(Syndicated to Kansas newspapers Nov. 9, 2015)
Wonder how this budget shortfall for the current and next fiscal year works out politically?
Wait, this is a real dollars-and-cents problem here, revenues for this and next fiscal year falling about $159 million in the remaining seven months of this fiscal year and $194 million in the year that starts July 1.
And, remember, we’re in a two-year budget, so when legislators approved the spending plan last session (it was June) they were thinking: Maybe a little touch-up for the second year and we’re out on the campaign trail.
Well, that’s all gone now. The governor is taking the lead with about $109 million of spending cuts in the current year, including another $48 million nick of the Kansas Department of Transportation budget, for a total of $350 million in this year alone, and some other cuts and shuffles that most of us won’t notice.