Craig Musser

Education

Religious freedoms in education: I learned my morals from my parents and the church. Jefferson wrote that “religion is a matter which lies solely between a man and his God…” The separation of church and state is at the foundation of our democracy, and therefore any state-funded education should be free to teach about all the religions of the world but seek to promote none. Learn more

Student loans and college debt: The student loan system needs to be reformed so that students and parents aren’t required to take out high-interest loans to fund the education they need to get a job. Learn more

Pay for educators, training, and continuing education: More public funds need to be allocated to attract, educate, and continuously train quality teachers. We need to emphasize the importance of teachers and the education system. Learn more

Requirements should come with resources, but some resources should come without requirements: State and federal governments should not be requiring programs in schools if they’re not willing to provide resources. However, schools should also be granted resources to use at their discretion, free from political strings and agendas. This way, schools can fully implement required programs while directing funds toward things children in their community need. Learn more

Environment / Energy

Stabilizing markets is paramount: Mother Nature provides farmers with plenty of variables. Once the hard work of plying their minds and trade to overcome those variables is done, we should be doing our part to reduce variability in the markets on which they rely. Whether it’s ideas like passing legislation that prevents the government from making changes that will upset markets within crucial timeframes for farmers or working to expand into new markets, we need to entertain all ideas to stabilize and diversify the markets for farmers. Learn more

Healthcare

Use of technology in healthcare should be encouraged: Providers should be incentivized to use technology, such as telehealth, more broadly to keep non-urgent and sick patients that can be managed via home care out of the office to prevent the spread of seasonal illness and leave more time for in-office care for patients who require it. Learn more

Lowering medical costs for patients: Redefining nonprofit medicine and standardizing billing and reimbursement practices across providers, insurers, and billers to ensure dollars spent go back to the providers and insurers in amounts that benefit both without costing citizens more. Learn more

Mental healthcare should be a priority: Mental healthcare should be treated with the same urgency and compassion as physical illness. Telemedicine can assist prior to in-patient treatments. Learn more

Access to preventative care: Preventative health care, such as routine blood tests, cancer screening, and vaccinations, should be universal. This provides a revenue base for rural and urban healthcare facilities. Learn more

Social Services

It’s mandatory that we maintain social security to ensure everyone who has paid in gets the income and benefits their money has provided others. To do that, we must maintain a substantial and well-trained workforce, keep the federal budget in line so we can honor our treasury notes, and remove the cap on FICA. Removing the cap will extend the length of viability of the social security fund. Learn more

Taxes / Budget

Using taxes to invest in our future: President Eisenhower had the foresight to invest in our infrastructure in ways that few people understood. Several presidents and Congresses have made further investments in transportation networks, water and sewer systems, energy grids, telecommunications, etc. It’s our turn to improve upon what has already been done and to add technology and energy innovation to the list. We need a consistent vision and coordinated, sustained effort from all parties to make wise investments that improve the lives of Kansans as they shore up the budget. Learn more

The intent is to reduce costs associated with issuing, negotiating payments for, and collecting money based on past and present rules violations when tax obligations were fully or mostly met before penalties began accruing. Enforcement and investigation need to focus on complex tax returns and accounting for large tax obligations that have not been received, which directly affects the government’s budget. Learn more

Taxes and the IRS: The tax code and the way funds are directed need to be simplified, and at the same time, the IRS needs to function primarily as a service. That means making well-trained IRS staff available to the public for guidance. So, citizens can voluntarily take care of documentation or filing errors and pay small self-reported shortage amounts without incurring fines or penalties, regardless of the amount of time that’s passed. Learn more