Oletha Faust-Goudeau

Oletha Faust-Goudeau is a Democratic member of the Kansas Senate, representing the 29th District since 2009. She was previously a Kansas Representative. She was appointed to this position in 2004.

She is a community activist from Wichita.

Committee assignments

Faust-Goudeau serves on these legislative committees:^[2]

• Ethics and Elections
• Federal and State Affairs
• Joint Committee on Arts and Cultural Resources
• Joint Committee on Children's Issues
• Commerce
• Joint Committee on Economic Development
• Local Government

Major donors

Some of the top contributors to Faust-Goudeau's 2008 campaign, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics:^[3]

Kansas National Education Association, Kansans for Lifesaving Cures, KTLA Consumer Civil Justice, Kansas Contractors Association, AT&T

Labor interests were her largest donor group.

Key Issues

Faust-Goudeau's chief activity has been in protecting rights and services for seniors, the disabled, and children, and in promoting business/development interests. Some legislation which Faust-Goudeau introduced, which became law:

• "Grandparents' Rights" bills, 3 of which she introduced, became law in 2006-2012—latest became law in 2012 with unanimous Legislative backing—essentially forcing the State and the courts to consider grandparents' for possible custody requests in most child-custody cases in which the State has intervened (e.g.: foster care cases). Prior laws she introduced required grandparents to be heard in foster-care cases, and—if caring for their grandchildren as foster parents—to be reimbursed by the state the same as foster parents.^[4][5][6][7]

• Firefighters' Insurance bill — became law in 2012 with unanimous Legislative backing—ensuring that the families of firefighters killed in action are able to continue receiving protection under their firefighter's insurance coverage for the first 18 months following their firefighter's death in the line of duty.^[6][8]

• Drug paraphernalia prohibition bill — outlawing the distribution of certain kinds of drug paraphernalia, became law.^[9]

• Poor/Working-Class Issues - Representing the inner-city area of Wichita (the state's largest city), Faust-Goudeau frequently takes the lead in speaking out on, and advocating for, the needs and interests of poor and working-class Kansans. Examples include:

• Opposing welfare restrictions. When the newly-libertarian Kansas Legislature in 2015 began a series of "attacks on the poor," these included bills introduced with exceptionally detailed lists of restrictions on welfare recipients, forbidding a wide range of purchases with welfare money, and limiting welfare cash disbursements to $30 per day, severely complicating bill-payment and other financial management issues for welfare recipients -- unusual restrictions which drew international attention. Faust-Goudeau was the most frequently cited opponent of the proposed restrictions.^[10][11]
• Food sales tax elimination bill. With the increasingly-libertarian Kansas Legislature in 2014-2015 opposing taxes at every turn, Faust-Goudeau joined with new Republican/libertarian legislator Michael O'Donnell to propose the elimination of sales taxes on food (widely decried as a "regressive" tax disproportionately affecting the poor and working class families, and outlawed in several other states). Specificially, their Senate Bill 263 would have eliminated the state tax on fruits and vegetables. At the time of the bill, the Kansas sales tax on groceries was among the highest in the nation (second only to Mississippi), further aggravated by Kansas localities often adding additional taxes to groceries. However, during a growing state funding crisis brought on by Republicans' previous tax-cutting measures, the grocery tax-relief bill faced little support from the Republican/Libertarian-controlled legislature and Governor. But, at the close of the 2015 Legislative Session, a variation of Faust-Goudeau's plan passed the Kansas Senate, and (at this writing, June 8, 2015) awaits House approval.^{[12][13][14][15][16][17]}

Controversies

Senator Faust-Goudeau apparently tried to get out of a speeding ticket by playing the race card and using the fact that she was a state senator. This was not an isolated case.^[18] Subsequent apologies, public & private, were made by the Senator to all concerned, including law-enforcement personnel.^[5]

Recognition

"Legislator of the Year Award, 2011," by the "Silver-Haired Legislature"—a prominent Kansas senior-citizens' lobbying organization. ^[19]

"10 to Watch in 2010"—list of 10 noteworthy leaders cited by the state's largest newspaper, the Wichita Eagle.^[20]

"Perfect Attendance" record—appearing for all Senate votes, in 2010, 2011—according to various press releases by the Senate Minority Leaders' Office, and other sources. ^[21]

Memberships

Current & former board memberships

^[22]

• Wichita Habitat for Humanity executive board,
• Legal Services of Wichita executive board,
• League of Women Voters
• KPTS (public TV station) Community Advisory Board,
• NAACP Wichita Branch
• City of Wichita Human Services Board

See also

Oletha Faust-Goudeau on her:

• Website: http://oletha.org
• Twitter site: https://twitter.com/oletha29
• Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/oletha.faustgoudeau.7

References

1. ↑ http://www.kanfocus.com/FMPro.php?-DB=House_Profiles_KS&-Lay=Contact&-format=Contact_Senate.html&Name=Oletha%20Faust-Goudeau,%20D-29th&-find
2. ↑ Profile from the Kansas Legislature
3. ↑ Oletha Faust-Goudeau 2008 campaign contributions
4. ↑ "Senator pushes for grandparents' rights," February 25, 2012, CJonline.com, Topeka Capital-Journal newspaper
5. 1 2 "State Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau files for re-election," April 26, 2012, Wichita Eagle newspaper, Topeka bureau, by Dion Lefler.
6. 1 2 "Grandparents, firefighters celebrate bill signings," June 1, 2012 excerpt from "Author Archives: Dion Lefler", WichiTopekIngton archives, Wichita Eagle newspaper.
7. ↑ "Good work on grandparents’ rights," June 10, 2012 excerpt from "Category Archives: Child welfare", WE Blog, Wichita Eagle newspaper.
8. ↑ "New Kansas laws help seniors, families of firefighters killed," June 3, 2102, Tulsa World newspaper (from the Wichita Eagle)
9. ↑ "NAACP Wants Drug Paraphernalia Out of Shops," Jan. 19, 2007, Wichita Eagle, reprinted on Media Awareness Project at mapinc.org
10. ↑ Marso, Andy, "Kansas Senate Passes Passel Of Welfare Restrictions" Apr 2, 2015, KCUR-FM radio news.
11. ↑ Martosko, David, "Kansas lawmakers want to bar welfare recipients from spending cash benefits on strippers, booze, psychics, dog tracks and bail-bonds" The [London] Daily Mail (newspaper) at Dailymail.com, Published: 18:04 EST, 6 April 2015 | Updated: 05:09 EST, 7 April 2015
12. ↑ "Wichita senators seek to eliminate grocery sales tax", Wichita Business Journal, Oct 22, 2014
13. ↑ "2 senators seek to eliminate food sales tax in Kansas", The Salina Post, Oct. 22, 2014
14. ↑ Weeks, Bob, editor, "Kansas sales tax on groceries is among the highest", October 21, 2014, WichitaLiberty.org (prominent Wichita Libertarian news blog)
15. ↑ Wingerter, Justin "Legislators Debate Sales Tax on Food", June 3, 2015, Topeka Capital-Journal in the Salina Journal
16. ↑ "Kansas Senate considers eliminating food sales tax", Feb. 24, 2015, WDAF-TV "Fox 4 KC"
17. ↑ "Kansas Senate approves tax increases, state budget", June 7, 2015, Wichita Eagle in Kansas City Star
18. ↑ Senator Tries To Defend Fast Talking
19. ↑ "Silver-Haired Legislature Names Faust-Goudeau 'Legislator of the Year'," October 13, 2011, The Oskaloosa Independent newspaper, Valley Falls , Kansas
20. ↑ "10 to Watch in 2009: Oletha Faust-Goudeau," Dec. 28, 2008 item listing under "10 to Watch" articles in Wichita Eagle archives, on Newsbank.com
21. ↑ "Nearly half of Kansas Senate had perfect voting attendance," June 21, 2011, by Earl Glynn, KansasWatchdog.org
22. ↑ "Blogger profile: Oletha Faust-Goudeau - Representative District 84 Kansas House, 2008"

External links

• Kansas Senate
• Project Vote Smart profile
• Follow the Money campaign contributions
  • 2004, 2006, 2008
• Kansas African American Affairs Commission - "Legislators, Senator Faust Goudeau"