In his State of the State address last night, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback talked about the state budget, Medicaid, the need for additional medical and dental care, and school funding, among other things.
Brownback said Budget Director shawn Sullivan would be presenting a "structurally balanced budget" today that Brownback described as balanced, in that it reconciles spending with available revenue and supports the core functions of state government.
Brownback also called for lawmakers to address the imbalance between state revenues and expenditures.
Brownback defended the decision to turn down a $31.5 million-grant to adopt a Kansas exchange that would have accompanied adoption of Obamacare, saying “Six years later, the wisdom of that decision is obvious,” adding that the majority of the 23 state exchanges established under ObamaCare have failed.
Brownback called the promise of ‘free’ federal money being a promise that was never going to be kept and said it would be foolish to endorse the ObamaCare expansion of Medicaid now, comparing it to getting a discounted ticket on the Titanic.
Brownback also spoke about the ongoing need for medical and dental personnel in the state and proposed three solutions that he said are included in his proposed budget. One proposal is to place $5 million in the budget to start new residency programs in Kansas. A second proposal is establishment of a privately funded Doctor of Osteopathy School in Kansas, which he said have higher percentages of graduates practicing in rural areas. A third proposal is development of a Kansas dental school at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
On the topic of school funding, Brownback called on the legi=islature to develop a new school funding system.
Brownback said the children of Kansas suffered for decades under an overly complicated school funding formula and called for a new formula that measures success by the achievement of students and not by dollars spent.
“Now is the time, this is the session, for us to craft a new school finance system that puts Kansas students first,” Brownback said.
Brownback also spoke briefly about the state’s foster care system, small businesses, jobs, wind energy and water conservation.
