I am convinced that we simply must reduce the FY 2009 budget by approximately $325 million. Indeed doing so will still leave us with expenditures more than $400 million in excess of expected revenue for the year. I have voted against the final omnibus budget bill each of the past 3 years because it was abundantly clear that we were spending ourselves into a fiscal crisis. While the economic downturn has accelerated and deepened that crisis it has not altered the fundamental problem; Kansas government continues to spend at a rate that is wholly disproportionate to revenues.
All this having been said, merely enacting spending cuts will not solve the deep systemic problems we face as a state. Budget reform must include rethinking a current process that fails to hold agencies accountable for past spending. Simply put, if an agency spent $1 last year and wants to spend $1.05 this year we do a great job of looking at the $0.05, but a terrible job analyzing the $1.00.
With respect to both the FY 2009 & 2010 budgets my core commitments are: 1) is to ensure that in making spending cuts we avoid using fee sweeps and accounting gimmicks that merely delay the tough choices that must be made now; 2) that we think carefully and strategically about where cuts are made; 3) that we make every reasonable effort to protect core services like education and aid to the severely disabled, while understanding the stark reality that, K-12 education constitutes more than ½ the general fund budget. Indeed, K-12 plus higher education is $4.26 billion of the total $6.4 billion general fund budget, and when social services are added in the total rises to $5.77 billion. Given that we face a shortfall of at least $1 billion in FY 2010 it is simply not possible to achieve needed savings without considering reductions in all areas of the state budget; 4) that we respect local control and maximize the flexibility of local school districts by implementing policies such as HB 2859 which I introduced last session (http://www.kslegislature.org/bills/2008/2859.pdf); 5) that cuts are accompanied by real systemic reform to the budgeting process.
I will analyze all appropriations bills with these factors in mind, and with the understanding that however painful FY 2009 rescissions may be (and I do truly understand that they are painful), the challenges we face in formulating the FY 2010 budget are exponentially greater and will only be worsened if we do not act to stem the fiscal bleeding immediately.
Back to "Media Releases"
