Rep. Owen Donohoe will hold the line on taxes and spending.

He’s never voted for a tax increase. Period.

"Parents and other taxpayers must demand audits of school districts and school districts must use the money we have on hand." -- Rep. Owen Donohoe

Rep. Owen Donohoe signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge years ago and challenged Joe Novak to do the same (which he refused). Owen has never voted for a tax increase – ever. Instead, Owen has demonstrated that there are hundreds of millions in school accounts which could have been used to prevent teacher layoffs.

According to the Kansas Dept. of Education, K-12 school districts in Kansas began FY2010 with $706,181,943 unused cash on hand (this is in addition to their $5.9 billion budget). With this kind of cash on hand, there was absolutely no need to raise taxes or lay teachers off. No excuses.

By contrast, his opponent supported the recent $1.5 billion tax increase through the state’s largest-ever sales tax increase. As a member of the House Appropriations, Health & Human Services, and Economic Development committees, Rep. Donohoe is a respected leader for holding the line on government spending.

Novak’s desperate claims are false. Period.

Joe Novak claims Rep. Donohoe supported a property tax increase. That’s absolutely false. State representatives don’t vote on property taxes – ever. Rep. Donohoe championed using school audits and unused, unencumbered funds to meet the budget shortfall. Why didn’t Principal Novak bring this information to light? Why is Mr. Novak’s solution (like all tax-and-spend liberals) always to raise your taxes instead of find ways to save you money?