‘Resign in shame’: Fed-up Kansas CEO flees GOP governor’s disastrous reign

[DonViejo]

“I can’t, in good conscience, continue to give our tax money to a government that actively works against the needs of its citizens; a state that is systematically targeting the citizens in most need, denying them critical care and reducing their cost of life as if they’re simply a tax burden that should be ignored.” – Jeff Blackwood, CEO of Pathfinder Health Innovations

I’ve made the decision. As of July, I have decided that Pathfinder Health Innovations will be moving our corporate office from Kansas to Missouri.

There are a lot of things that factor into this decision. For one, the company has outgrown our current space. There are no seats left, and we have new employees coming on every month. The state of Missouri is also helping us with some tax incentives, but these are minor considerations.

More importantly, there’s a motivation of conscience that factors into it, too. It’s not so much that I’m moving the company to Missouri as I’m moving it away from Kansas.

Please note – this is a personal blog post, reflecting my views on the performance of the Kansas government, and specifically Governor Brownback. It should not be interpreted as the views of the company, our investors or employees other than me.

In recent years, Kansas has become a battleground for conservative ideals. Traditionally, Kansas was a moderate state, with the governorship switching every other election between Democratic and Republican governors. But the election of hyper-conservative Sam Brownback as governor heralded a new age of far right wing ideology.

It wasn’t just that Brownback was conservative; it was that he is seen as a tool of the Koch brothers and ALEC, a conservative think tank and lobbying organization. Brownback used his influence and funding to eliminate “moderate” republicans from the Kansas legislature and install his hand-picked conservative cronies. He couldn’t do the same with the Kansas Supreme Court, which has ruled a number of the conservative legislature’s laws as unconstitutional, so Brownback’s administration decided to threaten to cut off funding to the court system and is actively pursuing legislation to impeach the Supreme Court.

Kansas has become a test center of “trickle down” economics, espoused by economist Arthur Laffer during the Reagan years. Nowhere has there been as thorough an implementation of Laffer’s policy recommendations… and nowhere has there been as dramatic a failure of government.

Under Brownback’s direction, Kansas implemented an unprecedented tax cut in 2012, eliminating taxes for LLCs and professional firms (for full disclosure, PHI is a C Corporation) and making the largest cuts in the highest tax brackets. He shifted taxes to create a heavier burden on property and sales taxes, which typically represent a larger burden on lower income brackets. Brownback declared that this tax cut would be a “shot of adrenaline” for the Kansas economy, but the reality is that the tax cuts have had the opposite effect. Kansas lags neighboring states in job growth. For 11 of the last 12 months, Kansas has dramatically missed revenue targets, falling deeper in debt and facing another round of degraded bond ratings.

The worst part is that the burdens for the shortfalls rest on the shoulders of those who can least afford it – children and the developmentally disabled.

One of Brownback’s first actions was to close the Lawrence office for Kansas Social & Rehabilitation Services (SRS). This agency provided services for low-income children and the developmentally disabled, and access to the Lawrence office was critical for people in that community to receive services. Their only option was to try to figure out how to get transportation to the Topeka SRS office, thirty miles away. Not an easy task. The closure of the Lawrence office was supposed to save the state $400,000 per year.

At the same time, Brownback decided to pursue a personal vendetta against the Kansas Bioscience Authority, an organization created to spur the economic development of bioscience companies in Kansas. Brownback was convinced that funds were being misused, so he decided we needed to spend over $400,000 (conveniently, the same amount that could have kept the Lawrence SRS office open) on lawyers and auditors to pour over the KBA books. In the end, they found a total of $5,000 in misused funds, which the former KBA president repaid with a personal check. It all came down to priorities – pursue a personal vendetta at the expense of the disabled.

The developmentally disabled continued to suffer when Brownback’s administration pushed a program to privatize the state’s Medicaid program KanCare while at the same time refusing millions of dollars in federal support to expand Medicaid services. Now, three insurance companies administer KanCare as a profit center, and the results are dramatic – significant delays in determining eligibility, inexplicable loss of coverage, caseloads increased, providers struggling to get paid.

At the beginning of 2016, over 17,000 Medicaid applications were waiting for approval, 8,000 of which were well beyond the federally mandated 45-day threshold for processing. Pregnant women, who would have received services by default under the previous Medicaid plan in Kansas, were now waiting 4+ months for services, often exceeding the term of their pregnancy by the time services were authorized.

The funding problems got so bad that Osawatomie State Hospital’s mental health ward had to significantly cut staffing. Over 40% of their staff positions were dormant, leaving the remaining staff overworked and unprepared. This understaffing resulted in an improperly released patient murdering a 61-year-old man, and a hospital worker was raped, having to rely on other patients to save her. In January 2016, the Osawatomie State Hospital lost its certification to provide mental health services, cutting off federal funding that counted for roughly half of the hospital’s revenue. It is unclear what will happen to the patients and staff at Osawatomie State Hospital, leaving the fates of the patients in limbo.

The state’s public education system, once considered one of the best in the nation, hasn’t been spared, either. You’ll hear claims from Kansas officials that funding to education is at an all time high, but it’s just an accounting trick – they chose to shuffle money for special education and retirement funds through the schools so it could appear as an increase on the books.

Salary freezes, underfunding to the point of being ruled unconstitutional, laws allowing teachers to be imprisoned for introducing potentially “offensive” content, cuts and delays in $100 million in payments to the state-run retirement fund, and legislation specifically targeted to cripple the Kansas teacher’s union are all part of an ongoing effort to undermine the public education system in Kansas. Instead, the Brownback administration plans to offer vouchers to encourage families to send their children to private and religious schools.

To double down on these policies, Brownback is now ignoring the $250 million shortfall predicted for 2016, instead opting for headlines about closing Kansas to refugees and blaming the “liberal media” for the state’s economic woes.

In the end, I believe the goals of the Brownback administration are going exactly to plan – starve the state of resources to the point where it just makes sense to turn over critical government functions to for-profit entities.

I can’t, in good conscience, continue to give our tax money to a government that actively works against the needs of its citizens; a state that is systematically targeting the citizens in most need, denying them critical care and reducing their cost of life as if they’re simply a tax burden that should be ignored.

It’s because of these moves that I have decided to deny Kansas revenue from Pathfinder’s taxes by moving our company to Missouri. Sure, our company taxes are a drop in the bucket, but I do not, in any way, support the Brownback administration’s actions.

I believe that it is the responsibility of business owners and people with some voice in society should speak up against these destructive policies. And I believe it is far past the time that Sam Brownback and his cronies admit the damage they’ve caused to the people of Kansas and resign in the shame they deserve.

– Jeff Blackwood, CEO of Pathfinder Health Innovations

Jeff Blackwood is President and CEO of Pathfinder Health Innovations, focused on the goal to bring transformative healthcare technology to help individuals with autism lead more social lives. Jeff has also been recognized as a finalist for 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year, 2011 alum of PIPELINE, by Startup Health as Healthcare Transformer, and served as Vice President of Autism Society – the Heartland.

[tonyt53]

1. Just WOW. He hit back at KS.

[lame54]

2. How long before the board replaces him...

They will be plenty of shareholders that do not agree with him

[Aerows]

14. He is the CEO and owner.

When you own a business lock, stock and barrel, no one replaces you when you take a strong position.

And frankly, I find your opposition to a human being that decided to do a humane thing rather odd.

[MidwestTech]

24. its not opposition it's pointing out a fact...

IF this had been a publicly traded company.
people on wall street are a greedy, evil lot now a days and the poster has a valid point that they wouldn't two fucks about how kansas is screwing it's own.

I'm glad to see that the CEOs are starting to realize what a fucked up model the government has been running on since ray-gun.
maybe they'll force the thugs to come back to the middle and learn how to run a government correctly again.

[Craig234]

46. The corporation

As the movie The Corporation showed, the problem is the system - sociopathic rules for corporations to follow.

They are not allowed by law, when publicly held, to try to do 'what's right' - only to maximize profit to shareholders.

As a rule, relying on individuals like this company owner to do the right thing is a bad policy - but when they do, it's great to see.

The system is SUPPOSED to be a balance between these companies and government where government represents the public and creates limits and incentives for the corporations - but our government is broken because of money in politics.

If you haven't seen that movie, I recommend it - it shows why relying on companies to do the right thing is not the right approach.

[Ikonoklast]

59. His company is not the only one leaving Kansas.

Deteriorating infrastructure, employees not wanting to move to the state, current residents fleeing for better opportunity elsewhere, a looming default on debt...


Kansas is in a downward spiral.

[Scientific]

3. There you have it. The inevitable result of Republicanism

d'oh d'oh

[LonePirate]

4. Good for him. Brownback needs to hear about the consequences of his destructive policies.

[Jerry442]

5. What the hell is the end goal in Kansas anyway?

Strip-mine every resource in the state and then force the Feds to take it over lest the remaining population starve to death?

[Initech]

10. That sounds like the ultimate goal of the Tea Party.

[elljay]

13. Yes, in part

They intend to starve the governments and force them to sell to private entities. An, not just Kansas. Look at places like Greece. The commons (roads, water, coasts, ports, Public transport and utilities, parks, Social Security) are worth trillions of dollars and, horrors, are not being monetized. The mentally ill hoarders of the .01 percent want these profits so, yes, they intend to deprive resources to governments at every level to force them to sell their assets to private, for-profit entities. What happens when people like the Koch Brothers, the Waltons, and Paul Singer own your water company and the road you live on? It will be the end of the American experiment.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

25. Hell.

[0rganism]

35. you overstate the conservative concern for the population's well-being

frankly, for the neo-Republican leadership, after the state is fully resource-depleted, the population can starve to death, and the quicker the better, cos having the Feds take over to rescue the remaining population sends the wrong message.

[NewJeffCT]

43. The Feds wouldn't take it over!

they'd want the church to take over taking care of the poor.

[SouthernDemLinda]

63. Faith-Biased Initiative (church taking care of the poor)

They have the unconstitutional Faith-based initiative supposedly caring for the poor right now.

It is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. under our Constitution, Americans can not be forced to support a religion. It was an executive order under George Bush and has continued.

"The accumulation of all power, legislative, executive, and judiciary in the same hands may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." -James Madison, Federalist 46

Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (referring to the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution) stating "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." 1. The establishment clause has generally been interpreted to prohibit the establishment of a national religion by Congress, or 2. The preference of one religion over another or the support of a religious idea with no identifiable secular purpose.

Even though documentation of any results achieved by the "faith-based initiative," is nonexistent. It is being used to praise "compassionate conservatives," but up until now there is nothing to show that the taxpayers money is well spent. Ordinarily government agencies that have handed out millions of dollars would have to report to Congress and the public about what we've gotten for the money.

PEPFAR, the often-used term for the AIDS Relief package of former President George W. Bush. It placed a great deal of emphasis and a huge chunk of funding for abstinence-only programs. Many Evangelical organizations in the US also developed a sudden interest in AIDS when George W Bush came forward with PEPFAR and also funding for his Faith-Based Initiative. In 2006 a GAO study found that much of the money that could be traced went to staff salaries and benefits, and that few Federal regulations required for receiving public funding had been applied.

[leeroysphitz]

47. Bankrupt government let private for profits take over what's left. Just like Bush's social security

scheme in 2004/2005.

[avebury]

62. If the people of Kansas think that privitizing the state's business

will save them money I can probably find a bridge to sell them. Businesses exist to make money not to provide services out of the goodness of their hearts. They (the State of Kansas) will find themselves in even a worse pickle and when the state has to try to pick up the pieces, they will no longer have the resources to do so.

I know of a situation where a city hired a consultant to prepare plans for a project. The Agency I work for scheduled a meeting with the City and their Consultant for which the Consultant would collect a portion of the fee on the contract with the City. The Consultant submitted a copy of "the plans" to our Agency before the meeting.

What was the problem? The plans weren't even for the project they were hired to work on.

Was the meeting cancelled pending the Consultant actually providing plans for the project?

No.

Instead they went ahead with the meeting knowing that they didn't even have a set of plans. The Consultant would have been able to submit an invoice to the City for partial payment on their contract and they hadn't even actually done any work on it yet.


State have to function with limited budgets and Consultants/Suppliers/Contractors want to charge you through the nose for their contracts. Certain functions have to be done for the safety of the public and if you have to rely upon an extremely small number of contractors for a particular urgent type of contract it may cost you an arm and a leg because they know that you don't have a lot of options. And the public want instant solutions. Yeah right. Doesn't always happen as fast as they would like because you still have to conduct business according to state statutes. Even if you use private contractors there is still those pesky state statutes that have to be followed to even issue a contract.

Anybody that believes that privitization is the way to go is flat out crazy. In the long run, privitization is not a pretty sight.

[BuelahWitch]

50. Killing off the poor, sick and elderly

Anyone they consider "useless".

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

61. Turn poor people into mulch?

.

[freebrew]

6. Moving to Missouri???

This state is rapidly going the way of Kansas. See the Seal trying to shoot the gov't w/his AR?

And he's not the worst of the Goopers here.
Right to Work laws, Union busting with 'paycheck protection', Sales taxes to pay for roads...

The list goes on and on. It's going to be another Koch-haven if the DNC doesn't get its ass in gear.


on edit: typos

[leftyladyfrommo]

9. I don't think Missouri is like Kansas at all.

We have good schools and lots and lots of growth here in KC. We have a really good mayor now and a really good chief of police.
Our State Parks are wonderful places. I certainly don't feel like it's anywhere near the same as what is going on in Kansas.

I wish we could get a little more action against guns but that might come to pass after this Orlando deal.

[TBA]

18. Hey!

I'm going to be in the St. Louis area in July. Could you suggest any State Parks that are particularly nice?

[leftyladyfrommo]

19. I have friends who were just at the State Park at Arrowrock.

They had a really good time. They were camping.

[niyad]

29. and only one women's clinic, if I remember. women's rights in MO are no safer than in KS.

[camelfan]

32. You also have a beautiful library.

[link:|

[LiberalLovinLug]

45. Wow, what a gorgeous idea for a library!

I wonder if there was a battle over some of those titles being used by right wing nuts? To Kill a Mockingbird. isn't it banned for schools in some States?

[awoke_in_2003]

51. Wow. nt

[Dont call me Shirley]

56. Is that the old main library downtown? Wow!

[freebrew]

34. We DO have some good schools for now...

I live near Camdenton. The schools here are showing signs that they are trying to move towards Charter Ideas.
The local school boards are hiring teachers with religious-only backgrounds, Taxes are paying for ridiculously
expensive schools, football fields, etc. and NOTHING for real education.

The Rs in Jeff City are trying their best to make us another Kansas and they'll stoop to almost
any level to vilify Democrats. It's mostly due to Jeff City that St. Louis is struggling so desperately.

When I was in school, St. Louis was 3rd most populous city in the US. Now, most folks never heard of it.

And as for guns, until the Rs are gone, it's going to get worse.
Rep. Miller is pushing for , get this, a right to carry concealed, w/o any stinking training, anywhere it's now legal to carry open.

A license to kill for cops, they'll never know who is armed.

[leftyladyfrommo]

48. I don't think gun laws are going to help us in KC.

There are already so many guns here that it's ridiculous. A lot of them are illegal and in the hands of the gangbangers. We have shootings here daily. But most of them are on the East side of town which is where the gangbangers hang out.

But I have to say that I have never seen a gun while I was out in public. Of course you can't see the concealed ones. Guns are not allowed in most public places or in businesses. As long as there is a sign on the door that no guns are allowed it is illegal to carry one inside.

I certainly don't feel like it's Kansas over here. Life just goes on like it always has and I have been here since 1970.

[Hortensis]

7. Excellent!! But the news media, except for

one Kansas TV station, don't really seem to be picking it up yet.

[LittleGirl]

8. That was a thing of beauty! eom

[greymattermom]

11. Just the standard practice in Kansas City

When companies need a new building, they move across the state line and get tax incentives. They don't have to move any people or hire anyone new, so it's an easy thing. Both states lose in this competition.

[cbdo2007]

36. Exactly. That is the REAL reason for the move, but I guess it's nice for him to speak out

against Brownback still and get some publicity for that.

My company just moved across the state line 3 years ago for the tax incentives....well, they got major MAJOR tax incentives, while all of us employees now have to pay the 1% City of KC tax, so of course it's always the little guy getting screwed.

[DAMANgoldberg]

64. Geography is key here.

As the previous poster pointed out, all he is moving is about 3-5 miles or so. All part of the "United States of Kansas City" area. It would have been a bigger deal to move from say Wichita or Salina to Missouri.

I like the move, but to give an example, it would be as if PayPal decided to ignore the #HB2 mess and move to Class A office space in Indian Land, Fort Mill, or Lake Wylie SC, about 5 miles from the Ballantyne area of Charlotte that they were going to build in. Even though CATS doesn't go there with regular routes, for the most part, it would be the same workforce that doesn't live in NW CLT, so driving to York or N Lancaster Co is no big deal for them, but would make Gov. Haley very happy.

[zazen]

12. Hey Brownback--better watch out--the North Carolina GOP is gaining on you.

Jeff Blackwood is going to run out of states to which to relocate.

In NC, our hateful, Yankee-filled GOP is busy regulating bathroom usage, passing unconstitutional laws discriminating against classes of people, overturning local rule, killing the poor through cutting a range of benefits, privatizing our schools, and driving the world's best higher education system into the ground with Bush and ALEC appointees. We're giving Kansas a run for their money.

[Feeling the Bern]

15. Hey, KS. . .ME. . .WI. . .NJ. . .FL. . .NC. . .OK. . .AZ. . .TX. . .IL. . .MI. . .SC. . .

Are you fucking fed up yet, or will you keep voting for these Republican shitstains? Probably, keep voting for them because of God, Gays and Guns.

[crim son]

31. A third-party candidate split Maine's Dem vote.

Twice. If we get another rethug governor it won't be because of guns, god and religion but because some people don't understand the consequence of their vote.

[Stevepol]

41. Are you sure people are voting for these folks?

I suspect it's mostly the voting machines are over-tilted. Normally, there's an avg red tilt of about 7% in KS, not the highest in the land of the free and home of the brave, but I think w/ the last election cycle, the machine mobsters outdid themselves. Kobach, e.g., was in a tight race for Sec of State and ended up winning by 17%. Kobach is continuing to do his share of depriving the weak and helpless of health care and food and other services they need to survive and enriching the powerful and rich by suppressing the vote through photo ID laws and other requirements for voting.

[PatSeg]

16. I remember when Brownback

was a senator, a rather unimpressive conservative, but I don't recall this kind of extremism. Perhaps this kind of incompetence isn't apparent in a legislative position, where an individual has less power or he is bought and paid for by powerful puppet masters.

[fbc]

17. Never go full republican

[Drahthaardogs]

20. Kansas re-elected the fool.

How could they possibly do that?

[pstokely]

23. The DEM went to a strip club nearly years ago

nt

[Drahthaardogs]

39. Seriously?

Thar was the issue.

[-none]

66. Election fraud.

We all can assume all of our elections are being fixed anymore.
While it is fairly obvious election fraud occurred in Kansas, someone wanted to check their election results, using the open records laws to get the needed election records. They were denied, even though the information is supposed to be public.
Like some other states that have had elections lately.

[Stuart G]

21. Great Post....incredible statement to move the company to another state...k and r

[ReRe]

22. K&R

Finally! Someone out there had the guts to stand up and say the Emperor indeed is naked. Someone with a conscience to speak for all the souls Brownback's policies have harmed. This CEO has got to be one-in-a-million.

[demmiblue]

26. Wow, that was some read... comprehensive and concise.

[sarcasmo]

27. When anyone on the right uses the Trickle down talking point

Kansas should be cited as a failed Trickle down experiment. Brownback is a vile human being.

[AlbertCat]

28. Kansas should be cited as a failed Trickle down experiment.

The entire USA should be used as a failed Trickle Down experiment.

[jalan48]

30. Looks like the right wing plan is working to perfection.

Because, you know, we're broke.

[Hekate]

33. KnR

[Snotcicles]

37. If there is a Hell, that is I am sure, where Brownback will rot. nt

s

[elleng]

38. This is great.

Been hoping things like this would happen, in the 'rational' heartland!

[SheilaT]

40. I lived in Overland Park, KS, a suburb of Kansas City, MO,

from 1990 to 2008. At the time, the public schools on the Kansas side were vastly superior to the public schools in Missouri, and the Shawnee Mission School District, that we lived in, was one of the best around. Companies were eager and happy to relocate to Kansas because of, among other things, a well educated population.

This man has eloquently described so much of what is wrong currently in Kansas, and so much can be placed at the feet of Brownback. Who I believe proudly calls himself a Christian. Would a genuine follower of Christ's teachings really do the things he's done? I doubt it.

[47of74]

42. K and R

[Jopin Klobe]

44. An intelligent, ethical, moral Capitalist ...

... could there be more than one? ...

... please? ...

[Zippyzagnut]

49. This is what it takes

This is what will make changes begin to happen. Action, no inaction and rhetoric.

[calimary]

55. Welcome to DU, Zippyzagnut.

This IS INDEED what will help - when the business community votes with its collective feet. We just need a lot more of it. Because sam brownback is such a zealot that nothing short of his being ridden out of town on a rail will convince him he's not doing the "right" thing.

[RKP5637]

52. K&R !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n/t

[progressoid]

53. Here's the link if you wanna share it with others...

http://pathfinderhi.com/kansas-isnt-home-anymore/

[MRDAWG]

54. Republicans want to abolish High School as............

we know it. My son got a Masters Degree from a "REAL" university online. It makes sense that you could get a High School education online.

Just have a few High Schools here and there. They would not educate but sponsor some activities. Sports teams, band, drama club etc is all they would need to do.

If you want a real High School, go to a private one.

Here in Georgia you can get a tax CREDIT if you send your child to a private school. Retired seniors do not pay income tax on non-earned income and Social Security up to about $150,000 a year.

The Georgia Legislature has cut support to state colleges 50% in the last few years.

[Dont call me Shirley]

57. I'm so glad I moved out of that outhouse! Chiggers and all!

[laserhaas]

58. WOW

To this CEO.


TO DA Guvn'r. ..l..

[center]

[yurbud]

60. this is the way Democratic candidates should talk. The problem is, too many agree with

privatization and other corrupt GOP policies and the only thing they see wrong with cons like Brownback is his over-reach that draws attention to policies he could get away with if he moved more slowly.

[Danmel]

65. Well stated

At leas he can look in the mirror and sleep at night.