This year, Kansas legislators want nothing more than to lay low.
And get re-elected.
And they’ve been very smart about how they can make that happen through, since 2013, the implementation of a two-year budget, which, they say, needs very little attending to this year. Other than balancing.
Sen. Jeff King, R-Independence, in fact, is proposing the Legislature change its schedule so that in “off” years the session lasts only 60 days and then convene for 100 days when the budget is to be revamped.
By design, the Kansas Legislature is to meet 90 days each session. Last year’s went a record 114.
That legislators think this year’s session can be accomplished in less time is a worry. Never before have more things needed immediate attention.
THAT BUGABOO budget, for instance, is projected to be shy $14 million of carrying us through the next six months, when fiscal year 2016 ends.
For fiscal year 2017, the state is projected to be $170 million short. And that’s after requesting the Kansas Department of Transportation issue $400 million worth of bonds, putting us on the line for even more debt down the road. Today, KDOT has acquired $1.2 billion in debt.
That legislators are refusing to acknowledge the danger this poses to the state is true negligence.
Likewise, lawmakers prefer to put their heads in the sand when it comes to funding public education, which has dropped considerably during the administration of Gov. Sam Brownback.
Instead of addressing the growing problem last year, legislators devised a two-year block grant that froze existing funding, but not without first cutting $54 million intended for poorer school districts like USD 257 to help provide more equitable funding.
Two rulings by the Kansas Supreme Court could force legislators to address public education this session.
First is that the $54 million reduction was unconstitutional. Second is, as a whole, Kansas is not living up to its constitutional obligation to provide an adequate K-12 education for its children.
It’s the prospect of either ruling that prompted legislators last year to further rein in the powers of the judicial branch.
In 2013, they changed the way the state’s appellate court justices are appointed, giving the governor way more say.
Last year, they voted to move oversight of the state’s 31 district courts from the Supreme Court to that of individual districts.
Bundled with this second action was language that if it were deemed illegal, then funding for the state’s court system would be eliminated.
Thankfully, the Kansas Supreme Court chose the state’s constitution — and not politics — as its lodestar and rebutted the Legislation.
Legislators have until March 15 to rescind their threat.
But even if saner heads prevail, the animosity between the executive and legislative branches against that of the judicial has put the latter on the defensive. Still to come is Gov. Brownback’s renewed effort to convince the entire Legislature that, as with the appellate courts, he should have more say in how Supreme Court justices are selected. Last year, he had the Senate in his pocket. Now he has just to win over members of the House.
THESE ARE JUST the tip of the iceberg of Kansas’ meltdown.
Other issues demanding attention include the state’s understaffed and overflowing prison system; the need to expand Medicaid; inadequate funding for social service programs; and our deteriorating infrastructure.
Yes, Sen. King, we would welcome a shorter session. But only if it takes care of business.
— Susan Lynn
