Chat: Jim Barnett, State Senate
Friday, October 31, 2008
Sen. Jim Barnett is the Republican incumbent in the 17th District of the Kansas Senate. Barnett is a practicing physician in Emporia. He and his wife, Yvonne, have two children. Here is a transcript of his online chat with Gazette readers Thursday night:
Q Kansas to date has managed to stay out of the states considered to be “in recession,” but are considered by many experts to be “at risk.” What must be done by the state government to ensure that Kansas remains one of those states not experiencing a recession?
A Thank you for the question and for allowing me to participate in tonight’s discussion.
State government’s role in helping businesses succeed can be broken down into four important levels. First, we need to provide infrastructure and certain basic resources such as highways, a well educated and trained workforce, a good education system and other quality of life-type issues.
Second, we need to have a competitive tax structure so that businesses can succeed and will choose to locate and remain in Kansas.
Third, we need a stable regulatory environment.
Fourth, and most importantly after these three, the state needs to stay out of the way and let Kansas workers, innovators and entrepreneurs succeed. We have been protected in Kansas by our agricultural, aviation and gas and oil base. For the long term, government needs to control spending so taxes can remain stable and competitive.
Q Higher education is clearly a concern of many Emporia residents with ESU providing a large amount of city and county revenue. What must be done to ensure that state college continue to run in the black and will receive all the funding they need amidst the current “credit freeze?”
A I have always thought that the best way to spend our tax dollars has been on public education.
We spend $3.2 billion yearly on K-12 education and approximately $900 million on higher education. To sustain and increase that funding, the Kansas economy must continue to grow. A steady hand and visionary leadership is needed in Topeka to help achieve that goal.
Higher education is viewed as one of the main drivers of our Kansas economy and will continue to receive support. At the same time, institutions of higher learning will require excellent leadership and management. I feel confident we have that at ESU with President Lane and his administration.
We will all need to look at the value of our investments, quality of return and make sure we are investing smart in our Regent’s institutions. To that end, I have worked hard to support ESU with funding for deferred maintenance, funding for National Board Certification of teachers at the Jones Institute, funding for the Future Teacher Academy and funding for Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Because of my support, I was graded an “A” by Kansas Citizens for Higher Education. I will continue that support and, as a graduate of ESU, remain forever grateful for their impact on my life.
Q Senator Barnett, Democrats at both the state and federal levels are proposing large increases in Medicaid, Medicare, and education spending. At the state level, Medicaid spending/funding represented 0.4 percent of GDP in 1990. In 2007 it represented 2.3 percent. Medicaid funding is increasing by 7.9 percent per year, while GAO estimates (prior to the economic downturn) was that GDP is projected to grow at about 4 percent.
Currently Medicaid funding/spending is $339 billion per year and is expected to grow to $673B by 2017. Here in Kansas it is expected to grown from $2.1 billion in 2008 to $5 billion in 2017.
The same question applies to education. Kansas currently spends over $3 billion per year on education and carries $3.5 billion in education debt. What can you tell your constituents, who are under enormous financial strain, about how we should (or can) reign in this exploding expense. Why is it that the only answer to the problem seems to be more and more money spent?
A Your figures look accurate and the pattern cannot be sustained.
Related to Medicaid, the state learned just today that an additional $35 million will be need for SRS entitlement programs next year due to increased caseloads. The state has increased spending by 17 percent over the past 2 years, while wages have gone up around 3.5 percent yearly.
That is why I have been voting against most budgets in recent years. The state should live within it’s means, just like families and businesses. This is also why I worked with other legislators and helped author the bill creating the Kansas Health Policy Authority. We asked the authority to find ways to control Medicaid spending. The process is now starting and for the first time, we are scrutinizing programs for cost and benefit. It is hard to believe, but that type of analysis has never been performed.
That is part of why we should be careful in thinking we should just hand health care over to the government. This is certainly not a time to expand entitlements, when we cannot sustain those currently in place.
Another part of the answer relates to the need for long-term budgeting. Two years ago, I offered a 4-year plan that would have provided steady and sustained funding for education and also tax cuts for families and businesses. If we had followed that plan, we would be so much better off today and have money for health care reform, highways and Kansans would have more of their money in their pocket. Unfortunately, government in America works on a crisis mode.
An additional component of the answer to your question is that the Kansas Legislature and governor allowed school funding to be taken over by the courts. The power to spend money was given to the Legislature, not the courts. We failed Kansas voters when we allowed that to happen. The result will cost dearly for many years.
Q What do you think should be the first job for the Kansas Legislature when it convenes in January?
A We need to tackle the budget. The state will be under extreme pressure next year and likely for several years due to the recession that not only involves America, but the entire world.
Last year, the Kansas Legislature passed a budget that exceeded revenues by over $400 million for the current fiscal year and approximately the same type of budget was passed the year before (I voted against them). The economic downturn will only worsen that swing and will be in the neighborhood of $1 billion dollars over 2 years.
That problem will have to be addressed. Hopefully, others will be willing to look at long-term budgets to help our state through this difficult time. We should start the process early, but realize that our final dollars will not be known until after April 15, 2009 when we pay our taxes. At that time, I expect the budget outlook to be even worse.
The result will be that more time will be needed to make final budget decisions. I will recommend to leadership in the Legislature that we shorten the number of days in the usual session and move those days to the veto session, thereby saving taxpayers money and avoid paying for more days in Topeka.