(Syndicated to Kansas newspapers June 8, 2015)
Now, let’s think…you are in front of a burning house with a child inside…
Do you rush in to save the child, or do you wait until the local TV crew shows up, unloads the cameras, positions them for the best view, and then, once you’ve gotten the OK that film is rolling, storm into the house to rescue the child?
Probably depends on whether you are a politician.
What?
Well, that’s about how the furlough threat for some 24,000 Kansas employees played out over the weekend.
Kansas Budget Director Shawn Sullivan a couple weeks ago warned lawmakers that they need to pass a budget relatively quickly and nothing happened. That may have been the spark in the house that fell onto the carpet.
Yes, lawmakers often are told that they need to be expeditious in dealing with the state’s financial problems, taxes and budgets and such. But they hear that a lot.