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Giving HOPE and opportunity
Anyone who has ever held a job knows the dignity in earning a paycheck. Government assistance often does everything but actually "assist" helping people find their way out of poverty. Instead of allowing Kansans to become trapped in that cycle of poverty, Republicans have chosen to promote employment and offer support that helps people thrive, rather than merely survive.

The most effective way to help someone improve their future is to give them the ability and training to hold down a job.

With that in mind, Republicans approved major welfare reform initiatives during the last two legislative sessions. The reform has already begun producing positive results.

These changes require job training and job search in order to receive cash assistance without penalties. Since the policy was put in place, over 35,000 Kansans who were receiving cash assistance have found employment. This translates to a 75 percent decrease in the number of adults relying on government cash assistance.

Furthermore, adults who are not disabled and who do not have children are now required to work at least 20 hours per week in order to receive food assistance. This has tripled the employment rate within that population.

   

Other new provisions have strengthened taxpayer protections against abuse and fraud. There is a renewed focus on ensuring the integrity of the system so that taxpayer money assists those who truly need it.     

  

These bold reforms have become a model for other states. The success these policy changes have brought for those previously without hope is bringing nationwide attention to Kansas. 


 

Best of all, it's changing the lives of countless Kansans in both known and unknown ways through the restoration of hope and opportunity.  

  
Read more about Kansas welfare reform, also known as The HOPE Act, on the Kansas House Republican caucus blog. 

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Meet the man making a living off of suing you

Alan Rupe and the best smile taxpayer money can buy

This is Alan Rupe. Since 1989, Alan Rupe has made a very nice living for himself using taxpayer dollars the legislature budgeted for educating students to sue the state for more taxpayer dollars.
 
Yes, taxpayer dollars meant to educate students are being used to pay attorneys to sue claiming there are not enough taxpayer dollars to educate students. We don't get it either but apparently it makes sense to the left.

This latest round, known as Gannon has seen over $1.9 million in taxpayer funds redirected from classrooms to a team of lawyers headed up by Rupe to find ways to use the court system to extricate more dollars from Kansas taxpayers. 

The fact that taxpayer support for public education has never been higher in the history of the state (even when accounting for inflation) doesn't phase Rupe and his buddies. Facts don't matter, the only part they care about is getting their friends who sit on the court to order spending more of your money so they can take a slice for themselves. 

The fact that Rupe views taxpayer dollars as his own personal cash cow was   exemplified in an article written about him from KCUR. The article describes how Rupe came to hook up with the plaintiff, Luke Gannon, saying "Gannon was looking to sue and Rupe was looking for plaintiffs." 

Is it a wonder people make lawyer jokes? 

In a recent court hearing on the equity solution approved by the legislature during the 2016 session, Rupe told the Supreme Court they "have the power to order lawmakers to increase aid to poor districts. He said the court could also order the state to cut other spending so that schools get more,"  according to this article from KWCH and the Associated Press. 

Translation: Rupe is a lawyer who doesn't care about violating constitutional separation of powers. He's a-ok with the court taking on the legislative role of appropriating dollars--which is a form of taxation without representation--providing he gets a piece of it.  To Rupe, it doesn't matter that funding for K-12 education, which makes up the largest portion of the state budget, has increased at a time when almost every other area of state government is being reduced. 

Rupe will always claim his crusade is for the kids. But it's apparent that it's all a facade intended to disguise his real motivation: lining his own pockets with your hard-earned dollars. 
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Listen to daily House session, find bills, and more at the Kansas legislature's website.