Money — or its short supply — was a driving issue for the 2008 session of the Kansas Legislature. The budget for the next year was developed using figures provided by the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group last November, Representative Mitch Holmes (R-St. John) said. By April, the group had lowered its estimate of available funds by $130 million. Late in the session, with $24 million left to spend, legislators still had $140 million in requests for additional funding to consider.
“The overarching theme this year was the budget and trying to reverse the trend over the last four years of growing at a rate faster than inflation,” Holmes said.
The state’s budget increased by 5.2 percent, just barely above the increase in the cost of living, according to Senator Ruth Teichman (R-Stafford).
“The Legislature tried to be very mindful of the downturn in the economy and not overspending our resources but still serve our citizens,” Teichman said.
Contributing to the budget shortfall were four disasters — ice storms in January and December of 2007, the tornado in Greensburg and flooding in southeast Kansas, as well as increasing fuel costs that leave fewer dollars for consumers to spend and therefore less sales tax revenue.
A 21-point health care bill advocated by the Kansas Health Policy Authority, to be funded by a cigarette tax, didn’t pass. Some small gains were made by providing improved care, including dental care, for low income pregnant women, increasing eligibility for the children’s health insurance program, increased funding for rural health clinics and extension of state coverage for people without health insurance.
Schools will get a modest increase of $59 per pupil for the 2009-10 school year. Approval a year in advance will allow schools to do better planning, but Holmes cautioned, “we’ll have to see what the budget is like next year. If things continue like they are we won’t be able to pay it.”
The Board of Regents got $10 million for block grants, about half of what they wanted, to be used for technical and community colleges.
A $25 million price tag and resistance from parents prevented the approval of state-funded all-day kindergarten, according to Teichman.
Governor Kathleen Sebelius is expected to veto an Economic Stimulus Act that includes the permitting of two 700 megawatt coal-fired power plants to be constructed at Holcomb, just has she has vetoed two previous measures.
In October, Rod Bremby, secretary of health and environment, denied an air quality permit to Sunflower Electric Power Corp., which wants to build the two new plants to meet energy needs that Holmes said are outstripping supply. He, like many legislators, believe Bremby overstepped his authority and six legal challenges, three before the Kansas Supreme Court, have been filed.
Bremby’s decision not only blocks the construction of new plants, but also a Sunflower proposal to update its existing plant with newer technology to reduce emissions. Other coal-fired plants will come up for renewal within the next five years, Holmes said, and they would also be blocked from applying the new technology.
Other measures that failed during the session include a comprehensive policy on immigration, a statewide smoking ban, and a graduated driver’s license program for teens.
There is a saying, however, that “nothing dies in Topeka. Almost every issue will be revisited,” Holmes noted.
Legislators return to Topeka for a ceremonial adjournment on May 29 that could include an attempt to override Sebelius’ expected veto of the Economic Stimulus Act. Teichman doubts that enough support could be mustered to override the governor.