Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat, on Monday announced a  fifth set of cuts to the current budget, which began July 1.

Every state agency has had money cut, he said.

At the beginning of the month, the Revenue Estimating Committee released its revised budget numbers, which showed the state needed to cut about $260 million from the state budget. That figure assumed the state would not pay additional money to kindergarten through 12th grade to make up for increased costs from enrollment growth and more students receiving free and reduced lunches.

The cuts fulfill Parkinson’s promise that lawmakers would have a balanced budget when they return to Topeka in January.

Below is the governor’s press release detailing the newest cuts.

Parkinson cuts spending, balances budget

Kansas’ schools, roads and the disabled are critically impacted

Governor Mark Parkinson has cut millions in state funding to bring the current budget into balance. Kansas’ schools, roads and many of the state’s most vulnerable citizens are again impacted by a historic drop in state revenue.

“Unfortunately, we are now to the point of potentially making crippling cuts to state services. This latest round of budget reductions will mean that class sizes will again increase in Kansas schools. Some districts will be forced to lay off teachers and close schools. These cuts mean that our universities will have fewer professors, offer fewer classes and critical investments in our future are in jeopardy. These budget cuts will force us to reduce supervision of released prisoners, increase the number of disabled citizens waiting for services and reduce road maintenance across the state,” Parkinson said.

“It is my obligation as a leader to balance the budget. But it is also my duty to protect our most precious resources. So I have once again balanced the budget. I promised that I would and I have kept that promise. But we cannot make it through this recession by cutting ourselves into an incurable position. When the Legislature returns in January, together we must look towards building a solution for the years ahead or we will permanently damage the foundation of our state.”

An overview of the Governor’s budget reductions and adjustments are as follows:

Budget adjustments: $258.9 million

1. Targeted, strategic budget reductions in individual agencies as outlined on the attached list.

2. Reduce highway maintenance funds by $50 million. This is achieved by transferring $50 million from the State Highway Fund to the State General Fund.

3. Reduce the amount transferred from the State General Fund to the Bioscience Authority by $5 million. This will still allow $35 million to be transferred from the General Fund to the Bioscience Authority.

4. Reduce funding for K-12 by $36 million and Regents by $2 million, leaving both at 2006 spending levels. Do not fund recommended $155.8 million K-12 increase based on revised estimates of property tax revenue and student enrollment.

5. Move unspent funds from prior years from individual agency budgets to the State General Fund. This includes the Governor’s Office and the Legislature.

6. Reduce Medicaid reimbursement rates by 10%. This cannot be implemented immediately, so it is estimated it will result in savings of $22 million during the last three months of the fiscal year.

Offset Budget Adjustments with Recovery Act Funds: $85.9 Million

1. Reduce K-12 Supplemental General State Aid by $85.9 million, but offset that reduction with $85.9 million of federal Recovery Act funds that had been budgeted for the 2011 fiscal year. This leaves the state with $189.6 million of Recovery Act funds (State Fiscal Stabilization and Special Education funds) for use in the 2011 budget.

States have discretion over when to draw down these Recovery Act funds. At least 10 states plan to use all of their Fiscal Stabilization Recovery Act funding by the end of FY 2010. A large majority of states plan to use a greater portion of the funding in FY 2010 and a smaller portion in FY 2011.

It has been an honor and a privilege to have been elected six times to represent the people of the Third District in the U.S. House of Representatives.  I have decided not to seek reelection in 2010.  It is time for a new generation of leadership to step forward.

I am proud of all we have accomplished since I was first elected in 1998.  I have always sought to be an active representative, engaged in the concerns and activities of our community.

My staff of hardworking Kansans has resolved thousands of cases for constituents facing federal government-related problems and has supported my work in Washington.  I was proud to write and help enact legislation to increase death gratuity benefits for service members’ families, improved R&R travel benefits for service personnel and childproof cap requirements for gasoline cans.

And I successfully worked to bring over $190 million of targeted federal funds back to our district for things like flood control, improved transportation and social services.

I served as Policy Co-Chair for the Blue Dog Coalition for two years during the first Congress in which they were part of the congressional majority.

With the Blue Dogs and as a member of the House Budget Committee, I strongly supported fiscally responsible budgets and pay as you go rules.  As a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, I became chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, which this year has already held seven hearings on TARP implementation and ways to strengthen financial services industry oversight, and helped lay the foundation for comprehensive regulatory reform.

I have always taken this responsibility very seriously.  A public office is a public trust.  This has been the most exciting and frustrating job I have ever had.

Exciting because of the opportunities to do the right thing for our people, especially those who most need our support.  Frustrating because of the strident partisanship which too often distracts Congress from squarely addressing the critical issues of our time.

The current year has been the most intense and busy of my tenure.  We have spent long hours struggling over detailed, controversial and far-reaching legislative proposals to reform health insurance, control global warming, and stimulate the economy, along with financial services regulatory reform.  Yes, it is tiring.

But I have always sought to represent the moderate mainstream of the district, which I hope now will host a robust competition between the two parties to fill this congressional seat.

As the first Democrat elected to represent this district in 40 years back in 1998, I know that there didn’t used to be partisan competition in northeast Kansas.  This progress is good for democracy and important in ensuring that all voices are heard.

I will remain fully engaged in my job until the end of 2010 and anticipate a smooth transition with my successor.  My sincere thanks to the voters of the Third District, to my wonderful wife Stephene, our family, my friends, staff and congressional colleagues for making this unique opportunity for public service possible.

The state’s disciplinary administrator, who investigates complaints against attorneys, today released the complaint against Rucker, who served as chief of staff when Kline was attorney general.

The complaint alleges that Rucker made misleading comments before the Kansas Supreme Court and used flawed statistics to back up a criminal case.

The allegations stem from Kline’s investigation of abortion clinics. Rucker’s complaint will go before a disciplinary panel in April; the panel will determine whether Rucker violated ethical rules for attorneys and will decide whether to recommend any disciplinary actions to the Supreme Court. Punishment could range from nothing to disbarment.

Rucker could not be reached for comment Monday morning.

Another key Kline deputy, Stephen Maxwell, faces a similar ethics complaint. Like Maxwell, Rucker continued to work for Kline after he left the Attorney General’s office and was appointed Johnson County District Attorney.

The complaint against Rucker alleges that he knew data used to support the investigation of abortion clinics in district court was flawed but took no “action to correct the misrepresentations previously made to the court.”

Also, the complaint accuses Rucker of making false statements before the Kansas Supreme Court.

Rucker represented Kline before the court in 2005. At the time, the court was considering a lawsuit by abortion providers intent on stopping Kline’s investigation. Rucker told the court that his office wasn’t trying to identify adult women who received abortions.

However, the office was reviewing the guest list of a Wichita hotel used by patients of George Tiller, and cross checking it with state abortion data. Investigators were also recording the license plates of cars in Tiller’s parking lot in an attempt to identify their owners.

During a meeting last year with the state’s judicial disciplinary administrator, Rucker said he didn’t know about these efforts during his arguments before the high court. But according to the complaint released today, the disciplinary administrator’s office determined that his explanation was “false and misleading.”

Kline investigated both Tiller’s clinic and a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park, accusing both of violating state restrictions on abortion. So far, none of the cases has resulted in a conviction.

Gov. Mark Parkinson will unveil his plan to reduce state spending by some $260 million at 3:30 this afternoon, his office says.

This round of cuts – at least the fourth since the year began – comes as state revenues continue to flag.

Several Kansas school districts are threatening a lawsuit if school funding is cut again. The Board of Regents is hinting that any more budget cuts could prompt more tuition increases. Parkinson himself has said that social services and corrections have already been cut to the bone.

Last week Parkinson told reporters that there’s no more fat to cut from the budget.

“We are past the point of there being any easy decisions,” he said. “We are now cutting into the bone of government services.”

He said his office was examining every option, including employee furloughs.

“We’re looking at every possibility,” Parkinson said.

Keyes (AP)

Anderson

Those who want to see former ambassador and presidential candidate Alan Keyes — in Kansas to campaign for congressional candidate Jim Anderson — will have plenty of opportunity.

The campaign is bringing in Keyes to try to drum up support for Anderson, a small-business owner who is running in a five-candidate Republican primary for the 4th Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard.

The other candidates are businessmen Mike Pompeo and Wink Hartman; and state Sens. Jean Schodorf and Dick Kelsey.

Keyes, a Reagan Administration diplomat known for his conservatism and repeated candidacies for the Senate and the presidency, is scheduled to make the following appearances on behalf of Anderson’s campaign:

Saturday

Noon — Kansans for Liberty luncheon, Mike’s Steakhouse, 2131 S. Broadway, Wichita.

6-6:45 p.m. — Pre-speech VIP reception at the Beech Activity Center 9710 E. Central Ave., Wichita.

7:15 p.m.- Evening program with speech by Keyes begins, Beech Activity Center.

Sunday

1:30-3:30 p.m. — Meet and greet in Coffeyville; Sleep Inn & Suites, 202 W. 11th.

5-6 p.m. — Independence Christmas Parade.

Monday

11 a.m. — Meet and greet in Kingman, Livingston Family Center, 1830 N. Main St.

6 p.m. — Private reception before fundraiser dinner, Larkspur restaurant 904 E. Douglas Ave.

7-9 p.m.– Dinner and program, Larkspur.

Ticket prices vary by event. For more information, call 636-9300.

Tiahrt

Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, has introduced a bill in Congress to halt further spending to bail out financial institutions and automakers.

Tiahrt’s bill is called the “Ensure TARP Expires Act of 2009,” and would block Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner from spending any more money on the Troubled Asset Relief Program, more commonly known as TARP.

Begun under the Bush Administration and continued by President Obama, TARP has injected hundreds of billions of dollars in capital into failing investment, banking, insurance and automotive companies in an effort to stabilize the financial system.

Supporters credit the program with staving off a worldwide depression by rescuing banks and other institutions that are “too big to fail” without causing dire economic consequences.

But the program’s popularity has plummeted in recent months amid reports that some large companies that received bailout funds have returned to giving lavish executive bonuses and perks now that they have returned to profitability.

“We must put an end to Secretary Geithner’s authority to funnel billions of bailout dollars to irresponsible institutions,” Tiahrt said in a statement announcing his current bill.

According to his office, Tiahrt has four co-sponsors for the measure so far: Mark Souder, R-Ind., Bob Inglis, R-S.C., Sam Johnson, R-Texas and Charles Boustany, Jr., R-La.

Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, who is running against Tiahrt for the Senate seat being vacated by Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, is also in support of putting an end to TARP, a spokeswoman for his office said.

In June, Moran introduced the Government Ownership Exit Plan Act of 2009.

It would prohibit the government from buying any more business assets under TARP. It would also require the treasury, by July 1 of next year, to sell off any government ownership stake — such as warrants or stock shares — that were acquired using TARP funds.

“Government interference with private sector affairs has long passed an expiration date,” Moran said in his statement announcing the legislation. “Throwing taxpayers’ borrowed dollars at private sector’s problems is never a solution – it only shifts the burden of risk.”

Of the initial $700 billion allocated to TARP, $200 million to $300 million remains unspent, according to government estimates.

The Obama Administration has acknowledged a reduced need for TARP assistance to businesses since the depths of the financial crisis in late 2008.

But the administration is considering extending the program past its original Dec. 31 end date and diverting some of the money toward paying down the national debt.

Tiahrt’s bill is the third time he’s asked Congress to fold TARP.

In March, he introduced a resolution against TARP and other bailout plans, which he said “are nothing more than a mere band-aid that continues to follow a pattern of throwing more taxpayer money at a problem instead of addressing the root causes.”

In May, he introduced a bill called the “Bailout Freedom Act” to allow financial institutions that received TARP funds to quickly pay the money back to the treasury and free themselves of the extra oversight that came with the government funding.

“It was clear there was an awful lot of power invested in too few people,” current President Kirk Schulz told the Kansas Board of Regents today.

Schulz briefed the Regents on what actions have been taken in response to the June audit, which revealed undisclosed payments, conflicts of interest and accounting irregularities and potential tax problems at KSU and its Athletics Department.

A task force including faculty, alumni, students and university officials reviewed the audit and submitted four conclusions and recommendations.

The first was that Wefald gave too much power to his key deputy, Bob Krause, and that Krause failed to manage the funds under his control. Funds were commingled between departments, key expenses weren’t approved, transparency was lacking and record keeping was often sloppy, the report concluded.

The committee’s report recommended a more robust system of checks and balances, transparency and communication between different layers of university leadership.

Many of the reforms have already been adopted, Schulz said.

“We’re doing things better than we were a year ago,” said Schulz, who replaced Wefald after he retired, the same week the audit was released.

An outside accounting firm was hired to investigate 13 payments for which no paperwork could be located. The auditors concluded that nine of the expenses were for legitimate Athletic Department expenses, including payments to approved contractors.

The other four expenses related to the use of university aircraft; in each case the auditors found that the passengers and reasons for travel were for athletic competitions or appropriate, approved events. The auditors recommended that the athletics department create a more detailed policy for the use of university aircraft.

Members of the Kansas Board of Regents praised Schulz for his work to correct the issues identified in the audit. But they said they wanted yet another update next April to ensure the reforms suggested in today’s report have been implemented.

“It’s one thing to say ‘these were the things that need to be changed,’” said Regents member Donna Shank. “But I would like to know at some point that those things were done … so we can really truly put this behind us.”

Actions already taken include:

• A change at the Athletics Department that requires the Board of Directors to review each compensation package. The audit found secret payment arrangements crafted by an individual athletics official.

• The university’s chief financial officer now reviews almost every transaction made by the Athletics Department.

• A more centralized campus legal department, instead of five or six separate legal offices.

She noted that a lot had been written about Justice Concepts Inc. the past few months.

She said Justice Concepts has remained “relatively silent” in the meantime because of the “serious nature” of its work.

The Eagle has reported that Justice Concepts’ contract expired June 4. It has not delivered any written recommendations to the county during its 10-month contract. Part of its agreement with the county was to reduce the jail’s population by 25 percent.

The county has not paid Justice Concepts all of its original consulting fee yet.

Some officials, including Sheriff Robert Hinshaw, have been critical of Justice Concepts’ work. Commissioner Gwen Welshimer has been Insco’s biggest supporter, saying that she has succeeded in bringing stakeholders in the criminal justice system together.

This morning, Justice Concepts is asking for an 18-month extension of its contract and for an additional $228,000.

Jerry Moran

Fidel Castro (AP)

Todd Tiahrt

The Jerry Moran campaign is seeing red over an e-mail from Senate rival Todd Tiahrt’s campaign that implies Moran is a fellow traveler of the Communist Party.

The e-mail subject line asserts — falsely — that Moran has been endorsed by the Communist Party USA.

“The assertion that Jerry Moran would be affiliated with communists is so outlandish, only a desperate campaign like Todd Tiahrt’s would make such an assertion,” said Moran campaign spokesman Aaron Trost. “It’s a desperate public statement by a campaign that’s still trying to find a message.”

Tiahrt spokeswoman Michelle Schroeder said the e-mail was sent to select supporters to remind them of “the good conservatives who support Todd and Todd’s campaign.”

Moran, who represents Kansas’ 1st district in Congress, and Tiahrt, who represents the 4th District, are locked in a bitter struggle for their party’s nomination to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sam Brownback, who is running for governor.

Moran led Tiahrt 43 to 27 percent in an October SurveyUSA poll commissioned by KWCH-TV Wichita and KCTV-TV Kansas City.

The e-mail at issue came from the Tiahrt press office Tuesday with the subject line “Moran picks up endorsement from Communist Party USA.”

The body of the e-mail reads, “While our opponent’s legislation to allow travel between the United States and Cuba has picked up the endorsement of the Communist Party USA, we are pleased to remind you of the groups endorsing Todd Tiahrt for the U.S. Senate.”

Then follows a list of well-known conservatives who have endorsed Tiahrt, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former Education Secretary Bill Bennett and activist Phyllis Schlafly.

The Tiahrt e-mail contains a link to a statement by the Communist Party urging people to call their representatives and senators in support of House Resolution 874 and Senate Bill 428, which would lift a ban on U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba.

The statement makes no mention of Moran.

According to the Library of Congress, the House bill has 179 co-sponsors — Moran included — and the Senate version, 33. The bill has bipartisan support ranging from self-described socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, to ultraconservative Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas.

A contact number for the Communist Party in Missouri and Kansas was disconnected and a spokesman for the national party in New York did not return a phone call seeking comment.

As a matter of policy, the Communist Party does not endorse candidates, according to its Web site, www.cpusa.org.

The restriction on private travel to the island country 90 miles south of Florida dates back to an economic embargo begun in 1960 after the Fidel Castro-led communist revolution took power in Cuba.

Moran supports lifting the ban on travel and trade with Cuba in hopes of opening a new market for Kansas agriculture.

In the past, Tiahrt also has been supportive of relaxing sanctions and was quoted in a 2002 Wichita Eagle article saying “I’d like to see Castro’s palace in Havana stacked to the rafters with wheat.”

Trost said the e-mail not only wrongly accuses Moran of communist sympathies, but also exposes a Tiahrt “flip-flop” on the issue.

“He’s been all over the map,” Trost said.

Schroeder said she does not know Tiahrt’s position on engagement with Cuba, but that trade and the travel ban are separate issues.

Washburn University professor Bob Beatty’s initial reaction to the Tiahrt campaign’s e-mail was “Is this real?”

He said at first, he thought it might just have been an inside-the-office joke among Tiahrt staffers.

“It sounds like a joke, it’s so silly,” he said. “It’s obvious that Jerry Moran is not a communist.”

Beatty said it brought to mind a 2004 incident when someone on the Washburn campus posted a doctored picture showing Castro with then-Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

“It touched off kind of a backlash, with people saying that had gone too far,” Beatty recalled.

Beatty, who teaches political science and international affairs, said the irony is that there’s “a lot of evidence to show the Castro regime — which is Fidel and his brother, Raul — is actually propped up by the U.S. sanctions. It allows them to unify (Cubans) against a common enemy.”

Beatty said when he traveled to Cuba on an academic trip — one of the allowed exceptions to the travel ban — “Cubans kept saying to us, it’s your blockade that’s keeping Castro in power.”

He said U.S. engagement with communist countries around the world has led to incremental democratic and economic reform, and the only reason the sanctions against Cuba haven’t already been lifted is because of the importance of the Cuban expatriate population to both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Heavily concentrated in Florida, Cubans who fled the Castro regime represent a key voting bloc in a critical swing state in national elections, he said.

The expatriates oppose normalizing relations with Cuba because it would hurt any potential they have to reclaim property that was seized in the revolution, he said.

He said he hopes the flap over the Tiahrt campaign e-mail could lead to a serious debate between the candidates on U.S.-Cuba relations.

At a glance, Kansas appears to split taxes as a share of income more evenly than the national average. (See the Kansas fact sheet.) But low- and middle-income families are still seeing a greater percentage of their incomes go to the government than wealthy families.

Kansan families that make less than $19,000 a year pay about 9.2 percent of their income in taxes — the national average is 10.9 percent. More than 6 percent comes from sales and excise taxes and 3.5 percent comes from property taxes, the report shows. The richest families making more than $424,000 pay 7.1 percent of their incomes in taxes. Offset by federal deductions, the poorest pay the same share in taxes and the richest pay 5.9 percent in taxes — the national average is 5.2 percent. Ks Whopays Factsheet