Duane Goossen, former longtime state budget director, warned that the state’s “current spending levels dramatically exceed expected income.” On his blog for the Kansas Health Institute, Goossen noted that state general fund spending approved for fiscal year 2013 is nearly $6.2 billion, while the estimated revenue for fiscal 2014 is only $5.4 billion. He also said the fiscal 2014 budgets proposed by the governor, Senate and House variously rob highway money and cut higher education and courts but still don’t get to even $6.1 billion. “The inability to close the gap with spending cuts suggests the solution must be increased revenue,” Goossen wrote, saying the governor and lawmakers could “transfer money from other funds,” “use up the available bank balance” and “add tax revenue.” They also can hope Friday’s updated revenue estimates will narrow the budget gap, he wrote.
Kansas’ new law to drug test some recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash assistance or unemployment benefits is narrower than the one that sparked a long court case in Florida, so it should lead to fewer tests and legal problems. But it requires that welfare applicants or recipients be screened “when reasonable suspicion exists” that they are using a controlled substance, which seems a subjective standard at best. It will cost the state an estimated $1 million next year and require four additional state employees. And as Gov. Sam Brownback signed the bill Tuesday, it was disappointing to see him join those claiming the law’s main purpose is to help people by providing treatment. Who doubts that for many of the 29 senators and 106 representatives who voted for the bill, the motivation was more punitive than beneficent, and based on the myth that drug abuse is rampant among welfare recipients?
“Republican Sen. Pat Roberts is on a glide path toward re-election, having won endorsements from each of the state’s four members of Congress as well as five statewide officeholders,” wrote Kansas City Star columnist Steve Kraske. “Oh, did I mention he’s got $1.1 million in the bank, too?” Kraske also credited Gov. Sam Brownback and his political operative, David Kensinger, with “the solidarity the Kansas GOP is maintaining in the wake of its historic clean-sweep election of 2010. The temptation to break rank and run for Senate or governor, and trigger a primary, is extraordinary given the number of down-ballot officeholders with oversized ambitions,” he wrote. “But so far, the dam is holding.” Of course, the newly powerless moderate Republicans are angry and restless, and will see their only statewide officeholder, Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, retire after 2014. The GOP primary for that job will feature at least three conservatives, including repeat candidate David Powell of El Dorado.
“We should swallow hard and extend the sales tax,” concluded Kansas City Star columnist Steve Rose, urging the House to go along with the Senate and Gov. Sam Brownback. The 2012 tax plan won’t be repealed, Rose wrote, and extending the sales-tax hike beyond its June 30 sunset date is the only way to avoid draconian budget cuts to K-12 schools, higher education and social programs as state revenue ebbs. “It is appropriate to feel sympathy for those who would like to see the governor pay the price for his irresponsible income tax cuts. And sympathies abound for those who were viciously attacked for supporting the sales-tax hike in the first place,” Rose wrote. “But let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot while aiming at Brownback.”
Good for Gov. Sam Brownback for participating in a recent event on the state Capitol lawn that drew attention to child-abuse prevention. The state received 64,000 calls last year reporting child abuse, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. “One child being abused is too many,” Brownback said. “We simply can’t afford to ignore this problem in our homes, offices, schools and neighborhood.”
According to Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight political numbers blog, Gov. Sam Brownback is among 10 governors up for re-election next year whose job-approval numbers are “underwater” – with more constituents disapproving than approving of their job performance. For Brownback, the numbers are 36 percent approval and 51 percent disapproval. At least Brownback’s net negative job approval number (minus 16) is lower than those of Rhode Island’s independent Gov. Lincoln Chafee (minus 40), Illinois’ Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn (minus 24) and Florida’s Republican Gov. Rick Scott (minus 20). And as the blog noted, “being unpopular does not necessarily make an incumbent vulnerable to defeat.”
Gov. Sam Brownback’s Republican weekly address on Saturday painted an unrecognizable picture of the state after two years of his leadership. He bragged about how Kansas had turned around its finances without tax increases or cuts to education or other programs. But as our Tuesday editorial notes, he left out how the state budget benefited from the 1 percent sales-tax increase passed in 2010 – or how he now wants to make that temporary tax increase permanent. Or how districts, including Wichita, have been forced to close schools and cut programs because of state reductions in base per-pupil funding and capital outlay equalization dollars. Or how his 2012 tax cuts have created large budget shortfalls. It’s hard for those who know the whole story not to hear such an address and wonder which Kansas Brownback is talking about – the one he’s actually governing or one made of political spin and presidential ambitions.
Gov. Sam Brownback at least brought some badly needed gender diversity to the all-male Sedgwick County District Court Monday by choosing Wichita attorney Faith Maughan to fill the spot left empty by the governor’s appointment of Tony Powell to the Kansas Court of Appeals. Maughan has a good resume, including work with the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s Corps and as a municipal prosecutor and judge. Unfortunately, Brownback shunned the traditional input of the Wichita Bar Association and declined to even release a short list of finalists – odd for a governor who has decried the secrecy of the state’s merit-selection process for appellate judges. And Brownback, who also has spoken of judicial selection needing to pass the “democracy test,” has someone in Maughan who lost the GOP primary for a judgeship by 9 percentage points last August. Plus, her sharply partisan campaign cast doubt on her ability to be fair and impartial, especially should a case relating to abortion come to her courtroom.
The circles of influence in Topeka tend to be small and interconnected. For example, Riley Scott, one of the lobbyists for the University of Kansas, used to work for Gov. Sam Brownback when he was in Congress, the Lawrence Journal-World noted. Scott also is a lobbyist for Crossland Construction, whose chief executive officer, Ivan Crossland, is chairman of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce. Scott is also the son-in-law of Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita.
Gov. Sam Brownback may think same-sex marriage is a settled issue in Kansas eight years after nearly 70 percent of voters approved a constitutional amendment that prohibited it and barred the state from recognizing civil unions. And 87 percent of those Kansans recently polled by SurveyUSA said their opinion on same-sex marriage hadn’t changed over the past couple of years. But the survey, sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12, also found that 60 percent of Kansans said same-sex couples should be able to share in the legal benefits of marriage. In addition, 42 percent said the U.S. Supreme Court should uphold lower courts’ rulings against California’s Proposition 8, the 2008 law defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
A column by Jason Probst, news editor of the Hutchinson News, has been getting attention across the state. Written in the style of an obituary, the column lamented the passing of the great state of Kansas “after a long and difficult battle with extremism.” Probst noted how Kansas overcame many challenges during its lifetime to become a leader in education and business, a place with good roads, open government and a belief in helping out one another. “Despite its strength and vitality, Kansas couldn’t survive the influences of outside political machines that sought to use this fertile ground and its people as a test plot for an ambitious political experiment,” the obituary said. It concluded: “In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas Policy Institute or Americans for Prosperity, all in care of Gov. Sam Brownback, Office of the Governor, Capital 300 SW 10th Ave., Ste. 241S, Topeka, KS 66612-1590.”
Democratic leaders in Topeka aren’t eager to help bail out Gov. Sam Brownback, who is calling on lawmakers to make permanent the state’s temporary sales-tax increase in order to help fill the budget shortfall created by the income-tax cuts he signed last year. House Minority Leader Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, said that he and others aren’t interested in “putting a lot of lipstick on a pig.” Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, refuses to be put in a box of choosing between breaking a promise on sales taxes or making more budget cuts. “My conscience is clear,” he said.
Good for the Legislature and Gov. Sam Brownback for taking steps to bring more rapists and child molesters to justice with House Bill 2252, which eliminates the statute of limitations on rape and aggravated sodomy and makes it easier for adults to report sex crimes that occurred when they were children. As Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt noted, successful prosecutions still will need good evidence. But because of technology and the new state law, time will no longer be on the side of a sex offender intent on escaping justice.
Gov. Sam Brownback is unsure about a Kansas Senate-passed bill that would establish new policies for retaining first-graders who lack reading proficiency. “We’ll look at it,” Brownback told the Topeka Capital-Journal, though he prefers his proposal for holding back third-graders who don’t pass reading assessments. Brownback’s plan didn’t make it out of either the House or Senate education committees – and with good reason. Educators note that holding kids back can be counterproductive. There also were concerns about making retention decisions based on only one test and about whether the focus should be on earlier grades, including preschool.
How regrettable that the first bill to become law this year – House Bill 2019, which Gov. Sam Brownback signed Wednesday – was one that needlessly politicizes a merit-selection process for the Court of Appeals that has served Kansas well for 36 years. Now, Kansas reportedly is unique in the nation for selecting Court of Appeals judges one way and Supreme Court justices another way. Because the new system lets the governor pick anyone he wants but requires that his choices be confirmed by the Senate, which only works during the spring, the change could result in long-vacant seats on the court. Never mind that January poll showing 61 percent of Kansas voters opposed changing how appellate judges are selected. And so much for the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 2012 opinion that the nonpartisan nominating commission long used for Kansas’ appellate courts “is designed to ensure the conduct of the executive branch does not threaten the integrity of the judicial branch.”
Is Gov. Sam Brownback’s Kansas the model for the future Republican Party? The Atlantic Wire’s Elspeth Reeve has doubts. “The Kansas House of Representatives is 72 percent Republican. The Kansas Senate is 80 percent Republican. That might have something to do with the fact that Kansas looks a lot like the Republican Party. It’s 78 percent white,” Reeve wrote. And “according to 2012 exit polls, 39 percent of voters are conservative, 48 percent are moderate, and only 17 percent are liberal.” The Republican National Committee’s new internal review suggests that the nation’s 30 GOP governors, including Brownback, will lead the way for the party, and there are tax and education reforms to watch in those states. “It is time for Republicans on the federal level to learn from successful Republicans on the state level,” the report said. But Reeve argued that in the cases of “less reliably red states, governors’ conservative policy records are more mixed.”
Another researcher is challenging Gov. Sam Brownback’s contention that lower state income taxes will be like “a shot of adrenaline to the heart” of the state’s economy. Michael Mazerov, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said that “there’s a ton of research out there that argues very strongly this will not appreciably help small businesses,” and that very few will “make a decision to hire somebody based on their tax situation.” Iowa finance experts also published “Selling Snake Oil to the States,” which concluded that there is no significant relationship between lower income taxes and growth in state gross domestic product. But the American Legislative Exchange Council contends that the critics’ research is flawed and that the tax reforms will help “grow the economic pie for everyone.”
The newly formed Kansas Medicaid Access Coalition – which includes more than 30 groups representing consumers, health care providers and religious organizations – is urging Gov. Sam Brownback to allow the federal expansion of Medicaid in Kansas. But Brownback continues to express doubts. “Right now, I can’t see a path that’s long-term fiscally sustainable for us in the state of Kansas to manage,” Brownback told Yahoo! Finance recently. “But if we can do something that’s a partial measure, something that we can sustain over time, I’m very willing to look at that.” A study by the Kansas Hospital Association estimated that the expansion would inject more than $3 billion into the state’s economy, create 4,000 jobs over the next seven years, and likely save the state more money than it cost. But Brownback predicted that the cost for states likely would go up due to federal budget problems.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Marc Rhoades, R-Newton, is still counting $30 million in savings over two years from merging the Kansas Turnpike Authority with the Kansas Department of Transportation, even though the heads of both KDOT and KTA have said they don’t know what the specific savings would be. What’s more, when Rep. Nile Dillmore, D-Wichita, complained that the savings “seems to be a number plucked straight from the air,” Rhoades claimed Monday that KTA president and CEO Michael Johnston had offered to transfer $25 million to the state if Gov. Sam Brownback would drop the merger proposal, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. Johnston said later that “there is no truth” to Rhoades’ claim. Rhoades apologized Tuesday for the claim, saying he was misunderstood, but Johnston wasn’t satisfied. “How do I get my good name back?” he asked.
How can Congress reach more bipartisan agreements? “We need Ted Kennedy,” Gov. Sam Brownback told Yahoo! Finance. Brownback, who worked with Kennedy (in photo) when they were both in the U.S. Senate, noted how Kennedy would reach across the aisle and work through problems for the good of the country. Brownback said the person most likely to fill that role now is Vice President Joe Biden. One reason Washington seems so disturbing, Brownback said, is that problems are worse than they’ve been for a long time. “There are no good solutions,” he said.
It’s strange that as the Legislature talks about denying the University of Kansas Medical Center a requested $10 million to build a new health education building, the Senate would vote 33-7 to create a Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center at KU estimated to cost $10 million over 10 years. Funding for the stem-cell center would come from federal grants, private gifts and other funds, according to a legislative note. “If Kansas could take a leadership position in that, it could be a highly useful thing for people to get treatments,” said Gov. Sam Brownback, who supports the new center but also recommended $10 million in state funding for a health education building at KU. Some KU faculty and administrators also have expressed support for the center, which would do non-embryonic stem-cell research. But such an important decision about the KU Medical Center and the Kansas Board of Regents should not start with a Statehouse mandate. And it’s hard to see why the center should take precedence over KU’s plan for the new $75 million medical building, which will help it train more physicians.
Missouri is wrestling with whether to imitate Kansas’ income-tax cuts and, not coincidentally, risk its own budget shortfall. “It may turn out that Kansas decides it wasn’t such a good fiscal policy to decimate their revenue,” said Sen. Jason Holsman, D-Kansas City, as the Missouri Senate approved a bill to cut state income taxes and raise sales taxes. Sponsoring Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit, said: “I’m trying to stop the bleeding. I’m trying to stop the businesses from fleeing into Kansas.” Earlier, Sen. Paul LeVota, D-Independence, had argued: “I believe we need to be the Show-Me State, not the ‘me too’ state.”
Sixty percent of Kansans support the federal expansion of Medicaid in our state, according to a survey released last week by the Kansas Hospital Association. And nearly 3 in 4 Kansans think the state should maximize federal funds and prevent Kansas tax dollars from going to other states. Not expanding Medicaid would mean forgoing these funds and result in significant hardship on hospitals, because the Affordable Care Act reduces payments to hospitals that serve low-income uninsured patients (in expectation that many of these patients would be joining Medicaid). “It amounts to real cuts to hospitals,” said KHA president Tom Bell.
The four members of the Kansas congressional delegation who previously served in the Legislature are supportive of Gov. Sam Brownback’s push to cut state income taxes and reduce government, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said that Kansas needed to be more like Texas. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Topeka, said that Kansas also has to compete with low-cost countries. Reps. Kevin Yoder, R-Overland Park, and Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, contrasted Brownback’s approach to President Obama’s call for higher taxes. “Kansas has a better pathway,” Yoder said.
It was striking that Graham Toft, president of the Florida-based consultant group GrowthEconomists Inc., told Gov. Sam Brownback’s council of economic advisers last week that Kansas should rebrand itself by focusing on its high-ranking educated workforce, quality K-12 schools, robust roads and railways, and “roll up your sleeves” Midwest culture. In other words, some of the state services that have been jeopardized by Brownback’s reckless push to eliminate state income taxes.
Duane Goossen, former longtime state budget director, warned that the state’s “current spending levels dramatically exceed expected income.” On his blog for the Kansas Health Institute, Goossen noted that state general fund spending approved for fiscal year 2013 is nearly $6.2 billion, while the estimated revenue for fiscal 2014 is only $5.4 billion. He also said the fiscal 2014 budgets proposed by the governor, Senate and House variously rob highway money and cut higher education and courts but still don’t get to even $6.1 billion. “The inability to close the gap with spending cuts suggests the solution must be increased revenue,” Goossen wrote, saying the governor and lawmakers could “transfer money from other funds,” “use up the available bank balance” and “add tax revenue.” They also can hope Friday’s updated revenue estimates will narrow the budget gap, he wrote.
