It’s the season of town halls in Kansas.

Over the next couple of weeks, congressmen and senators on recess from their duties in Washington will be crisscrossing the state and their districts on listening tours to gather information from their constituents.

Sen. Jerry Moran has nine town halls scheduled on his listening tour of the state, while Rep. Roger Marshall has a schedule of 10 stops between Aug. 16 and Aug. 26 to hear what Kansans in the Big First have to say about the upcoming farm bill.

It will be a good opportunity for those with concerns about crop insurance, conservation programs, the nutrition title or other issues to be heard.

Sen. Pat Roberts and Reps. Lynn Jenkins, Kevin Yoder and Ron Estes have not announced any public meetings in Kansas during the recess.

I’ve got to hand it to Moran. He has waded right into the thick of the health care debate, scheduling meetings even in parts of the state where he knew he could expect conflict. What he heard helps explain his “no” vote on the Senate’s first stab at a replacement for the Affordable Care Act. Moran said he has visited all 127 hospitals in Kansas to meet with patients, providers and health care experts.

He now says that he remains committed to a process that will start at the beginning, involve every senator on both sides of the aisle, that will begin with the appropriate committee hearings and that will result in health care legislation that works for all Kansans.

He says he wants “solutions that reduce government involvement in Americans’ health care decisions, keep rural hospital doors open, maintain safeguards for preexisting conditions, protect the elderly and those with disabilities, and lower costs for all Kansans.” He also wants states to have more “flexibility to address their individual patient populations.”

I’d like to hear how allowing each state to craft what’s best for its population meshes with the ever-popular cry to allow “buying across state lines.” It seems to me the two ideas are mutually exclusive. It also strikes me as a bit odd that the level of help an individual can get with access to and paying for health care should be dependent on the state you live in. Kansas is already losing population. I don’t see how this is likely to help, given what we’ve seen our state government do with KanCare and the mental health system in the Brownback era.

I’m hoping to catch up to Sen. Moran at a listening stop near me and ask my questions. At least I know that Moran will show up and that he will do his best to share his thoughts on the topic. I may not always agree with his positions, but I have never seen him be cavalier about serious issues or disrespectful of his fellow Kansans.

That’s more than I am going to get from my 4th district Congressman, Ron Estes, who apparently doesn’t care what his constituents are worried about.