It was the first week of the 2009 session, and after the state-of-the-state address on Monday night, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius revealed her strategy for the state budget on Tuesday morning.

• The budget the governor presented does not balance in the short-term, and the long-term deficit was not addressed.
• It’s the same smoke and mirrors tactics using transfers and one-time money that were used in the 2001 legislative session!

Like at the national level, the state economy has become significantly worse over the past six months. The severity remains unclear, but at this time, without a further economic downturn, the estimated ending balance for the current fiscal year is a negative $186 million.

If the downturn continues at the existing pace, it could be as much as a negative $300 million. That leaves the fiscal year 2010 with more than a $1.5 billion deficit at best (if the economy stabilizes by this June). To put that number in perspective, total state revenues for fiscal year 2008 was $7.2 billion.

How did we get in this situation? A look at a chart of Kansas revenues and expenses tells the story.

• Notice the 2005 sharp increase in spending – that was the Kansas Supreme Court’s mandate to the Legislature to spend more money for education.
• In contrast, the revenue leveled off at that time because the Legislature started paying back money it had borrowed from KDOT in 2002.

• To prevent a deficit in 2009 fiscal year, the entire budget would need to be reduced by at least 2.9 percent.
• If K-12 funding is excluded from the cuts, the budget would need to be slashed 6.1 percent.
• If K-12 funding and human service caseloads were excluded, a 9 percent reduction would be required.

I feel strongly that we need to protect the disabled, our most vulnerable Kansas citizens, from these budget cuts.

Next week the House and Senate will be voting on a rescission bill for fiscal year 2009, to cut spending as soon as possible and stop the runaway budget. It is clear that education spending will need to be reduced so the disabled are not hurt by the reductions and Kansas can continue protecting its citizens by keeping criminals in prison. It’s time to tighten the state’s belt and while doing so, we should recognize and admit past mistakes carried out with the 2002 budget, and also note that the Kansas Supreme Court decision in 2005 was in many ways not in the best interest of Kansans.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any comments or questions. I want to be accessible and am always glad to hear from you.

Sincerely,
Mary Pilcher Cook