As your State Senator, Tom will continue to work hard on those issues that are most important to the health and vitality of Kansas families and communities.

I. Fully Fund K-12 Education

Tom ran for the legislature because he was alarmed by the overcrowding in his children’s public school classrooms. He believes that public education is the key to creating and protecting jobs in Kansas. Public education from kindergarten through community college, technical training and state universities is necessary for developing a well-educated and highly-trained workforce that lures good-paying jobs to Kansas, and to making Kansas an appealing place to live. Tom has fought for adequate school funding balanced with local control. He also voted to fund all-day kindergarten so students are fully prepared to get the most of their public school education.

II. Energy and the Environment

Tom recognizes the importance of reducing our dependence on foreign oil and this is why he voted in favor of a bill that increased ethanol consumption by 600% in just one year. He also pushed to require the state to purchase ethanol vehicles and has consistently supported the use of new biofuels. He also helped pass a law that requires 20% of a utility’s energy to come from renewable energy sources by 2020. This will help create thousands of jobs in Kansas and spur development of renewal energy sources.

III. Illegal Immigration

Tom believes Washington has failed to deal with illegal immigration, so he worked with Republicans and Democrats to pass a law in Kansas that penalizes employers who hire illegal immigrants Holland believes that employers should be held accountable for ensuring that their employees are qualified to legally work in the United States. Holland supports more vigorous enforcement of immigration laws and believes the federal government has failed at securing our national borders.

IV. Governmental Ethics and Transparency

Tom sponsored a bill to restrict campaign contributions from lobbyists and voted to require that political ads disclose who paid for them. He also pushed to have a paper trail for electronic voting machines and co-sponsored the Kansas Taxpayer Transparency Act, legislation that requires government spending to be published and accessible by the public on the Internet.