Last September, former Kansas Congresswoman Lana Gordon found herself stepping back into state government as the interim secretary of labor. In February, the state senate unanimously confirmed an appointment that took away the “interim” part of her title.
Gordon, who had served for 12 years in the state legislature as a Republican representative from District 52, serving part of Topeka, decided not to run for re-election after redistricting put her in the same district with two other incumbents.
“I’m thankful for the experience I had in the state legislature. It helped prepare me for this role, knowing how to work with the legislative session and so forth,” Gordon said.
According to the Associated Press, the previous secretary of labor, Karin Brownlee, was removed from the position by Gov. Sam Brownback and did not step down voluntarily.
Gordon’s background is in business — her family owns Goodman Hardware, and she helped out there while she was growing up in Kansas City. Her parents, Myron and Hariette Goodman, brothers Robert and Larry Goodman and sister Janice Pinson all live in the Kansas City area.
Later, she taught elementary school in Lee’s Summit before moving with her husband, Arnold, to Topeka. The couple, who have now been married for 42 years, worked in his family’s janitorial service business.
“We didn’t think we’d live in Topeka this long,” said Gordon, who raised her three daughters there.
Gordon is a member of Temple Beth Sholom in Topeka, while her family in Kansas City attends a variety of synagogues — Congregation Ohev Sholom, Congregation Beth Shalom and The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah. Her daughters and four grandsons live in Arizona and Wisconsin.
She owned some gift shops, worked in her husband’s family business, was president of the local Junior League and did lots of volunteering around town, “everything from the PTO to post-prom chairman,” she said.
“I had never thought about running for political office until others saw something in me that I hadn’t seen in myself,” Gordon said.
After friends encouraged her to run, she earned her seat in 2000, then won reelection five times. According to Project Vote Smart, as a representative, she voted in favor of concealed weapons, increasing minimum wage and voter identification bills and against various bills to add more state regulations for abortion providers.
Now, her new position is giving her a different experience in state politics with the opportunity to use some old skills.
“All the functions that keep the government running are not dissimilar to what keeps businesses running,” she said. “I communicate well with people by listening to what they have to say, and it really helps me understand their situations … I feel like I’m able to accomplish a lot of common goals.”
As head of the Kansas Department of Labor, Gordon oversees all its various departments, including the unemployment system, workers compensation and employment standards.
Although most people are familiar with the first two, employment standards, which enforces state labor laws regarding issues such as child labor, minimum wage and lost wages, often stays in the background. However, Gordon is quite proud of that division.
“It’s helpful to employees who have lost their jobs, and the employers still owe them money,” Gordon said. “In 2012 we collected over $1 million for Kansas workers.”
She also touts the number of small businesses in Kansas that participate in the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program instituted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In Kansas, 173 sites are recognized by the program for their success with maintaining a safe work environment; Gordon said Kansas has the highest participation in the country.
The department also collects and compiles information on the employment rate, job growth and other workforce data for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
One of the biggest challenges of the position is handling the budget, Gordon said.
“Managing the budget for an agency like this— it’s a huge responsibility,” she said. “We want to be sure we’re spending wisely and giving good service to people.”