An Army veteran and CEO of the SAVE Farm is hoping to unseat longtime State Senator Tom Hawk in the 22nd district.
Craig Bowser (R-Manhattan) says he’s running as a common-sense conservative and wants to curb the state’s spending. He says he’ll draw on his own business experience to accomplish that.
“We’ve got to get government out of the way so that our economy can begin growing again. The economy, job growth and recovery from the pandemic will be my No. 1 priority as your next state senator,” he said.
Bowser says there are other ways to grow the economy beyond raising taxes and cutting vital services.While not necessarily advocating for a specific avenue, he says the legislature should be open to exploring anything that will grow the economy.
“There’s things like medical marijuana, sports betting, you could potentially privatize the state’s turnpike. By doing those things, you increase the revenue to the state,” he said.
Here’s where Bowser stands on a couple of the key issues.
Medicaid expansion: Bowser says Medicaid expansion looks to be a hot topic in the 2021 legislative session. Whether the state can afford to expand coverage to some 170,000 vulnerable Kansans is still up for debate. Bowser says he believes with an over $1 million tax revenue shortfall, now may not be the right time for expansion.
“I want to emphasize whatever we do, we’ve got to really focus on supporting rural health care in Kansas. As your next state senator, I will only support legislation that does those things,” he said.
Bowser says it will be a tough topic to discuss no matter which side of the issue people fall on.
“I want to make sure whatever we do, we help our seniors, I want to lower the cost of drugs, protect children and our families, increase medical innovation in our state. I want to make sure we’re saving and that we’re good stewards of the state’s tax dollars,” he said.
Bowser is running for the 22nd District seat in the Kansas Senate. He’s opposed by incumbent Democrat Tom Hawk, who has held the position for the past eight years.
Higher education: It’s one of Bowser’s top priorities if he gets elected.
Bowser criticized Gov. Laura Kelly’s move to shave $35 million from the Kansas Board of Regents $643 million budget ask this year, a measure that already had approval by the legislature. The move was done as a cost savings measure in response to projected COVID-19 revenue shortfalls.
“That lack of support, not only hurts Kansas State University, it hurts Manhattan, it hurts our entire state. I support higher education and I will oppose dangerous cuts to K-State and other public universities,” he said.
Bowser favors limits on government spending and outlines what his plan will be to move higher education forward.
“I’ll advocate for a strategic plan that sets long-term, statewide goals, that improve education attainment with an emphasis on outcome-based performance,” he said.
The full KMAN interview with Craig Bowser is below.
