Nick Gosnell: In studio with us this morning is Shanna Henry. She is running as a Democrat for the Kansas Senate seat in District 34. Good morning, Shanna.
Shanna Henry: Good morning, thank you for having me on.
Nick Gosnell: Sure, and you ran back in 2020, but for those folks that may not recall, what's your reason for running for the state Senate?
Shanna Henry: There are several reasons, but I would say that the three main reasons are I'm still fighting for appropriate funding for public education continuously. Also, Medicaid expansion, which we are losing money to the tune of $7.3 billion so far paid in our taxpayer money that goes out to other states that did expand Medicaid that does not come back to our state. And also, I'm very worried about the agricultural community. I grew up on a farm in McPherson County, and farmers are struggling right now. And there are a lot of issues that we have to deal with, with that agriculture in our farming industry.
Nick Gosnell: All right, well, I want to point back to Medicaid expansion, because that's maybe the biggest difference that I saw at the candidate forum the other night between the Democratic candidates for the different seats and the Republican candidates. Explain why you think that's important.
Shanna Henry: It is important because there are so many people anymore that cannot afford health insurance, and they may not be offered health insurance by their employer. A lot of people that work hourly wages do not get any health insurance coverage. So they are left on their own to figure out how to pay for their medical bills. And costs are rising continuously, as we all know. And because Medicaid expansion has not happened, we are losing that $7.3 billion a year that we've already paid into with our federal taxpayer dollars that go to the other states that have expanded Medicaid. We are one of only 10 states out of 50 that have not expanded Medicaid. The other 40 states have. And it's a tragedy because a lot of people are suffering and can't afford to pay their bills and lose their homes and lose their jobs, because they don't have the medical care they need.
Nick Gosnell: So Medicaid expansion is something that has been an issue at the Statehouse now for at least 10 years, because I think it was 2014 the last time that the legislature actually passed a Medicaid expansion bill. And then Governor Brownback vetoed that bill because it wasn't passed with a veto-proof majority. And since then, it has had trouble even getting to the floor of either the House or Senate. They tried to change bills on the floor to allow it to happen a couple of times, but it didn't really go fully through the committee process and get all the way back around to the floor. Barring a really surprising election result on November the 5th, if you were to win this race, Shanna, you would most likely still be in the minority in the Senate. So how would you propose to make sure that leadership doesn't just say, no, this isn't going to happen, no matter how much you want it to?
Shanna Henry: Well, I actually differ with you on a couple of things. We may be in the majority in the Senate. We have some wonderful candidates running all over the state, and that is our hope and our plan, is to be in the majority so that we can finally get this to fruition. This has been an issue for way too long, and we've wasted so much money that we've lost from our state. It does not come back to us, and it's a tragedy. And you talk to anyone, I know several people that don't have health insurance. When I go to forums and meetings, I will ask for a show of hands of anyone that's struggled because they do not have health insurance. And many times, over half the crowd in attendance does not have any kind of form of health insurance.
Nick Gosnell: All right. So you were talking about education funding earlier. What's the piece of education funding that you say, you know, maybe we need to either shift dollars or increase dollars? Is there something specific that you're thinking about when you bring that up?
Shanna Henry: I actually think we're pretty balanced with our funding on public education right now. I think we're doing a good job. One of the main things that I do not want to see happen, though, is for vouchers to be allowed for parents that want to take their children out of the public school system and put them into a private school or a religious school and be able to get a tax credit for paying a voucher or a tax credit for making a donation to their church or in order to send their kids to a private school. To me, we should not be using public taxpayer dollars to pay for private education. That should be up to the families involved. If they want to take their children out of the public school system and put them into a private school, they should pay for that out of their own pocket. That should not be taxpayer money that goes for a private school tuition voucher. I feel very strongly about this. I am the product of a public education system in McPherson, Kansas, where I grew up. I'm a fourth-generation Kansan farm kid. So I'm a fourth-generation Kansan, having grown up on a farm and worked for my dad, went to a two-room country schoolhouse when I was a kid, first through fourth grade in one room and fifth through eighth grade in the other room. And I attended public schools my entire through my high school senior year in McPherson High School. And I am the product of a wonderful public education system. And we need that to be available to all students and all families, all families that may not have the financial means to send their kid to a private school. And we also make sure the public education system cares for those that are handicapped, for those that maybe have learning disabilities. The public education system has to educate all of our children. And it's one of the most equal and fair programs that we have. And it's a wonderful institution in our United States.
Nick Gosnell: Shanna, I touched on this with your opponents earlier this morning, but the amount of ground that now is part of the Senate District is a lot more than it was the last time they were drawn 10 years ago. And that touches on something that obviously, it's kind of part of the system. When you have population-based representation, as people move to the cities, then the legislative strength goes to those same cities. But talk about how someone from this part of the state can and should advocate for the rural life.
Shanna Henry: Thank you for that question. This is probably my third most important issue, top three issues in my campaign. And I feel like I'm the perfect mix of rural and city. I grew up on a farm, as I mentioned earlier, fourth generation farm kid from McPherson County, going to country schools. But I've lived in cities, some of the biggest in the world. I have seen all variations of public school systems and medical care. And it's tough. Our rural areas are really struggling right now. Our farmers, I empathize with them so much. And I worry dramatically about their well-being. We have an upward rate of suicide among farmers in our rural communities. And just to give you an example, my district, when I ran for this Senate District 34, just back in 2020, the district was comprised of the southern part of Reno County, including South Hutch, and just the northern half of Kingman County, where I live. And that was it. Now, as you mentioned earlier, it's expanded. It includes all of Reno County, all of Kingman County, and all of Barber County, all the way down to the Oklahoma border. This is a huge geographical district now. And we have lots of different types of folks that we need to represent. But I have a strong urge to represent the rural farmers, the hardworking farmers of Kansas. And that's such an important part of our economic history in Kansas as well, is our farming community.
Nick Gosnell: Maybe the biggest issue that, at least, maybe I'm wrong that it's not bipartisan, but I think it is bipartisan. At least it has seemed that way. Because every governor, whether Republican or Democrat, has done something about this, and they need the legislature's help to continue to do work, is water. And that's where the agriculture rubber meets the road. If you don't have water with which to grow crops, you don't have an agriculture industry. And if you don't have water that people can drink, you don't have people at that place. They will literally leave just because of the water issues. I mean, there's a reason why northern Africa doesn't have population. It's because of the Sahara Desert and not having water. Well, we're not in that situation in Kansas yet, but the Ogallala Aquifer is still in places getting lower, in places it's doing okay. We're seeing less and less rainfall than what we've seen in recent years. We've gotten a little bit this year, but as an example, Reno and Sedgwick County, and I think Kingman County might also still be in extreme drought. So when you think about water issues, what are you going to be able to bring to the table as far as saying, these are the things we can do to conserve and to deal with these long-term changes that are going to be around long after either you or I are here in Kansas anymore?
Shanna Henry: This is one of the biggest issues that we do face in this year of 2024. It is very alarming to me. A lot of it has to do with the burning of fossil fuels over the past hundreds or tens of years. And we are polluting our environment. There is global warming. It is a real thing. There is climate change. That is all very real. And we are feeling it now in Kansas without a doubt. Water is a huge issue. Our equest beds are being depleted, which is where I grew up on the farm in McPherson County. The Ogallala is being depleted. There's already a shift toward more dry land crops. We are not the kind of state that should be irrigating this much, especially in western Kansas. We just don't have the amount of rainfall to have these crops that need a lot of moisture and rain and water. We cannot deplete our water system. We may need to put some mandatory restrictions in for places like Wichita who take from Cheney Reservoir. I live about six miles south of Cheney Reservoir, and I've seen how low it is. It's scary low. I've never seen it this low. And there may need to be some mandatory restrictions put in because people are still watering their lawns like crazy in Wichita. And even though there are restrictions, but they're not mandatory and they're not being enforced. So we really need to get serious about this or we're not going to have enough drinking water even, let alone enough to irrigate our crops. So definitely there's been a shift. There's more dry land farming, which is a good thing. We want our farmers to stay in business and employed. It's a huge part of our economy in the state.
Nick Gosnell: Tell folks how they can find out more about your campaign.
Shanna Henry: You may go to Shanna, the number four. This is my email address. [email protected]. You can also go to shannahenry.com. And I would encourage you to send me an email. I would be happy to respond to your questions. That would be the most direct way to reach me. And I appreciate all your support of people that have helped me in the past. I look forward to representing Senate District 34. And I hope that you will elect me to be your new senator.
The audio interview is below.