. Rob Hodgkinson for Kansas House, District 4.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. In Bourbon County, early voting at the Courthouse runs Oct. 19 through noon Nov. 2.

Paid for by Hodgkinson for Kansas, Ric Koehn treasurer.

Learn more: rob4ks.com

Insurance costs keep going up. I feel it too.

I’m Rick James, and I serve on the Kansas House Insurance Committee. Health insurance and car insurance keep going up, and prescription costs are a real concern.

This session we passed SB 20 to rein in the prescription middlemen, the pharmacy benefit managers:

• Bans the hidden markup known as spread pricing
• Makes them treat our local pharmacies the same as their own
• Requires more transparency in how drug prices are set

Insurance costs will be a big topic again next session, and I sit on the committee that handles them.

Working for fair treatment of local pharmacies and better savings for you. Re-elect Rick James, State Representative, District 4.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting at the Bourbon County Courthouse starts Oct. 19.

Paid for by Rick James for Kansas State Representative.

Learn more: Rick James on Facebook | rickjamesks.com

Bourbon County Republican Voter Guide

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting starts Oct. 19.

Paid for by Bourbon County Republican Party, Kevin Wagner, Chairman.

I’ll read the bills, and I’ll explain my votes.

Right at the end of the last session, legislators were handed a gut-and-go bill: the original bill was gutted, a different one was dropped in its place, and they were told to vote. That has to end.

Every vote should be on the record, in committee and on the floor, not just taken by voice, so you can see where your representative stood.

Elected officials are public servants, not bosses. If you’re going to be a public servant, you should be very public.

Read the bills. Explain the votes. Rob Hodgkinson for Kansas House, District 4.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. In Bourbon County, early voting at the Courthouse runs Oct. 19 through noon Nov. 2.

Paid for by Hodgkinson for Kansas, Ric Koehn treasurer.

Learn more: rob4ks.com

Before Kansas takes on a billion-dollar project, somebody has to ask: where’s the money coming from?

I’m Rick James. Fiscal responsibility isn’t a talking point. It’s a responsibility we owe to every Kansas family.

• This year’s budget cut State General Fund spending by nearly $190 million
• It still fully funds our constitutional obligations
• And it keeps nearly $2 billion in the Rainy-Day Fund

Now there’s talk of building a new state prison that could cost well over a billion dollars. On a project that size, I’ll be asking where the money comes from.

Protecting taxpayers. Re-elect Rick James, State Representative, District 4.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting at the Bourbon County Courthouse starts Oct. 19.

Paid for by Rick James for Kansas State Representative.

Learn more: Rick James on Facebook | rickjamesks.com

Veterans who need care should be able to get it close to home.

I’m Rick James, Chairman of the Kansas House Veterans and Military Committee.

Right now, a big group of Kansas veterans who need nursing home care are living all the way out at Fort Dodge, in western Kansas. Who gets to go see them out there?

I want to propose a better idea: let the VA contract for beds in hospitals closer to home, like ours in Fort Scott.

• Veterans could stay near their families
• Local hospitals could gain steady income to help keep their doors open

Those who served deserve care close to home. Re-elect Rick James, State Representative, District 4.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting at the Bourbon County Courthouse starts Oct. 19.

Paid for by Rick James for Kansas State Representative.

Learn more: Rick James on Facebook | rickjamesks.com

No tax should live forever without review.

Every tax and every program should come with an end date. I support a five-year sunset, with a super-majority vote required to renew a tax or create a new one.

When that date comes, lawmakers have to ask a simple question: is this still doing what it was supposed to do, or has it morphed into something else?

If it’s still working, vote to keep it, on the record. If it’s morphed, it’s time to kill it.

Government should have to prove it still needs your money. Rob Hodgkinson for Kansas House, District 4.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. In Bourbon County, early voting at the Courthouse runs Oct. 19 through noon Nov. 2.

Paid for by Hodgkinson for Kansas, Ric Koehn treasurer.

Learn more: rob4ks.com

I grew a small business during the 2008 recession. I’ll bring that to Topeka.

I owned a window business for seven years. When the 2008 recession hit, we grew from 2 employees to 10.

I’ve been a Realtor for 14 years. I got my CDL in 1990 and have trained hundreds of school bus drivers. Before all that, I carried hod for a bricklayer.

Today I drive a school bus for Uniontown. When I don’t know something, I dig until I find the answer. Topeka could use more people who’ve done the work.

Real work. Real experience. Rob Hodgkinson for Kansas House, District 4.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. In Bourbon County, early voting at the Courthouse runs Oct. 19 through noon Nov. 2.

Paid for by Hodgkinson for Kansas, Ric Koehn treasurer.

Learn more: rob4ks.com