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'''Leslie G. Osterman''' (born July 29, 1947) is a health systems analyst from [[Wichita]], [[Kansas]], who is a [[Republican]] member of the Kansas House of Representatives from District 97 in Wichita County. First elected on November 2, 2010, he lost a race for the same seat in 2000.<ref name=vsmart>{{cite web|url=http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=34735|title=Representative Leslie Osterman (Kansas)|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=October 11, 2011}}</ref>

'''Leslie G. Osterman''' (born July 29, 1947) is a health systems analyst from [[Wichita]], [[Kansas]], who is a [[Republican]] member of the Kansas House of Representatives from District 97 in Wichita County. First elected on November 2, 2010, he lost a race for the same seat in 2000.<ref name=vsmart>{{cite web|url=http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=34735|title=Representative Leslie Osterman (Kansas)|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=October 11, 2011}}</ref>

Osterman unseated the [[Democrat]] Dale Swenson, 2,341 (53.8 percent) to 2,007 (46.2 percent). According to Osterman's website, Swenson supported an 18 percent increase in state taxes and a 10 percent hike in the Kansas state budget. Swenson also opposed joining twenty-nine other states in filing legal challenges to the health care bill signed into law in 2010 by [[U.S. President]] [[Barack Obama]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.osterman4house.com/issues.html|title=Leslie Osterman for House of Representatives|publisher=osterman4house.com/issues|accessdate=October 11, 2011}}</ref>

Osterman unseated the veteran [[Democrat]] Dale Swenson, 2,341 (53.8 percent) to 2,007 (46.2 percent). According to Osterman's website, Swenson supported an 18 percent increase in state taxes and a 10 percent hike in the Kansas state budget. Swenson also opposed joining twenty-nine other states in filing legal challenges to the health care bill signed into law in 2010 by [[U.S. President]] [[Barack Obama]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.osterman4house.com/issues.html|title=Leslie Osterman for House of Representatives|publisher=osterman4house.com/issues|accessdate=October 11, 2011}}</ref>

   

   

The freshman lawmaker also obtained approval of a bill to require photographic identification by voters at the precinct, a measure also adopted in Texas in 2011 and signed into law by Governor [[Rick Perry]]. The Kansas bill was signed by Governor Brownback on April 18, 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2011_12/year1/measures/hb2067/|title=HB2067|publisher=kslegislature.org|accessdate=October 11, 2011}}</ref> Osterman also pushed for a law the Kansas Health Care Freedom Act, which would have exempted the state from the federal health-care law. The measure was withdrawn from the House calendar on February 23, 2011, and sent to the Appropriations Committee.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2011_12/year1/measures/hb2129/|title=HB2129|publisher=kslegislature.org|accessdate=October 11, 2011}}</ref> Osterman's proposal to phase out over five years the state inocme tax on corporations in Kansas was referred  to the House Committee on Taxation on February 7, 2011, pending further review.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2011_12/year1/measures/hb2156/|title=HB2156|publisher=kslegislature.org|accessdate=October 11, 2011}}</ref>

The freshman lawmaker also obtained approval of a bill to require photographic identification by voters at the precinct, a measure also adopted in Texas in 2011 and signed into law by Governor [[Rick Perry]]. The Kansas bill was signed by Governor Brownback on April 18, 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2011_12/year1/measures/hb2067/|title=HB2067|publisher=kslegislature.org|accessdate=October 11, 2011}}</ref> Osterman also pushed for a law the Kansas Health Care Freedom Act, which would have exempted the state from the federal health-care law. The measure was withdrawn from the House calendar on February 23, 2011, and sent to the Appropriations Committee.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2011_12/year1/measures/hb2129/|title=HB2129|publisher=kslegislature.org|accessdate=October 11, 2011}}</ref> Osterman's proposal to phase out over five years the state inocme tax on corporations in Kansas was referred  to the House Committee on Taxation on February 7, 2011, pending further review.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2011_12/year1/measures/hb2156/|title=HB2156|publisher=kslegislature.org|accessdate=October 11, 2011}}</ref>

A veteran of the [[Vietnam War]] aware of the dangers of the defoliant [[Agent Orange]], Osterman successfully proposed in 2011 that the Kansas House to pass a resolution calling upon the U.S. Congress to provide "equal benefits and compensation for the treatment of Agent Orange exposure" to Vietnam-era veterans, including those who served outside of Vietnam.<ref>{{cite web|url=

A veteran of the [[Vietnam War]] aware of the dangers of the defoliant [[Agent Orange]], Osterman in 2011 convinced his House colleagues to pass a resolution calling upon the U.S. Congress to provide "equal benefits and compensation for the treatment of Agent Orange exposure" to Vietnam-era veterans, including those who also served outside of Vietnam.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cjonline.com/blog-post/tim-carpenter/2011-03-10/stain-agent-orange|title=Tim Carpenter, "The Stain of Agent Orange", March 10, 2011|publisher=''Topeka Capital- Journal''|accessdate=October 12, 2011}}</ref>