“If whoever did that were a student of mine, I would have failed him,” Kansas Board of Regents vice chairman Gary Sherrer said about what he called a “dim-witted” report issued recently by the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy. The report said that the state had $2 billion in unused funds that could be used to cover the state’s budget shortfall and cut taxes. Sherrer and regents chairwoman Jill Docking said that many university funds are designated and can’t be raided for other purposes.
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13 Comments
The emotional response from Mr. Sherrer was probably not needed. He should just respond by explaining the situation as he sees it.
Most careful readers of this story several weeks ago probably realized some of those so-called “unused funds” were in accounts that couldn’t simply be rolled into the state’s general funds to pay debts.
The emotional response from Mr. Sherrer was probably not needed. He should just respond by explaining the situation as he sees it.
Most careful readers of this story several weeks ago probably realized some of those so-called “unused funds” were in accounts that couldn’t simply be rolled into the state’s general funds to pay debts.
Another double post, sorry.
Gary is one of those Republicans who’s embarrassed the Kansas Repubic Party is so utterly stupid.
As we see in this forum every day.
I don’t believe the report said that all of the funds should be returned to the General Fund.
I think it said they should be refunded and/or the sources of the funds (fees etc.) should be reduced or eliminated b/c the money isn’t being spent.
I am sure that Gary can read. So he might want to try actually reading the report instead of taking the media’s reporting of the study at face value.
Anybody who knows anything about the state budgeting process, actually any governmental entity’s budgeting process, would not have released such a silly proposal as the Flint Hills folks did. I winced when I read it and thought back to my state government class taught by Harold Stones who didn’t teach as much state government as he did the importance of making a budget read the way you want it to read.
Naive is a kind word for the Flint Hills folks.
Dennis
It should come as no surprise that the Koch Family Center would try to spin numbers to make it looks like taxes can be even further cut. Then, when budget crunches come (as they have with the depleted unemployment fund) they will blame government officials for doing the cutting they clamored for.
Thanks, BTH. I sort of figured it was a Koch front organization, but was too lazy to look it up. That such a silly document was released makes perfect sense now.
Dennis
I doubt if Kansas spent the Tobacco bucks on preventing smoking, why should any other fund be different? Our US Congress does a good job of robbing accounts for their pet projects.
What a lovely attitude for people who oversee universities—places designed for open disucssion and free exchange of ideas.
Disagree with me? You’re dimwitted.
I don’t like your conclusions, therefore your research should be disregarded.
Just lovely.
It’s just taxpayer money, sitting around unspent.
No big deal, cause there are money trees where Government can pick an unlimited supply of money.
Just raise taxes with ZERO ACCOUNTABILITY for how Government spends the people’s money.
(You know Brownlee, you could have linked directly to the report, if you wanted someone to actual read the details behind your post.)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs089/1102590621053/archive/1102669020487.html
Whose money is it?
Typical government accounting is designed to serve government. Reports go from government organization to government organization and are designed to ensure procedures are followed, balance is maintained and laws are followed. Goosen, in a recent interview, proudly reported that, “you could name any fund and we could give you an expected cash flow, money in and out and an expected ending balance.”
Anderson says that’s part of the reason why government is such an “inefficient monster.” He likens intra-government reporting, from agency to legislature to the functioning of a feudal economy where reports went to the king and the people had no role other than generating revenue.
The way Brownlee presented this might lead one to beleive the cited report is regarding Education funds.
That’s not true. Very little of that $1.96 Billion is in pooled Education funds.
“Unencumbered year-end cash, sometimes called “carryover,” is money with no claims against it for unpaid bills or other obligations. State government’s struggles to balance the budget have been focused on the general fund, but it is just one of over 1,600 funds under the control of state agencies. The general fund had a June 30, 2009 unencumbered ending balance of $39.9 million but the total for all state funds was $1.96 billion.”