TOPEKA – More cuts to state government could be possible before the end of the year if revenue numbers scheduled to be released are as bad as anticipated.
Wednesday, Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat, promised that the current budget would be balanced when the Republican-lead Legislature returns to Topeka in January.
“I’m going to take all the heat,” Parkinson said during a news conference in the Capitol.
Current estimates project a more than $100 million shortfall for the 2010 budget, which started July 1. The dollar amount could grow depending on what the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group says next week.
Kansas has seen four rounds of spending reductions this year from its $13 billion annual budget.
Next Thursday, revenue estimators will release their projections of the amount of money Kansas is expected to have to operate. Any cuts to the current budget and next year’s budget, which lawmakers will hammer out during the session, will be based on those figures.
Parkinson would not say how he planned to balance the budget but a likely option would be cuts to state agencies.
Any decisions would be made with input from legislative leaders, Parkinson said.
9 Comments
one courageous state legislator proposed to cut their salaries 10% in a show of understanding the economic turndown…they practically ran him out of topeka a on a rail….he is the only honorable one up there
Parkinson should prepare for difficult days ahead. It is clear that the economy is weaking. There is a danager of a second dip. These problems are beginning to be reflected in the Stock Market. The governor should cut out all unnecessary programs and cut the bloated bureaucracy. The more cuts he make the better off the we will all be. Indeed, the best action he could take now is to cut taxes for the individual and businesses. That is one sure road to economic revival.
The Eagle should quit running stories about budget and spending cuts. Look, the country is in a slump. Everyone is having to tighten their belts. The Government budget and its spending is no more important than my budget and my spending.
Just wait. You haven’t seen nothing yet. Just wait till obama the muslim gets done.
Legislators need to think more creatively and find ways to cut costs without cutting services and benifits. We already know that funding HCBS (Home and Community-Based Services) saves at least twice as much as putting people in nursing homes or letting agencies hire nurses and attendants when the elderly and disabled people could hire their own nurses and attendant at about a third to a quarter of the cost of paying an agencies to do it. It’s time legislators earn the salaries we the tax payers pay them to do a better job for the taxpayers and the people who need the services, etc.
The past 13 years we have strangled revenue by Kansas legislators and Gov. Graves and ignored our constitutional duties to the taxpayers of our state. Now, coupled with a recession, legislators MUST be accountable for what has transpired, not simply being consumed with being “re-elected”, which is the REAL game. Placing the 4 Billion, yes billion, of tax exemptions back on the table isn’t being considered by our current “leaders”. We all enjoy the tremendous advantages of living in the USA and living in KANSAS. We must get real about what our priorities are for kids and families and decide what it’s worth in the next few years. (never mind the next 50!) Because, believe me, you WILL GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! 3rd grade reading proficiencies are used to base decisions on how many prisons to build. I’m sick and tired of the far right, seniors and TBOR supporters griping about education and social services and costs to Kansas. We live in a beautiful country, we are privileged beyond belief. We also have two wars we can cancel. You can’t have war, education and healthcare reform all on the same table.
Good points janneufeld. The two parties are so out of touch. One represents a welfare state and the other represents a warfare state. Both are bad for the country and our future. Where is the voice that limits government and just allows us to enjoy our freedom? A new party is needed to represent this ever-growing majority of Americans.
Hope you aren’t expecting a refund next year.
Why all the long faces and sad comments? Obama’s tried and true, economic policy of tax-tax-tax, spend-spend-spend means economic recovery is just around the corner! Hang on Kansas, we’ll be swimming in money in no time!
How’s that hope and change working out for you, janneufeld? You’re still stuck on wars (Bush) when Obama’s quadrupled the debt thru giveaway programs.