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Ciboski: We Have a $290,000,000 Hole to Fill

The state of Kansas has a $290 million budget hole to fill.

All 165 state legislators are up for election this year, so the Legislature adjourned without finding a more permanent fix to recurring revenue shortages and left it up to Gov. Sam Brownback to make necessary spending cuts.

The governor refuses to believe that the 2012 tax cuts for 330,000 businesses is causing the problem. Instead, excuses are offered, such as falling commodity prices in oil and agriculture causing the latest revenue shortage. This led Senator Laura Kelly, the ranking Democrat on the Senate budget committee, to say that the governor “needs a healthy dose of reality,” and that it is time to “stop the bleeding” of revenue.

More cuts for the state’s universities are expected. The cap on raising tuition fees for university students has been lifted.  If student fees are raised in order for universities to meet their budgets, the result could be lower enrollments in Kansas at a time when America wants to ensure higher education opportunity for all.

Governor Brownback likened the 2012 tax cuts to a “shot of adrenaline to the heart” of the economy. Instead, we are witnessing continuing revenue shortfalls that are likely to remain without a change in tax and revenue policy.