The 2015 session of the Kansas House and Senate started this week. Anxious members are uncertain how to resolve budget deficits driven by steep tax cuts reports the Topeka Capital-Journal.
The projected shortfall for the next 18 months totals more than $700 million. Budget debates could escalalte if the Kansas Supreme court mandates significant state funding increases for k-12 schools.
Senator Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, is the Senate Minority Leader. He says, “We’ve got a really big mess on our hands. We’re teetering on the edge of bankruptcy as a state unless we change course.”
Sen. Tom Arpke, R-Salina, says the state’s not short on revenue, but is overspending.
Rep. Russ Jennings, R-Lakin, says public education, highway programs and water policy can’t get lost in the haze of political warfare over revenue increases or spending reductions.
“I’d say the landscape is perilous, particularly for rural and western Kansas,” he says.