A one-cent sales tax increase and a 50-cent tax increase for cigarettes are two of the recommendations from Gov. Mark Parkinson that the Kansas legislature is considering as it heads into the second half of the legislative session as it struggles to balance the 2010 budget and find funds to build the 2011 budget.
With short falls of $39 million in the 2010 budget and an estimated $480 million short for the 2011 budget, the Kansas Legislature has spent much of the first half of the dealing with funding and budget cuts, said Sen. Ruth Teichman.
The Senate has passed a rescission bill that will allow them to review 2010 budgets and make necessary cuts to balance the budget. The sub committees are looking at all the budgets. The state is still able to operate with the money they have cut out of various agencies and are looking for more ways to help cover the budget deficit.
The Senate has also been instructed to cut agencies another 2.5 percent so they won’t be funding any agency requested enhancements such as replacing vehicles or office equipment.
For the school systems Parkinson has recommended a $50 increase in base budget per student in K-12. The sub committee on education is not recommending increases but are recommending holding education harmless at the present level and not decreasing the education budget by 2.5 percent.
The Legislature has already voted an across the board five percent pay cut for themselves, salaries for all state agencies including all state officers, department secretaries, judges, justices, elected officials, legislative staff, legislative leadership, et cetera. Legislative postal allowances were cut in half.
The Legislature has a very mixed mind right now on whether it should enact any kind of sales tax increase. It’s been looked at before and now action was taken but it is definitely on the table, Teichman said.
“All ideas are being floated right now,” Teichman said.
As it stands right now, the 2010 budget does not balance and is about $39 million short. Legislators will look at revenue for February, March and April before they determine if they need to go back and cut budgets. June 30 is the end of the fiscal year and the budget has to be balanced by then.
In the mean time the legislature is also working on the fiscal year 2011 and trying to fill an anticipated $480 million deficit. The legislators are looking at $100 million cuts right now and will have to find more if the economy does not make a turn around.
The big question facing the legislature is cuts or some kind of tax increase. They have already taken some action within the departments.
Some $80 million was taken from Kansas Department of Transportation and put in the general budget. This will delay some repair projects, Teichman said.
The Judicial branch got some good news when $5 million was returned to their budget. When the 2010 budget was closed out in 2009 the legislature took $8 million out of the judicial side that they didn’t mean to take. Both houses voted to put $5 million back into the judiciary and that has diminished the likelihood that the judicial will have to go on furlough for several weeks in 2010, Teichman said.
Other good news includes a restored 10 percent, $2.4 million, to Medicare provider for home and community based services. Some funds were also shifted to address a shortage in driver’s education.
