The Kansas Legislature and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will be making some serious decisions in the near future on how to offset the $136 million deficit the Kansas government is facing.

So far Sebelius has asked agencies to cut 3 percent from their budgets.

But some legislators from both parties are pointing out that these cuts will not be enough and they say they're getting concerned about where the rest of the money will be coming from.

In fact, some lawmakers may look to taxpayers. Both Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, and Vice-President John Vratil, R-Leawood, have not ruled out raising taxes.

There aren't that many options. Rep. Mike Kiegerl, R-Olathe, and vice-chair of the Commerce and Labor Committee, said there are three main avenues that could be taken to remedy the large deficit – raise taxes, borrow money or cut spending.  Kiegerl noted that each of these possibilities has negative repercussions and said that cutting spending would be the smartest approach.

Kiegerl said raising taxes would only exacerbate problems, but that "everything is on the table for reduction in spending,” Kiegerl told Kansas Liberty. “What we must not do is what the governor proposes, and that is to cut across the board, a meat cleaver approach, when delicate surgery is required. There are some programs which should not be cut at all and in fact should get increased funding.”

Kiegerl said he thought the most expensive programs are the ones which will suffer most from budget cuts.

“With education spending making up 68 percent of the total budget, this cow can no longer be sacred,” he said. “We need to guard against taking money out of the classroom and from the teachers, but administration and overhead expenses, which comprise 42 percent of funding, should be cut.”

Kiegerl also suggested school consolidation be considered as a way to increase economic efficiency, as Kansas currently has 296 school districts for 105 counties.

“We’re facing a serious challenge, and inevitably there will be some pain, no matter how we try to address it,” he said.

Rep. Sharon Schwartz, R-Washington, and chair of the appropriations committee, agreed with Kiegerl and said taxes should not be raised.

“I’m not a supporter of raising taxes as we are at a point where everyone is hurting, and the last thing we need to do is put more pressure on the citizens of Kansas and I believe there are other ways to approach the problem without raising taxes,” Schwartz told Kansas Liberty. “I think some legislators are not ruling out the possibility of raising taxes because they think that’s the easiest route.”

But Schwartz also said she did not think it would be possible to look at tax cuts.

“I am obviously always for less government and less taxes, but I don’t think there is any way we can reduce taxes,” she said.

Sen. Jim Barone, D-Frontenac, the outgoing ranking minority member of the commerce committee, said he thought every government spending program must be considered for budget cuts, but also agreed that raising taxes should be off the table for consideration. Barone, who has had run-ins with his fellow Democrats in the past, decided not to run for re-election last November.

“Raising taxes would be a severe and terrible mistake to inflict on the economy of Kansas. You just can’t raise taxes in times like this,” Barone told Kansas Liberty.  

Barone said it was unfortunate but inevitable that some of Kansas’ most disadvantaged residents will suffer the most from budget cuts.

“All of our most needy citizens, be they kids, or the frail and elderly will be impacted the most in the end because individually they have no cushion or other safety net,” he said.  

Sen. Karin Brownlee, R-Olathe, and co-chair of the commerce committee, said she hoped some areas could be saved from budget cuts.

“My primary objective is to make it clear to agencies that they not cut the programs that actually touch or meet human needs,” she said. “Agencies tend to cut those programs that cause enough squealing as a reaction to manipulate us not to cut. They should start with their own administrative costs, not with essential programs. For example, safety net medical clinics are being proposed to be cut. In a recession, there will be a greater demand on these as people may be losing insurance coverage as they lose their jobs. These clinics need to be funded.”

Barone said the problems facing the government today could have been prevented if different decisions had been made by the Legislature and by Sebelius in the last few years.

“I voted against the last three budgets and argued against them, as we have spent more than we have took in and that’s including the work of the Legislature and the governor’s recommendations,” he said. “I always said that we couldn’t continue at that pace.”

-Holly Smith

The week in Review