Even for an upbeat guy, Rep. Kent Thompson was having a hard time drumming up enthusiasm for the challenges facing the Kansas Legislature. HERE’S THE challenge: LAWMAKERS want us to feel they have no choice but to make such expensive decisions.
“We’ve got 10 days to pass a budget,” he said Tuesday morning. “If not, we won’t be able to pay our bills.”
The pervasive mood in the state capitol is pretty glum, according to reports.
“I’m always the optimist,” Thompson. “But I’m not sure that attitude is widespread these days.”
Tax collections to date fall $66 million under projections. The state is now more than $330 million short on cash.
Come mid-February, health care providers are due about $95 million for Medicaid reimbursements and public school districts are due another $45 million.
To make these payments Gov. Brownback has recommended legislators pass a stop-gap budget by robbing Peter to pay Paul.
For those in the transportation department, be wary of new “friends.”
What was supposed to be a massive 10-year program to bring the state’s roads and bridges up to snuff, the T-Works program is now being ogled as a cash cow.
Brownback has proposed transfer of $160 million from the T-Works program to the general fund to address immediate needs. T-Works is funded by a combination of sales and motor fuels taxes. Currently, almost $263 million is shifted from its fund to other areas of the budget.
Thompson said he’s being “inundated” with calls from road construction contractors complaining of the transfers that surely will translate into reduced and eliminated projects.
“I can’t blame them,” Thompson said. “But it’s the only agency with money.”
KPERS is also in the crosshairs.
Brownback proposed reducing payments into the state’s retirement program by about $48 million.
As vice chairman of the committee on Pensions and Benefits, Thompson takes especial umbrage at the hit.
“We’ve gone from 11.2 percent funding to 8.6 percent,” he said of the state’s contribution to the retirement program.
To add insult to injury, the governor has requested legislators extend borrowing to support KPERS by another 10 years, from 2033 to 2043, to get the “advantage” of a lower rate. This is akin to a homeowner opting for a 30-year mortgage, knowing full well he’ll pay more in the long run. In Kansas’s case, we’ll be borrowing $1.5 billion to cover the additional 10 years. The debt service on the bonds is expected to be more than $90 million per year for 30 years, costing state taxpayers an additional $2.7 billion.
“I inherited these problems,” Thompson said, referring to his junior status in the House.
Maybe so.
But it’s within his power to fight the good fight and pay down debts on KPERS; maintain the state’s infrastructure; adequately fund education to grow a competitive workforce; and, of course, to keep a modest tax structure to fund these needs in an equitable fashion.
Is that the easy course? Not in this Legislature. But it’s certainly the most responsible.
— Susan Lynn
Budget deadline forces hard decisions
