Kansas Member Hopes to Talk Taxes on the Hill

I had the chance to eat breakfast this morning with a very interesting NFIB member from Kansas—Lafe Bailey of Wenger Manufacturing Inc. in Sabetha, Kan. He asked me if I had a pet. I thought he was just making small talk, but he was actually trying to simplify for me what exactly his business does. The business—with 280 employees worldwide and locations in Brazil, China and Belgium—manufactures equipment for, among other industries, pet food companies.

So now it was my turn to ask a question, and of course, with visits on the Hill happening today, I asked him whom he was planning to visit with and what issues he was hoping would be covered in the meetings. He and fellow Kansas Summit delegate Kevin Tubbesing of Stag Commercial have a busy day ahead of them, with meetings confirmed with Reps. Jerry Moran, Dennis Moore and Nancy Boyda.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Bailey says. “I’d like to hear some encouragement about the state tax situation.” He also wants to share his story of how his business, despite doing much of it overseas, has managed to keep most of its operations in Kansas. “The IC-DISC tax program for exporters has allowed us to reinvest $5 million in our manufacturing business,” he says. “We are very bullish about domestic manufacturing—and I intend to keep it that way. There are so many influencers vying for our lawmakers’ time and attention. So even if you’ve taken the message to them once before, you have to reiterate it on a regular basis.”

And that’s just one of the reasons attending the Summit is so important.