Good evening and welcome to the studios on the campus of Washburn University.

I'm Val VanDerSluis, general manager for KTWU And I'm Amber Dickinson, professor of political science for Washburn University.

KTWU and the Washburn University Political Science Department are proud to bring this evening's debate forum to you as a public television station in northeast Kansas.

It is important for us to provide you with knowledge and insight as you exercise your rights as an informed voter.

The Washburn University Political Science Department has a long tradition of providing real world experience in the study of governments, public policies and political behavior, using both humanistic and scientific perspectives and skills to examine the countries and regions of the world.

We take great pride in providing a neutral ground for open discussion on politics and policies and conducting a public issue forums like this one.

Now, please stay tuned as we bring you the candidates vying for a seat in the race for Kansas State Treasurer KTWU Public Television and the Washburn University Department of Political Science present a political.

forum featuring candidates for the Office of Kansas State Treasurer.

We now present moderator Bob Beatty.

Hello, I'm Bob Beatty.

While so much attention is being paid to the race for governor this year, let's not forget you'll be making a lot of other important decisions at the ballot box.

Among them, who will be the state treasurer.

When Treasurer Jake LaTurner left officefor the US Congress.

Governor Laura Kelly appointed her Lieutenant Governor Lynn Rogers.

Now he wants to win the office outright.

But there are two others who also want your vote.

Who of the three candidates?

With me in the studio should be the next Kansas treasurer.

Is it Stephen Johnson, a member of the Kansas House of Representatives?

He's the Republican Party candidate and lives in this area.

Should the job go to this man, the current treasurer and former Lieutenant Governor Lynn Rogers.

He's the Democratic candidate and lives in Wichita.

Or is this the year to abandon both major parties in selecting a new state treasurer?

Steve Roberts hopes it is.

He is a former member of the Kansas State Board of Education and from the Libertarian Party.

He hails from Overland Park.

This debate is a partnership with the political science department at Washburn University, and they have selected the topics.

We'll also be taking questions from our audience and from you on Facebook and Twitter.

But enough of those details and on with the forum.

Why do you want to be state treasurer and what qualifies you for this job?

We've given each of the candidates 120 seconds to come up with an answer.

Starting with you, Stephen Johnson.

Thank you, Bob.

Great to be with you.

So I am Stephen Johnson, and I appreciate this opportunity to be with all of you.

I know Kansas from the ground up.

I grew up and continue to farm as the fifth generation on the family homestead in this area.

I graduated from Kansas State in Agriculture Economics and went on to earn an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago.

I work 24 years, full time in financial services, rising to senior vice president for investment products at Ameriprise.

I ran for the Kansas House in 2010 because I believe my financial experience could help Kansas address big issues in our pension funds.

I'm happy to report that leading the legislature, we successfully made changes to Capers, and we have saved the state billions in pension obligations while securing the retirement payments for our employees and teachers.

I'd like to put those same skills to work in the Treasurer's office.

The Treasurer handles the cash flows and investments for the state.

As such, the ability to maximize returns on the hundreds of millions of invested assets is a responsibility that can have a very large impact on our state finances.

Identifying and managing financial risks is central to investing and has been my life's work.

Recent changes in the investment landscape demand someone who understands these issues.

In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and this week's volatility in China, we need to be aware of the risk on our billions in international investments.

Further, we need to vet any constraints imposed to meet environmental, social or governance policy initiatives.

The Treasurer also runs our college savings or 529 program.

I served from 2011 to 2020 for the two previous state treasurers on their 529 advisory committee to shape those plans.

We need to continue to make the plans better and make Kansans aware of how to best use them.

This leads to other initiatives where the Treasurer could engage to advance financial literacy, mostly in all areas of government and across Kansas we need to have trusted numbers to build the foundation of our plans.

I've done this at home in my church across the country with Ameriprise and within the Kansas legislature.

I'm asking for your vote to continue to do it for Kansas.

All right.

Thank you.

Lynn Rogers.

Good evening.

Thank you, Bob.

For for letting me be here.

The state treasurer really serves as the state banker, balancing checking accounts, issuing bonds, managing 529 accounts and loaning dollars.

For two years now, you've had a treasurer who wants to do the job, not just run for the next office.

I have been a watchdog for the people of Kansas and their money.

Your Treasurer should work for you and that's what I've done.

I have used my 31 years of experience in the AG Finance and my time on the school board and in the state Senate Senate to deliver real results for Kansans and their communities.

We've updated banking practices.

We've updated software to secure personal information in the Unclaimed Property Network.

We have saved able accounts from being canceled due to noncompliance.

And in 2021, we saved 80 cities from bankruptcy.

During the record breaking cold snap.

I have work to do this job where previous treasurers have neglected it.

Kansas has been my wife Chris and I's community of choice for over 35 years.

We've raised our kids here, built careers and lived lives in Kansas.

Your choice on November 8th is between someone competent who has proven themselves in serving Kansans or someone who doesn't quite know if they want the job.

When the State Treasurer focus is on people and not on themselves.

Kansas wins and I hope over the next hour you'll learn some of the ways that I've done that and some of the things that I want to do in the next four years.

I hope I can earn your vote.

Thank you, Steve Roberts.

Good evening.

I'm Steve Roberts.

And it's a privilege to share our ideas for better schools with fewer rules.

Families come first in the fixing of public schooling, and I know how to fix schools.

Let that sink in for just a moment.

I'm Steve Roberts, and I know how to give schools the upgrade they need.

Our public schools have become government schools, but we can return them to genuine public institutions with participation in both primary and secondary schools.

Public involvement is a big part of the fix.

So is increasing salaries for teachers.

We have the money right now to give substantial raises to early primary teachers while reducing the size of K through three classes.

That's right.

We could do this right now with no tax increases.

I'm absolutely serious.

And while we've had some fun in this campaign saying SWI, the two major parties vote liberty.

Life is good.

We're dedicated to making our schools live up to the vision that I helped form on the state board just a few years ago.

Kansas leads the world in the success of each student.

Back in March of 2017, I wrote a simple two page document for my fellow board members and our Commissioner of Education, Dr. Randy Watson, whom I helped hire.

And to this day, Randy keeps a laminated copy of that document on his desk right here in Topeka.

You may download that document for fixing schools at reckon2022.org We have one minute campaign videos on YouTube on channel reckon2022, and our email is reckon2022@gmail.com.

Kansas government spend 66% of its budget on education.

We can lead the world in the success of each student ya reckon?

All right.

Thank you so much.

I think Kansas history buffs are going to enjoy this first question, then I'll name a bunch of names here.

Tom Van Sickle.

Joan Finney.

Sally Thompson.

Tim Shellenberger.

Lynn Jenkins.

Ron Estes.

Jake La Turner.

Here's what they all have in common for the past 50 years, every elected Kansas treasurer has run for another office while treasurer.

We'll start with Lynn Rogers.

What is it about the office that prompts so much ambition and if elected, will you keep the tradition alive and run for another office?

Well, I'm running for State Treasurer now and that is my plan.

When I arrived in the office, I really discovered an office that had been really emptied out, many things that hadn't been done because there was more focus on running for Congress.

And I said very early that I never have a plan to run for Congress, other offices.

I don't think there's any plans at this point in time.

There's enough work to keep me busy in the State Treasurer's office for, for the next four years, maybe eight.

But but I think the important thing is that Kansans need a Treasurer that wants to focus on them and not focus on on what their next job is going to be.

That's what's got us in trouble in the Treasurer's office in the past with some of these programs and projects that have been canceled.

All right, Steve Roberts.

Well, I certainly have no plans to run for Congress like several of the last Republicans who have held the office of treasurer.

I know that Lynn Rogers, I'll assume he's good to his word and has no ambitions.

But I will say that as a lift driver, I listen to the Royals on radio a lot and I hear Lynn's name three or four times a ball game.

I'm Lynn Rogers.

This is Lynn Rogers.

And you start your your college career learning Quest.com, something like that.

But I'll take him at his word that he has no political ambitions beyond treasurer.

I certainly don't.

I'm doing this because before I retire to a classroom, I simply want to fix what needs to be fixed.

Now, to say that I know how to fix schools is kind of a haughty claim to make, and it's more like I'm willing to stand up and point out some of the flaws that need to be addressed.

So I hope that answers your question.

Bob.

Thank you.

Steven Johnson.

So thanks, Bob.

Looking at some of the data that exists across different offices, one of the things that is higher for Treasuries has been trust typically and it is possible that that trust is one that is then place that that helps lead those candidates to higher office.

But I don't know.

I don't have quantitative data that's there.

As my fellow candidates, the same for me.

I am I am planning to run for reelection as Treasurer in four years, but I am uniquely qualified for Treasurer from the education that I had from my time in the private sector, building portfolios and monitoring how those worked to make sure you actually met the liability that was there.

Taking that into the legislature, the relationships with legislators on both sides of the aisles to ask questions and try to build good financial plans.

Right now we have some specific needs where we need to make sure we are asking questions about how assets are invested.

And that's what I want to focus on.

And I think it will go for more than four years to make sure that we keep portfolios balanced as we look at risks internationally as we look at risks in the policy arena and how we make sure that we achieve the fiduciary responsibility for Kansas.

Again, that is what my wheelhouse is.

That is why I'm running for treasurer and why my plan is to continue to serve in that role.

Okay.

Our next question actually gets to some of that.

The Kansas treasurer is a member of the Kansas Pooled Money Investment Board, which invests state money deposited with the Treasury, which is quite a bit of money.

How will you ensure that Kansas is getting the best return on its investments?

We start with Steve Roberts.

Well, the pooled money investment board is has been around since the early seventies, I understand, and it's done a lot of very good work.

I was actually privileged to attend a board meeting today of the PMIB, and it's actually where I first shook hands with Lynn Rogers and he was very cordial and very gracious and it was a pretty simple meeting.

They almost apologized for being bland and dry.

But I'm a veteran of school board meetings, and so that's certainly not an issue.

What was interesting is that both Canada and Argentina were mentioned in their change of their currency rates or exchange rates.

And then, you know, a billion here and 100 million there.

It was it was kind of interesting to hear the conversation about the the money from the federal government.

What I took away from the meeting today at the Pooled Money Investment Board was that one of the from the federal grants broken into pieces.

One of the larger pieces, in fact, I think it was the largest piece was labeled not excellence in government, but efficiency in government.

So that was their number one goal is they're going to spend 100 and some million dollars on efficiency in government.

You know, as a libertarian, we take a step back and say maybe we don't need so much government, maybe we should entrust people to run more of their lives.

And I hope that will be the case.

Thanks, Steve.

Steven Johnson, how will you ensure that Kansas is getting the best return on its investment?

Thanks, Bob.

That is central to what we have to do as the Treasurer on the Pooled Money Investment Board.

The opportunities are more limited, particularly as you're looking at the shorter term money, which is the bulk of the type of assets that are often handled there as interest rates have increased, it does provide more opportunity than we've had over the last several years, where eking out a higher return was particularly challenging in the low interest environment.

So there is that opportunity on the bond side of investing.

It is very quantitative.

You come down to what the risks are, what that return is, and you can calculate it with some degree of certainty.

We can ask some questions about the types of things we can and can't invest in, whether there are some bonds that we might look at adding to that portfolio if those risks are appropriate.

Another thing I'd like to revisit, the unclaimed property is also invested along with the pooled money.

And from 2000 to 2017 there was an element of that that was invested at Capers, not in Capers, but at and by Capers.

That dollar, those money is paid out between two and 20 million a year of that return back to the general fund.

And it looked at some of those longer term dollars that we had where we could look at that risk, fine tune the risk to each portfolio and from that, be able to add a fraction more return.

Each time we can add that return, that's another dollar.

We don't have to collect in fees and taxes, and I want to make sure we employ that across all of the investment portfolios.

All right, thanks, Lynn Rogers.

Well, I think a lot of people don't understand the use of the PMI be pooled money investment board.

We do take the money that comes in to the state.

The state treasurer just moves that money to the PMI, be they invest it, they do some for KDOT, they do some for the Health Stability Stabilization Fund, and then also a big investment for local municipalities.

Most of it, as mentioned, is very short term.

Most of them are certificates of indebtedness and then some blue chip corporate bonds.

Part of that is because we have to be able to move in and out quickly when a state budget need is there.

And so we do it really that that board takes care that we have a group of five board members.

I am one of those five board members.

The State Treasurer serves on that and it's interesting.

On the unclaimed property we the Governor Kelly did repay, there was about 300 million that was taken during the Brownback tax plan to fund the budget that has finally been repaid.

But we can't return it to Capers to invest until 2024.

So there's some limitations that the legislature has done and played games without in the past.

The board needs to stand up and make sure that the legislature knows we can't be playing those kinds of games with with our state funds.

All right.

Thank you.

We had a treasurer candidate in the Republican primary this year who came within about 4 to 500 votes of winning.

I think Mr. Johnson probably knows the exact number.

This candidate said, quote, I'll bring audits to the state treasurer's office, audit every department's budget, find the cuts and save you money, unquote.

The first part of my question is, can the Treasurer really do that?

And I guess if not, then do we need a would you recommend getting a state auditor to do that?

I think a lot of people ask me, can the Treasurer do that?

And we start with Steven Johnson on this one.

So thank you.

And yes, the primary was close, 474 was the count that I had at the end.

So every vote counts.

Be sure to get out and vote.

Each of the candidates brought a perspective that was useful to the debate and the opportunity to serve as a watchdog over the assets, I think is very important, as my fellow candidate brought to the fore.

I believe that there is an opportunity to, to, to do audits should the Treasurer wish to make that a priority and deploy those resources.

I think we work in concert with the legislature where we do have legislative post audit and look at both what they are looking at, what's their capacity is and also what the legislators capacity is to utilize those reports.

While we could do a lot of audits in the end, the legislature does pass the budget, decides what cuts to make, what things to fund.

If we created audits that remained on a shelf rather than actively used by the legislative team, then I don't think we have added value, but I think working together with them and we had proposed a sunset commission where we could do some of those things and I may go into that more, but that is the balance.

The more light we can shine on every area, the better.

But it has to be in a form that someone can use it.

I don't just want to produce the reports.

When Rogers is the state treasurer, also a state auditor.

I have no objections to doing that, but it would require legislative action and state budget allocations.

Our funds, our budget is all handled with either unclaimed property proceeds or fees for bonds.

And so there is no state general fund that's used for the State Treasurer and that would have to be a big change in the legislature to have to be willing to do it.

It could cost three or $4 million, I think, depending to do it right.

If you want to do every agency on a regular basis, we do have the authority to strategize and help state agencies work with their finances, how to improve cash flows and collections, you know, whether or not they should collect credit card fees, those kinds of things.

We do plan to be implementing that this next year.

We can do that under current budget, but it would be something we'd have to work with the legislature.

I'm not sure if they would want to give that up with the control of the post audit.

So so I think in the past it's been tried, but I don't think it's gone too far with the legislature.

All right, Steve Roberts.

Well, I think of the treasurer's job is largely administrative.

I certainly won't be doing audits or and I have no accounting background.

But to run a good shop, you you employ those people who have those skills.

I don't know how to answer the question of whether or not the State Treasurer should be the chief auditor.

I honestly don't know how to answer that.

I think that's why we have a latency period between elections and swearing in.

I'll agree with Steven Johnson on some of the things he said about it probably would not be prudent to rush into that.

I'm putting words in your mouth.

I apologize for that.

But I'm paraphrasing.

My contention is this.

It's a complicated world out there.

It's very complicated.

When you look at computer operating systems are incredibly complicated with millions of lines.

And so because our world is so complicated, I think it's incumbent upon us to simplify the rules whenever we can.

Simple, declarative, principled rules going back and forth between the legislature and the state board of Education and looking at post audits and reviews.

I know that there's a natural tug of war between agencies within Kansas Government.

I think we can streamline and be more simple and proactive and and basically look on, on keeping the world a little bit simpler, a little bit safer.

All right.

Thank you.

The state treasurer is in charge of the Learning Quest, the states 529 college savings program.

The question is, why would you be an excellent.

We hope for excellence.

Right.

And I did write good in there, but I went for an excellent, excellent administrator of that program.

And would you change it in any way going forward if you are elected?

And we start with Lynn Rogers.

Well, we do have almost $9 billion invested in learning quest, over 270,000 accounts.

We've actually seen a 33% increase in the number of Learning Quest accounts because we focused more on talking to the people that actually could open them.

Parents, grandparents, individual that nature.

We have chosen to do more of the advertising budget with either grants to schools and communities or to, you know, social media type events.

We've shied away from TV.

We've done some YouTube videos, but nothing on on broadcast.

We think that's been more promoting, you know, previous treasurers and not the program itself.

I think there's a lot of ways we can improve it.

Unfortunately, we have a contract that is is very set that's always determined by, you know, an open record that'll continue to be done.

I think it's in 2024 or 2025 that we'll have a chance to look at that again.

So we'll make sure we do that.

But there's a lot of ways I think we can do to improve the marketing.

And when we do that and increase the number of accounts will continue to lower the investment rate, the fee to the to the members.

And that's something that's been part of my goal, something that I've wanted to do, make sure there's plenty of investment options.

But at the same time, making sure that the fees are kept reasonable.

All right, Steve Roberts.

Well, as I listened to the Royals on radio, sometimes I just interject my name for for Lynns.

And so you've got this ad for Learning QUEST, which is administered by American Century at 45th and Main.

And I go past there almost every day.

I live in Overland Park, but I drive lift.

That's how I pay the bills these days.

And I really look forward to retiring to a classroom because that's that's what I was born to do.

But sometimes I'll be listening to the royals and I'll just kind of overlay.

I'm State Treasurer Steve Roberts.

Begin your college prep learning quest dot com.

I've read the the I guess you call it a prospectus.

I've got a lot to learn about this business, but it says you can lose money.

And of course you can because with any investment, you can lose money.

I don't know anyone personally who has lost money, but my contention would be this.

As important it is to save for college, I don't think that's a function of government.

I think that if we have really good basic education, people will know that it's a good idea to save for college.

I don't think this is a function for government in any way, shape or form.

As a libertarian, I would say, you know, we don't really need this.

If you're a good little saver, then you're a good little saver.

You can save up for college.

All right.

Thank you, Steven Johnson.

So thank you.

The 529, I think, is a useful way to save for college, taking advantage of the federal laws to allow tax free earnings for those that want to plan.

And administering that is an important function of the office.

I did have the opportunity to work with those plans since 2011.

When I first came in the legislature, then Treasurer Ron Estes appointed me to the Treasurer's 529 Advisory Committee, which I continued to serve on for for Jake LaTurner through 2020.

And I also happened to be endorsed by them for the office.

But I think we have to continue to work during that time.

One of the things that we did was build a glide path.

I set a portfolio options that would help someone transition from accumulation to that time that they want to use the money.

And I think continuing to educate people how to use them is useful.

I've had people say that they lost money in the plan due to the market and we're concerned about that.

And we need to make sure people know when to gear down so that they're not caught by surprise in those market moves that happen.

I think there are some other things that we're able to do in promoting it.

I do appreciate the idea of working with digital media and targeting messages more than just using the Treasurer's name and face to promote.

That probably is a role for that, but it needs to be particularly focused and I think we can also work to expand financial literacy beyond that, but starting with the efforts to help people plan for education and help to plan through other areas that we have financially.

Thanks.

I'm going to do a follow up because you've all mentioned this a little bit, and it's actually an oddly big part of Kansas politics, which is several treasurers becoming TV stars in the Learning Quest ads.

I mean, we're talking millions of dollars in marketing.

So I'm just going to ask, but I'll just go down the line, starting with Lynn Rogers.

If you are elected, will you be a star in The Learning Quest TV ads?

No, and I have not been.

I was asked that question when I when I took the took the oath of office that was the first question I was asked.

And my answer continues to be when we find the best marketing tool, the best opportunity to communicate the needs and the wants of the learning quest to parents, we will use that.

And so we found the methods that we've used have been much more effective than the past and the television we do do put our name on it.

But it's one of those things where we do want to differentiate ourselves from other states.

There are learning quest accounts or 529s in almost every state, and we want Kansans to know that they have one that they can be proud of.

Steve Roberts I didn't say radio, I said TV, but because you did mention the radio ads, would you want to star in the TV ads if you're treasurer?

No, I would just do the radio.

Okay.

Yeah, I would just do the radio.

I'm hearkening back to some of the discussions we had on the board about ten years ago.

College and career ready was the the phrase college and career ready.

And more than more than a couple of my fellow board members have wanteed to absolutely, absolutely deep six that notion because when you say college and career ready, people's minds go to a four year college and we need to prepare all sorts of people for all sorts of things that are post-secondary, from a welding career to an assistant veterinarian.

I mean, you don't need a four year college to do all.

We need 73% of our high school graduates need some sort of post-secondary certificate.

And college may not be for a large portion of those folks.

Stephen Johnson...star of stage and screen.

No, I think the best way is to look at how you target those messages and how you best reach those people that need it.

Now there can be a use for a number of things.

Just within this week I talked to someone who is recalling Ron Estes ad at Christmas time where the kids were opening the presents and getting the 529 plan and remembering that this many years later.

So if there is a sticky way to share a message, I'm open to hearing that.

But it has to be cost effective.

Expense ratio is really key to the plan.

Keeping that low is the first priority.

That means a cost effective way of delivering that message.

I also would look in some of the promotion dollars that come back rather than putting it into the investments, maybe looking at something that Arkansas does to match an initial payment by someone to help incenct them to get started.

Because if we can get people started, that's what we're really trying to do.

And I think we have to be creative with ways to reach it.

And I'm going to give you my phone number because I'm available.

You're all saying no, but I'm happy to do it.

On to the next question.

Thank you.

There's a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November.

It's been dubbed the legislative veto.

If passed, it will give the legislature the power to revoke rules and regulations of state agencies, which the governor oversees.

Do you support this amendment, and how does it affect the idea of separation of powers in Kansas?

If it passes and we start with actually Steve Roberts on this.

Thank you, Bob.

I don't know the language of the proposal, and I apologize for that.

I don't know the language, but I know that in our society now, we have far too many bureaucrats who are themselves making rules.

They feel empowered to to make rules that affect our lives up and down the line.

I think we're at it.

We're in a crisis mode in this country.

Where folks in government really feel it's incumbent upon them to basically make more rules.

And when I served on the state board of Education, I was a Republican and I was a Republican because our our bumper sticker slogan was Better schools, fewer rules.

Well, it turns out that both major parties and we know who they are, blue and red, donkeys and elephants.

They've become government centric.

And what I mean by that is when there's a problem with a program, a policy or procedure, they take a step back and say, how can we fix this with more government?

And I represent the Libertarian Party and I hearken back to the days when I was an environmental engineer doing Superfund sites and toxic waste sites.

And one of the things we had to always consider is doing nothing.

What happens if we absolutely do nothing?

And sometimes that's the best course of action.

All right.

Steven Johnson, the constitutional amendment.

So thank you.

The constitutional amendment would allow the legislature to come up with a plan to review rules and regulations.

And I do support that concept.

So I'll echo some of the things that are my candidate.

Steve Roberts has just gone over in that.

I think we do wind up with too many rules.

And I think there are times that we need oversight of those rules as it would affect the Treasurer's office if the Treasurer's office would want to implement something that the Legislature has.

Quite simply, I'd want to work with them on that implementation plan to make sure are we implementing this to not only the letter but the intent of the law.

And if I'm not, I'm just going to extend the process of more laws coming out to correct what I had come up with.

And I think this helps to just make that a shorter process.

If there is something that is burdensome that we come up with through the rules and regs process, if there is an implementation that does not meet the intent of the law, I think it is appropriate for the Legislature to figure out a way to review that and to come up with what that actual intent is.

And that will be regardless of who is in the governor's office.

So it it deals much more with looking at the bureaucratic implementation than who happens to be sitting on the second floor of the Capitol and whether or not a bill is vetoed.

Thanks, Lynn Rogers.

As I travel Kansas, I don't come across any Kansan that tells me they want more of the legislature telling them what to do.

They spoke very loudly in August that they didn't believe that.

I think that continues to be true here in November.

The state currently has procedures for rules and regs when they're recommended, whether it's the Treasurer or the governor goes to the Attorney General.

There's a Rules and regulations committee in the Legislature.

They can object and make changes, but if they totally object, then those rules and regulations go into place.

They can pass a law to make that change.

And so I think it really messes with the checks and balances and and the equal access of all three branches of government.

I don't think it's necessary.

And I tell people we don't need to change and we don't need to lose the local control that the Second Amendment would do as well.

All right.

Thank you.

We've got some audience questions and I'll go right to these and we're going to start with Steven Johnson for this one.

And it's pretty straightforward.

Do you support efforts to expand Medicaid in the state of Kansas?

It's been going on for a number of years.

This debate.

So Medicaid is a debate that's gone on for a long period of time.

It's one that we've held around the legislature, our opportunities to vote on it have been limited.

And I have a district that I represented where there were a couple of hospitals that Medicaid expansion would be something that they had wanted.

But there were two key provisions that needed to be there in order to work through that.

And one was the opportunity to opt out should the program change in the future.

And another is to make sure that there is some sense if people are able to work, that that is something that needs to happen and help to make sure that it's not used purely as a safety net.

There are other states that have expanded it, other Republican states that have expanded it.

It is not something that the Treasurer will weigh in on.

It will be something that the Legislature would continue to handle and would not be affected directly by the legislative, by the Treasurer's office.

All right, Lynn Rogers.

I am very have always been very supportive of of this.

Actually, as lieutenant governor, I visited over 40 critical access hospitals, many of them in our rural communities that are 30 to 60 miles away from the next hospital.

And so with the loss of five or six of those in the last few years, we've had a tremendous outpouring of support.

I think one in eight are against it, the other eight, seven are for it.

I think it's time we've lost over $5 billion.

Our neighbors are all doing it.

We're losing health care professionals on the borders.

We continue to focus on these cultural war issues as opposed to things that will help families at their kitchen table.

And this is something that will help them.

Some counties actually even have a mill levy to support their critical access hospital.

The money that they would get from Medicaid expansion would be able to eliminate that and lower the tax rate.

So I think it's something that's time has come.

It's come for a long time and we need to focus on it.

All right, Steve Roberts.

Thanks, Bob.

I would echo each of these gentlemen on my left and my right because it has become a political football.

And I also agree that it's not the treasurer's domain to to make grand decisions regarding this.

I would like to just kind of take a step back and say I think that there's a uniquely American solution to health care.

We keep going back and forth between whether it should be government largesse or, hey, you're on your own.

And I think that there is a uniquely American recipe to give folks quality health care at a reasonable price and not make it a political football, but also find that sweet spot between government giveaways and personal responsibility.

I think that this country is great enough, and I know I'm just talking like a politician in generalities and I apologize for that.

But I really believe that if we have good communication between the two parties who like to fuss all the time, that we could find that that magical recipe, that sweet spot between the extremes and solve health care for a lot of Americans.

This next question is also an interesting one, and I think it would, if it would involve the Treasurer, is do you support the legalization of marijuana as a and also as a possibility to bring into the state like it has in some other states?

And we start with Lynn Rogers on that one.

I have been in support of it for medical marijuana.

We actually helped improve the bill last year that passed the House by about 80-40, approximately.

That was a very bipartisan vote.

Half Democrats half Republicans.

And and I think it's something, again, that the time has come.

All of our neighbors are doing it.

It will help alleviate a lot of problems with opioids and things of that nature.

It will bring about 42 million is what the tax or organizations would do.

And it's something that we follow closely in the State Treasurer's office.

Banking limits what can be done with with marijuana and the National State Treasurers Association has been talking about that it actually when we don't legalize it, there's so many businesses that could be affected by it.

Even, you know, Scotts Miracle-Gro could have assets seized because if something is proved that they go to a marijuana farm, you know, they could lose their business.

So.

So it's something that affects more than banks.

It affects businesses and individuals as well.

But I do think it would would hit and help many of our particularly veterans and folks that are in extreme pain.

Steve Roberts The question is legalization of marijuana, I guess medical end or recreational?

Well, I was going to ask you if that was it.

Okay.

The libertarian position is legal weed.

I grew up in Platte County, Missouri near the Kansas City Airport, and in Platte City, our rivals in basketball and football were Weston, the Weston Blue Jays.

Weston,used to be o and they were known as the hemp capital of the world.

But we're talking about rope back in the days of steamboats and Mark Twain and that sort of thing.

So I am definitely personally I've always been for decriminalization of marijuana.

The libertarian position is legalization across the board recreational, medical.

But I would also like to put 2 cents in for the environmental aspect of marijuana.

The rope hemp, which Kansas could be an agricultural leader in in the production of of rope quality hemp, which can be turned into virtually anything that that you can make out of plastic, virtually everything.

Maybe not football helmets.

But people talk about the drinking straws that choke the sea turtles.

You can make that stuff out of hemp.

And then when it gets into the ocean, it it disintegrates it.

It goes away after a time.

So I'm for the legalization of marijuana.

Thanks, Steven Johnson.

Very good.

Well, and we've talked about the three different types.

So on the industrial hemp back in 2014, when the Federal Farm Bill changed, I actually brought the concept to Kansas and the Department of Agriculture and started our research project that we have and still serve on the and served on the Hemp Advisory Board for as long as it existed.

We've now moved it to industrial and no longer have that advisory board in the Department of Agriculture.

And I'm thankful to the pioneers who have planted and tried and figured out how we can grow it again in Kansas, we were one of the top growing states back in World War Two.

It is a crop that is well suited for Kansas and we are now able to move ahead with that.

The bill for medical marijuana did have a split vote in the House.

People across the board for and against that.

I did vote for medical marijuana and support that use and the number of things that it can do.

I do not support the recreational use of marijuana in Kansas now.

While there are revenues that again flows through the budget, through the legislature and other things, I would agree the key piece that affects in the Treasurer's office are those banking regulations something we need to continue to work on for the industrial side, something that would be an an issue on the medical side should we promote it.

And I think that's one of the roles that the Treasurer can use to help through those issues.

Thank you.

I'm going to call this an audience question because before the debate someone said, please ask this.

So we're going to go to Steve Roberts to start.

Relative to the rest of the state rural Kansas is declining in population.

Is this a problem or is just a fact of life in modern America?

Steve.

Yes,.

P÷{ardon me, but on Friday I hit a deer.

I've never hit a deer before.

I drive a lot and I hit a deer on I-70 at 72 miles per hour and totaled my Acura MDX, which, by the way, is an American car.

It was assembled in Alabama.

So my Acura is now in Abilene, Kansas, and it looks like it's totaled.

The reason I mention this is because I stopped in to I don't know if I should mention the name of the insurance company, but they like Patrick Mahomes a lot.

And yeah, and and so I stopped in there because I wanted to get a card that had the most recent expiration date.

And Michelle in that office in Abilene explained how we don't do things the way they do it in the big city, because in the big city you call the 800 number, you get a runaround.

What they do in Abilene generally is they say, okay, go get your repairs if it's reparable and then give us the the receipts and we'll reimburse you, which is the way things ought work generally.

So we're complicating our world way too much in ways that really make our children suffer in so many ways.

Is there a basic difference between rural and urban Kansas?

There is.

But can we have good schools across the whole state?

Yes, we can.

Steven Johnson So the decline in rural population is a trend that has been happening likely will continue in the future.

Certainly we want to see all of our communities grow, but many of our communities are best at guiding what that growth looks like, what the investment is that best drives it, and what is productive.

I don't know that it's one that we can say at the state level to say, well, this is the type of population growth that we would expect in any particular area of the state, but continue to either get out of the way or support programs that are working and particularly support community initiatives that are working.

Yes, what we want to make sure that we continue to do, there are some opportunities through the Treasurer's office to do that with the loan programs, working with the Legislature to create those types of programs to loan when there are difficulties to help get through those, those hard times and making cost effective loans available when they are needed.

But as we work, we want to be careful to not try and come up with a government solution that overrides how we work through those particular things.

I do understand the rural areas.

Being a farmer, having grown up on the farm and what is there that continues to change the needs, continue to change the business opportunities, continue to change.

And one of the things that we have done collectively is working on expansion of broadband, internet access, whatever form that is, helps us to be on the leading edge of technology which we need for the agricultural opportunities as well as other business opportunities that can come to the area.

Thank you.

Lynn Rogers.

Well.

Rural is very near and dear to my heart.

You know, when I became lieutenant governor, my job was to create the Office of Rural Prosperity.

Our first job was to get out and tour and visit, find out what communities were prospering, prospering, which ones weren't.

What we heard from them was that they needed housing, they needed broadband, they needed childcare.

Fortunately, we were able to do the first housing study in 30 some years.

The legislature and the governor put over 50 million into rural housing.

If you wanted to create a business or expand your business, there was no homes for anybody.

Same with with broadband.

Over 50,000 people now have broadband that did not have it at the start of 2019.

But I think what's interesting is, is the areas that have grown in rural Kansas, communities like Liberal, Garden City and Dodge City are communities that have embraced and encouraged diversity, and they've learned how to use and bring people into the state.

Same with Ullysses.

If you go to the little town of Ulysses, there are businesses that are started by the immigrants, not by anyone else.

So.

So I think those are discussions that we can have.

You know, I don't disagree that we need to have the state out of the out of the way.

But people in many rural communities are tired.

They need help and they need assistance.

And we need to be able to do that.

And and I think, again, with our loan programs, we're going to do one of the first housing loan programs in over 18 years.

There's a $60 million fund.

They've never loaned a dime.

We're going to do it.

Hopefully do one for a nursing home in Plainville, Kansas.

So thank you.

I had a question involving the trust and the person in this job and then I received an audience question.

I think it's the same thing.

So I'm going to go with the audience question and the question is, some voters have concerns that someone in this position has the ability basically to benefit themselves personally, because it involves investments and actually a lot of money.

Is this true?

And what do you have to say about that possibility?

And we start with Steven Johnson.

Apparently, it is a concern among some.

Yeah.

So trust is critical among anyone that you're working with, with financial assets.

People would ask me, what's the what's the biggest thing I need to look for in my financial advisor?

And it's trust.

Competence is a close second, but I have to have somebody that I can trust that is absolutely paramount in role of Treasurer.

I think we are fortunate that there are checks and balances.

There are some issues that happened way back in the thirties and then Governor Alf Landon stepped in to say that's not how this is going to go.

And the office was changed at that.

From that point it was changed several decades later from a constitutional to a statutory one, somewhat in the wake of that, to make sure that the oversight is pure and complete by the Treasurer.

I, I am not able to think of ways that the Treasurer can benefit themselves directly in that you need to account for dollars in, dollars out.

You need to be the watchdog that's making sure that the expense ratios are as low as they possibly can and that those assets are doing the most they can for the state.

I think part of what you have to do beyond that is to make sure that there's no one else in that process that has the opportunity to benefit themselves or others in the process.

But but it is critical to be able to say, are they competent and are they doing what's in the best interests of the actual asset owner?

Thank you.

Lynn Rogers.

Yes.

The trust is very key.

That's what I built my career around in banking for over 40 years of including the 31 years in the ag side as a state treasurer, there is very little of our job that is actual investments and putting money in certain funds.

That is all done through capers or the PMIB.

So we have boards of directors, we have professional staff that that insulate us and keep us away from from doing that type of thing.

And as a board member of Capers, we also fill out a form that basically we signify that we have not invested in any of these funds or investments.

Basically, the portfolio of the Capers fund and we have that we swear to that each and every year.

And so there isn't really an opportunity for us to do that.

All right, Steve Roberts.

I think there are good checks and balances for the office of the treasurer.

I think there are there are many safeguards in place and I'm really not concerned about that.

My would be the political process.

You get to a certain point and you have to be on TV and you have to raise a lot of money and you have to have a lot of friends with money and the love of money kind of starts overriding some of the decisions.

I've read some of the statutes, I believe 75-4222 is the one that talks about you cannot have any conflict of interest.

I know I don't have conflicts of interest because I'm running for state treasurer to simply turn schools around for Kansas families who realize that for a long time public schools have needed an upgrade.

And maybe this is a follow up to that.

And I'm going to ask for one minute on this one so we can get to your closing statements.

And the Kansas treasurer is one of the few elected officials statewide, so the Treasurer has what we call a bully pulpit.

What issue outside of the Treasurer's duties would you use that bully pulpit to spotlight in the state of Kansas?

And we start with Lynn Rogers.

You have one minute.

Excuse me.

I've again spent many years in education school board and why I ran for the Senate in the first place.

So public education is very important to me.

It continues to be an important focus of our office because of the learning quest, the 529s.

And just to be clear, you know, Learning Quest applies to more than four year schools.

It's it's vocational schools.

So we go out to a lot of schools and talk to kids so that they can be prepared for it.

We use our scholarship program to encourage kids to apply for scholarships.

There's just a lot of things that we can do, and education would continue to be probably my number one issue.

Steve Roberts Well, as I said in my opening remarks, families come first in the fixing of education.

And I know just saying that schools need fixing really rubs a lot of people raw we have a lot of really good people have dedicated their lives to making schools as good as they can make them.

And then I come along and say, Hey, you guys really need to clean up your act.

You need to fix things, and it can be abrasive.

I mean, that's just the nature of the beast.

But as we have smaller classes in kindergarten first, second and third grade and pay teachers more, we can have the relationships with families.

Families come first.

I can't emphasize that too much.

So if I am privileged to be treasurer, I will do whatever I can to ensure that we have good schools, great schools for any family who wants it, regardless of income, regardless of bloodlines, regardless of zip code.

All right.

Steven Johnson, you have the bully pulpit pulpit now.

Thank you.

So I think, you know, one of the treasures, our talking, everyone will want to hear about the details of balancing the books, etc..

So it may be difficult to get to.

No.

clearly.

The thing I would want to talk to and augment what the Treasurer does is financial literacy.

We can lead into that with a 529 plans.

There are other ways to pull that together.

I am on the board for the Kansas Council for Economic Education.

That entity working with the insurance commissioner through the Securities Commissioner, and the programs they have with the stock market game and other things working with the State Board of Education as they are looking at having a financial literacy component in the K-12 education requirements, how do we implement that?

How do we partner with industry who has a lot of different programs to get those out there?

Great programs on women and investing and the unique needs of different groups.

And I think the treasure can help pull that together and help pull us ahead.

All right.

Thank you very much.

That's the end of the question and answer phase of this forum.

And now it's time for our candidates to make their final case directly to you, the voters.

And they have 90 seconds to do so.

And we start with Steve Roberts.

Thank you, Bob.

It's been a privilege to be here tonight, and I am very grateful to be welcomed into this debate as a third party candidate.

You know, I was going to quote the Kansas City Star, which is no friend of Republicans these days, that's for sure.

And I used to be a Republican on state board.

And I just want to read the first two paragraphs.

This is from Monday's paper front page.

In a new report showing the effects of COVID 19 disruptions on student learning, both Missouri and Kansas saw test scores drop this year from pre-pandemic levels, in some cases erasing decades of growth.

The stark results of this year's National Assessment of Education Progress Exams, known as the Nation's Report Card, show that the country saw its largest ever decline in math scores.

It goes on.

The way we're going to turn schools around is to put families first, students first.

When I was on the state board, we had a sign the wall with a magic eight words.

Our students come first and every board decision.

If that were the case, we'd have a world beater.

But instead we play political games all over the place and we have a media, quite frankly, that shuts people like me out of the process.

In fact, my understanding is that Mr. Johnson did not respond to the star's questionnaire where Lynn and I did.

And then when they have the write up, they have Stephen's picture and they have Len's picture, but they don't have my picture.

And that's just part of the bias.

And this goes back to the first time I ran for the state board in 2008.

I ran as a true independent.

So I would appreciate your consideration.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Steve Roberts.

We go to Lynn Rodgers.

Thank you, Bob.

I've traveled over 65,000 miles since I became your treasurer.

I believe it's important for Kansans to get to know their elected officials and see them outside of Topeka.

But I also did that so that people would know what the office does and why it's so important to the state.

The past treasurers have used this office simply to run for Congress.

Something I won't do.

I think Kansans deserve better.

The responsibilities of this office are what I've been doing my entire career as a ag banker who work with farmers and ranchers and agribusiness across the whole state, loaning almost three quarters of billion dollars to strengthen our farm families and build our communities.

I understand how important this office is.

My opponent speaks of returning this office to Republican leadership.

If that means what we've seen canceling security updates to needed software, ignoring federal guidelines that would save needed banking services for Kansans living with disabilities, or still using 1980s banking procedures, i.e.

pen and ink and paper to make bond payments.

I would say it's more important that we return this office to competent banking and public service.

When this office is focused on people of Kansas, Kansans will win.

Whoever leads this office must understand that we do much more than investments.

That's actually the very small part of our job.

The they need to understand sophisticated banking accounts, bonds, customer service and education policy.

So thank you for watching me and visiting tonight.

Find out more about me at Kansas Rogersfor the opportunity to serve Kansans and I don't take it lightly.

So I ask for your vote on November 8th.

Thank you so much, Lynn Rogers.

We go to Steven Johnson.

Thank you, Bob.

And thanks to all of you for watching and working to learn more about the Treasurer's race.

The Treasurer's office does come down to who you trust with your checkbook.

I am uniquely qualified to serve as your next Treasurer.

My education experience, my private sector experience, my work in the legislature did prepare me for this particular office and that is the one that I am running for.

There are many systems that need to be addressed, but to be able to address them, you have to work with the legislature to be able to make changes and move policy forward to make sure that funding can be approved.

When we want to improve systems and continue to make progress for the Treasurer and across the state, I gained the trust of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, working through issues, listening and asking questions together is what helps us to build and implement the best vision for Kansas and for Kansas assets.

We have to solve math problems with, math, not rhetoric.

That's what we learned as we addressed capers, taking it from the second worst to one of the better funded systems in the country that was based on making sure that the equations balance in dollars in equals dollars out.

We do need to invest to make sure that we invest wisely by adding a fraction of a percent to return.

We can add tens to hundreds of millions in dollars that don't have to be collected.

And we want to make sure that we invest in America, that we are aware of international bad actors and continue to keep Kansas at the forefront.

I ask for your vote.

Thank you so much.

And I do want to say to all three of you gentlemen that, believe it or not, in some states, in the union, candidates are ducking debates.

So I appreciate all three of you being here and being able to talk to the people, because I think that's what elections are all about.

And personally, I don't think they should be allowed to duck debates.

But happy to have you here.

You've been watching the three candidates wanting to be your next Kansas treasurer.

Our thanks to Democratic Party candidate Lynn Rogers, Republican Steve Johnson and Libertarian Party candidate Steve Roberts.

On behalf of our debate partners, the political science department at Washburn University, and from all the wonderful production crew and volunteers here at the studios of KTWU in Topeka.

I'm Bob Beatty, and thanks for watching and listening.

Go vote if you haven't already.

And for goodness sakes, at least go on November 8th and vote goodbye.