Friends,

I was back home this week, crisscrossing the district visiting businesses, schools, and many of the Kansans I’m blessed to represent. On the legislative side of things, I joined an effort to repeal an unnecessary and costly tax on our family farms and businesses.

Here are the highlights from a great week back home in eastern Kansas:

I was in southeast Kansas on Tuesday, where I visited Progressive Products, Inc (PPI).

PPI has been providing good paying jobs and bolstering our southeast Kansas economy for nearly 45 years! The pneumatic conveying systems components they manufacture are used in factories, grain handling facilities, chemical plants, and other installations across the country and around the world. These components – which allow the rapid and efficient transportation of bulk dry solids during production and refining processes – are a critical part of our country’s food production process.

I also visited PPI’s sister company, Apex Stages, the 2nd largest hydraulic stage manufacturer in North America. Both companies operate out of facilities in Pittsburg.

Following my visit to PPI, I paid a impromptu visit to the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce. Staying connected with Kansas business leaders is critical to ensuring I’m doing my job to support our local economy at the federal level.

From high prices to overbearing federal regulations, the past few years have been hard on our businesses. That’s why I’m working hard every day to fight inflation, roll back these arcane rules, and provide Kansans with a government and an economy that works for them, not against them.

When a family is grieving the death of a loved one, the last thing they need is a knock on the door from the IRS. Unfortunately, this situation plays out far too often for our farmers and ranchers because of the “Death Tax,” an unfair and costly fee on the transfer of property, land, and other assets from a deceased family member to heirs of family farms and small businesses.

Family farms and small businesses are the lifeblood of our food supply and economy. In fact, families operate 95% of the the 1.9 million farms in the United States and account for 90% of our country’s total agricultural production value. Congress should be doing everything in our power to promote longevity and continuity for these family farms and businesses rather than using taxes to discourage multi-generational ownership. This is why I joined more than 170 of my colleagues to cosponsor the Death Tax Repeal Act.

This legislation has the support of more than 170 of my colleagues and more than 230 organizations, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, Agricultural Retailers Association, and National Federation of Independent Business. Senator John Thune has introduced companion legislation in the Senate, so I’m hopeful we can get this bill passed quickly and remove more of big government’s overreach into Americans’ lives.

On Wednesday, I headed to Hillsboro to tour Tabor College.

Since 1908, Tabor has been providing quality higher education opportunities to our Kansas community. Thank you to the gracious faculty and staff who showed me around the beautiful campus! Our community is lucky to have you.

Like many Americans, I believe education is an issue best handled at the state and local levels. There’s been a lot in the news about the Department of Education this week as President Trump signed an order to begin moving its services to different government agencies. As I’ve said before and will say again, I’m 100% supportive of eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse in our federal government while ensuring programs Kansans rely on are preserved and strengthened.

Our nation’s education system is still dealing with the devastating pandemic loss of learning. We are the strongest country with the biggest economy in the world. There’s no reason our students should be lagging behind those in other nations. I’m hopeful these changes will refocus our education system on setting our students up for success rather than indoctrinating them with political agendas.

Under the Biden administration, illegal aliens, drugs, and all manner of contraband flowed freely into our country. Left with nowhere to turn, states began taking matters into their own hands, passing laws to protect their citizens from the Biden border crisis. Instead of taking action to secure the borders, the Biden administration instead sued the states who passed laws allowing illegal aliens to be charged for entering the country unlawfully.

As attorney general, I argued and won Kansas v. Garcia at the United States Supreme Court. This case – which originated from three illegal aliens appealing their state convictions of identity theft on the grounds that their convictions were the result of lying on federal tax forms – reaffirmed states’ ability to enforce state identity theft laws against illegal aliens. I believe it’s beyond ridiculous for the federal government to spend time and taxpayer money fighting states trying to protect their citizens and stop illegal immigration.

Thankfully, the Trump administration moved to dismiss two Biden era lawsuits that sought to block states’ enforcement of laws aimed at combatting illegal immigration. Though the lawsuits have been dropped, the fight isn’t over. I believe Congress should fix federal law to ensure states have a proper role in securing our borders so no future president can simultaneously surrender our borders and prevent states from standing in the gap, which is why I intend to introduce legislation in the near future to do just that.

We’ll be back in Washington this week as we continue working to codify many of the policies that have begun to reverse the damages of the last four years. We have a real opportunity to make lasting, positive change in our country. I for one don’t plan to waste it.

As always, my office is here to serve you. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. Be sure to also follow me on social media at the links below for timely updates from my office.

It’s an incredible honor to represent our Second Congressional District in Congress!

Sincerely,

Derek Schmidt

Member of Congress

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