Topic: Child support
Interview of Joan Wagnon, May 11, 2018
Interviewed by H. Edward (Ed) Flentje
Ed Flentje's interview of former Representative Joan Wagnon is lengthy and complete, covering her 12 years in the state legislature, 4 years as Mayor of Topeka, and 8 years as Secretary of Revenue. She talks about the work of the House Taxation Committee in implementing legislation after passage of a constitutional amendment classifying property for tax purposes. Wagnon discusses the 1992 school finance lawsuit which produced massive change in the school funding formula, including how the concepts were developed and what strategies were used to get them passed. The interview covers in detail how the House Democrats interacted with Show MoreGovernor Finney in the 1991 session, when Finney vetoed the major tax bill and the Supreme Court found the school finance formula to be unconstitutional. Wagnon served as facilitator for the Children's Initiatives Committee which Speaker Marvin Barkis chaired. That committee produced fourteen bills that affected children and families. Economic development issues are discussed in the last part of the interview which links Wagnon's legislative interests to her work as Mayor of Topeka: neighborhood revitalization, spreading the tax base from city to county for Washburn University and the library, and developing economic development infrastructure to attract growth and new business for Topeka. She also discusses some of her eight years as Secretary of Revenue, particularly her involvement with the Streamlined Sales Tax.
A version of this interview is also posted on KansasMemory.org, the website of the Kansas Historical Society. Show Less
Interview of Howard Schwartz, April 25, 2023
Interviewed by Richard Walker
Howard Schwartz credits Wilt Chamberlain for encouraging him to leave Philadelphia and come to Kansas to college. Then Jim James asked him to set up a system to manage personnel in 110 courts and 105 counties. Schwartz spent the next 32 years managing change within the Kansas courts as the judicial administrator. The interview covers court unification, the management of court dockets, the creation of child support guidelines, and the evolving relationship among courts and its judges over how the system is administered. Schwartz developed a special friendship with Justice Kay McFarland who asked him and Show Morehis wife, Elaine to assist with the disposition of her estate when she died. Dr. Schwartz wrote an article for the Kansas Bar Association publication about Chief Justice McFarland which is also available for download at the end of his interview. Show Less