Susan Wagle in 2020 KS Senatorial race
On Civil Rights:
Coronavirus church restrictions violate rights
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, who is Catholic, responded to the news of the church-related virus hotspots by removing the religious exemption in her earlier stay-at-home order.
Wagle, a Catholic, criticized Kelly's order as "a violation of their constitutional rights to have the government tell them that they cannot participate in a church service."
Source: Baptist Church Word and Way on 2020 Kansas Senate race
Apr 28, 2020
On Principles & Values:
We need to be a more diverse party to remain relevant
One of Wagle's biggest concerns for Kansas voters is identity voting, which is voting for someone who you identify with. This identity voting could hurt the Kansas Republican Party due to the lack of diversity, Wagle said. "We have very few women
elected compared to the Democrats," Wagle said. "We need to be a more diverse party if we want to remain relevant."
Source: Kansas State Collegian on 2020 Kansas Senate race
Apr 28, 2020
On Health Care:
Unconstitutional to ban church gatherings for coronavirus
A Republican-controlled panel of Kansas legislative leaders voted to overturn an executive order limiting attendance at church gatherings and funerals, igniting a fiery rebuke from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.Kelly announced she was removing
exemptions for churches and funerals from a statewide order that limits gatherings of more than 10 individuals. The Legislative Coordinating Council then voted 5-2 along party lines to rescind the governor's order. The action invited confusion about
whether there is no longer a statewide ban on any kind of large public gathering.
Governors in 44 states have imposed similar restrictions on church attendance in the face of a deadly and contagious disease. But Republicans in Kansas complained that
Kelly had overstepped her authority by restricting religious gatherings. "It appears to be out of line, extreme and clearly in violation, a blatant violation, of our fundamental rights," said Senate president Susan Wagle, a Republican from Wichita.
Source: Topeka Capital-Journal on 2020 Kansas Senate race
Apr 8, 2020
On Health Care:
Bars Medicaid expansion without abortion restrictions
Wagle says she will not allow Medicaid expansion to pass through the Senate until her 'Value Them Both' bill has been passed. The bill would give the legislature the power to regulate abortion in the state. This comes after the Kansas
Supreme Court ruled it was a woman's constitutional right to an abortion. The possible amendment passed through the Senate but failed in the House, needing four votes. As a result, Wagle has stopped all forward movement on Medicaid expansion.
Source: KSN Wichita NBC-TV on 2020 Kansas Senate race
Feb 11, 2020
On Immigration:
President Trump is right; we must build a wall
President Trump is right. We must build a wall. A wall sends the signal to the world we will no longer allow illegal entry into our Country. It is a symbol: Don't cross.
A wall makes the current treacherous path followed impossible. In the helicopter I viewed the beginnings of the wall. My escort said, "here is where the wall ends. Here is where chaos starts."
Source: OpEd in The Hutchinson News on 2020 Kansas Senate race
Sep 5, 2019
On Health Care:
Medicaid expansion is socialism
As Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly urges lawmakers to expand Medicaid, the state Senate's top Republican is opening the door to a health care bill that would include provisions favored by conservatives, such as work requirements. But Senate President Susan
Wagle wants the Legislature to study expansion later this year and take up a bill in 2020. She made clear that--as far as she's concerned--a Medicaid expansion bill that passed the House last month won't survive the Senate. "The governor just called for
the Senate to pass a bill that Bernie Sanders--a socialist--endorsed. And that's not going to happen in the Kansas Senate," Wagle said. Kelly, who has made expansion her signature issue, said in the expansion debate the term "study" has come
to mean "stall."
[Under Medicaid expansion], the federal government will pay for 90% of the cost. For a family of four, that's $35,535 a year. The state's share of the cost of expansion has been estimated between $34 million and $47 million a year.
Source: Wichita Eagle, "Medicaid," on 2020 Kansas Senatorial race
Apr 2, 2019
Page last updated: Jul 27, 2020