Where Silas Stands

Taxation & Property Tax Relief

Summarized:

Kansas families shouldn't pay sales tax on diapers and feminine hygiene products -- basics that Missouri already exempts. Property taxes keep climbing while Topeka debates and does nothing. Silas supports SB 488 (the Kansas Property Tax Freedom Act of 2026) and has co-sponsored SB 389 and HB 2073 to eliminate sales tax on essentials.

Kansas still charges full sales tax on diapers, tampons, and incontinence products. Missouri exempted all of them effective August 28, 2025. We're falling behind our own neighbors.

Meanwhile, property tax valuations in Sedgwick County keep rising -- and families on fixed incomes and young homeowners building equity get squeezed hardest. Seniors shouldn't lose their homes because Topeka won't act.

SB 488 would amend the Kansas Constitution to phase out property taxes entirely. It's ambitious -- and it's the kind of big swing that forces the conversation. SB 389 (Senate) and HB 2073 (House) would immediately eliminate sales tax on diapers, feminine hygiene products, and incontinence products.

Education

Summarized:

Kansas kids compete with every other state. That takes real investment -- not budget tricks that push costs to local property taxes. Special education remains chronically underfunded, and the task force studying the issue needs to produce results, not reports.

When the state shortchanges public schools, local districts make up the difference through property tax levies. That's not school funding -- that's a cost shift onto homeowners.

Special education is a legal mandate with real costs. Kansas has historically underfunded its share, leaving districts to cut corners or raid general funds. Kids with disabilities deserve the same quality education as everyone else.

Silas supports full and transparent funding of Kansas public schools, including adequate state support for special education so local districts aren't left holding the bag.

Healthcare Access

Summarized:

150,000 Kansans fall in the Medicaid coverage gap -- they earn too much for current Medicaid but too little for marketplace subsidies. Expanding access isn't a partisan issue. It's an economic one. Healthy workers build a stronger Wichita.

Too many families in District 25 skip care because they can't afford it or can't get to it. That's not a statistic -- it's your neighbor choosing between a prescription and groceries.

Silas serves as Ranking Minority Member on Financial Institutions & Insurance -- and he works across the aisle on policies that directly affect your wallet and your coverage.

Kansas is one of the remaining states that hasn't expanded Medicaid. Every year we delay, we leave federal dollars on the table that other states use to cover their residents and strengthen their rural hospitals.

Silas is also collaborating on SB 360, the Kansas Consumer Prescription Protection and Accountability Act -- a bipartisan bill to rein in pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). These middlemen drive up drug prices by pocketing the spread between what insurers pay and what pharmacies receive. SB 360 would require PBMs to register with the state, pass rebates through to patients, ban spread pricing, and set fair reimbursement rates for pharmacies. The Senate already passed it.

Child Care

Summarized:

Kansas created a new Office of Early Childhood, but oversight matters. Parents need to know that safety standards are real and enforced -- not just another bureaucratic box-check. Affordable, safe child care is an economic issue, not just a family one.

You can't go to work if you can't find child care. And you can't afford child care if the system doesn't have enough capacity to keep prices reasonable.

Kansas consolidated child care oversight under a new Office of Early Childhood. That's a start -- but consolidation isn't the same as improvement. Silas is watching to make sure this office delivers real accountability: safety inspections, provider support, and transparent reporting.

Working parents in District 25 need options they can trust and afford. That means state investment in both supply and quality.

Housing & Cost of Living

Summarized:

55% of District 25 households struggle to afford basics like rent, childcare, and groceries -- even when working full time. This isn't about personal responsibility. It's about a system that taxes your essentials and lets your property values price you out of your own neighborhood.

Wichita's cost of living is supposed to be an advantage. But when more than half the households in your district can't cover basics while working full-time jobs, something is broken.

Housing costs, property taxes, groceries, childcare, healthcare -- they all stack up. And state policy either helps or makes it worse. Right now, Kansas taxes diapers. Kansas lets property valuations climb without meaningful relief. Kansas charges working families more so it can hand out targeted tax breaks to special interests.

Silas is fighting for a tax system that works for the people who actually live here -- not the people who fund campaigns in other districts.