The Kansas Senate is likely to debate a budget proposal this week, and House lawmakers could also make progress on their spending plan. But there’s one hitch: Both budgets are unbalanced.
Kansas lawmakers started the session facing a budget deficit. The Senate budget plan is now more than $400 million in the red for next fiscal year. Senators are assuming there will be a tax plan that raises more revenue. The top budget writer in the Senate, Republican Carolyn McGinn, says if they don’t get new revenue, they’re ready to make cuts.
“At the end of the day we have to balance our budget. If nothing passes on the revenue side, we’ll be back, we’ll be taking things out," she says. "We will balance this budget."
Lawmakers passed a tax plan earlier this year, but it was vetoed by Gov. Sam Brownback. There will be more discussions about reversing parts of the state’s 2012 tax cuts to raise revenue.