FEW PEOPLE are inspired to run for the Kansas Legislature by a passion to help the state cover its bills, but that fiscal responsibility covers much of what lawmakers do in Topeka between January and April.
Judging from Kansas’ disappointing tax revenues and compounding obligations, on top of the struggling national economy, state spending will be even tougher to manage next year. Candidates’ budget ideas and fiscal savvy should be paramount to voters in the Aug. 5 primary and Nov. 4 general election. ...
Why worry? When the fiscal year ended June 30, state revenue was nearly $61 million less than projected. Energy prices are affecting how Kansans do business, shop and travel, translating into lower income- and sales-tax revenues. Plus, Wall Street’s problems are affecting the state’s investment income.
But there is good news: The state’s vital aviation manufacturing, agricultural and oil and gas sectors remain strong. Kansas’ unemployment rate, 4.4 percent in June, looks good compared with the nation’s 5.7 percent. Six of the state’s 11 industrial sectors added jobs over the past year. ...
To their credit, Kansas’ leaders are positioning for harder times.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius last month put state agencies to work cutting their spending by up to 2 percent. Then the Legislative Coordinating Council ordered a 2 percent cut in the legislative branch’s $29 million budget.
It’s premature to declare that the state is facing another period like the early ’00s. But it’s a long way from 2007, when the state ended a fiscal year with $935 million on hand.
Come January, lawmakers and the governor will have to be collegial, creative and unflinching in making decisions about spending cuts, tax and fee increases, or all of the above, especially given the challenge of rising Medicaid expenditures and K-12 school spending.
Meanwhile, Kansans should seek candidates with realistic solutions to offer and the political fortitude to do what’s necessary, come what may.
The Wichita Eagle
July 20
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Posted by jayhawker (anonymous) on July 30, 2008 at 7:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have posted several times about the short sighted economic views of our local leaders. It almost seems that they are ignoring the 1,500 pound grizzly in the middle of the room, perhaps hoping that it will go away. Our governor is worse. She pokes it with a stick. Our climate in Kansas is clearly anti-business. Our taxes are the highest in the region and our regulations are more burdensome than any in the plains states. Yet, when investors wanting to spend $3,500,000,000.00 to build badly needed infrastructure in addition to jobs and revenue, she ran them off, and worse, did so by applying regulatory standards that don't even exist. To its credit, the Legislature passed legislation overturning the governor's decision, but was unable to muster the 2/3 vote necessary to override her three vetoes. It is no surprise that a company that was looking at Pottawatomie County as a location for a $10,000,000,000.00 oil refinery decided that South Dakota would be a better place to spend its money. We are in desperate need of leadership in Kansas.
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