GUEST COLUMN, Shannon Francis, 125th District Representative
Thank you for trusting me to serve as your representative to our state government. There is no greater honor than being chosen to represent my hometown in the Kansas House of Representatives. On Jan. 12, the House convened for our 2026 Session. This Session I will again serve as Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, and as a member of the Kansas Turnpike Authority Board, Appropriations, Tax, Legislative Post Audit, House Oversight, and Rules Committees and the Build Kansas advisory committee.
President Bennett and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Luke Dowell of SCCC were in Topeka for meetings last week. We talked about the challenges of our community colleges and about their work to solve the teacher shortage in our area.
State of the State
In a speech that did not introduce many new policies, the governor said she would sign legislation banning cellphones in public and private elementary and secondary schools.
“Smartphones and social media have exposed our children to a world they are not ready for, and to social pressures they don’t need or deserve. It’s creating a mental health crisis and a learning crisis,” she said. “The research on this is now clear. Anxiety in our kids is up. Depression is up. And, tragically, even suicide is up. Cellphones are making it much harder for our children to learn and for our teachers to teach. We need to step up and do something about this.”
The push for the bipartisan proposal to ban cellphone use during the school day has led by Republican Majority Leader Chase Blasi and Minority Leader Dinah Sykes. The bill would require each school board and the governing authority of an accredited private elementary or secondary school to adopt policies overseeing the use of personal electronic communication devices during instructional time.
The governor next called on making mental health a priority this session after touting the great strides forward that have been made during her tenure while working with the legislature and mental health community. But the Governor said, “unfortunately, the needs of Kansans require that even more must be done. We need more treatment beds. We need more professionals. We need more crisis response.”
The Governor next talked about water and said the Legislature took a major step by establishing a Water Task Force, led by Republican state Rep. Jim Minnix and Republican Sen. Kenny Titus. She then called on the Legislature to support that task force in its work to lay out a comprehensive, long-term strategy and find a dedicated funding source like we have done for our highways.
The governor said the budget she would propose would include money to increase spending on special education. She said the state has already added more than $120 million for special education. “We’ll keep calling on Washington to cover its fair share, but until it does, my budget will continue to increase this investment.”
She also said she would make another attempt at providing funding for students currently on reduced-price meals to move entirely to free meals.
Throughout the evening and in closing the Governor called for more civility on both sides of the aisle. “Many of us wish we could go back to simpler times, but we know we can’t,” she said. “When I look at the successes we’ve had these last seven years, here’s what they all have in common: They required elected officials from different parties, with different ideologies, from different parts of the state, to come together, meet in the middle, and find common ground to do what’s best for Kansas. There’s a word for that. It’s called civility.”
State of the Judiciary
New Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Rosen in his first State of the Judiciary, Tuesday, urged the legislature to consider a plan to offer incentives to encourage attorneys to practice in rural Kansas to ensure access to the court system. A little more than a year ago, a judicial task force warned that the shortage of lawyers in rural Kansas was reaching crisis proportions with more than 40% of the state’s counties having one or fewer attorneys per 1,000 people. Two counties in western Kansas had no attorneys.
Rosen was recently elevated to Chief Justice after Justice Luckert stepped aside from suffering a stroke. She is still on the court but plans to retire soon. He spoke of their shared career together: “Together, we have served side by side for more than three decades,” he said. “Under her steady leadership, the judicial branch navigated some of the most significant challenges we ever faced with unflappable grace. She strengthened our court system, making it more resilient, more effective, and better prepared for the future. Equally important, she fostered strong relationships within the judicial branch and with our partners in the executive and legislative branches.”
Joshua Lambert I am excited to have Joshua as my intern this year. He is a 3rd year law student at Washburn University and did a summer internship with local law firm Sharp McQueen, P.A. He has already proven to be an immense help this session. I want to commend Sharp McQueen, P.A. for taking part in the summer intern program that works to alleviate the shortage of lawyers in our rural areas by familiarizing them with the opportunities of practicing law in communities like Liberal.
As we deal with recent losses and controversy in our community it’s important to remember how important you are to your friends, acquaintances, and loved ones. We all need grace and acceptance as we deal with life’s difficulties. Take a moment to reach out and lift someone up this week.
