By UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
The Docking Institute of Public Affairs recently released the annual Kansas Speaks Survey of public opinion. A panel of 645 adult residents of Kansas ages 18 and older were surveyed online to assess their attitudes and opinions regarding various issues of interest to Kansas citizens. This year’s survey covered topics including quality of life, the economy, ratings of elected officials, elections integrity, use of artificial intelligence tools, and a range of public policy issues, a selection of which includes attitudes toward legalizing medical and recreational marijuana, immigration, Medicaid expansion, and gun control.
“Kansans’ rating of the Kansas economy has become more positive in the past three years” said survey report co-author Jian Sun. “The percentage of Kansans rating the Kansas economy as excellent or very good increased from 16.1 percent in 2022 to 21.1 percent in 2024. The percentage of people feeling the Kansas economy is getting worse decreased from 43.7 percent in 2022 to 37.6 percent in 2024. With the declining inflation, a lower percentage of people were concerned that the Kansas economy would seriously threaten their or their family’s welfare as compared with last year. However, many felt the inflation had affected ‘a great deal’ their family (51.2 percent) and other Kansans (59.5 percent) in the past year.”
Select findings from the 2024 Kansas Speaks Survey include:
- About 73 percent support legalizing medical marijuana in Kansas (12 percent oppose), while about 61 percent support legalizing recreational marijuana (22 percent oppose)
- Support for Medicaid expansion in Kansas in 2024 continues to be at about 70 percent, and 51 percent of the respondents felt the issue was highly or extremely important as they decide who gets their vote to represent them in the Kansas Legislature, compared to 8 percent who felt the issue was not important at all
- Most agree that legal immigrants contribute to the economic vitality of Kansas (61 percent) and to their own community (59 percent), with disagreement at about 15 percent on both questions
- Regarding illegal immigration, 45 percent disagree that illegal immigrants contribute more to society than they take in terms of resources, while about 27 percent agree with the statement
- Over half agree that education beyond high school is a good return on investment for both the student (56 percent agree; 18 percent disagree) and for the general population of Kansas (55 percent agree; 13 percent disagree)
- Cost of housing was also a concern for Kansans, with almost one third (32 percent) of the respondents saying they are insecure about their housing situation.
“We’ve been tracking housing issues for three years now, as housing is not just important to a family’s quality of life but also to a community’s ability to attract and retain a workforce,” said Brett Zollinger, Docking Institute director and survey co-author. “The percentage concerned about the cost of housing in their community edged down only slightly in 2024 to 68 percent from 72 percent in 2023 and 73 percent in 2022.”
In a question about affordable childcare asked for the first time this year, strong majorities feel that access to affordable childcare strengthens the economy (79 percent agree; 3 percent disagree) and that affordable and accessible childcare is an obstacle to women’s economic participation (68 percent agree; 12 percent disagree).
A complete copy of 2024 Kansas Speaks Survey results, as well as results from previous years, can be found at https://www.fhsu.edu/docking/Kansas-Speaks/.
Two political scientists from other Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) universities collaborated with Docking Institute staff on this year’s survey, Alexandra Middlewood from Wichita State University and Michael Smith of Emporia State University.
The two policy fellows worked closely with Docking Institute researchers in establishing survey content and on methodological decisions. Smith led on survey content related to election security, diversity in representation of elected officials, care for the elderly, and abortion attitudes/policy questions. Middlewood led in developing content that focused on childcare, immigration, water conservation, and reasons for gun ownership and political ideology questions.
About the Docking Institute of Public Affairs
The primary mission of Fort Hays State University’s Docking Institute of Public Affairs is to facilitate effective public policy decision making among governmental and non-profit entities. The Institute’s work is centered on four primary areas of focus, including:
- Public policy and public opinion, survey research for governmental and nonprofit entities
- Strategic planning and consulting
- Public affairs programming through conferences, speakers, forums, television and radio programming, newspaper columns, and scholarly publications
- Public administration and leadership training programs
Learn more at https://www.fhsu.edu/docking/