As relieved as legislators were that they’d sent a re-crafted 2009 budget to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, they knew Saturday morning that the toughest job — working on the 2010 budget — faces them today.
State Sen. Jim Barnett and state Reps. Don Hill and Peggy Mast talked during an “Eggs & Issues” forum Saturday morning at Presbyterian Manor about the difficulties they encountered in trimming funds from the current fiscal year. Tax revenues were considerably under estimates made last year. The change caused the Legislature to look again at budgets that had been set then and were expected to hold true by the government agencies and school boards that based their own budgets on the state’s projections.
“I’ve never experienced the type of struggle we have now,” Mast said.
She said that the bill sent to the governor to sign has 1 percent reductions for education and 4.25 percent reductions for the remainder of the agencies.
“We don’t have a huge cushion for 2010,” she said.
The local delegation held out hope that the federal stimulus package just passed could bring in much-needed dollars to help pay for some of the state’s needs. There will be restrictions on how the money can be spent, however, and the full details on those are not yet known.
Mast said that the state must put a stop to the excesses that waste funds. She has served for a number of years on the legislative post audit committee that investigates questions raised about the workings of state agencies, then issues recommendations on changes that need to be implemented for those entities to work more efficiently and better use their own budgets.
Mast said she was stunned by the excesses in the bureaucracies in state government, and has spoken with the appropriate chairpeople in an effort to bring about change.
“Very seldom did I see anything done,” Mast said.
She cited a work force development group that had one supervisor for every 1.2 people as an example of the excesses.
“People have been getting jobs up there just because they knew someone,” Mast said. “This is the time to do some surgical slicing.”
“There’s room to be more frugal and responsible always,” Hill said, adding that he believes the recision bill presented for the 2009 budget cuts was balanced and responsible.
Hill said the some consideration will need to be given to efficiencies in education. The House Education Committee study shows too much money is spent in districts that have low enrollment — 260 students or fewer.
The state has 60 districts with fewer than 260 students and 30 districts that fall below 200.
A bill passed out of the House committee that would end “weighting,” or adding extra funds because of enrollment declines. The bill focuses on districts with 200 students or fewer, serving a 200-square-mile area.
“They’re not going to get more money because they lost 10 students,” Hill said. “We’ve got school districts that have 65 to 70 students.”
Barnett congratulated House members on their work this session.
“I really think the House did the best work on the budget,” Barnett said.
The budget for 2010 could be sound.
“For the first time, we’re going to come close to being structurally in balance,” Barnett said, estimating $6 billion for the general fund and $13 billion for all funds.
“Eventually, you’ll catch up,” he said. “... We’ll get through this.”
He raised other issues, such as autism and medications, as areas that need attention.
“We have a growing number of children treated with strong psychotropics,” Barnett said.
He is concerned about the prolonged use of those medications, as well as their use in multiple combinations for individual patients.
“It is proper we look at the safety,” Barnett said. “It’s not just a cost issue, it’s safety.”
Audience member Diana Solis asked the legislators about their positions on a bill that would allow “strong” beer, now sold in liquor stores, to be added to the shelves in grocery and convenience stores.
Mast, a board member of Kansas Family Partnerships, said she opposes the bill, as did Hill and Barnett.
Mast said she wants the Legislature to add liquor-related questions to the state’s driver’s license test, such as the legal blood-alcohol content limit to drive, and the consequences of driving under the influence of intoxicants.
“The higher the alcohol concentration, the greater concern I have,” Barnett said, adding that young people tend to prefer beer in general and Bud Light in particular.
Chuck Hanna, also in the audience, asked what will happen with the money that comes in from the federal stimulus bill.
Mast said that refinancing has been done on debts of the Department of Transportation, which has pushed repayments into the future. Money from the stimulus could help transportation projects, and deferred maintenance on campuses also may be considered.
Kindergarten through 12th-grade education could see some added funds, she said, with the state paying out at the 2006 per-student level, and federal money used for the remainder.
“We have to be careful not to start new spending and new programs with one-time money,” Mast said.
Hill talked about programs, at both the state and federal levels.
“We don’t have a lack of awareness or a lack of programs,” Hill said. “There’s a lot of duplication, which concerns me, but there are lots of good programs in place.”
Hill said that the last census showed that the number of farms had increased, and that economic development, diversity and tourism all wewre growing.
There are, he said “some really super things happening out in the rural areas.”
Hill later mentioned that Kansas has become less reliant on the “three-legged stool” that had been its mainstays in the past — agriculture, aviation and oil and gas.
Now, he said, economic development has been successful, with the bioscience initiative as an example.
“And we also interestingly have a much more robust economy in travel and tourism, in spite of the fact that we haven’t invested much.”
Hill said he was optimistic that Kansas would not experience as much of an economic downturn as other states, and that work will continue on advanced manufacturing, especially in alternative energies.
Barnett said that clean air and health care are critical to the future of Kansas.
“Last but not least, we need a good federal policy that helps us stop sending jobs out of the country,” Barnett said.
Mast also mentioned a bill sponsored to bring small utility companies under scrutiny by the Kansas Corporation Commission. The bill would affect American Energy Co., which provides natural gas at high rates to residents of several small communities, including Americus, she said. Using a different business name in each town, the owner is able to avoid KCC oversight, and is able to charge what may be exorbitant rates for his product instead of rates set by the KCC.
“He has raised this rates exponentially,” she said. “People have been forced to move out because of this” or convert their equipment to propane or other energy sources.
The man, whose name was not mentioned, did not attend the committee hearings that produced a bill to remedy the situation. Instead, he waited until the hearings were over and plans to appear before the utilities committee at 9 a.m. today.