Opinion: Full transcript of House Speaker Dan Hawkins’ response to governor’s State of the State address

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, Jan. 8, 2026 (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

By Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins

Hello, friends. I’m Dan Hawkins, Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives. Serving you in the people’s house in Topeka is a privilege, and what an added honor it is to speak with you and others all across the great state tonight.

Two years ago, I had the honor to deliver this address. At that time, I told you about the Republican Better Way plan, our commitment to put Kansas families first by protecting our communities, honoring the value of work and making Kansas the greatest state in the nation to live, work, raise a family and retire. Two years later, I want to share with you our success stories and highlight where we go from here. The issue I hear the most about these days is cost of living.

Quite frankly, the Biden administration sent inflation skyrocketing, making it nearly impossible for families to make ends meet. Republicans in your state House and Senate have been taking decisive action because we share your concerns about taxes, inflation and the cost of living. As part time citizen legislators who live and work in places like Dodge City, Wichita, Hays and Overland Park, we feel the same real world pressures you do.

So what can be done about it at the state level? Let’s start with taxes.

In the last two years, as a Republican majority, we eliminated the state portion of your property tax for 2026. We eliminated the state sales tax on groceries. We lowered state income tax rates. We repealed the state income tax on Social Security, and we increased child tax credits. That’s real tax relief to lower your cost of living. And believe me, we’re not done looking for ways to further address property tax issues, as government spending at the local level is too often rising even faster than inflation.

Of course, the other part of the story is that taxes are directly related to spending, so we’ve also been wrangling the state budget to bring it under control. Three things are making a big difference on our budget. First, while Governor Kelly continues to do everything in her power to cover up the waste, fraud and abuse in government welfare programs, the Republican majority is successfully pushing for greater transparency and efficiency in order to make better use of every tax dollar. This means really looking under the hood when it comes to government programs and doing things like removing folks who are deceased or illegal immigrant enrollees from welfare programs so the cost of health insurance doesn’t keep rising. Every fraudulent dollar spent by the government is a dollar out of your pocket. It must end.

Second we’re investing wisely in core state government functions, like schools, roads, the state water program and public safety, so they are stronger and better. In my first term as Speaker, I established the House water committee. That committee has already established long-term funding for the state water program, prioritized the revitalization of outdated infrastructure, and are implementing a strategy to ensure Kansas water resources are sustainable long into the future.

When we eliminate absurd and unnecessary spending, we put the money where it counts. We can focus on the true budget priorities and do those things better, avoiding unnecessary costs down the road. Finally, we’re resisting massive new government spending programs like those repeatedly proposed by Governor Kelly. Enough is enough. You will never get government spending under control if you keep adding new programs.

The bottom line is we are focusing on the core services of government and doing those things right. We’re putting people first, and it’s working. This past year alone, we reduced state spending by over $200 million.

Now let’s talk about our kids for a moment and how we can secure a bright future for them in our state. Schools are our number one budget priority, with billions invested each year. But money is only one piece of the education equation. To make the best use of our K-12 spending and to help kids succeed, it’s time to address the issue of electronics in the classroom. In 2023, Florida passed the classroom cell phone ban. Since taking this step, both student test scores and school attendance have improved. We have to be honest. We all know cell phones are a distraction. Kids spending all day looking at their phones and addictive social media is not a recipe for success. We need better academic results for our kids, and getting cell phones out of the classroom is one meaningful approach we should adopt now in Kansas.

Another issue the legislature is focused on is health care. It’s beyond frustrating to see enormous federal and state government funding pumped into the system, and yet costs keep skyrocketing, and middle class families are forced to keep paying more. In Kansas, we’re taking a strategic approach that focuses on actual solutions to root problems, things like improving reimbursements for hospitals, enhancing telemedicine options and creating meaningful oversight of the Rural Health Transformation Fund, which, if used wisely, has the ability to right size health care for rural Kansas communities. Payouts to big hospital systems and programs based on buzz words instead of actual care, as some have suggested, are not going to cut it.

Next up, it’s critically important to improve transparency in hospital pricing so people can be empowered to hold the health care industry accountable, and we must find bipartisan solutions to end the abuse of federal programs intended to lower prescription costs in places like rural Kansas, but instead end up lining the pockets of big corporate health systems.

Finally, as part of our people-first agenda, we’ll be concentrating on housing, insurance and utility costs in the coming months. We must eliminate red tape and over regulation so single-family homes can be built more quickly and affordably. We will work on tort reform efforts to bring down insurance costs, and we will rein in the big rate increases proposed by the electric monopolies. A balanced approach is essential to address cost of living concerns.

This will be my final year as Speaker of the House. It’s a position I never imagined I would hold. I truly love the state of Kansas, and know it is the best state in the union.

When I look out on our great state, I see the challenges we face. But we’ve faced challenges before. This was the location of Bleeding Kansas that sparked the war that divided our nation. We faced grasshopper plagues, ice storms, prairie fires, tornadoes and the Dust Bowl. But Kansas remains undefeated. We dust ourselves off, and we confront our problems head on, and we carry on. To the stars through difficulties isn’t just a motto. It’s who we are.

Republicans in the State House remain committed to having your back and putting the policies in place that help us excel as a state, but it’s not the elected officials who make Kansas great. It’s the farmers, engineers, aviation innovators, teachers, soldiers, skilled laborers, techies, small business owners and cowboys. It’s the people, and the people of Kansas will excel as long as the government stays out of their way. That is truly the better way.

God bless you your families and God bless the Free State of Kansas.

This article was republished with permission from the Kansas Reflector. The Kansas Reflector is a non-profit online news organization serving Kansas. For more information on the organization, go to its website at www.kansasreflector.com.