Independent · Kansans First.

Kansas Can.

"Kansas has the resources. Kansas has the people. It's time our government works for us."

Seven Priorities. One Administration. The Work Begins on Day One.
💧
Priority One · Water & Health

Clean Water & Healthcare for Every Kansan

Know what's in your water. Keep rural hospitals open. Cover 150,000 working Kansans who've fallen through the cracks.

Two Problems. One Priority.

Water: Most Kansans have no idea what's in their water. There is no statewide system that tests wells, maps contamination, or tells communities whether their aquifer is running low. Rural families on private wells are especially in the dark — they have to pay for their own testing, if they test at all. And SB 98 just handed out-of-state data centers the right to drain that same water with almost no oversight.

Healthcare: Kansas is one of only ten states that has refused to expand Medicaid — turning away $7 billion in federal funding since 2014. That money went to hospitals in Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, and Oklahoma instead. Today, 63 Kansas rural hospitals are at risk of closing — more than any other state. Nebraska expanded Medicaid and has just 3% of its rural hospitals at risk. Kansas refused and has 58%. The Herington Hospital served our community for 104 years. It closed in October 2023.

$7B
In federal Medicaid funding Kansas has left on the table since 2014 — money that went to Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado & Oklahoma instead
63
Kansas rural hospitals at risk of closure — more than any other state. 30 face closure within 6–7 years.
150K
Kansans in the coverage gap. 60% are already working — their employers don't offer insurance.
3%
Nebraska rural hospitals at risk — after expanding Medicaid. Kansas: 58%. Same Great Plains geography. Different decision.
70%+
Of Kansans support Medicaid expansion regardless of party. A handful of legislators blocked floor votes for a decade.
Day One

What Begins Immediately

Executive authority — no legislative vote required
  • 🔬
    Find out what's in Kansas water — and tell people

    We'll test every public water system and a representative sample of private wells across the state — and publish the results online so any Kansan can look up their area. Private well owners' personal information stays protected. Results will be updated every year so communities can track trends over time, not just get a one-time snapshot.

    Month 1–2 · KDHE directive
  • ⚙️
    Fix what the Governor can fix right now — without waiting for the legislature

    The Governor has real power over how KanCare (Kansas's Medicaid program) operates today. Governor Ray will use it: demanding transparency on wait times and denied claims; rewriting insurance company contracts so their profits depend on patients actually getting healthier; cracking down on provider lists that look good on paper but don't include doctors who are actually available; and increasing pay for primary care doctors, OB providers, mental health workers, and rural physicians so they can afford to stay in Kansas.

    Day One · Executive directive to KDHE
  • 🏥
    Introduce the Kansas Healthcare Access Act — bring $680 million home

    150,000 Kansans earn too much for current Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance. They're stuck in a gap that only exists because Kansas hasn't accepted federal Medicaid funding that is already paid for. Governor Ray will introduce the bill on Day One to close that gap and bring $680 million in annual federal funding back to Kansas hospitals. The bill includes real accountability — insurance companies don't get paid if people aren't getting healthier.

    Day One · Introduced in legislature
  • 🩺
    Start building the rural doctor pipeline Kansas desperately needs

    Dozens of Kansas counties don't have enough doctors — and recruitment campaigns alone won't fix that. Governor Ray will direct the University of Kansas Medical Center to design a scholarship program: free medical school, a living stipend, and support for students who commit to practicing in a Kansas shortage area for five years after they graduate. We'll also launch a task force within 90 days to build political support for the bill before it reaches the legislature.

    Within 90 days · KUMC directive
Legislative Goals

What We Will Fight For

Requires legislative action to make permanent
  • 🛡️
    Protect Kansas water in law — not just policy

    Executive action can start the testing program, but only the legislature can make it permanent. Governor Ray will fight for a law that locks in annual water testing, requires public reporting, and makes large industrial water users pay their fair share of the cost. The Ogallala Aquifer took thousands of years to fill. We are draining it in decades. Kansans deserve to know how much is left — and who is taking it.

  • 🏛️
    Pass the Kansas Healthcare Access Act — and hold insurers accountable

    The $680 million in annual federal funding this bill unlocks works out to $10.8 million per at-risk rural hospital per year — more than twice what it typically takes to keep a struggling rural hospital from closing. The bill includes real teeth: insurance companies that fail to deliver results lose their contracts, not just their bonuses. Rural Kansans shouldn't have to drive an hour for a doctor because a handful of legislators decided their principles mattered more than your hospital.

  • 💊
    Make the Medical Scholarship permanent in law

    A doctor who grew up in southwest Kansas, went to medical school on a state scholarship, and came home to serve her community for five years isn't a cost. She's the reason people in her county don't have to drive 90 minutes for a checkup. This bill makes that program permanent — so it survives changes in administration and keeps the pipeline flowing for the long term.

  • 🖥️
    Repeal SB 98 — Protect Kansas water from data center exploitation

    SB 98 opened the door for large data centers to consume massive quantities of Kansas groundwater with minimal oversight or accountability. In a state where the Ogallala Aquifer is already being depleted faster than it refills, we cannot afford to hand our water to out-of-state tech companies. Governor Ray will fight to repeal SB 98 and replace it with strict water use limits, full public reporting requirements, and meaningful consequences for any operation that draws down Kansas groundwater for commercial profit.

🟢 Governor Can Do Now
  • Require public data on wait times, denials & outcomes
  • Rewrite managed care contracts — profits tied to health outcomes
  • Crack down on phantom provider networks
  • Increase rates for primary care, OB & rural providers
  • Coordinate health care with food programs & reentry services
  • Direct KUMC to develop the Physician Scholarship
🔵 Requires Federal Approval
  • Paying for nutrition support through Medicaid
  • Changing payment models to reward prevention
  • Expanding coverage to new populations (Section 1115 waiver)
  • Using Medicaid to support housing-related services
  • Value-based payment structures & risk arrangements
🟡 Requires Legislature
  • Approving Medicaid expansion & funding the state share
  • Setting budget limits & fiscal guardrails
  • Passing transparency laws for private Medicaid companies
  • Funding provider workforce programs & rural access
  • Codifying the Medical Service Scholarship into statute
Why It Matters Kansas has more rural hospitals at risk of closing than any other state — not because of geography, but because of a decade of decisions. The $680 million in annual Medicaid funding would give every one of Kansas's 63 at-risk rural hospitals $10.8 million a year — more than twice what the data shows separates a hospital that survives from one that closes. States that expanded Medicaid have half the rate of rural hospital losses. Nebraska proves it works. The only remaining argument is the one Dan Hawkins made explicitly: "I have principles." Those principles closed the Herington Hospital. Governor Ray has different principles. Hers start with the people she's asking to trust her.
🌾
Priority Two · Family Farms & Land

Keeping Kansas Land in Kansas Hands

Ban hedge funds from buying Kansas farmland. Give family farmers first rights to agricultural land sales. Wall Street out.

The Problem

Kansas family farms are disappearing — and the main culprit isn't regulation. It's Wall Street. Investment firms and out-of-state corporations are buying up Kansas farmland, often through shell companies so you can't even tell who owns what. Kansas families who have farmed the same land for generations are losing out because they simply can't outbid a hedge fund. At the same time, between 25,000 and 30,000 Kansas small businesses are owned by someone 60 or older who is ready to retire. When they can't find a buyer who will actually stay and run the place, they have three options: sell to a corporation that strips it for parts, sell to a competitor who absorbs it, or just close the doors. Governor Ray is creating a fourth option — sell to someone who stays.

Day One

What Begins Immediately

Executive authority — no legislative vote required
  • ✅
    Make sure state contracts go to real Kansas businesses

    Right now, out-of-state corporations can set up a Kansas address and win state contracts that were meant for Kansas businesses. Governor Ray will fix that on Day One — creating a simple verification system that checks whether a business is genuinely Kansas-owned and operated before it can compete for state dollars. Real Kansas operators get priority. Shell companies don't.

    Day One · Executive order to Commerce
  • 🏪
    Create a statewide marketplace for Kansans selling their businesses

    Think of it like Zillow — but for Kansas small businesses. A free, state-run website where retiring business owners can list what they've built, and buyers from anywhere in the country can find it. Right now there's no single place to see all available Kansas businesses — private brokers charge fees and only list a fraction. The state will aggregate the full picture in one place, at no cost, within 90 days of Governor Ray taking office.

    Within 90 days · SOS + Commerce directive
  • 💰
    Give independent buyers affordable loans to purchase Kansas businesses

    Private equity firms can swoop in and pay cash. An independent buyer — someone who actually wants to run the business and live in the community — usually needs a loan. Governor Ray will offer low-interest loans (3% for current Kansans; 2% for people who relocate here) to buyers who commit to operating in Kansas for at least five years. One firm rule: if you already own more than three businesses, you don't qualify. This program is for operators, not portfolio managers.

    Within 180 days · Commerce directive
Legislative Goals

What We Will Fight For

Structural reform — requires legislation
  • 🚫
    Ban hedge funds from buying up Kansas farmland

    The Anti Hedge Fund Land Grab Act prohibits private equity firms, hedge funds registered with the SEC managing more than $100 million in assets, and institutional investment vehicles from acquiring Kansas agricultural land above defined acreage thresholds. Mandatory beneficial ownership disclosure for any acquisition by covered entities — mirroring the Corporate Transparency Act framework. A legislator who votes against this bill has to explain to rural constituents — in their own words — why they voted to protect Wall Street against Kansas families. The vote is the story. The name does the political work.

  • 🏡
    Give Kansas family farmers first rights to agricultural land sales

    The Kansas Family Farm Protection Act establishes a right of first refusal for active Kansas family farmers when agricultural land is sold to non-Kansas-resident purchasers — including corporate entities, private equity vehicles, and out-of-state investment funds. Modeled on manufactured housing right-of-first-refusal laws in Minnesota and New Hampshire. Backed by the Kansas Family Farm Acquisition Fund: low-interest loans to qualifying buyers, modeled on the Iowa Beginning Farmer Tax Credit and USDA FSA loan programs. Funded through a documentary stamp tax surcharge on large agricultural land sales above defined thresholds.

  • 📋
    Establish the Kansas Agricultural Land Stewardship Commission

    Annual public reporting on all agricultural land transfers — who is buying Kansas land, in what quantities, and through what entities. Full beneficial ownership reporting so shell structures cannot obscure institutional acquisition. Sunlight is the first line of defense. If you want to own Kansas farmland, Kansans know who you are.

Why It Matters Republicans have spent years saying corporate interests and out-of-state money are destroying Kansas farms. The grievance has substance. The blame has been misdirected — toward environmental regulation and ESG investing, not toward the private equity firms and institutional investors that are actually buying the land. These bills address the actual cause. A Republican legislator who votes against the Anti Hedge Fund Land Grab Act has to explain why they voted for the hedge funds. That vote cannot be defended in language ordinary Kansas voters will accept. Kansas land is for Kansas people.
🏠
Priority Three · Property Taxes & Financial Justice

The Kansas State Bank & Property Tax Relief

Keep Kansas wealth in Kansas. Relieve families and farmers — not corporations. The money is already there.

The Problem

Kansas property taxes have gone up faster than paychecks for more than a decade. Farmers are getting squeezed from every direction — rising taxes on top of rising costs on top of corporate competition. Meanwhile, a tax break that was supposed to help Kansas homeowners and farmers has been structured in a way that lets big corporate landowners capture most of the benefit. Here's something that should make you angry: Kansas already has $69 million set aside to help small businesses — and almost none of it has been given out, because of a single bureaucratic rule that blocks the very people it was meant to help. Governor Ray removes that rule on Day One. And every year, Kansas sends billions of dollars to out-of-state banks in interest and fees. A Kansas State Bank keeps that money here.

$69M
In GrowKS small business capital sitting idle — blocked by a bank-approval prerequisite. Governor Ray removes it on Day One.
10:1
Lending multiplier of Capital Access Program dollars — state money that enables community banks to lend 10 times its value
100+
Years the Bank of North Dakota has operated — the only state-owned bank in the U.S., the proven model for Kansas
Day One

What Begins Immediately

Executive authority — no legislative vote required
  • 📉
    Begin property tax relief implementation

    Direct the Division of Property Valuation to update agricultural classification guidance for all 105 county appraisers. Registered homesteaders — beekeeping, food gardens, native pollinator habitat, composting — qualify for use-value rather than market-value assessment. Day One executive action. No legislative vote required. Kansas families who are actively using their land stop subsidizing corporate landowners who aren't.

    Day One · Division of Property Valuation directive
  • 🔓
    Unlock $69 million in small business funding that's been sitting idle

    Kansas already has $69 million set aside to help small businesses — but almost none of it has been used. Why? Because to apply, you first need a bank to approve you for a loan. That rule blocks exactly the people the program was designed to help: entrepreneurs without a banking history, without collateral, without connections. Governor Ray removes that requirement on Day One. The money is already there. It just needs the door opened.

    Day One · Commerce executive directive
  • 🤝
    Launch community bank & credit union lending partnerships

    Direct the Kansas Department of Commerce to develop the Kansas Capital Access Program with community banks and credit unions — state-supported loan loss reserves that enable participating lenders to make loans they couldn't otherwise make. Modeled on the federal State Small Business Credit Initiative. Multiplies state dollars approximately 10 to 1 in lending capacity. Eligibility tied to verified Kansas operator status. The same verification standards as the Operators Not Consolidators Marketplace.

    Within 90 days · Commerce + banking sector partnership
Legislative Goals

What We Will Fight For

Requires legislation — built to last across administrations
  • 🏦
    Create the Kansas State Bank to keep Kansas wealth in Kansas

    A state-owned wholesale financial institution — not a retail bank, not a competitor to community banks, but a dedicated partner to them. State tax dollars are already deposited in financial institutions. The Kansas State Bank uses those funds more strategically: holding state agency deposits, providing loan participation and credit support to community banks and credit unions, and financing agriculture, local food systems, affordable housing, and small Kansas businesses. All earnings reinvested in Kansas. Prohibited by statute from speculative trading, derivatives, or predatory lending. Governed by an independent board. Audited annually. Growing gradually based on demonstrated success. Modeled on the Bank of North Dakota — operating since 1919 without constitutional challenge.

  • 📜
    Pass the Homestead Exemption with Agricultural Credit

    Expand the Kansas homestead exemption to cover a substantially larger portion of primary residence assessed value. Add an Agricultural Credit applicable only to actively farmed land owned and operated by Kansas residents — explicitly excluding land held by out-of-state corporate entities, real estate investment trusts, or absentee owners. Funded through a combination of state revenue reallocation and a tightening of the corporate property tax loopholes that currently shift burden onto Kansas families.

  • ⚖️
    Deliver long-term property tax reform focused on Kansans, not corporations

    A documentary stamp tax surcharge on large agricultural land sales above defined thresholds funds the Family Farm Acquisition Fund. Corporate property tax loopholes close. The burden that has been shifted onto Kansas families shifts back. This is not a tax increase on Kansas families — it is a correction of a subsidy that has been flowing to the wrong people for a decade.

Why It Matters The money is already there. $69 million in small business capital is sitting in a state account right now, waiting to be used. The Kansas State Bank isn't a radical idea — North Dakota has had one for over 100 years. During the 2008 financial crisis, when banks across the country were failing, North Dakota's stayed solvent. That's what keeping money local actually looks like. What worked for North Dakota can work for Kansas.
📚
Priority Four · Education & Opportunity

The Library AP Network, the Physician Pipeline & KLEO

Rural Kansas students get the same college preparation as suburban students — in 18 months, using infrastructure that already exists.

The Problem

If you grew up in Johnson County, your high school probably offered 15 to 25 Advanced Placement courses — classes that count toward college credit and give students a real head start. If you grew up in western Kansas, your school may have offered zero. That gap has nothing to do with how smart or hardworking rural Kansas kids are. It's about where they happened to be born. At the same time, rural Kansas is running out of doctors. Recruitment campaigns can't fix a problem this deep. We need to build a pipeline — train doctors from Kansas communities and give them a reason to come back.

Day One

What Begins Immediately

Executive authority — operational within 18 months
  • 📖
    Bring college-prep courses to every Kansas library — free

    A student in Johnson County can choose from 20+ Advanced Placement courses. A student in Cheyenne County might have access to two — or none. AP courses matter because colleges look for them, and students who take them are more likely to graduate. The fix doesn't require new buildings or new teachers. Every Kansas county already has a public library. The AP course materials already exist online. Governor Ray will connect those two things within 18 months. Every county. Every library. Free.

    Day One convene · 18-month operational timeline
  • 💻
    Launch Skills for the Future district grants

    Kansas Department of Commerce announces voluntary grants for financial literacy, coding, and entrepreneurship curricula in pilot school districts. First grants disbursed by Month Five. Students in rural Kansas get what their counterparts in wealthy suburban districts have always had — and the financial literacy to use it. First pilot district results reported by fall 2027.

    Month 3 announced · Month 5 first grants disbursed
  • 🩺
    Direct KUMC to develop the Kansas Medical Service Scholarship Program

    Free medical education at KUMC. Living stipend. Subsidized childcare. Residency supplement. Five-year service commitment to a Kansas shortage area. Establish the Physician Pipeline Task Force within 90 days — building the rural hospital coalition and the legislative support for the scholarship bill before the legislature votes on it. A physician who grew up in southwest Kansas, trained at KUMC, and returned to serve her community is not a cost. She is the healthcare infrastructure that Kansans in her county depend on.

    Within 90 days · KUMC directive + Task Force established
Legislative Goals

What We Will Fight For

Making these programs permanent — durable across administrations
  • 🎓
    Fund the Library AP Network in statute

    Codify permanent funding authorization so the network survives beyond a single administration. The 18-month operational timeline is achievable through executive action — the permanent funding authorization requires the legislature. Every Kansas county. Every library. Free — not for one governor's term, but for every Kansas student who follows.

  • 🩺
    Pass the Kansas Medical Service Scholarship Act

    Open medicine to working-class Kansas students. Rebuild the rural physician pipeline the state's hospitals need to survive. Make the scholarship program permanent and durable — funded, codified, and protected from the priorities of successive administrations. The Physician Pipeline Task Force builds the coalition. The bill makes it permanent.

  • 🔬
    Give legislators their own research office — independent of lobbyists

    Right now, Kansas legislators often rely on policy analysis written by out-of-state organizations funded by the same corporations that lobby them. KLEO — the Kansas Legislative Evidence Office — would give legislators access to nonpartisan, independent research so they can evaluate what lobbyists tell them rather than just accept it. It doesn't ban outside input. It just means lawmakers aren't flying blind. Good policy is cheaper than bad policy.

Why It Matters The Library AP Network doesn't require new buildings, new teachers, or new legislative appropriations to launch. The infrastructure exists. The curriculum exists. The technology exists. The 18-month timeline is real. A student in Wallace County who wants to take AP Chemistry and has access to a public library will have the same preparation as a student in Overland Park — not because we built a new school, but because we connected what was already there to the student who needed it. That is what government that works for Kansans looks like.
🏪
Priority Five · Small Business & Local Jobs

Operators, Not Consolidators

State contracts go to actual Kansas operators. The fourth option — selling to someone who stays — finally exists.

The Problem

Your local hardware store owner knows which customers are going through a rough patch. The small manufacturer down the road knows which twenty families depend on those jobs. The trucking company owner has shaken hands with every farmer along three counties of highway. That kind of local knowledge and trust can't be bought — but it disappears the moment a corporate consolidator takes over and moves decisions to a boardroom in another state. 25,000 to 30,000 Kansas small businesses are owned by people who are ready to retire. Wall Street is lined up to buy them. Governor Ray is creating a better option.

Day One

What Begins Immediately

Executive authority — no legislative vote required
  • ✅
    Launch the Operators Not Consolidators Marketplace

    Executive order to Commerce and the Secretary of State's office. A publicly accessible state website — built on existing business registration infrastructure — where Kansas small business owners can list businesses for sale. Visible nationally. A person in Columbus, Ohio who wants to buy a business to run — not manage from a portfolio — can find Kansas businesses. The state aggregates the full inventory in one place. Verification process distinguishes genuine Kansas operators from consolidator shell entities: Kansas-resident ownership, in-state employment, in-state economic activity, full beneficial ownership disclosure. Marketplace operational within 90 days.

    Day One · 90-day operational target
  • 💰
    Open the Kansas Business Acquisition Fund

    3% acquisition loans for Kansas residents buying Kansas businesses. 2% for out-of-state buyers who relocate to Kansas and commit to 5-year Kansas operation — the lower rate is the migration incentive. Hard corporate firewall: any buyer affiliated with a company owning more than three other businesses is ineligible. This is the integrity protection. Without it, a consolidator uses state-subsidized financing to acquire Kansas businesses at lower cost — achieving exactly what the program opposes, with state funds. Funded from redirected Commerce appropriations ($15–20 million Year One). Self-replenishing. No new legislation required.

    Within 180 days · Commerce directive
  • ⚖️
    Require a living wage for all workers on state contracts

    If a company is getting paid by Kansas taxpayers, the people doing that work should be paid a living wage. Governor Ray will make that a condition of every new state contract over $100,000 — effective Day One by executive order. Companies that receive state economic development incentives will also face environmental standards and will have to pay money back if they don't deliver on their promises.

    Day One · Executive order
  • 🏭
    Position Dodge City for next-generation manufacturing

    Contact Great Plains Development Inc. and the Dodge City/Ford County Development Corporation in Week One. Pursue EDA and USDA REAP funding available now, independent of the full Nescod timeline. Ford County has four major wind farms, two of the world's largest beef processing facilities, and established industrial workforce. The Kansas CDBG Economic Development program offers up to $750,000 per application — currently accepting. The pitch is specific: Saudi innovation (Nescod no-electricity cooling technology from KAUST), American manufacturing, Kansas jobs. Dodge City is ready. Dr. Ray is the candidate who says so first.

    Week One · GPDI + Dodge City/Ford County outreach
Legislative Goals

What We Will Fight For

Codifying and scaling what executive action starts
  • 📜
    Codify the Kansas Capital Access Program

    State-supported loan loss reserves enabling community banks and credit unions to lend to small businesses, family farms, and rural development projects that conventional commercial credit won't reach. Modeled on the federal SSBCI and similar programs operating in Michigan — documented to multiply state dollars approximately 10 to 1 in lending capacity. Eligibility tied to verified Kansas operator status. The same people the Marketplace serves are the same people the Capital Access Program finances.

  • 🛡️
    Protect Kansas workers from wage theft

    Comprehensive wage and hour audit program targeting the 50 largest Kansas employers. First enforcement actions filed by Month Three. Worker restitution made public — number of workers, dollar amounts, names of employers where legally permissible. Kansas workers who have been systematically shorted get paid back. What gets measured gets changed.

  • 🔗
    Codify the Transition Support Network

    A voluntary mentorship matching system connecting retiring sellers — who want their businesses to succeed and their employees to keep their jobs — with new operators who need guidance in their first years. Kansas Small Business Development Centers designated as the primary technical assistance resource for Acquisition Fund borrowers. The social infrastructure that makes communities work transfers with ownership, not just the financial assets.

Why It Matters The current market is not free. It is skewed. Private equity firms have structural financial advantages over independent buyers — they pay cash, move faster, and their cost of capital is lower because they spread risk across a portfolio. The independent buyer — the person who actually wants to run the business — competes against entities that have been subsidized by the tax code and favorable regulatory treatment. The Operators Not Consolidators program levels the field. It does not prohibit consolidators from buying Kansas businesses. It simply stops subsidizing that outcome with state funds. That is not interference with the free market. That is declining to tilt the market further in the direction it is already tilted.
🔍
Priority Six · Public Accountability

Government That Works for Kansans — Not Donors

Independent evidence. Transparent spending. Accountable contracts. An independent governor answers to Kansans — full stop.

The Problem

Too much of what happens in the Kansas statehouse is shaped by out-of-state organizations funded by the same corporations that lobby our legislators. Those organizations hand lawmakers pre-written bills and talking points — and our legislators use them, because they don't have anyone else doing the research. 70% of Kansans want Medicaid expansion. A small group of legislators — rated highly by a Koch-funded organization — blocked it from even getting a vote for a decade. That's not representing Kansas. That's representing someone else. An independent governor has no corporate donors to protect. Governor Ray answers to Kansans, full stop.

Day One

What Begins Immediately

Executive authority — no legislative vote required
  • 🏛️
    Create an office specifically to hold corporations accountable

    On Day One, Governor Ray will establish an Office of Corporate Accountability inside the Governor's office. It will hire independent lawyers, pull together the complete record of what Koch Industries has received in state subsidies and what environmental violations they've had, and appoint legal trustees who can pursue claims on behalf of Kansans whose groundwater has been damaged by industrial activity. The water beneath your land belongs to your community — not to the companies that contaminate it.

    Day One · Governor's Office established
  • 📊
    Publish exactly how much Koch Industries has received from Kansas taxpayers

    Kansas taxpayers have been subsidizing Koch Industries for years. Most don't know how much, or what conditions — if any — were attached. By Month Three, Governor Ray will publish the full record: every subsidy received, every environmental violation on file. Once it's public, it can't be unpublished. Every journalist, every voter, every Kansan who wants to know will be able to find out.

    Month 3 · First public report
  • ⚖️
    Require living wage & environmental compliance on all new incentive agreements

    Executive order. All new state corporate incentive agreements require living wage certification and environmental compliance — with clawback provisions for nonperformance. Koch and other large employers notified of new requirements. Public dollars require measurable public returns. Not promises without consequences.

    Day One · Executive order
  • 🚫
    Ban Palantir, Flock Safety, and mass-surveillance services from all executive agencies

    Day One executive directive prohibiting every state agency, department, and office under the Governor's authority from contracting with, renewing contracts with, or deploying data from Palantir Technologies, Flock Safety, or any substantially similar mass-surveillance platform — systems designed to collect, aggregate, and analyze data on the movements, associations, and activities of Kansas residents without individualized suspicion or judicial oversight. Existing contracts will be reviewed and terminated at the earliest legally permissible opportunity. Government that works for Kansans does not build a surveillance infrastructure against them.

    Day One · Executive directive to all agencies
Legislative Goals

What We Will Fight For

Structural reforms that outlast any single administration
  • 📋
    Establish KLEO — the Kansas Legislative Evidence Office

    The Kansas State Evidence Governance Act creates an independent, nonpartisan research office that provides legislators with factual policy analysis on major legislation. KLEO doesn't create a government research monopoly — external input remains welcome. What KLEO provides is the ability to evaluate that input independently. Organizations that have provided ready-made analysis will perceive KLEO as a threat — because it is a threat to their narrative control, not their lawful activity. Opposition should be expected and treated as structural, not personal. Modest research capacity is cheaper than correcting failed policy.

  • 🔒
    Make it illegal to hide behind a shell company to win state contracts

    If you want a Kansas taxpayer-funded contract, Kansans should know who you actually are — not just the name of a holding company registered in Delaware. Governor Ray will push for a law requiring full disclosure of who really owns and controls any company doing business with the state. No more anonymous shell entities collecting public money.

  • 🌐
    Codify clawback authority for state economic development incentives

    Public dollars require public returns — in statute, not just in executive orders. All state corporate incentive agreements require living wage certification, environmental compliance, and enforceable clawback provisions for nonperformance. The conditions are public. The consequences are real. That is what accountability means.

  • 🗳️
    Pass the Kansas People over Profits Act (the KPOP Act)

    The Kansas version of Hawaii's landmark SB 2471 — now signed into law by Governor Green and taking effect July 1, 2027. Hawaii's law redefines the powers granted to corporations operating under state law, making clear that those powers do not include spending money or contributing anything of value to influence Kansas elections or ballot measures. The KPOP Act applies the same architecture to Kansas: corporations are artificial persons created by state law and granted powers and privileges by it — and those powers do not include the power to pour unlimited dark money into Kansas politics. The act does not eliminate corporate lobbying, testimony, or legitimate business activities. It stops the one-two punch of dark-money groups giving to super PACs that has hidden the source of huge sums of political spending for sixteen years. Hawaii passed it with overwhelming bipartisan support — all Democrats and all but one Republican. Kansas can too.

Why It Matters An independent governor has no party donors to protect and no corporate capture to maintain. The first accountability target is the record — making visible what has been obscured. By Month Six, the following facts will exist in the permanent public record regardless of what the legislature does: the Koch Transparency Report exists and cannot be unpublished; the Office of Corporate Accountability exists and has retained counsel; living wage and environmental requirements are conditions of all new state incentive agreements. Taking things away from people who just got them is a different political calculation than preventing them from getting them. The accountability infrastructure, once built, is much harder to dismantle than it was to build.
🥕
Priority Seven · Local Food Systems

Food Systems Finance, Seed Stewardship & Soil Health

Rebuild local food infrastructure. Keep Kansas agricultural value in Kansas. Protect the seed genetics that Kansas agriculture depends on for the next generation.

The Problem

Kansas feeds a huge chunk of the country — but most of the money from that food leaves the state. Farmers are often stuck taking whatever price the big processors offer. Local facilities for storing, processing, and distributing food are scarce or owned by out-of-state corporations. And Kansas communities end up paying the price in worse health outcomes, fragile local economies, and soil that's been farmed hard without enough being put back in. Kansas grows the food. Someone else makes the money. Governor Ray's food plan changes that — keeping more agricultural value right here in Kansas, where it belongs.

Day One

What Begins Immediately

Executive authority — task force operational within 30 days
  • 📋
    Convene a task force to map what Kansas food systems actually need

    Before spending money, we need a clear picture of where the gaps are. Within 30 days of taking office, Governor Ray will convene a task force of farmers, ranchers, food processors, public health experts, soil scientists, and community members to assess Kansas's food system from farm to table. They'll deliver a 10-year plan with specific, finance-ready recommendations within 180 days — and then their job is done. No permanent bureaucracy. Just a clear map and a plan.

    Within 30 days · Governor's executive order
  • 🏫
    Have state institutions buy Kansas food first

    Kansas schools, hospitals, prisons, and other state-funded institutions spend millions on food every year. A significant portion of that goes to out-of-state suppliers. Governor Ray will sign a directive on Day One telling every state agency to evaluate switching to Kansas-grown and produced food wherever possible. The money Kansas spends feeding Kansans should stay in Kansas.

    Day One · Governor's directive to all agencies
  • 🌱
    Establish the Kansas Public Seed Stewardship Program by executive order

    Housed within existing public research and extension institutions — Kansas State University, extension services, or the Kansas Department of Agriculture. No new standalone agency. Scope strictly limited to preserving public-domain and regionally adapted seed genetics relevant to Kansas agriculture, supporting public research, and providing emergency resilience access. Hard boundaries: no commercial seed sales; no storage or propagation of patented seed without authorization; no competition with private seed companies. A Seed Stewardship Working Group — public researchers, producers, plant geneticists, and legal experts — advises on implementation. Food sovereignty addresses what Kansas grows today. Seed stewardship protects what Kansas will grow for the next generation. Both are necessary. Neither replaces the other.

    Day One · Executive order + Working Group established
  • ♻️
    Distribute Kansas Homestead Composting Bins

    Every qualifying homestead program household receives a Kansas-branded, Kansas-fabricated composting bin — licensed from Fresh Earth Products (the Speedibin design, revived by Joyce McMenamon from her father's 1989 original), produced by a Kansas metal works business selected through open competitive bidding restricted to Kansas small businesses. State seal on the front. Pictographic composting guide on the side panel — readable from a standing position, designed to the standard of the best municipal recycling guides. QR code linking to enrollment page. 25–30 year lifespan. Soil health built one household at a time, across the state. A Kansas governor partnered with a Vancouver Island woman who revived her father's invention — produced by a Kansas small business. That is the kind of governance this platform is about.

    Months 1–6 · Licensing + fabrication procurement
Legislative Goals

What We Will Fight For

Public credit and institutional durability for food resilience
  • 💳
    Pass the Kansas Food Systems Finance Act

    Three revolving loan funds through the Kansas State Bank: the Regenerative Transition Revolving Loan Fund (soil health, composting, biologics, input independence), the Local Processing and Storage Revolving Loan Fund (aggregation hubs, cold storage, midstream capacity), and the Farm-to-Institution Procurement Revolving Loan Fund (connecting Kansas farms to Kansas schools, hospitals, and institutions). Loan guarantees tied to measurable soil, water, and local economic outcomes. Participation loans preserving local banking relationships. Clawback provisions for nonperformance. Explicit prohibitions on speculative or extractive practices. Local or cooperative ownership preference. Public credit deployed for measurable public benefit — not for out-of-state ownership interests.

  • 🌾
    Build regional food infrastructure through targeted investment

    Aggregation, cold storage, and midstream processing capacity informed by the Task Force's regional infrastructure gap mapping. A 10-year statewide food resilience plan developed by the Task Force with specific project pipelines, finance-ready proposals, and public-benefit metrics and reporting standards. Implementation begins with targeted pilots, expands based on evidence, and integrates regionally through interstate coordination once Kansas demonstrates proof of concept.

  • 🧬
    Codify the Kansas Public Seed Stewardship Program

    A narrow enabling statute — explicit prohibitions on commercialization, patented seed use without authorization, and competition with private seed companies; clear chain-of-custody and IP compliance requirements; strong institutional anchoring within existing public research entities; continuity protections across administrations. Phased development over 10–15 years: Phase I (Years 1–3) formalizes stewardship of existing public-domain seed lines; Phase II (Years 3–7) launches public breeding programs for drought tolerance and soil health compatibility; Phase III (Years 7–12+) releases Kansas-developed public varieties under public-interest licensing. Durability matters more than speed. Seed sovereignty is long-horizon infrastructure.

  • 🤝
    Establish cooperative land access and succession pathways

    Finance-ready pathways for the next generation of Kansas farmers — land access programs, cooperative ownership models, and succession planning tools that keep Kansas soil in the hands of people who will farm it. The Operators Not Consolidators program and the Food Systems Finance Act are designed to reinforce each other: buyers attracted to Kansas through the Business Continuity Marketplace often buy agricultural-adjacent businesses and become participants in the Homestead Program. The policies compound each other's effects.

Kansas Public Seed Stewardship Program — 15-Year Development Horizon
Phase I · Years 1–3
Stewardship & Preservation

Formalize public stewardship of public-domain and regionally adapted seed lines. Expand cold storage and redundancy capacity. Fund breeder, geneticist, and archivist positions. Establish chain-of-custody and IP compliance protocols. Anchor within existing public research institutions.

Phase II · Years 3–7
Public Breeding & Adaptation

Launch public breeding programs focused on Kansas-relevant traits: drought tolerance, soil health compatibility, low-input resilience. Use exclusively public-domain or permissively licensed genetics. Conduct controlled field trials with producer partners. Maintain clear separation from commercial seed markets.

Phase III · Years 7–15+
Public Variety Release

Release Kansas-developed public varieties under public-interest licensing. Distribute through cooperative, public, or emergency channels. Integrate into regenerative agriculture and disaster response programs. Protect varieties from enclosure or privatization. Ongoing breeding and improvement cycles.

Why It Matters Kansas grows the food. The value leaves Kansas. The Food Systems Finance Act keeps economic value in the communities that produce it — improving producer income, expanding local processing, and building soil health. The Seed Stewardship Program protects the genetic foundation of tomorrow's Kansas agriculture. Together they form a layered resilience strategy: immediate stability paired with long-term capacity. Food sovereignty is about feeding Kansans today and stabilizing costs. Seed stewardship is about protecting the genetic foundation of tomorrow's food system. Kansas can — and must — do both.
The power of the people will not be made obsolete in Kansas. — Dr. Sharilyn Ray · Independent Candidate for Governor of Kansas, 2026
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Dr. Sharilyn Ray For Kansas
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