Work on the 2010 state budget continues in the Kansas Legislature, and lawmakers are parsing the implications of more than $1.7 billion in federal stimulus dollars the state stands to capture.
“We’re trying to understand all the ramifications and strings attached with the spending and stimulus bill that came out of Washington,” Sen. Jim Barnett said.
According to the Kansas Legislative Research Department, the stimulus money will be spread through 37 federal grant programs. The five programs to receive the most money are the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, with $449 million for education and general purpose uses; the Federal Medicaid Assistance Program, with $402 million; Highways and Bridges, with $348 million, Special Education, with $115 million; and Title I education, with $93 milllion.
“It will be a challenging budget,” Rep. Don Hill said. “We know for certain that the federal stimulus package has been a game-changer.”
Hill said both the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee have essentially adopted the governor’s budget amendment, drawn up to meet the guidelines of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Hill said he is particularly interested in what impact the stimulus money will have on education. Federal money will allow the state to keep K-12 funding flat for 2010 and 2011, compared to 2009.
“And 2009 was only decreased slightly from the previous year,” Hill said.
For higher education, the stimulus package will provide $40 million a year for 2010 and 2011 to be used on deferred maintenance and to mitigate the need for tuition increases at Regents universities.
Hill said the Board of Regents likely will embrace the governor’s recommendation, and that maintenance is an ideal way for schools to spend the stimulus money.
“All of the universities have a backlog of deferred maintenance,” Hill said. “That’s a very good way to spend that money. We have the need, which is unmistakable and well-documented, and it will be the kind of thing that will create immediate economic activity in terms of workers hired, materials purchased and work completed, and it’s smart to spend it that way because it’s one-time money.”
Hill said the money should be spent on one-time needs instead of creating a budget situation that could come to a crisis when the money dries up in 2012.
The Senate recently passed an energy bill that would allow two coal-fired power plants to be built in the state. The vote in the Senate was 31-9; a House version of the bill had already passed with a 77-49 vote.
The conference committee to come up with a compromise bill met Tuesday morning, and could come up with a final version this week.
“It’s fully expected that the governor will veto the bill when it reaches her desk,” Hill said, “so they are obviously scrambling for votes on the House side.” The House needs 84 votes to override the governor’s veto.
Hearings in the House are being held on the bill to ban smoking statewide that recently passed the Senate.
“I don’t think the bill has a very good chance of making it through the House,” Hill said. “That distresses me.”
Hill supports the statewide ban, noting that millions of dollars are spent every year for smoking-related health issues.
“I think it’s good policy, I think it’s fair,” Hill said.
Other business being conducted in the Senate includes a discussion about the impact of stimulus money on health information technology in Kansas.
“We are poised to be able to participate in a significant change in health care technology,” Barnett said. “Our discussion with the Kansas Health Policy Authority centered on how to rapidly get Kansas up to speed for use of the technology in doctors’ offices and hospitals, including inter-operability so doctors and hospitals can communicate with each other.