Legislature approves $13.8B Kansas budget
Friday, May 13, 2011
AP Photo RPJH103, RPJH104, RPJH102, RPJH107, RPJH108, RPJH113
Eds: Updated with comments from debate, background on Senate action, contents of bill; Adds byline; With AP Photos.
By JOHN MILBURN
Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas House members approved a $13.8 billion budget early Friday to fund state government in the next fiscal year by making deep cuts to public education but not raising taxes. The plan is now with the governor.
House members voted 69-55 to approve the plan shortly after 3 a.m., after the Senate voted 28-11 late Thursday. No Democrats in either chamber voted in favor.
Legislators continued through the morning hours to finish remaining bills and adjourn their 2011 session. Although debate lasted well into Friday morning, lawmakers never adjourned Thursday, so technically they were within the session’s 90-day limit.
The package would erase a budget shortfall that at one point approached $500 million and create a $50 million cash cushion on June 30, 2012, without raising taxes.
“There’s a lot of heartburn with the things we did,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Marc Rhoades, a Newton Republican.
GOP conservatives in the House criticized the bill, saying it still spends more than Kansas could afford. They’re urging Republican Gov. Sam Brownback to use his authority to make deeper cuts.
“I’m a fiscal conservative. I encourage our governor to liberally use his line-item veto,” said Rep. John Rubin, a Shawnee Republican.
The overall budget plan calls for cutting government spending by $881 million, or nearly 6 percent, for the fiscal year beginning July 1. That reflects a loss of federal stimulus dollars that were used in the prior two budgets education and social programs. The plan also would increase the state sales tax rate from 5.3 percent to 6.3 percent in 2010 to shore up revenues.
“This has been a tough year, but I hope things are starting to turn,” said Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Carolyn McGinn, a Sedgwick Republican. “We need to continue to make good policy decision to keep our economy rebounding.”
Kansas revenues collections beat the April estimate by $25 million, a figure not included in the budget calculations over concerns by Republicans that it might be a one-time increase.
However, Rhoades said May and June projections suggest that the state could realize as much as $50 million in additional funds before the current fiscal year ends June 30.
The 2012 spending cuts reflect a loss of the one-time federal stimulus dollars. Under the plan, the state’s 289 school districts would see a $232 per-student cut in base state aid, reducing the amount from $4,012 in 2011 to $3,780 in 2012.
Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley disagreed with statements by Brownback and other Republicans who called the budget “a victory for Kansas.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth. Average Kansans will be the true loser if this budget is signed into law,” said Hensley, of Topeka.
Senate President Steve Morris said the $50 million target for an ending balance on June 30, 2012, forced legislators to cuts spending for several priorities.
“No one feels good about the cuts that had to be implemented, and real effort was made to do as little damage as possible to education and other key programs and services,” said Morris, a Hugoton Republican. “We feel like it’s the best product we could come up with under the circumstances.”
The budget plan also would authorize $34 million in new bonds for an ongoing renovation of the Statehouse, bringing its total projected cost to $319 million. The additional funds would cover replacing aging copper in the roof and dome and finish work on the north wing.
The budget preserves an $11 million state operating grant to Washburn University of Topeka, which the House had sought to cut in half, and $5 million to subsidize airline service in south-central Kansas.
Also under the budget, the Kansas Neurological Institute, the state’s hospital for the developmentally disabled in Topeka, would remain open. Brownback had proposed closing it by mid-2013.
The budget plan contains two items that Brownback is expected to remove, using his power to veto individual budget provisions. The first provides $1.5 million in operating grants to public broadcasting stations and the second keeps the Kansas Arts Commission alive by giving it $689,000.
Brownback said Thursday that he was considering a veto but wouldn’t say for certain whether the arts funding was dead. However, the arts commission’s staff was laid off earlier this week, effective June 10, in anticipation that funding would be eliminated next fiscal year.
americus1987 (anonymous) says...
I'm confused. Does anyone know that our prisons are starting to overcrowd again like back in the 80s? Do you know that it costs nearly $23,000 of your tax dollars to house a single inmate for one year? No one is calling for cuts there but we are calling for cuts in education which only needs $4,000 a year? That makes makes a whole lot of sense. . More inmates and less education. It is going to suck for our children.
May 13, 2011 at 8:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
americus1987, it would seem that prisoners / criminals are entitled to and have more rights than the taxpaying citizens who are paying the bills via taxes.
As for criminals and prisoners, I say bring back the chain gangs and put these prisoners to work, helping to repair the infrastructure of the Nation, States, Counties and Citys, such as roads, bridges,streets, STORM WATER DRAINAGE SYSTEMS, public buildings . In other words make them earn their $23,000 worth of clothing, food, bed, blanket, excerize equip., t.v. etc. and quit molly coddling them. Make them work on a chain gang, laboring all day, and then, maybe they will be too tired to riot, fight or cause trouble when in the Prison Proper . After all aren' t they there to be punished, instead of molly coddled ?
May 13, 2011 at 9:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
What sucks for our children is continued spending of money that is not there and then saddling THEM with paying the debt in future years.
May 13, 2011 at 10:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TheWatcher (anonymous) says...
Believe it or not but I absolutely agree with Methusla on this issue. There shouldn't be a free ride for convicted criminals.
May 13, 2011 at 11:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
reddog (K. B. Thomas Jr.) says...
http://www.infowars.com/charlotte-ise...
May 13, 2011 at 10:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
americus, there have been cuts in prisons. In fact, law enforcement in general has suffered large cuts.
Community Corrections was formed largely to prevent prison overcrowding and to supervise low risk adult and juvenile offenders locally. Ironically, and very important, there have been large cuts in Community Corrections programs yet they are still expected to hold to current expectations of the state.
How is a community expected to prevent crime? For example, any idea how crime and the absentee record of schools relate? Who looks into that? Who looks into how parenting programs of juvenile offenders can also help? Or do you just take the naive way out and just believe that all parents are excellent ones? Who supervises that? How much are they worth? Shall we just pay them crap wages because it is a social service?
As far as chain gangs are concerned, who pays for prison chasers? Shall we pay them crap wages too? Do you want a chain gang in your neighborhood fixing sidewalks or digging ditches to repair sewers? When one of 'em gets loose, what then? Think escapes will ever really happen? Oh wait, I guess we can just shoot them right on the spot. Let your precious children watch that kind of brutality and see how many lessons they will learn about human nature.
What about the real jobs that these in house "ditch diggers" will replace?
And when the state gets through paying for all the lawsuits that will result from all this Louisiana-alligator- swamp-style prisoner ditch digging, we'll take another tally.
Or do we have here a failure to communicate?
You people make me sick!!!
May 15, 2011 at 8:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
O.K., create, so we who belive in punishing criminals, make you sick, huh !
Well, all the bleeding hearts, molly coddeling , anti-punishment, poor ole misunderstood criminal, mentality is what makes me want to vomit, loads !
Crime is prevented, by making the punishment for the crime severe enough, that no one will want to commit a crime !
And as for children seeing a criminal being killed for trying to excape their punishment / judgement ... children see and experience the violence of life in this world every day, if they have a t.v. or radio or are able to read a newspaper . For instance the recent violence that took place in Pakistan has been discussed, in detail and plastered all over the news media . So the children of todays world are prone to grow up knowing about the violence of life that goes on all around them everday of their lives and sooner or later they are going to experience that violence first hand, unless they are kept in a cage in a cave or the basement of their homes, forever .
Violence has been part of life since time and man appeared on earth and has grown and become more violent as time progressed to where we are at the present time . Even, lil ole Emporia has become a more violent society / place than it was 5 to 10 years ago. I would ask Why ?
Could it possibly be, because of the molly coddeling of criminals ?
You, make a lot of complaints and comments, but fail to make or suggest any solutions. And you say that we, who propose solutions to the criminal problem, make you sick ! That comment would be laughable, if it wasn' t so ridiculous .
Just what would you suggest would be a satisfactory way to punish criminals, that would be befitting of their crime and prevent crime !
May 15, 2011 at 9:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
create,
Read this latest news story ,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43036162/...
And if you read the story . Would you believe this fellow to be a possible threat to the U.S., a possible traitor to the U.S. and a criminal and if caught what would you suggest his punishment be .
May 15, 2011 at 9:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
meth,
Anything is "possible"?
Sounds like he found a business niche and filled it.
May 15, 2011 at 11:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
methusla, you are dead wrong when you say heavy punishment will deter crime. If that were true, no murders would take place in states that have capital punishment. For example, the Texas death penalty is carried out more swiftly than in any other state, yet murders and other brutal crimes still occur all the time.
If heavy punishment deterred crime, then even prison sentences would work as deterrents. In effect, prisons would be fairly empty.
Instead, what we have are people who employ criminal thinking to begin with. These are people who actually believe that they are above the law. These are people who actually believe that they get caught because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time and not because they committed a crime. Their basic understanding of law breaking is very different from you and me, methusla.
You need to sit down and talk to one or two parole officers, okay? I guarantee you're in for a huge reality check.
You and I and others like us who are law-abiding citizens almost always obey the law because we are wired that way. We were brought up to respect the rule of law and to fear negative consequences.
For the criminal mind, consequences mean nothing because they don't believe they will ever get caught. When they do get caught, they never blame themselves, they blame the cops or the victim or the system or the jury.
What children see on TV, even on news programs, cannot be equated to seeing violence take place in real life. If what you say is true, why does a woman who was abused in childhood marry an abusive man? Why does she stay in the relationship?
How dare you accuse me of not having any solutions. You don't know me. You don't know what I do. You have no idea how many solutions I have been a part of. No idea at all.
Since you know so much, I suggest you call a city or county commissioner and volunteer for one of the law enforcement organizations who could use the help with decision making and budgets. I kid you not, methusla, they're available. And don't tell me you're too old, or too this, or too that. You have a brain don't you?
Talk is cheap.
And while I'm at it, let me remind you not to take my comments out of context like you did from my earlier post. I did not say that you who believe in punishing criminals make me sick. I did say, however, that you who believe in punishment by treating them inhumanely do make me sick because you have no idea what the system involves or what it takes to make it work.
By the way, you may be surprised to learn that many criminals do indeed pay for their keep. In many cases their fines are rather steep and those fines do get paid over time. Don't believe me? Why not make an appointment with a judge and sit down for a serious conversation. He's a public servant, he should honor your appointment. Just don't rant and rave.
Make an appointment with the county attorney and ask him how it all works. Just don't rant and rave.
May 15, 2011 at 11:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Blackwater's Prince is a soldier of fortune. That sort of thing has been taking place for hundreds of years, and that's with government knowledge too. It's a big business in this world. Isn't that how Blackwater formed to begin with? Most governments look the other way. This guy is a genuine capitalist. He's certainly not some common criminal who got caught running a meth lab.
And what is he protecting?
May 15, 2011 at 11:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
create,
I'm cheap, my talk is cheap, your cheap, your talk is cheap, although you don' t think so. I need a reality check ! Hah, that is rich, I would imagine I have lived through and seen more reality than you would ever have hoped to encounter
How's this for a reality check, you, me and everyone else who abides by the law have been cheapened by the amount of rights and molly coddeling the criminal element recieves !
Me, cheap, now I do truely know you and which side of the fence you sit on and please tell us all what particular solution you implemented or helped implement, that has specifically lowered the crime rate in Emporia .
Have you ever lost a family member to a criminal act, such as murder ? Well, I have and the criminal that murdered my cousin and wounded his daughter, while they worshipped in their church is still alive and well and enjoying, being fed, a bed, blanket, a roof over his head and all without paying for it, courtousy of the taxpayers. And was not even a citizen of the U.S. to boot, just a foreign student attending E.S.U. at the time . So much for the poor ole law abiding immigrants.
I also have two of the most worthless grandsons, that anyone could ever have.
These two have spent more time in jail or prison than they have in society and they were not raised to be criminals or to have a criminal mentality and I gave up on them long, long ago, after spending time trying to show/teach them right from wrong and to respect not only the law, but respect for themselves and others .
So, what makes this, prince, among men any different that some one who trains terrorists for money / profit, and do we not treat/label those who train terrorists/soldiers to kill, indiscriminately as criminals or enemys or enemy criminals ?
According to your comments, apparently I do not have a brain .
So don' t ever talk to me about being cheap, talking cheap or even presuming to know me, until you have experienced my lifes experiences . In fact don' t ever address me again, in any way shape or form .
May 15, 2011 at 6:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Before I opened up this thread this morning, I prayed for patience. By golly, I believe I've been blessed enough to just ignore this and comment no further.
May 16, 2011 at 8:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
americus1987 (anonymous) says...
This is straight out of the Annals of American Academy of Political and Social Sciences - It was written by Joan Mullen (VP and manager of the Law and Justice area of ABT association, a public policy reasearch organization)
"The number of prisoners we hold is governed by not a single policy but by thousands of local idiosyncratic policies that form no coherent structure for deciding who goes to prison or for how long. While state penal codes prescribe the broad interests of the state, corrections policy is largely determined by a prosecutor's choice of whether and how to charge, a judge's sentencing practice, and release decisions generally made by a parole board. The process is thus highly decentralized and discretionary; the result may OR may not be the kind of imprisonment policy that a state wants or can AFFORD."
"The solution is neither obvious nor simple. Only one conclusion is becoming increasingly clear. Until the fundamental questions of corrections policy are addressed in a coherent fashion, the future of corrections will resemble the past: allow crowding crisis occurs, fix the crisis, and wait for the next."
I'm not saying we should go easy on criminals. I'm just saying we got a problem and education is the last place I'd want to slash funding. You can send a person to Harvard for a year for cheaper than we house a criminal for a year. I would rather invest my tax dollars in our future rather than dwelling on the past. Why not go back and re-evaluate laws and policies that are relevant to todays issues?
May 16, 2011 at 11:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Hey create,
Feast your all knowing eyes on this bit of info. And then tell me again how this " soldier of fortune ", Prince fellow is not a criminal .
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/08/23...
State Department details Blackwater violations of U.S. laws
Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/08/23...
However it would appear this criminal and his company got away with breaking U.S. law !
May 16, 2011 at 3:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
create,
Here's another Blackwater tidbit.
Blackwater indicted for violating federal firearms laws
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/16...
Nice fellow and company and all above board and law abiding, Huh !
May 16, 2011 at 3:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
americus1987 (anonymous) says...
meth- you have a lot of passion in what's going on around us and it inspires me but why all the mud-flinging? That's the problem with politics right now, people take things so personal that the real issues get faded out. Where's the middle ground? I do disagree that we as Americans have not even the faintest clue as to the realities of the violence that takes place around the world. On the contrary, we are desensitized to it which creates an apathetic acceptance of it.
May 16, 2011 at 4:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
I am sorry, if you think I am flinging mud, but I don' t see that I am flinging mud, just responding in the most part to what is flung in my direction.
Fore the most part when I comment on something that affects me and my fellow citizens I usually try to include facts to back up or validate what I say, although not always and my comments usually are heartfelt, from my heart and based on my lifes experiences .
My grand father used to say to me , " Say what you mean, meant what you say and that conviction and truth are always the best things .
May 16, 2011 at 9:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
romano1784 (anonymous) says...
I'll address the chain-gang deal first. This plan was cut in the early part of the 1900's because the prison system could under cut every form of business in which prisoners could do cheaper than workers could. That said, our workers dont seem to be paid enough to do it anyway. I can drive down any street in emporia and see garbage everywhere. Graffiti litters the underpasses and bridges, grass and weeds grown well past the cities ordinance laws. I know many people that have been to jail and most dont even care that they are there. They just figure that they'll be out soon enough. It doesnt matter how much the bills are once they get out because they're virtually blocked from getting work that will pay it anyway.
I do think that the coddling has gone too far in many prisons/jails. They get tv, they get ice cream. These are things that i had to cut mostly out of my budget due to bills. One big problem with jails/prisons is the environment INSIDE. You have to be badder than the other guy in your cell. This mentallity is carried out of jail upon the persons release and is more prone to criminal activity from it. I dont know that im right or wrong in any of this, just my opinion.
"America for Americans!!!"
May 20, 2011 at 2:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
EmporiaRocks (anonymous) says...
Prison, an American institution.
May 20, 2011 at 4:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
romano1784 (anonymous) says...
EmporiaRocks (anonymous) says...
Prison, an American institution.
How do you figure that? Prisons are a good thing. Imagine if we went back to the old days where hanging took little or no trial. Prisons, if properly managed, provide decent rehabilitation.
May 22, 2011 at 10:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Rehabilitation ? Exactly what is " rehabilitation " , besides, violence and crime taking place in jails and prisons is at all time highs ! Why ?
Here and in state capitals across America, there's a wave of anguish: What do we do about the 585,000 convicts who'll come out of federal and state prison this year? And who'll keep coming out in huge numbers each year, as far down the road as we can see?
The easy political formula since the 70s has been to lock up wrong-doers, generally with set sentences so no soft-headed judge or parole board could set them free prematurely. Rehabilitation was dismissed as worthless, drug treatment pitifully underfunded.
So now we have to reap the whirlwind. Whether or not they were abused or sodomized in prison, most prisoners emerge embittered. Few have job skills. Many are illiterate. Frequently they have no place to stay. Many got illicit drugs behind bars, maintaining their drug addictions.
At current recidivism rates, 62 percent of state prisoners will be rearrested for some crime within three years, and 41 percent will return to prison.
This is just part of the info on the following site.
http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPag...
May 22, 2011 at 11:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Rehabilition, only works, when the person needing rehabilitating, really and truly wants to be " Rehabilitated " or choses to be " Rehabilitated ". Most of the really Bad or Violent Criminals, do not care or want to be rehabilitated .
May 22, 2011 at 11:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
romano1784 (anonymous) says...
You are right methusla but stop and think for a sec. 9 times out of 10 the only people you hear about in prisons or jails are the people that make a scene or do something grizzly enough that the "news" feels its worthy of television/newspaper space.
However there are also a few million cases of decent rehabilitation stories where those who broke the law had attoned for their wrongs and havent broken the law since.
May 22, 2011 at 7:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
EmporiaRocks (anonymous) says...
Uh...really? You have no imagination, romano.
Prisons are institutions...in America.
That really went over your head?
May 23, 2011 at 8:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
romano1784 (anonymous) says...
my appologies EmporiaRocks. usually after reading Methusla's posts i find im in a very debatable state. as such im trying to use less imagination, either more information, or enough bull**** common sense to make my point.
Think of it this way. Lets say you are locked in a palace. You have all the food and water you need. A tv tells you of the outside world, and yet you are permitted absolutely no involvement with said world. No matter how nicely furnished a prison is still a prison. Just ask those on house arrest constantly begging for company! lol
May 24, 2011 at 11:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Romano,
Did you actually read the info I posted about the rate at which prisoners/criminals will be rearrested and sent back to prison within 3 years of their release ?
Please, look up the number of prisoners that the Supreme Court recently ordered the States to release and then crunch the numbers and you will see that the rehabilitation rate is very minimal at best .
And most, or some of my comments are intended to make people use their common sense and have a civil, common sense discussion / debate about issues that will inevitably affect us all, in some way . Although at times that may not be the case.
May 25, 2011 at 8:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
Rehab prisoners all you like, problem is that no one will employ them in a decent vocation, not saying I blame the employers, but it is a difficult situation where one cannot escape their past regardless of what they do. I know their are a lot of folks out there that did learn their lesson, and want to make a better life for themselves but cannot. With that kind of opportunity it is not hard to imagine why they end up back in jail.
May 28, 2011 at 3:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
These days, employers and landlords can obtain instant background checks via computer. With that, and the knowlege that the recidivism rate is so high, employers and landlords steer clear of giving them jobs or housing. Sad but true. What is left is a flop house and little else.
As a landlord, I for one have learned my lesson about renting to lawbreakers. As I said before, many are wired differently with regard to laws, and many will return to old habits because that is all they really know and they have no desire to start from scratch or to learn something new that can be used for meaningful employment. It interferes with their real desires for instant gratification.
I have friends who won't rent to them either after experiencing the expense of eviction notices and replacing doors that were broken down by police. It's just not worth it.
Yes, I too realize that there are those who have truly been rehabilitated, but they are the victims of a high rate of recidivism that employers and landlords point to when making decisions. You would think law breakers would think about such things, but as I stated earlier, they aren't wired that way, and harsh punishment won't change that either.
May 29, 2011 at 8:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )