State Sen. Janis Lee
Kansas Senate - District 36
phone: 1 785-476-2294 About
Senator Janis Lee was elected to the Kansas Senate in 1989 and for the last 19 years has represented 10 rural counties in the North-central region of the state including Ellis, Hodgeman, Mitchell, Osborne, Pawnee, Phillips, Rush, Russell, Smith and western Jewell counties.
Having been born and raised on her family’s farm near Kensington, Janis understands the importance of agriculture to rural Kansas. Janis still lives just a few miles away from her childhood home, where she and her husband, Lyn, operate a ranching and farming business and where she is an ex-officio member of the Kansas Agricultural and Rural Leadership Board.
As a long-time member of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources committees, Janis has had a direct impact on a number of water and agricultural regulations that are important to rural communities. During the 2008 legislative session, Janis fought to pass legislation that will give the public more power in determining the need for Intensive Groundwater Use Control Areas (IGUCA’s).
Prior to serving as a state Senator, Janis spent 10 years as a member of the USD 238 Board of Education, serving as Vice-President for eight of those years. In 2006, as Ranking Member of the Senate Education Committee, Senator Lee continued her commitment to public school children, teachers and administrators by helping to pass a three-year public school finance plan. The historic investment has helped improve the quality of education for hundreds of public school children in north central Kansas by addressing special education, bilingual education, and at-risk programs. In 2008, she helped local schools continue to address special education needs and to plan for the future by expanding the plan for a fourth year.
During her five terms in elected office, Senator Lee has also strongly advocated for adequate and affordable health care coverage. In 2007, she voted in favor of a comprehensive health care plan that put into motion several initiatives to help provide affordable coverage to all Kansans.
Senator Lee has served as the Senate Assistant Democratic Leader since 1996. She is also the Ranking Minority Member on the Senate Utilities Committee and the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee, and serves as a member of the Joint Information Technology Committee.
She and her husband have three children, all who attended Kansas public schools and graduated from state universities.
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