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Kansas House of Representatives, District 016

The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for crafting and voting on legislation, helping to create a state budget, and legislative oversight over state agencies.

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    Linda Featherston
    (Dem)

Biographical Information

What makes you the best candidate for this position? What skills, expertise, or competencies qualify you?

What are Kansas's three most important issues, and how do you intend to address them?

How would you make it easier for Kansas citizens to follow bills as they flow through the legislature? What, if any, changes would you propose in the “Gut and Go” process?

Would you support changes to Kansas election laws and voting systems? Why?

Campaign Phone 913-735-3635
Personal Biography Linda Featherston was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 2020. She is a lifelong Kansan, residing in Johnson County since 1999. A child of two retired Kansas state employees, Linda attended public schools from kindergarten through graduate school. She and her husband, Bill, chose to educate their own children through Kansas public schools as well. Linda has owned and operated a piano studio for 30 years and is an active community volunteer.
Education Bachelor of Music Education, Kansas State University, Master of Music, Kansas State University
Community/Public Service Representative for Kansas House District 16 since 2021. Current volunteer for: Kansas Music Teachers Association, Kansas City Music Teachers Association, Sunset Community Garden, Be SMART, Moms Demand Action. Past volunteer for: Girl Scouts, Shawnee Mission School District, Harvesters.
I have served House District 16 in the legislature since 2021. I am on the Education, Water, Agriculture, and Local Government (ranking member) committees.

I have passed legislation increasing the allowed length of orders of protection and increasing the penalty for attacking an on duty hospital worker. In 2024, I advocated for expanding access to diagnostic mammograms and other breast imaging and saw this access expanded for state employees.

My career as a piano teacher requires me to have excellent listening and communication skills. I have put these skills to use to work across the aisle on legislation and to produce detailed weekly newsletters for my constituents that explains pending legislation in clear and concise terms.
School finance, sensible budgets and tax policies, and Medicaid expansion are the top issues in Kansas.

I have been a strong supporter of public schools throughout my life and my time in the legislature. I will continue to advocate for full funding of schools, including fully funding special education.

While in the legislature, I have refused to vote for tax policies that would bankrupt the state, and I will continue to hold the line on irresponsible tax policy. I will also continue to carefully assess spending bills to make sure we haven't overcommitted the Kansas taxpayer.

I will continue to vote for Medicaid expansion if given the opportunity. I can best affect this by continuing to help candidates that support Medicaid expansion.
I would like to see it clearly notated on the legislature's website when bills have been bundled together or have been the victim of a gut and go. In the case of a gut and go, I'd like the description of the bill to change to match the new contents. I would also like the website to clearly identify who brought amendments to a bill and who is responsible for gutting a bill.

Basically, I favor anything that makes it easier for the general public to know what the contents of a bill are and the journey it took when they go to the legislature's website.
I support changes to the Kansas election laws that make it easier for more citizens to participate in the election process. Some of these changes include: same day registration, automatic registration when one interacts with certain state agencies, increased number of secure ballot boxes, and automatically sending advanced ballot applications to all registered voters.