Chris Steineger
Chris Steineger | |
---|---|
File:Steineger,chris.jpg | |
Member of the Kansas Senate from the 6th district | |
Assumed office November, 1997 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Kansas City, Kansas | January 8, 1962
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Shari Wilson |
Residence | Kansas City, Kansas |
Alma mater | Kansas State University, University of Kansas |
Profession | Consultant |
Chris Steineger is a former Democrat and current Republican member of the Kansas Senate, representing the 6th District since 1997. He was once the Senate Minority Whip. He is married and lives in Kansas City, KS.
Biography
State Senator Chris Steineger has served the 6th Senate District in Wyandotte County for the past 15 years. He has experience at all three levels of government, including staffing U.S. Representative Jim Slattery in Washington D.C.; Assistant in the City Administrator’s office in Kansas City, KS; and as a tax auditor and collector with the Kansas Department of Revenue. He has also worked in the private and non-profit sectors. He owns and manages rental property, develops residential real estate, and manages other financial assets. Steineger’s public policy focuses include early childhood education, health care restructuring to provide lower costs to employers and health coverage for all Kansans, energy resources which are sustainable, and consolidation of local government for efficiency and better decision making.
Steineger was born in Kansas City, KS and grew up in Muncie, a township on the edge of the city limits. His father is former Sen. Jack Steineger, a veteran of the Kansas Legislature for 28 years, and his mother Margaret served on various community boards. His life in public service was inspired by his father’s commitment to all Kansans. Steineger serves as a board member for the Kaw Valley Arts and Humanities; Mid America Manufacturing Technology; Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp; and the International Relations Council of Kansas City. Steineger is a global traveler, learner, and thinker having visited more than 40 countries including Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Israel, south East Asia, China, Japan, Taiwan, India, and Cuba.
In 2003, he lived for three months in Japan studying Japanese agriculture, food manufacturing, and marketing. In 2004, Steineger studied European health care systems in Brussels on a Fellowship with the European Union. In 2006, Steineger lectured on American government, politics, elections, and campaigns at the Chinese Foreign Relations University in Beijing. In 2007, he went to Cuba and presented information on American Wetlands policy at the Caribbean Wetlands Symposium. That same year, he studied energy and health care systems in Israel as a Fellow with Project Interchange.[1]
On December 17, 2010 Steineger switched his affiliation to the Republican party.[2]
Issue positions
Steineger lists the following positions on his website[3]:
- Encourages careful conservation of natural resources and use of sustainable energy resources
- Health care system should be restructured to have universal coverage and also cost the state less.
- Supports firearm ownership
- A focus on early education
- Local governments should be consolidated
- Cuban trade embargo should be ended[4]
Committee assignments
Steineger serves on these legislative committees:[5]
- Financial Institutions and Insurance
- Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations
- Assessment and Taxation
- Education
- Joint Committee on Information Technology
- Joint Committee on Legislative Post Audit
Sponsored legislation
Steineger's recent sponsored/co-sponsored legislation includes:
- A bill to decrease the number of Kansas Legislators[6]
- A bill to establish a county consolidation commission.[7]
- A resolution encouraging funding for the United States Airborne Laser defense program[8]
- A resolution to create a budget stabilization fund[9]
Major donors
Some of the top contributors to Steineger's 2008 campaign, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics[10]:
- Howard Grace, Cerner Corporation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, Bank of America, Kansans for Lifesaving Cures
Finance, insurance, and real estate companies were his largest donor groups.
See also: Sen. Steineger's issue positions on Project Vote Smart
Organizations
- Board President, Grinter Place Friends
- Board Secretary, Kansas Democratic Leadership Council Committee, Incorporated
- Board Member, Kaw Valley Arts and Humanities
- Vice President, Mid-County Democrat Club
- Treasurer, Southside Democrat Club
- Board Member, Wyandotte County Historical Society.
Steineger in the news
January 23, 2009 - Steineger spoke before a crowd of around 300 citizens at Americans for Prosperity's Defending the American Dream Summit in Wichita. He presented ideas on how Kansas can reshape its county structure to help alleviate Kansas' current budget crisis.[11]
October 3, 2009 - Top Kansas Democrats met in Wichita for their annual Demofest gathering. They delivered energetic speeches to rally party support, but Demofest concluded without the important question answered of who will challenge Republican Senator Sam Brownback in the 2010 gubernatorial election. Steineger's name has been mentioned as a potential candidate for the governorship.[12]
November 23, 2009 - Steineger was on hand to help celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Sister State relationship and the Taiwan Province in the Republic of China at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Topeka. Other notable guests included Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson, Representative Dennis Moore, and from the Taiwan delegation, Director General Jacqueline Liu.[13]
2010 Secretary of State campaign
On January 21, 2010, Steineger announced his candidacy for Kansas Secretary of State. In his announcement, Steineger pledged to run the Secretary of State's office in a non-partisan manner.
References
- ^ www.chrissteineger.com
- ^ Bormann, Dawn (December 17, 2010). "Kansas Sen. Chris Steineger joins the GOP". www.kansascity.com. Kansas City Star. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
- ^ Sen. Steineger Issues
- ^ Sen. Steineger on Cuba (video)
- ^ Profile from the Kansas Legislature
- ^ SB 113 Kansas Legislature
- ^ SB 198 Kansas Legislature
- ^ SR 1859 Kansas Legislature
- ^ Concurrent Resolution 1614
- ^ Chris Steineger 2008 campaign contributions
- ^ Weeks, Bob. "Kansas Senator Chris Steineger on Redesigning Kansas Government". Retrieved 2009-10-09.
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(help) - ^ Winstrom, Brent (2009-10-03). "Democrats still unsettled on candidate for governor". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
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(help) - ^ . Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Kansas City. 2009-11-25 http://www.roc-taiwan.org/US/MKC/ct.asp?xItem=118419&ctNode=2761&mp=47. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
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External links
- Sen. Steineger on Twitter
- Kansas Senate
- Project Vote Smart profile
- Campaign Contributions: 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008
- Sen. Steineger on Facebook
- Sen. Steineger's website