Jake LaTurner

Prior to serving in Congress, Jake served the people of Southeast Kansas in the State Senate from 2013-2017. Following his time as a State Senator, Jake proudly served as Kansas State Treasurer and was the youngest statewide elected official in America at 30 years old. Jake spent his first year in U.S. Congress working on healthcare, stopping vaccine mandates, and job security.

It may be a hard pill for a Republican congressman to follow, but kudos to Jake for announcing and praising the $13 million in grants from the Dept. of Agriculture (under the Biden administration). These dollars come from a USDA investment of $5.2 billion to rural communities in 46 states and Puerto Rico following the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Honestly, we need to see moments like this because even when everyone’s fighting at the Capitol, the results are what matter and Jake and his constituents will surely be pleased with this one.

Jake spent his 2021 looking at the issue of abortion. Jake joined 200 of his fellow GOP colleagues in signing a letter forcefully arguing for the renewal of the Hyde amendment, a decades-old ban formed on the funds from federal programs like Medicaid going towards abortions. Jake later took the House floor to defend the Hyde Amendment. Jake furthered his pro-life stance by writing an op-ed in support of his continued quest to overturn Roe v. Wade. Jake lent his name to the controversial Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would require healthcare workers to provide just as much life-saving effort to a baby that survives an abortion as it would any other child, with a punishment of prison time if they failed to do so.

Health savings accounts have become an increasingly important issue for American workers, yet only 10% of folks are able to use these types of policies because of prohibitively high deductibles. Fortunately, Jake is on the case and has introduced new legislation to help simplify and expand these services. The Health Savings Act, which has bicameral support, would specifically increase the maximum contribution limit one can make to their account, as well allow individuals to use their HAS funds to pay for the cost of premiums. These types of accounts share much support from all sides of the aisle, so we’ll see if Jake’s bill can gain some steam in an otherwise divided house.

We keep hearing that gerrymandering word! Kansas is creating a new congressional map and Republican state leaders have openly expressed they will draw that map to their party’s advantage. Unfortunately that means someone like PP leader Sharice Davids (D) could get booted out, but even Republican leaders like Jake could find themselves in an awkward spot. While Jake will probably be safe due to being a Republican, his district might now include various parts of other districts. All of this makes us wonder, should there be a federal law that takes into account gerrymandering?