Kansas Helen Podcast

Taylor Moreland is running for Kansas House District 7, representing parts of Labette County including Parsons and Neosho County including parts of Chanute.

In this portion of the conversation, Moreland is asked whether she has experienced what it is like to not have “one more penny.” She explains that while her family was more financially stable during her later teenage years, she does remember earlier periods where her father worked constantly to make ends meet. The discussion also touches on growing up in a household with multiple siblings and the shared experience of children taking on more responsibility when parents are working.

See the full interview on Kansas Helen Substack and learn more about Kansas House District 7. You can now also watch on Kansas Helen YouTube or listen on the Kansas Helen Podcast on Apple and Spotify

Noah Perry is running for Kansas House District 66, representing a portion of Manhattan.

In this portion of the conversation, Noah Perry discusses policing and how public safety fits into the role of government. He talks about the importance of maintaining effective law enforcement while also considering how resources are allocated and how different levels of government approach public safety issues.

See the full interview on Kansas Helen Substack and learn more about Kansas House District 66, including the most recent campaign finance analysis here: https://kansashelen.substack.com/s/kansas-house

You can now also watch on Kansas Helen Youtube or listen on the Kansas Helen Podcast on Apple and Spotify

#kansas #ksleg #vote #2026elections #kansashouse

Taylor Moreland is running for Kansas House District 7, representing parts of Labette County including Parsons and Neosho County including parts of Chanute.

In this portion of the conversation, the discussion introduces Moreland and the geographic scope of District 7 in southeast Kansas along the Oklahoma border. It also touches on the uncertainty around her race, including whether she will have a running mate and the broader challenge of running as a Democrat in a rural district.

The conversation highlights her local roots and early background, including growing up in the area and building connections within the community. Her work supporting youth, particularly those connected to crisis services, is part of what shapes how she relates to people in the district.

See the full interview on Kansas Helen Substack and learn more about Kansas House District 7. You can now also watch on Kansas Helen YouTube or listen on the Kansas Helen Podcast on Apple and Spotify

Noah Perry is running for Kansas House District 66, representing a portion of Manhattan.

In this portion of the conversation, Noah Perry discusses reproductive rights and how different perspectives shape the issue. He talks about how statistics are used in these discussions and the importance of understanding where information comes from. He also reflects on broader cultural and policy considerations related to the topic

FACT CHECK ON ABORTIN STATS:

Counting only abortions due to rape, incest, immediate threat to the mother’s life, fetal nonviability, or miscarriage management as “non-elective,” available research suggests those cases together make up roughly **3% to 7%** of abortions, leaving about **93% to 97%** outside those categories; that is where the “over 90% elective” claim comes from, but the remaining cases include a wide range of circumstances such as financial hardship, existing family responsibilities, relationship instability, and non-emergency health concerns, with research from the Guttmacher Institute showing most people report multiple overlapping reasons rather than a single cause, and there is no national dataset from sources like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that classifies abortions as “elective” versus “non-elective,” meaning the distinction depends on how someone defines what is necessary versus a choice, which varies widely and is often shaped by personal, cultural, or religious beliefs rather than a standardized medical or scientific classification.

See the full interview on Kansas Helen Substack and learn more about Kansas House District 66, including the most recent campaign finance analysis here: Kansas House

You can now also watch on Kansas Helen Youtube or listen on the Kansas Helen Podcast on Apple and Spotify

Taylor Moreland is running for Kansas House District 7, representing parts of Labette County including Parsons and Neosho County including parts of Chanute.

In this conversation, Moreland discusses why she decided to run for office and describes her campaign as a response to the growing hostility and dysfunction she sees in politics. She talks about wanting government to be less focused on party conflict and more focused on solving problems that affect everyday people. Rather than framing politics as a battle to be won, she emphasizes listening, working with people across differences, and staying grounded in the needs of the community.

A major part of the discussion centers on her background in community advocacy and youth support. Moreland talks about the work she does with youth in crisis and children connected to the foster care system, and how that experience has shaped the way she understands behavior, trauma, accountability, and support. She repeatedly returns to the idea that children are often judged by their actions without enough attention being paid to what they have lived through. She connects that perspective to broader policy questions, arguing that communities and institutions need to do a better job of identifying root causes and building systems that actually help children and families before problems escalate.

That work is also reflected in the 2024 feature “Where Are They Now? Taylor Moreland” from USD 503, which highlights her path from Parsons High School to studying psychology with an emphasis in law and working at the Youth Crisis Center. The article describes her commitment to helping youth, her interest in understanding people one-on-one, and her belief that stronger relationships between schools, the community, and foster care systems are essential. Those themes carry directly into the interview and help explain why so much of her perspective is grounded in children, trauma, education, and community responsibility.

Education and child development are some of the strongest throughlines in the conversation. Moreland talks about the importance of early childhood education, childcare access, and universal pre-K, arguing that financial hardship should never keep a child from receiving a valuable early education. She connects pre-K not just to academics, but to social development, emotional regulation, and identifying needs early before children fall behind. She also discusses the importance of public education more broadly, including support for students with disabilities and the need to maintain strong special education services. She makes clear that children who need extra support should not be pushed aside and that schools need the resources to serve them well.

The conversation goes deeply into foster care and the failures she has seen within that system. Moreland speaks about how statistics, contracts, and administrative goals can sometimes be placed above the actual needs of children. She describes how placement decisions can disrupt stability, how children are moved when they are doing well, and how people far removed from a child’s day-to-day life can make major decisions without fully understanding the consequences. She also talks about fear of retaliation within the system when people speak out, and how that can silence advocacy even when workers and caregivers know children are being failed. This becomes one of the most personal and revealing parts of the interview, because it shows how directly her policy views are shaped by what she has seen happen to real children.

Moreland also addresses housing and tenant issues, particularly the balance between landlord responsibility and tenant protections. She supports stronger accountability for landlords and discusses the need for policies that keep families from being put out on the street with too little notice. She talks about longer notice periods for move-outs and raises concerns about housing instability, especially for families already living close to the edge financially. The discussion places housing within a larger framework of dignity and stability, rather than treating it only as a market issue.

Economic issues affecting rural communities also take up a significant part of the conversation. Moreland discusses property taxes, minimum wage, and the struggles facing small businesses and working people. She supports raising the minimum wage, while also acknowledging the need to consider how changes impact smaller employers and underfunded service sectors. She talks about how low wages affect fields like childcare, foster care, and youth services, where workers are often asked to do difficult and emotionally demanding work for very little pay. She also raises broader concerns about Kansas losing people to surrounding states when wages, services, and opportunities are better elsewhere.

Healthcare is another major topic, especially rural healthcare and the challenges facing hospitals outside major population centers. Moreland discusses the importance of keeping rural hospitals open and accessible, and the fear many people have that smaller facilities do not have the same level of support or resources as larger hospitals. She connects this to maternal health, high-risk pregnancy, and the broader issue of whether people in rural Kansas can trust that care will be there when they need it. She also supports expanding Medicaid and frames healthcare access as a basic issue of survival and community stability rather than a partisan debate.

Reproductive healthcare is discussed in direct terms as well. Moreland argues that personal beliefs should not be used to control other people’s medical decisions and that government should not be inserting itself into private healthcare choices. She talks about how abortion policy is often driven by ideology rather than practical reality and raises concerns about how bans affect people facing miscarriage, abuse, addiction, poverty, or medical crisis. In the conversation, this issue is tied back to her larger theme that government should be focused on helping people meet real needs instead of using divisive social issues as political distractions.

She also speaks about SNAP benefits, food insecurity, and the way political dysfunction can directly harm families. Moreland criticizes government gridlock that disrupts essential services and argues that if leaders cannot work together to provide for basic needs, then they are failing the people they are supposed to serve. She places feeding people, protecting children, and keeping families stable above partisan conflict, and treats those responsibilities as core obligations of government.

On criminal justice, she discusses police accountability, prisons, and sentencing for nonviolent offenses. She argues that private prisons should not exist and questions the value of spending large amounts of public money incarcerating people for nonviolent crimes. She speaks in favor of a system that takes rehabilitation seriously and distinguishes between violent and nonviolent behavior. That part of the conversation also ties back to her youth work, as she discusses how children can make serious mistakes and still be capable of growth, change, and accountability without being defined forever by their worst moment.

Throughout the interview, Moreland keeps returning to the same core ideas: government should be accessible, people should be listened to, and policy should be built around real human needs instead of political games. Whether she is talking about foster care, schools, healthcare, housing, or wages, her focus stays on the same question of what systems are actually doing for the people inside them. The conversation presents a candidate whose views are shaped less by political branding and more by direct experience with youth, crisis services, and the daily realities facing families in rural Kansas.

See the full interview on Kansas Helen Substack and learn more about Kansas House District 7, including the most recent campaign finance analysis here: Kansas House

You can now also watch on Kansas Helen YouTube or listen on the Kansas Helen Podcast on Apple and Spotify

Aaron Estabrook is running for Kansas House District 66, representing a portion of Manhattan.In this portion of the conversation, Estabrook discusses the importance of listening to constituents and argues that state lawmakers should be more accessible and responsive. He points out that Kansas House districts are relatively small, making it feasible for representatives to stay connected with voters and keep up with their concerns. He contrasts this with what he sees as a lack of public input in current decision-making and emphasizes the need for consistent communication, engagement, and awareness of local priorities.See the full interview on Kansas Helen Substack and learn more about Kansas House District 66, including the most recent campaign finance analysis here: https://kansashelen.substack.com/s/kansas-houseYou can now also watch on Kansas Helen Youtube or listen on the Kansas Helen Podcast on Apple and Spotify#kansas #ksleg #vote #2026elections #kansashouse

Noah Perry is running for Kansas House District 66, representing a portion of Manhattan.In this portion of the conversation, Noah Perry discusses healthcare and how it fits into broader government priorities. He talks about the role of government in ensuring basic needs are met, including healthcare, while also emphasizing concerns about how funding is allocated and whether resources are being used effectively.He also discusses the balance between government involvement and other approaches, including local and private solutions, and how different levels of government should handle healthcare-related issues.See the full interview on Kansas Helen Substack and learn more about Kansas House District 66, including the most recent campaign finance analysis here: Kansas HouseYou can now also watch on Kansas Helen Youtube or listen on the Kansas Helen Podcast on Apple and Spotify.

Noah Perry is running for Kansas House District 66, representing a portion of Manhattan.In this portion of the conversation, Noah Perry discusses education, including school choice, funding, and student outcomes. He says he supports school choice and vouchers, but believes they should only cover a portion of tuition rather than the full cost. He also talks about concerns with how education funding is currently used, arguing that outcomes have not matched the level of spending.He focuses on the importance of foundational learning, particularly reading proficiency, and suggests that students who are not meeting grade-level standards should repeat a grade to build those skills. He also discusses differences in educational opportunities between rural and urban areas, including access to advanced programs, and the need to rethink how the education system serves students at different levels. See the full interview on Kansas Helen Substack and learn more about Kansas House District 66, including the most recent campaign finance analysis here: Kansas HouseYou can now also watch on Kansas Helen Youtube or listen on the Kansas Helen Podcast on Apple and Spotify.

Aaron Estabrook is running for Kansas House District 66, representing a portion of Manhattan.In this portion of the conversation, Estabrook discusses transportation and public transit, drawing on his experience working with local transit systems. He explains how federal funding structures influence fare policies and emphasizes the need to expand public transportation options. He also expresses support for expanding rail, including interest in high-speed rail, and discusses how improved transit could benefit accessibility, economic development, and long-term infrastructure needs.See the full interview on Kansas Helen Substack and learn more about Kansas House District 66, including the most recent campaign finance analysis here: https://kansashelen.substack.com/s/kansas-houseYou can now also watch on Kansas Helen Youtube or listen on the Kansas Helen Podcast on Apple and Spotify#kansas #ksleg #vote #2026elections #kansashouse

Noah Perry is running for Kansas House District 66, representing a portion of Manhattan.In this portion of the conversation, Noah Perry discusses childcare and early education, including access to pre-K and affordability. He says he does not support mandating universal pre-K and believes it should remain an option for families rather than a requirement. He emphasizes that different children develop at different rates and that parents should have flexibility in deciding when to begin formal schooling.He also discusses childcare availability, particularly in rural areas, and shares his perspective that many of these challenges can be addressed at the local level. He points to examples of community-driven solutions, including the creation of childcare facilities without government programs, and expresses a preference for local and private approaches rather than expanding government involvement.See the full interview on Kansas Helen Substack and learn more about Kansas House District 66, including the most recent campaign finance analysis here: Kansas HouseYou can now also watch on Kansas Helen Youtube or listen on the Kansas Helen Podcast on Apple and Spotify.