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Grant looks to continue in District 2 seat
Kansas District No. 2 Rep. Bob Grant, D-Cherokee, said he has enjoyed serving in the Kansas Legislature the last 17 years and wants to continue doing so if area voters give him the chance.
"I enjoy my job and I enjoy representing the people of the Second House District in Topeka," Grant said during a Tuesday interview with The Fort Scott Tribune. "I feel I have done a good job in Topeka."
Grant, who was born Nov. 28, 1948 in Clovis, N.M., has lived in Cherokee for all of his 59 years, and has been a self-employed business owner for the last 20 years. Grant represents House District No. 2, which includes portions of Bourbon, Cherokee and Crawford counties.
Grant, a proponent of continued K-12 education funding, said he has seen the Southeast Kansas region change much, mostly in a positive way, since he began his first term in the House in 1991.
"The region has grown over the years," he said.
Three main issues that will ultimately have an effect on the region that need to be addressed in the next legislative session include health care, education, and the completion of the U.S. Highway 69 four-lane expansion project.
"We need to find ways to make health care more affordable for small businesses and low-income families," Grant said. "We need to continue to properly fund our outstanding educational system. We must do our best to give our children and grandchildren the best education possible for they are the future of Kansas."
A 55-mile, four-lane freeway running from Louisburg to Fort Scott, which cost $275 million to construct, is slated to be complete in 2009. That project is part of the 10-year, $13 billion CTP passed by the Kansas Legislature in 1999 that runs its course next year.
Local government officials and lawmakers have been working with the Kansas Department of Transportation in recent years on studies concerning the alignment and management of the U.S. 69 corridor in Fort Scott, and the eventual design of a fully-controlled access four-lane highway from Kansas City, Mo., south to U.S. I-44 in Oklahoma.
Grant agreed with his opponent, Jeff Locke, R-Arma, that the continued expansion of U.S. Hwy. 69 south to U.S. I-44 is an important project for the region that needs to be funded when lawmakers design a new CTP next year.
"Because it will bring businesses to SEK and will help improve the jobs available in SEK and help the region's economy," Grant said. "The improvement of highway 69 will certainly help Bourbon County grow."
Some of the qualities and strengths that Grant said he brings with him to his position include "experience, common sense and the ability to work with others to make good decisions for the future of the Second House District of Kansas."
Grant said that his status as a businessman has minimal effect on his role in the Kansas Legislature, and doesn't necessarily have a positive or negative impact on his decisions when representing Southeast Kansas.
"I still look at all problems and try to solve them with the common sense approach," he said.
Grant served as mayor of Cherokee for 16 years, and has been actively involved with the American Legion, West Mineral Eagles and the Pittsburg Elks Lodge No. 412. He currently serves on the Big Brothers Big Sisters board and is secretary and treasurer of the Cherokee Gun Club.
He worked as an equipment operator for 10 years, a foreman estimator for 13 years, and a small business owner for 20 years, according to Grant's biography on the Kansas Democratic Party Web site, www.ksdp.org.
Grant is the ranking Democrat on the House Educational Budget Committee, and is a member of the House committees on Commerce and Labor, Financial Institutions and Insurance. He also serves on the Joint Committee on Special Claims Against the State, and the Joint Committee on State Building Construction, the Web site said.