© 2024 KMUW
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Kansas Senate Vice President Won’t Seek Re-election

Stephen Koranda
/
Kansas Public Radio

The vice president of the Kansas Senate says he will not seek re-election.

Republican Jeff King, from Independence, says lawmakers have become too focused on what he calls soundbites and politics. King says the current political system punishes lawmakers who admit they’ve made a mistake and try to fix it. He uses the example of a business income tax exemption he initially supported, then in recent years worked to eliminate.

“You have to be willing to take bold measures to try to improve the lives of the people of Kansas. Sometimes those will work, sometimes they won’t. When they don’t work, you have to admit they don’t work and try to fix them,” King says.

King says helping reform the state pension plan is one of his proudest legislative accomplishments. He voted against the budget this year because it would delay nearly $100 million of payments into the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System.

King says he hasn’t ruled out another run for political office at some point in the future.

Stephen Koranda is the managing editor of the Kansas News Service, based at KCUR. He has nearly 20 years of experience in public media as a reporter and editor.