Interview of Wint Winter, August 9, 2024

Interviewed by Chris Courtwright
This oral history interview covers not only the decade of Wint Winter, Jr's legislative service, 1983-1992, but also his continued involvement with politics up to the time of the interview in 2024. The 1980s and early 1990s saw considerable change in taxes, education funding, and abortion law, to name a few. The mineral severance tax, the "booster" tax, classification and reappraisal for property tasation, and a new school finance law that lowered property taxes were all discussed in this interview. During his time in the Kansas Senate, Winter chaired the Judiciary Committee and was Vice-chair of the Show MoreWays and Means Committee during that period. Winter was involved in shoring up the KPERS fund for state employees and appropriating funding for educational institutions, including colleges and universities. Senator Winter was a strong advocate for bipartisanship, saying, "No Party has a monopoly on good ideas." After leaving the Legislature, remained active in politics as a founder of Traditional Republicans for Common Sense.

Highlights --short excerpts from the interview

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Interview of Fred Kerr, April 13, 2018

Interviewed by H. Edward (Ed) Flentje
Fred Kerr reflects on his 15 years in the Kansas Senate representing the 33rd Senate District. He recalls Senate leaders and fellow Senators who helped him as a freshman and whose influence guided him throughout his career. Kerr talks about the process involved in securing a leadership position in the Senate and the dynamics of leadership races. He observes how relationships between competitors for leadership offices affected Senators differently and how they worked together in subsequent legislative sessions. He also reflects on how decisions were made regarding tax policy to fund both highways and public schools. Show MoreKerr, who ran for Governor in 1994, comments about the increasing influence of money and monied interests in state-wide politics.

Another oral history interview of Kerr is included in the Statehouse Conversations collection on this site.

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