Job Creation in Kansas...

I was doing research about creating jobs to improve our economy. Creating jobs is a good thing, right? I certainly want to create more jobs for Kansans when I get to the State House in Topeka. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see an article entitled "10 Best Cities for the Next Decade" that listed Topeka, Kansas as one of the ten. The article's bold print claiims, " They're prosperous, innovative, and they'll generate plenty of jobs, too."

Then I read the article and was horrified. Topeka is creating jobs, but not in the private sector. According to the Editors of Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, " nearly 25% of Topeka's workforce is employed by the government." That is shocking. Consider that the size of government is growing and has been growing in Kansas for years while the private workforce has been shrinking. If the sign of a top 10 city is government job creation, we have a serious issue.

The only way we can create jobs is in the private sector. Raising our sales tax which increases the price of our retail goods is not the way to do this. Thanks to the Kansas legislature and Gov. Parkinson, Kansas now has the highest sales tax rate of any state in the midwest. All of the border states charge less sales tax than we do. 30% of Kansas residents live on the Missouri/Kansas border...guess where they will go and shop now?