Offense, defense and special teams

BY MICHAEL WHITE KCA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Former NFL coach George Allen used to say that winning in football is "one-third defense, one-third offense, and one-third special teams." The same can be said of a winning legislative strategy.

Our industry's strategy and commitment to advocacy paid off again this session with both the Governor and the Legislature prioritizing transportation. Here's how:

The Defense

Working with Statehouse leaders, we were able to protect the highway fund from extraordinary transfers. We were also able to protect the highway fund's sales tax revenue stream.

There were multiple proposals on the table this session to accelerate the reduction or elimination of the sales tax on food. A flat cut or phase out of the food sales tax would have reduced revenues intended for the highway fund. However, the Governor and legislative leaders stood with us and, in their tax proposals, adjusted the percentage of the non-food sales tax dedicated to the highway fund in order to prevent a cut to transportation.

The Offense

We worked with House leadership on legislation to establish the BUILD Kansas Matching Grant Fund and designate new dollars for local infrastructure projects. These new dollars ($215 million) will come from the State General Fund and will be available to help communities apply for federal IIJA funds.

This will ensure Kansas can secure its fair share of the federal funding and make sure small and midsize communities aren’t left out due to an inability to secure the required match.

Special Teams

Our team – our members and our staff – are a critical part of our success. KCA members have long recognized the importance of being engaged in the political and legislative process. A testament to that is the member support for our Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Fund. The Eisenhower Fund has helped solidify KCA's position as one of the most influential voices at the Statehouse, and allowed us to further build a winning strategy.

Another step we took this session was to round out our lobbying team. The board approved bringing Blaine Finch, an attorney and former Speaker Pro Tem of the Kansas House, on contract to assist with legal review, bill drafting, legislative strategy and lobbying. This addition is one more step toward strengthening our organization's offense and defense, and securing the interests of our members and the industry as a whole.

The bottom line is this: if we don't stand up for transportation, who will?