Bipartisan votes in the Kansas House and Senate passed a one-cent in-crease in the sales tax and the budget it balances and sent both bills to Gov. Mark Parkinson.
The House vote was close: 64-61, and the main credit goes to Democrats. There are 49 Democrats in the House; 43 of them approved the tax increase that will make it possible to hold state support for the public schools level and also make further cuts in social services, such as aid for the disabled in the Tri-Valley center, unnecessary. The 21 Republican votes were essential and those of us in the 9th District who oppose further cuts in school budgets should be proud that Rep. Bill Otto was in that number.
Rep. Otto voted against the House leadership to take his principled stand in favor of education. He deserves admiration for remaining true to years as a teacher and administrator and praise for the courage he showed by refusing to bow to the cabal of anti-tax lawmakers that now dominates the Republican Party.
Republicans in the Senate also voted against the tax hike and the budget, but both bills passed there with the small Democratic contingent making the difference. For reasons of his own, Sen. Derek Schmidt voted against the best interests of the public schools of his district — including the three in Allen County — and the children who attend them, casting “no” votes for the budget and the tax hike it required.
The three-year penny increase in the sales tax, lifting it to 6.3 cents on the dollar, will make life far simpler for USD 257 administrators and teachers for the coming year. The district already faced a huge budget cut due to a lower enrollment. Holding state funding level will make even greater budget reductions unnecessary.
Holding school funding level was particularly important for southeast Kansas where school districts have assessed valuations well below the state average. The alternative to state funding is to increase the property tax. It requires a significantly larger levy in this corner of the state to bolster a school budget than it does in wealthy districts.
Hats off — again — to Rep. Otto for his sympathetic recognition of the economic realities in the area he represents.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
