Kansas jobs won’t be exported, unemployed workers will be protected against job discrimination, work training and post-secondary/technical educational programs will be strengthened and unscrupulous hiring practices will be halted under a Kansas Democratic plan announced today.

The Kansas Jobs First effort is a fiscally responsible, budget-strengthening plan that will bring job opportunities to Kansas and add as much as $9.7million to the state general fund over the next three years. (The state general fund pays for education, hospitals and other necessities.) The funding will come through a variety of sources, including limiting tax breaks for companies that outsource. Kansas Jobs First consists of 14 bills Democratic legislators plan to introduce during the 2012 Legislative session.

Among the proposals is The Hire Kansas First Act. Instead of sending millions of dollars of work to out-of-state firms as happened in the Ambassador Hotel and Fairfield Inn projects, contractors or subcontractors working on state contracts of a certain size will have to ensure that at least 70 percent of the employees working on the contract are Kansas residents.

Another proposal, The Keep Jobs in Kansas Act, will prohibit the state from contracting with or providing economic development assistance to companies that ship work to other countries.

 “As Kansas emerges from the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression, more than 50,000 Kansas workers remain unemployed.  Unfortunately, too many of these unemployed Kansans are now finding it impossible to find a job, simply because there aren’t enough jobs to go around or because they may lack the skills necessary to meet the needs of today’s market,” said Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley. 

House Minority Leader Paul Davis said Kansas has to do better.

“There is no reason why any willing Kansan should ever be without a good-paying job they can be proud of,” Davis said. “There’s no reason for a student to go without basic job skills because he can’t afford to pay tuition.  And there’s no reason a small business should be forced to close its doors because a larger competitor sent its business overseas.”

Hensley added: “‘Kansas Jobs First’ will put our priorities back in focus.  It’s the right thing for Kansas because it’s the right thing for Kansas workers.”

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