The most important thing we can do for individuals and families is provide high quality jobs in our region and prepare people of all ages for work.
–Amanda Adkins
A Commitment to American Workers & Improving Household Income
When elected to Congress I will be committed to:
- Creating economic growth for Kansas City. I am committed breaking government barriers to opportunity and supporting economic advancement in the region.
- Building Successful Paths for our Citizens and Future Generations. I am fully committed to creating opportunities for Kansas Citians, including children, to succeed.
- Accountability to Results. We must ensure investments made at the federal level are in direct response to clearly identified problems and insist on prudent use of taxpayer dollars.
The United States is suffering an economic crisis deeply impacting workers, families and businesses. Kansas is no exception when it comes to feeling the impacts of a closed economy and restrictions on business. We need federal policies that provide opportunity and reward work.
A word on opportunity. Liberal Democrats and Sharice Davids believe in a contract with workers that involves government – reminiscent of Socialist countries like China and Russia where the government dictates the economy. This is not freedom. I believe a contract should be forged between workers and their employer, not forced by the government.
They, the political left, comment on the unprecedented collapse of small business – yet they caused it by shutting down our economy. A study by WalletHub.com found that states with the most COVID restrictions in place also tended to have the highest unemployment rates. These states are not coincidentally overwhelmingly run by Democrats.
Democrats assert that work should be sufficiently rewarded. I agree with this comment. However, work is rewarded when consumers value goods and services. Work is about results, and the American people and other countries are willing to pay for quality. The job of policy-makers is to create opportunity for ALL Americans, not dictate how businesses should be run which would only result in job loss as we have recently seen.
In January 2021, Kansas had 52,000 fewer private sector jobs than the year prior. This past year has been abysmal in terms of getting Kansans back to work. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in August 2020 there were 60,000 fewer jobs in Kansas than the year before. Between August and the end of 2020 only 4,000 jobs were added across the entire state.
This is a crisis. We should be creating incentives for people to work, save, invest and engage in entrepreneurial endeavors. We can best improve household income by providing quality employment while also recognizing that education and health in the region are important contributors to workforce readiness.
Regional Growth
In 2019, the median household income in Johnson County was $89,087 and the average household paid over $26,000 in Federal taxes. Unfortunately, Kansas City is lagging behind other mid-sized cities in quality of jobs and income.
I am fully committed to creating opportunities for all Kansas Citians, including children, to succeed. We must empower individuals to make decisions on their own personal situations and get Americans back to their jobs. We must focus on regional opportunity, center on what business tells us is required to grow including concerns regarding taxation, liability and addressing how workers are compensated. We also need to ensure every student has the skills needed to succeed in the workforce.
Risk Management: Taxation and Liability Concerns
Higher corporate tax rates, particularly as companies are looking to recover from the impacts of the pandemic, limit companies’ ability to invest in employees and innovation.
The Biden Administration is pursuing increases in government spending, further increasing the burden on businesses, taxpayers and wage earners. President Biden has stated his intention to pursue tax increases and a reversal of the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act, which lowered taxes for many Americans and businesses.
In 2017, America had the world’s fourth highest corporate income tax rate at 35%. After the 2017 tax cuts, America is now in a much more competitive situation at 21%. Unfortunately, Biden has proposed a reversal of the 2017 tax cuts, increasing corporate tax rates back up to 28%, putting additional burden on American companies that are already suffering due to the pandemic.
Estate Tax
Despite President Biden’s stated rejection of a “wealth tax” on millionaires and billionaires, his tax plan includes proposals that would increase taxes at the time of death for all Americans. He has proposed taxing unrealized capital gains at death for certain taxpayers in multiple tax brackets. Some analysts predict his proposal could result in a 67% tax rate. This is nearly twice the rate these assets would be subject to today. Studies show that estate taxes hinder entrepreneurship and result in costly tax compliance fees.
Liability Protections
We need to ensure that unfair lawsuits will not hamper businesses, healthcare organizations, and philanthropic entities working to re-build our country. We need to be removing government barriers to progress and fostering economic opportunity.
Healthy Work Environment: Childcare and Workforce Readiness
Success in life starts with a quality education that prepares children for the workforce. It is a continuum starting with children being ready for kindergarten (numeracy, literacy, and social development), reading at grade level in fourth grade, and then demonstrating they have important life skills in high school meaning they are agile, authentic, self-aware, and resilient.
This is why I created the Systems of Care Initiative (SOCI) a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support working families and their children by providing scholarships to young children to help them acquire early skills important to kindergarten readiness. I am committed to a community where business, education, health and social services leaders make investment decisions together, helping children and families achieve success in school, work, and life.
Liberal Democrats and Sharice Davids will tell you that we should have universal childcare. I believe we should invest in young children, but that it should be targeted where risk is identified in communities. In addition, I seek to take steps to help childcare facilities thrive. Just like any other business, they are impacted by federal decisions and would be destroyed by policies such as increasing the federal minimum wage.
Democrats, including my opponent Sharice Davids, are pursuing a $15 federal minimum wage. While they argue this will lift the American worker, in reality this will eliminate jobs, put additional burdens on families, and increase dependency on government intervention. CBO estimates that 1.4 million jobs would be eliminated in 2025 with a $15 minimum wage. Furthermore, companies that don’t outright eliminate jobs often pass the cost of wage increases on to their customers in the form of higher prices. Where this impacts families most is in the cost of childcare. Many families already struggle to find quality, affordable childcare, spending anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of their household income on the expense. Increasing the minimum wage and passing the increased costs on to parents, may eliminate some parents from the workforce altogether. In Kansas, families could expect an increase of 28 percent in childcare costs if a $15 federal minimum wage was passed.
Worker’s Compensation: Reforms to Unemployment Insurance Programs
Workers unemployment fraud in Kansas is at an all-time high and Democrats want the federal government to bail them out.
Workers unemployment fraud in Kansas is at an all-time high and Democrats want the federal government to bail them out. The Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL) paid $290 million in fraudulent unemployment benefits in 2020 – $140M from the state’s unemployment program and $150M from federal programs. Democrats Governor Kelly and Sharice Davids cite this mess as one of the reasons for the additional trillions of dollars in federal spending included in the latest COVID relief bill.
The business community is rightfully concerned that they will be called upon to financially bail out the State’s unemployment fund. We cannot ask businesses to pay higher taxes, or use federal tax dollars, to pay for mismanagement by Democrats like Governor Laura Kelly.
My Vision
My vision for the country is centered on a belief that government’s role should be that of providing economic lift to a region. I am committed to breaking government barriers to opportunity and supporting economic advancement.
I am running for Congress because I believe America needs more conservative, reform minded, results-oriented leaders. The economy will best recover and American families will succeed, when free market, fiscally conservative solutions are at the forefront. It is clear Congress needs members who believe in empowering individuals, not creating dependency on government.
About Amanda. Amanda Adkins is a businesswoman, mother and public leader. With her children and the future in mind, growth and systemic change are the themes of Amanda’s work. Amanda spent 15 years building business at one of the largest employers in Kansas City – Cerner. She knows what it takes to create and grow jobs. Her experiences made her passionate about workforce development. She has mentored young people and worked with education leaders to ensure children can acquire the skills necessary to be successful. This work has included her gubernatorial appointment (2011-2018) to chair the State of Kansas Children’s Cabinet, which is focused on risk-reduction investments in early childhood, and the philanthropy she founded to provide scholarships to young children.
www.AmandaAdkins.com