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AP: Kansas revenues short of ed board request
Published 7/18/2011 in News
TOPEKA (AP) — Kansas policymakers are expected to learn in the coming days just how well they did at cutting government spending and collecting revenue in the last fiscal year.
Preliminary numbers from legislative staff suggest the figure could have as much as $175 million in the bank as Kansas enters fiscal year 2012. That's a far cry from where the state was just six months ago when Gov. Sam Brownback and the Republican-controlled Legislature was staring at a deficit that approached $500 million.
Brownback and legislators trimmed spending by close to $800 million in the state's overall $14 billion budget from the previous year, including reducing funds for public schools by $232 per student.
The cuts made dent in the extra money legislators had agreed to spend on public education in response to a 2006 Kansas Supreme Court ruling that the state's system for funding schools was out of whack and needed fixed.
Now, with revenues improving, the State Board of Education is asking that those funds be restored. But members know that's a tall order given the atmosphere in the Statehouse firmly in the austere mode.
"We can recommend until the cows come home and advocate for funding the law, but it's not going to happen," she said. "We can take this moral position, but they're not going to listen to us anyway," said board member Sue Storm, a former legislator from Overland Park.
Brownback has said he wants to lower taxes in Kansas to encourage business growth, suggesting cuts in the income tax rates to spur growth.
"To grow the state long-term we need a fundamentally new tax code that rewards investment and makes us more competitive globally for entrepreneurs and capital. That's how we'll grow and keep jobs for generations to come," he said recently.
There have been recent employment gains with announcement of a new candy factory, information technology and wind energy companies coming to Kansas, bringing more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan, a former state senator, will be leading a study committee looking at tax reform ahead of the 2012 legislative session. Legislators had proposals of their own this past session to eliminate the corporate income tax, which generates an average of close to $200 million annually.
Some state board members said asking for a smaller amount equal to inflation, or about $85 million, was more realistic and would improve relations with legislators.
"The reality is that our economy is in recession," said Walt Chappell of Wichita. "If we send over another budget that says fund the law, it's going to be dead on arrival."
Kansas spends roughly half of its budget on K-12 schools, more than $3.1 billion in the current fiscal year out of $6 billion in state general tax revenues. However, declining state revenues caused by the Great Recession forced legislators to trim education spending to make ends meet.
Federal stimulus dollars allowed the state to reduce the state's share of school spending in fiscal year 2010 and 2011, freeing close to $200 million that was able to go to other government programs.
Those federal funds expired on June 30, meaning legislators and Brownback had the choice of either raising new revenues to replace the federal money or cut school spending. The decision was to cut the base per-student rate by $232 per pupil, going from $4,012 to $3,780. Other programs, such as $35,000 to support teaching agriculture in the classroom, also went by the wayside.
"I don't know that we can advocate for students but fund less than what's in the law," said board president Dave Dennis of Wichita. "I want to make sure we're realistic in what we send over to the Legislature, but I wouldn't have a problem sending over what's state law."
House Minority Leader Paul Davis said asking for any increase, let alone $525 million, is a hard sell next session. Even looking at restoring some of the reductions will be a challenge in an election year when tax cuts will be more in vogue.
"I do think they do have a responsibility to advocate for what we understand the law should be," said Davis, a Lawrence Democrat. "But I think most people in the Legislature understand it's not realistic right now."
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