7/24/2010
By CHRIS HUNTER Salina Journal

With the primary election a little more than a week away, incumbent Republican Charlie Roth is facing opposition from two candidates in the 71st Kansas House District -- Salina chiropractor Ronald Young and retired engineer J. Neil Jednoralski.

Roth is the three-term incumbent, but a series of tough votes on raising the state sales tax and backing the governor's veto of a late-term abortion bill brought him more opposition.

"If people oppose me, it will be fine," Roth said. "I will take my chances with my record."

Roth, retired owner of a Salina clothing store, was first appointed to the Legislature in 2005 to fill the unexpired term of Rep. Carol Beggs, who died in office; he was first elected in 2006. Young and Jednoralski have not run for office before.

In May, Roth bucked the party line and joined 20 other members of the GOP to vote for a 1 percent sales tax increase as part of the 2011 budget; 55 Republicans voted against the sales tax increase, which put the state sales tax at 6.3 percent.

"The path was clear to me," Roth said of his vote. "We need a bridge to better times and this sales tax will provide it. Nobody wants to increase taxes, but it was the best of some bad choices."

This vote made Roth one of 11 Republicans targeted by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce.

"Unfortunately, Rep. Roth voted for a budget that was not balanced and a tax increase to pay for it," said Jeff Glendening, vice president of political affairs for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce. "It costs Kansans jobs. We now have one of the 11th highest state sales tax in the country. We have to find a different solution to the budget than raising taxes."

Young said the sales tax increase was one of the "worst decisions" the state could have made and made the Kansas sales tax higher than "peer states." Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado and Nebraska all have lower state sales taxes than Kansas. Glendening said Young's views best represented the Kansas Chamber.

Young said the sales tax increase would hurt car dealers in Kansas, because people could drive out of state to purchase a car. But Brenda Siemsen, Saline County treasurer, said whether Kansans purchased cars in Kansas or not, they would pay the same tax rate when they register their car. The difference in sales tax depends more on what county or city a resident lives in than where they purchase a vehicle.

Young pointed out that the sales tax increase makes Saline County No. 7 out of 105 Kansas counties in terms of sales taxes, but without the increase, it would still have been the seventh.

"Is that going to attract people to Saline County?" Young asked. "Is it going to attract people to Salina? It is hurting us when unemployment is already 120,000 in Kansas. It is so important to cut taxes because they are killing us right now."

Jednoralski said he also would not have raised the sales tax, but, if elected, would introduce or co-sponsor a Kansas Fair Tax Bill.

The bill would be similar to a proposed federal Fair Tax that would repeal income, payroll, capital gains, estate, gift, Social Security, Medicare and self-employment taxes and put in place a national sales tax.

Roth said the sales tax increase has already helped create jobs in the state because of $66.8 million in highway contracts doled out by the Kansas Department of Transportation to 37 contractors. Currently, Kansas has an unemployment rate of 6.5 percent.

"It is mostly maintenance, but it will create hundreds of jobs," Roth said. "Transportation spending creates 170,000 jobs (in Kansas)."

We need job growth

Roth said the state must find ways to encourage job growth and address other problems in the budget, such as creating a rainy day fund.

Young said spending in Kansas has increased dramatically between 2005 and 2010, and passing a sales tax was not the solution.

Roth said it had to be done.

"The Kansas Chamber opposed it and is supporting my opponent, but the local chamber is supportive of what I did," Roth said. "Locals can weigh the differences between outside influence and what is best for us here in Salina."

While the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce has not endorsed a candidate, the chamber was among 14 chambers to send a letter to the governor in support of a "rational" sales tax increase to make up for cuts.

Who's endorsing whom?

Roth also was not endorsed by either group calling itself The Kansas Republican Assembly; each group calls the other a "renegade" group and only one made an endorsement.

Mark Gietzen, president of the Wichita-based Kansas Republican Assembly, said his group did not back Roth because of his stance on abortion. Gietzen said a candidate must be pro-life to be endorsed.

This session, Roth twice voted against overriding Gov. Mark Parkinson's veto on new late-term abortion legislation. Only seven Republicans voted with Roth the second time when the veto was overridden.

"I have no use for this guy," Gietzen said. "I don't care if he is the best person in the world, but if he doesn't stand up for the life of an unborn child, he doesn't deserve to represent Kansas."

Roth said he believes the decision to have an abortion should be left up to a women, but said he believes education is the best way to drop the number of abortions.

"I think it is a terrible choice women have to make," Roth said. "I want to leave it up to women, not legislatures. We already have good laws on the book for late-term abortion."

Gietzen said Roth's stance, and a suggestion by a member of the KRA, led to that group backing Jednoralski.

It may have been a case of endorsing anyone but him (Roth)," Gietzen said.

Jednoralski is happy to have the endorsement, but when asked for his stance on abortion, he said he had mixed views and would prefer that the state should regulate the issue.

"I read an article in the Journal that before 25 weeks a fetus could not survive on its own," Jednoralski said. "I think after 25 weeks, there should be no abortions. If we outlaw it altogether, it will be done illegally and in unsafe conditions."

Young and Jednoralski agree on eliminating late-term abortions, and both support abortions in the cases of rape, incest and if a mother's life is in danger. Young said abortion needs to be regulated to the highest degree to avoid back-alley abortions.

"I'm not pro-choice, but I am pro-rights," Young said. "Insurance companies and government should not pay for it to be used as contraception."

Views on health care reform

Concerning health care reform, Young said, "The state is supposed to be able to choose on their own" (whether to participate in the federal program). "It is like forcing people to buy car insurance. I have been dealing with insurance companies for 20-plus years, and we need to opt out."

Jednoralski said citizens should be able to vote on a referendum on the issue. He said he would also push malpractice insurance reform to help control health care costs.

It needs work, but ...

Roth said he believes the program needs some work, but Kansas should stay in the program because of many positives, including covering pre-existing conditions, allowing children to stay on their parents' plans and making coverage more available to people.

"There is some benefit to it, and I think the law isn't finished," Roth said. "It needs to be tweaked with Republican help at the federal level. I'm fearful of unintended consequences if we opt-out. We may lose the benefits, but still end up paying for it in taxes."

Fixing immigration problems

Roth said he also believes the federal government this year should start working on comprehensive immigration reform.

"We don't need 50 immigration laws. It should have been done before, but if not, the states should do it."

Jednoralski said he believes states should have laws similar to Arizona's recently passed immigration law, written by Kansas City attorney and secretary of state hopeful Kris Kobach.

The bill is aimed at identifying and deporting illegal immigrants, and now the federal government is suing Arizona over the law.

The flag of Mexico?

Young said he believes in securing the border and that illegal immigrants with crimes against them should be deported.

"But, if they are here illegally, and have committed no crimes, are good workers and want to become citizens they should be allowed," Young said. "If they are flying Mexican flags, they don't want to be American citizens. They want to be Mexican citizens."

Young said he favored working with immigrants rather than "rounding them up and shipping them home."

Jednoralski said Kobach's suggestion of a voter I.D. to weed out voter fraud is a good one, but he suggests going further.

Jednoralski wants the state to mandate verification of a candidate's qualifications to run for office by requiring a birth certificate. He said he believes President Barack Obama's eligibility to be president is still in question.

"The issue is a matter of when he became a citizen," Jednoralski said. "When he was born, by British law (since his father was born in Kenya, a British colony), he was a British citizen and his mom (a Kansan) was a few months short of 19 to give him U.S. citizenship."

The Obama campaign released a copy of his birth certificate during the 2008 campaign that said he was born in Hawaii. Birth announcements in two Honolulu newspapers were also located.

Now? It doesn't matter

Young said he "doesn't think it matters" since Obama's already in office.

"If we get rid of him, then we have (Vice President Joe) Biden," Young said. "If we get rid of him, we have (Speaker of the House Nancy) Pelosi. They should have found that out before he was in office already."

Roth said he had not personally investigated Obama's birth certificate, but had no reason to think he was not a natural-born citizen.

On the record

With three members of the American militia during the Revolutionary War and two Union Civil War veterans in his family history, Jednoralski said he is running to protect the country.

"They fought to create this country and then to keep it together," Jednoralski said.

Young said he was inspired to run by a member of the Kansas Chamber and because he was unhappy with the voting records of Roth and others.

As for his challengers, Roth said, he believes Salinans know who will represent their interests.

"Frankly, I did what I did. I would rather have the endorsement of the people here than the special interests in Topeka, Wichita or Kansas City," Roth said.

nReporter Chris Hunter can be reached at 822-1422 or by e-mail at chunter@salina.com.

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