Daily Archives: Feb. 6, 2013

Turnpike savings a made-up number

Feb. 6, 201312:16 p.m.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the $30 million that supposedly will be saved the next two years by merging the Kansas Turnpike Authority with the Kansas Department of Transportation is a made-up number. KDOT Secretary Mike King admitted to lawmakers this week that there is no breakdown of the savings. “I can’t be specific on where those are at,” he said. As Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, observed: “It seems like a number just picked out of thin air because that made the books balance.” There were similar concerns last year about the Brownback administration’s claim that privatizing Medicaid would save the state $1 billion over five years without cutting provider rates, eligibility or services.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Kansas government, Sam Brownback | Comments Off

Brownback experiment a model for GOP, nation?

Feb. 6, 20136:00 a.m.

Gov. Sam Brownback has described his tax policies as an “experiment.” In a Wall Street Journal article this week, he described them as a model for the GOP and the nation. “My focus is to create a red-state model that allows the Republican ticket to say, ‘See, we’ve got a different way, and it works,’” Brownback said. In the article, former Wichita GOP Sen. Jean Schodorf, who was among those Brownback helped target for defeat last year, expressed her worry that the policies and resulting budget shortfalls could damage the state. “All of what we have built in this state is in jeopardy,” she said.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Kansas government, Sam Brownback | Comments Off