About Henry

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A Note from Henry

This will be remembered as the session that “could have been.” We started the year with a large reserve balance. Both the House and the Senate wanted to be able to show accomplishments going into the Fall elections. Cooperation ended because of egos, politics and the COVID-19 pandemic.

We face a fractured legislature with limited willingness to work with Governor Kelly, an economy that is on life support, and a budget forecast for the state that will require massive cuts.

I remain resolute: We must reach across party lines, across economic, social and racial divides to create a new future. The strength of Kansas is in our people who get up and go to work every day, and are willing to help out a neighbor when misfortune happens. And it has for thousands of Kansans.

I am committed to funding public education and recreating an economy that empowers everyone with the tools and the opportunities to succeed. I hope you join me in that effort.

Respectfully yours, Henry Helgerson

In the Legislature Henry has …

  • Helped balance the budget and repair our state’s credit rating
  • Implemented a Budget Stabilization Fund
  • Led the fight to eliminate the sales tax on food
  • Supported restored funding for the KPERS retirement system
  • Laid the groundwork on a transportation plan to drive our economy
  • Bucked the politicians in Topeka to get fair taxes for our families

  • Commitee Assignments

    Transportation

    Health Care Stabilization Fund Oversight

    Taxation

    Legislative Budget

    Appropriations

  • Agenda

    Get State Budget Under Control

  • Priorities

    Fix Medicaid Stalemate

    New Transportation Plan

    Fund Public Education

Henry’s Experience

Education

  • Kapaun High School
  • Wichita State University
  • Rockhurst College, Bachelor of Arts
  • Harvard University, Master in Public Administration

Kansas Legislature (1983-2000, 2004, 2016-2020)

Previous Leadership Positions:

  • Budget Committee Chairman
  • Ranking Democrat, Appropriations Committee
  • Ranking Democrat, Education Committee
  • Sedgwick County Delegation Chair

Business and Community

  • Owner of family-owned business founded in 1937
  • Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, member
  • Mennonite Housing, former Director
  • Wichita Children’s Museum, founder & Executive Director (now Exploration Place)

Henry’s Introduced Legislation to:

Education

  • Revamp the school finance formula
  • Spend more money in the classroom

Budget

  • Lower the sales tax on food
  • Create a savings account for government
  • Balance the state budget
  • Pay down KPERs debt
  • Wrote the Senior Care Act

Public Services

  • Aid homeless veterans
  • Expand services to older Kansans and developmentally disabled children
  • Support community services for mentally ill
  • Dedicate tobacco settlement funds to children’s programs

Environment

  • Encourage recycling