Halfway There?
The legislature is quickly reaching the halfway point of the 2011 session – commonly known as turnaround. In order to be considered for the remainder of the session, bills introduced in the House must be passed by Friday. After turnaround, the House’s attention will turn to a handful of “exempt” bills and to legislation which passed the Senate.
Although the calendar says the session is near the midpoint, we are certainly not there in terms of work product. That is typical, as the first part of a legislative session is spent on research, drafting bills, and holding hearings on those bills. The second half of the session is really where all that preliminary work begins to emerge as final legislation. Next week will be the start of that, as we will be on the floor all day debating dozens of bills. It is not possible to make responsible decisions during turnaround week unless one has spent time seeking input and pondering the issues beforehand. That has been my goal up to this point, and will consume much of my time this weekend.
Conference Committee Impasse
One of the first measures the legislature tackled this year was a “rescission” bill to put the finishing touches on the budget for the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30. Governor Brownback had sent a proposed budget to the legislature early in the session, and requested that a final rescission bill be sent to him by the first of February. Not surprisingly the rescission bills that emerged from the House and Senate are similar but serious differences remain. The conference committee, composed of leadership from the House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means Committees, has met twice to iron out differences, but no progress has been made. If the two sides remain at impasse, then at some point Governor Brownback will have make allotments. That means he would make specific cuts to some budgets in order to put the budget in balance for the remainder of the year. That would be a very unfortunate outcome. Adjustments can be made in a rescission bill that the Governor cannot achieve through allotments. Also, by the time he makes the allotments there would be precious little time left in the fiscal year, which would make the cuts more difficult to achieve.
However this scenario plays out, the legislature will next turn its attention to crafting a budget for Fiscal Year 2012, which begins July 1. There is currently a hole in the projected budget of nearly a half billion dollars, and no one in Topeka is seriously considering any kind of new tax or “revenue enhancement”. There is general agreement that the budget deficit must be addressed through budget cuts. That will be difficult, and many Kansans will feel the effects. Unfortunately there really is no other option. Here are a few items likely to be affected, based on the Governor’s recommendations:
· Reduced funding for the arts in Kansas. While this may not be a core function of government, the effects will likely be felt more severely in rural Kansas.
· Termination of funding for public broadcasting. Again the impact will be greater on rural Kansas. Smoky Hills Public TV in Bunker Hill would have to shut its doors, and High Plains Public Radio in Garden City would be reduced to only 6% local programming.
· The Early Head Start program may be terminated, and those children and their families may be left without the early boost in life they so desperately need.
· Area Mental Health Centers could see another reduction to their funding, and clients who do not qualify for Medicaid could be without services.
· Public education could see another round of cuts to state aid, and the future of some rural school districts could be doubtful.
Many of you have contacted me about all of these issues. I appreciate your input and have worked to understand the implications of these cuts. Achieving a final budget will entail careful prioritizing and balancing of needs. It will be neither easy nor pleasant. I welcome your continuing input and suggestions.
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