Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday that she’s flattered to be
considered a viable vice presidential candidate in two years, but for now
she’s satisfied focusing on her re-election campaign before the state votes
on Nov. 7. “I’m just focused on the next 19 days,” Sebelius said Thursday.
“I think there are incredible opportunities in this state. I am so excited
after having the chance (to) patch together a system that was broken. I’ve
been so honored to serve as governor and it’s always complimentary to have
nice things said about us nationally, but it’s really about a great team of
people who have done a lot of work.” Sebelius visited with members of the
Kansas City Kansan’s editorial staff on Thursday, one of several stops for
her in the Kansas City area, including a ribbon cutting at a new warehouse
at Nebraska Furniture Mart Thursday morning. Speculation about Sebelius
being considered a vice presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket in
2008 and beyond has been heating up nationally as Sebelius rakes in
accolades for her work as governor. But before deciding whether to step onto
the national stage, Sebelius is working to defeat State Sen. Jim Barnett,
her Republican challenger in the gubernatorial race. Sebelius said Thursday
that her opponent is too pessimistic when it comes to the state’s economic
outlook. “I get frustrated with his presentation that Kansas is a difficult
place to do business and has a bad economic situation,” she said. “First, I
don’t think it’s accurate. Second, I think it’s the worst thing to do as an
ambassador from Kansas. I like to talk about the reality of what’s happened
in the last four years and the progress we have made.”
On the local front, Sebelius said the state could help Wyandotte County with
an important economic issue: training an available workforce in the eastern
part of the county for available jobs in the west.
“There are definitely training dollars in place,” she said, “but what we’ve
tried to do, and it’s been successful in other areas, is try to reorganize a
workforce training program. It puts together community colleges and the
business community with the Department of Commerce. If there are training
needs not being met, we’re happy that the Kansas First project is available
to put people at the table and say, ‘Where are they missing skills? Who do
we need? How do we recruit them?'”
Sebelius said she “absolutely” still supports the addition of slot machines
at The Woodlands race track in Kansas City, Kan., and hopes someday to see
it become a reality – even though the state legislature has voted the issue
down over a dozen times.
“We have gotten very close,” she said. “I tend to be optimistic. I hope
(legislators) continue to hear from their constituents, because when I
travel around the state the input is pretty strong.”
She also supports other forms of gambling in the state, including possibly
placing one of two “destination” casinos in Wyandotte County.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me that we are shipping hundreds of millions
of dollars to Missouri, and now to Oklahoma, or carting it to Las Vegas,”
she said. “Kansans like to gamble. What we have is all the issues dealing
with gambling but none of the revenue, so I am looking for a legislative
breakthrough that would allow local communities to have a chance to vote.”
Sebelius says states need to work together to find solutions for illegal
immigration. She also said employers have a responsibility to follow the
law.
“Some employers intentionally hire illegal workers to beat the competition,
and frankly, that’s one of the areas the state can really do something
about,” she said. “I think we need to take that seriously. It’s unfair to
competition and unfair to workers here in the workforce.
“I think we need a national comprehensive discussion, whether it’s talking
about what we’re doing at the border or those 14 million who are already
here and who have families here. We need a comprehensive solution. That
isn’t
something we can deal with state by state.”
When the Kansas Supreme Court ruled earlier this year on the state’s
education funding package, some local urban school districts were
disappointed with the ruling. Sebelius said Thursday that local schools
weren’t the only ones disappointed, but she also said funding could continue
to get better in the future.
“I don’t think there’s any question, whether it’s the KCK School District,
or Sedgwick County or Shawnee Mission, that they are light years ahead of
where they were,” she said.
In Thursday’s visit, Sebelius also spoke about the State Board of Education,
embryonic stem cell research, the keys to continued economic growth and
other issues.
