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Kansas legislature convenes
He's already presented us a fix for the 2010 budget. He made those recommendations a few weeks ago. And I anticipate that early in the session, probably in the first two weeks the legislature will pass those recommendations. And that will make dealing with 2011 much easier, even though that will be a difficult process dealing with 2011 but it's better to have one budget to deal with than two.
The 2011 budget won't be an easy task either. K through 12 education makes up about half of the budget and higher education is about 13%. Both of these have been cut and cut again. They now stand at 2006 funding levels, the ruling by the federal government for stimulus funds mandates that funding cannot fall below those levels. Medicaid makes up about 20% of the state budget. Morris says this time last year when they passed the 2009 general funds budget it sat at about 6.5 billion dollars. After cuts, the 2010 budget is about 5 billion dollars. That's a significant cut percentage-wise. Legislators are already expecting a shortfall for 2011.
It looks like we're approximately 250 million to 350 million below zero initially with expected resources that will be available in 2011. So I know the governor will make some suggestions on how to address that shortfall including raising the tobacco tax and that's probably the most likely tax that he will recommend.
Morris thinks legislators will also look at temporarily removing some sales tax exemptions. Don Hineman, a representative from Dighton, thinks legislators should look at tax increases or broadening the tax base, while being careful not to damage the economy. He says if you want to discourage an activity tax it.
That really kind of fits for a tobacco tax. One thing we do need to keep in mind though is we need to be aware of what our neighboring states are doing because, especially in the Kansas City area taxes on tobacco are pretty low on the Missouri side of the border. So if we raise taxes on tobacco we could damage retail outlets on the Kansas side of the border in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Hineman isn't too optimistic at the moment. He says there's a lag time between when people start earning and spending before that shows up as tax revenue. Because of that lag time he doesn't expect state government revenues to pick up anytime soon. Both Hineman and Steve Morris say a new comprehensive transportation plan will be an issue as well. The last ten year plan ended in 2009. However, Hineman thinks funding for a plan would be delayed.
We have made dramatic strides in the last 20 years in improving the quality of Kansas roads and highways and I don't think any of us want to let that slip, but the reality is that we have cut the budget for the Department of Transportation which means there will be less maintenance during the upcoming year and the quality of Kansas roads and highways could start to decline a little bit.
Legislators might pass a primary seat belt law this year, which would allow a police officer to pull you over for having your seat belt unbuckled. Last year the bill passed the senate but not the house. If it's passed the federal government will give the state 11 million dollars, an appealing proposition that might garner enough extra house votes for it to pass this time around. I'm Lindsey Fields, HPPR News.
© Copyright 2012, hppr
(2010-01-11)
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TOPEKA, KAN.
(hppr) -
The Kansas Legislature convenes today for its spring session. Once again the most prominent issue legislators will contend with is the budget. The current fiscal year which ends June 30th still has a shortfall to mend. Governor Mark Parkinson submits his budget-fixing recommendations to the legislature today. Senate President Steve Morris of Hugoton expects the legislative body to pass the recommendations soon. (
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He's already presented us a fix for the 2010 budget. He made those recommendations a few weeks ago. And I anticipate that early in the session, probably in the first two weeks the legislature will pass those recommendations. And that will make dealing with 2011 much easier, even though that will be a difficult process dealing with 2011 but it's better to have one budget to deal with than two.
The 2011 budget won't be an easy task either. K through 12 education makes up about half of the budget and higher education is about 13%. Both of these have been cut and cut again. They now stand at 2006 funding levels, the ruling by the federal government for stimulus funds mandates that funding cannot fall below those levels. Medicaid makes up about 20% of the state budget. Morris says this time last year when they passed the 2009 general funds budget it sat at about 6.5 billion dollars. After cuts, the 2010 budget is about 5 billion dollars. That's a significant cut percentage-wise. Legislators are already expecting a shortfall for 2011.
It looks like we're approximately 250 million to 350 million below zero initially with expected resources that will be available in 2011. So I know the governor will make some suggestions on how to address that shortfall including raising the tobacco tax and that's probably the most likely tax that he will recommend.
Morris thinks legislators will also look at temporarily removing some sales tax exemptions. Don Hineman, a representative from Dighton, thinks legislators should look at tax increases or broadening the tax base, while being careful not to damage the economy. He says if you want to discourage an activity tax it.
That really kind of fits for a tobacco tax. One thing we do need to keep in mind though is we need to be aware of what our neighboring states are doing because, especially in the Kansas City area taxes on tobacco are pretty low on the Missouri side of the border. So if we raise taxes on tobacco we could damage retail outlets on the Kansas side of the border in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Hineman isn't too optimistic at the moment. He says there's a lag time between when people start earning and spending before that shows up as tax revenue. Because of that lag time he doesn't expect state government revenues to pick up anytime soon. Both Hineman and Steve Morris say a new comprehensive transportation plan will be an issue as well. The last ten year plan ended in 2009. However, Hineman thinks funding for a plan would be delayed.
We have made dramatic strides in the last 20 years in improving the quality of Kansas roads and highways and I don't think any of us want to let that slip, but the reality is that we have cut the budget for the Department of Transportation which means there will be less maintenance during the upcoming year and the quality of Kansas roads and highways could start to decline a little bit.
Legislators might pass a primary seat belt law this year, which would allow a police officer to pull you over for having your seat belt unbuckled. Last year the bill passed the senate but not the house. If it's passed the federal government will give the state 11 million dollars, an appealing proposition that might garner enough extra house votes for it to pass this time around. I'm Lindsey Fields, HPPR News.
© Copyright 2012, hppr
