Kenny Wilk has a big job to do. For the last two years he’s acted as the chair of the Kansas House Appropriations Committee – you know, the one that gets to spend all the money. But he’s been in the legislature for nearly 10 years, having served on a variety of committees including tax appropriations, judiciary and education.

A Republican, he’s most proud of the Research and Development Initiative that passed last session, for which he has great expectations. He believes the R&D bill is unique to the country because it’s a cooperative arrangement among medical institutes to work together.

To really push the bill, Wilk and Steve Morris, a fellow Republican in the Kansas Senate, organized a getaway for legislators far from the Topeka capitol. They targeted the Kansas State University campus as a place to brief lawmakers about the initiative. Out of 165 invitees, a whopping 120 showed up in Manhattan. Wilk explains that he wanted to break the mold by making an extra effort instead of waiting to take it the capitol.

"I have an interest in public service because it does matter. Individuals can make a difference," he says. "An elected office provides those opportunities if you’re willing to put in the hard work."

And more work might certainly be on the way. Wilk is running for speaker of the House when it reorganizes in December. "That’s where my sights are set right now. I’m cautiously optimistic," he adds.

Out of session, he works in commercial sales at Hallmark Cards, Inc., where he has loyally committed himself for the last 25 years because he believes in the product.

When not focusing on improving others’ lives with cards and legislation, he studies at Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kans., where he is finishing up his degree in political science. His wife of five years, Darlene, started their 3_-year-old son in preschool this year under the advice that only one parent should be present. However, Wilk will get the first day of kindergarten.
The job never ends.

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